Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
Hawk takes a deep breath. “But isn’t that exactly where we’re headed?”
My shoulders sag. “Yes. That is correct.”
Chapter 28
Sylvan
I’ve never been as tired as after the dreary three days in the swampland.
Fenren and his crew have safe houses along a route known only to them, but in order to reach the subsequent hideouts before nightfall, we needed to keep up a punishing speed. As a prince, I never had to lower myself to physical labor, and any trip beyond the bounds of the palace warranted a well-kept steed or carriage. Yet now I’m expected to keep the same pace as people with legs much longer than mine as we traverse treacherous terrain, often ankle-deep in water.
The rocky path is slippery, the smells of the swamp are at times unbearable, though navigating a conversation with Fenren is the trickiest part of the whole ordeal. I need to give him enough information about my return from banishment so it doesn’t feel as if I’m hiding something, while most definitely hiding something.
He wants to know about the Nocturne Court, about my mother, about the Lord’s new Dark Companion, and even why I don’t enjoy hot soup. His never-ending questions are giving me a headache, and stifle my conversations with Hawk.
At night, we have to sleep on damp floors with threadbare blankets, but at least Hawk is by my side and embraces me, even though we haven’t even kissed since the fight at the inn. I don’t know if I love lying in his strong arms or if it makes me miss physical closeness with him so much I’m on the verge of madness.
Until last week, I had not been intimate with a man and had no prospects for it. I’d even venture that I was at peace with solitude being my lot in life. But now I have tasted my beloved’s lips, I know what it means to be one with him, and for his greedy hands to roam all over my body. How am I to live with the uncertainty of whether my husband still craves intimacy with me?
Has my use of his shadow affected his trust so deeply that he no longer desires me? The injured hand, which Ivy secured with two pieces of wood and a string, is a physical reminder of my failure to protect him. And while I keep offering him help, it doesn’t seem to be enough to make our relationship as intense and carefree as it was before.
Despite boots protecting me from the water, all the wading still leaves my feet cold, and I’m grateful when Fenren leads us back onto dry land, and under an ashen willow as big as a house. There’s one in the palace gardens at the Nocturne Court, but it’s not nearly this size, so I gawp at its impressive vines, which cascade from branches high above like a cloak made of purple flowers.
“Short break,” the King of Smugglers decides before settling on a thick root protruding from the ground. He pulls out the same stale potato bread we had to endure in the morning, and bites in like it’s a delicacy. It’s not even crispy on the outside, just… old.
Hawk is too hungry to care, so I offer him my sandwich with gooey mushroom paste and sit down at the edge of the water to give my poor legs some relief.
While it is a moment of respite, I’m stuck mulling over the conversation I had with Hawk three days ago. I go over what I said wrong, what I could have said differently, what I could have omitted altogether.
It’s not helpful.
At least my husband isn’t avoiding me anymore and settles next to me, chewing his food loudly as a kelpie. It used to annoy me, but now I’m happy he feels comfortable around me. “This is like a better version of hummus. My ex used to eat that stuff all the time, and it was good. But this? Amazing,” he concludes before offering me a flask of tea.
It’s gotten lukewarm by now, so I take a sip. “I’m glad you enjoy it. You might need the strength when my legs fall off and you will be faced with the choice of carrying me or leaving me behind,” I say grimly and throw a stone into the water.
Hawk chuckles and leans back, turning his face toward the moon high above us. It’s still quite full, and its silver glow makes his face shine as if he were covered with a thin layer of dust made from mother of pearl. “That’s a bit dramatic, isn’t it?”
I pout. “Well, taking into account that we are still at least three days away from the Nocturne Castle, no, I think it is a valid complaint. Wait— Is that…?” I jump to my feet and strain my eyes. “Wait here!” I say to Hawk and run over to Fenren and Ivy, because I swear I saw a spyglass in his pack.