Page 90 of Alliance Bride
Eadlyn drew a deep breath. Though her emotions had settled, discomfort still lingered. “Yes, it was just…a lot. First thinking we were in danger, and then her. Watching us.”
Her skin crawled to think of Oda creeping in the bushes, especially in a moment that had been more intimate than any she and Aevar had shared previously. What if they’d never realized she was there? It felt like a violation.
Anger still simmered in his expression. “It won’t happen again.”
Eadlyn wasn’t sure what he planned to do and didn’t ask, but she didn’t want their time together today to end on such a note. She reached for his hand, hoping to reclaim what had been stolen from them. “The pond and waterfall were beautiful. I loved being out there with you. I hope we can go again sometime.”
This pulled a warm smile to his face. “We will.”
Aevar strode away from the stable, leaving the horses with Edgar. Anger burned in his gut like hot coals that refused to go out. He thought about stopping by the training field and working off the fury on a target or a man with a blade, but no. This wasn’t something to be hammered out with a sword. This had to be dealt with. Now. He would not be looking over his shoulder and eyeing the shadows every time he left the longhouse with Eadlyn. Nor would he have it for her.
Halfway through the village, Kian called to him.
“So, did you take her to the waterfall?”
His friend shot him a sly look. Everyone had been teasing him about it as soon as he’d mentioned taking her out for a ride. The waterfall was all but sacred to the couples of the village.
But the grin vanished as soon as Kian saw his face. “What happened?”
Aevar gritted his teeth. “We caught Oda spying on us. I doubt it’s the first time.”
She had to have been watching and following them to know they’d gone for a ride.
Kian’s brows furrowed. “Are you going to talk to her?”
Aevar nodded sharply as Kian fell into step beside him. They said nothing more as they marched toward Oda’s house.
Her horse stood out front when they arrived. Good. That meant he didn’t have to hunt her down elsewhere.
“Oda!” He did not keep the ice from his voice.
A moment later, she stepped outside, chin high with the same defiance she’d worn back at the waterfall. Always her face was unpleasant. He didn’t remember a time she’d ever smiled, at least not with any true joy or kindness. She and Thora had always been opposites in that way, just like their mothers. Perhaps because Oda’smother had been a thrall, though that had never affected Oda’s standing.
Aevar closed the distance in a few long strides. “Have you been spying on us?”
She remained stubbornly silent. He took a step closer, his shadow falling over her. He wasn’t in the habit of intimidating women, but Oda was different. She’d pushed this too far.
She didn’t cower, but her gaze faltered. Though she still refused to respond, her silence was answer enough. When she did speak, her voice was low and biting. “I’m not the one embarrassing myself all over the forest.”
He almost laughed. “No, you’re the one hiding in the bushes like a coward.”
She bristled, jaw taut.
Aevar shook his head in frustration. “Why can’t you leave it alone? What could you hope to gain?”
Now she looked up, eyes blazing. “Because I know you deserve more than some little foreign princess foisted on you, but you’re too blinded to see it. She doesn’t belong here.”
This again. Aevar was tired of it. “She belongs with me. I chose her.”
“You chose wrong.”
His temper flared white-hot. “I would choose her again a hundred times over.”
Oda scoffed.
He balled his fists. If she had been a man, he’d have broken her nose by now. “Why can’t you accept my choices? You act like Thora—and now Eadlyn—stole something from you.”
Her eyes flashed with dangerous intensity. “Thoradidsteal you from me.”
