Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103333 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 517(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Dar was every inch the image she’d come to fear: tall, commanding, draped in black leather that fitted his sculpted chest like a second skin. The morning light caught the silver clasp at his throat, that no other but he wore marking him as someone important, someone of authority. His dagger was sheathed at his waist and the steel of a fine sword gleamed at his side.
His gray eyes were blank as they fixed on her. They were no longer the eyes of the man who had traveled beside her, shared her smiles, listened to her worries by the fire. Once warm and concerned, they were now icy cold.
Her mind fought to make sense of what her eyes refused to believe. Gone was the rough cloak, the easy stride, the faint smile that always lingered in his eyes. The man before her looked carved from shadow and iron. The simple wanderer, her protector was gone.
“Step outside,” he ordered, his voice carrying the unquestioned authority of a man long accustomed to obedience.
Elara turned briefly to Feena, her hand tightening protectively around Adira’s. The lass pressed closer to the older woman, her wide eyes darting between Elara and the Hunters.
Elara’s feet felt rooted to the floor. Her heart pounded, each beat sounding louder in her ears. Her feet refused to move. Her mind struggled to make sense of what she saw. Then the truth settled, sharp and merciless.
The strange looks at the inn.
The deference in the innkeeper’s eyes.
The way the villagers had watched him.
They had known.
They had known all along who he was… a Hunter.
Dar took a slow step forward, his movements measured, his expression stoic. “Elara, do not force me to come get you.”
She stood staring at him, words shouting in her head but not reaching her lips. “You lied to me. Every word, every kindness. It was all a lie. You used me to your own end.”
She said none of it. She would not say what she felt. She would not look like a fool in front of others.
But the words continued in her head, her heart hurting. “You traveled beside me, slept nearby, swore you would keep me safe when all the while, you were one of them. And worst of all, you made me believe you truly cared what happened to me.”
“One last time, Elara,” Dar shouted. “You and the other two women step out of the cottage.”
“We should do as he says,” Feena urged and gave Elara a nudge in the back.
Where she found the strength, she didn’t know, but Elara moved, Feena and Adira following behind her and stopping when they reached the fence, Dar standing on the other side of it.
He stepped forward and kept his voice low. “I gave you my word to protect you, and I keep my word.”
She desperately wanted to believe him, but his eyes held the cold fierceness of a Hunter.
“I am not your enemy,” he said.
“And you are not my friend,” she said bitterly. “That leaves the question, what am I to you? A task? A duty?”
He hesitated briefly. “I serve the king.”
The answer struck like a blade between her ribs.
Elara’s chin went up. “It is good to know that, and I will remember it well.”
His jaw tightened in anger. “The three of you will come with us.”
“Where to?” Feena asked bravely.
“You will find out when we get there,” Dar said.
“I have a request, Hunter,” Feena said before Dar could turn away.
“I don’t take requests,” Dar snapped.
“I beg of you to at least hear it,” Feena pleaded.
“It is true then,” Elara said softly, “Hunters have no hearts.”
Feena spoke before the two could trade more barbs. “Adira here is a mute. I ask that you keep her safe from your men.”
Adira pressed herself against Feena’s side, her eyes wide with fright.
Feena hurried her arm around Adira, patting her chest, then Adira’s to calm the fearful lass.
Elara stepped closer to the fence, to Dar, her voice soft and pleading. “Please, Dar, please let no harm come to Adira.”
Dar turned away from them and Elara’s heart sank, but then she heard his words.
“The lass with the older woman is a mute. If any one of you touch her—you die—” He cast a slow glance around, his icy glare landing on every man there. “And it won’t be a quick death.” He turned to a lean man with sharp-angled features and a bloody cloth wrapped around his arm. “Muir, take another with you and find a cart in the village for the women to travel in.”
Muir nodded and signaled to another Hunter, and they took off.
Elara could not deny the anger and bitter disappointment she felt, but a single truth refused to die. He had sworn he would keep her safe, and some part of her, a foolish part perhaps, wanted to still believe him.