Page 30 of Their Witch Bride

Prince Rinan steps closer, running his hands along one side of the sculpture with his eyes wide. “I can’t believe it.”

The blond sounds shocked. Did I do something wrong? “Like I said, I don’t know what it is.”

His gaze meets mine, and I’m lost in his blue eyes for a moment. “This is a Valknut,” he says, as he walks around the sculpture, breaking our eye contact. “The Valknut is a symbol for the dead who die in battle. You’ve just made a monument to all shifters who’ve died here.”

To my surprise, his fingers begin to trace the little etchings that cover the surface of the entire symbol.

“Drogo!” Prince Rinan says, pointing to something on the Valknut.

The big man comes around the side of the symbol to where Prince Rinan stands. His gaze falls on wherever Prince Rinan is pointing, and his eyes go wide.

Prince Drogo’s body seems to swell. “How did you know their names?” And he’s angry. Really angry.

“Whose names?” I ask, trying to keep my voice soft, trying to show him that I’m not looking for a fight.

"The names of the dead…” He pauses to read a few. “Their names are on here. So many of them.”

I tense, looking at the names etched into it. Each weapon seems to have requested the name of their perished wielder to be engraved. There’s probably a thousand names on it.

“How did you get them? Their names?” Prince Rinan asks, his voice overwhelmed with emotion.

I release a slow breath, hoping I’m not making a mistake by telling the truth. “The metal told me the names of the men who wielded them.”

Prince Drogo shakes his head, anger and sorrow twisting his expression. “What kind of bullshit answer is that? Metal has no voice. It’s more likely you helped kill these men.”

My gaze holds his. “And I asked all their names before I did so?”

His gaze flickers away from me and back to the symbol. Yeah, that’s right. You feel like an ass, because you sounded like an ass.

His attention returns to the memorial. He rubs his face, then reaches out and touches the symbol, and the look on his face makes me want to reach out and touch him. I’ve never seen him look vulnerable before, but whosever name is troubling him, he seems like a man barely keeping control of his emotions.

Prince Arlys moves to Prince Drogo’s side and grips his shoulder. Prince Rinan does the same. All three men seem to be overwhelmed with emotions.

I start to feel uneasy, like I’m crashing a funeral for someone I don’t know.

Turning, I start walking back to the carriage.

Someone grabs my arm roughly and hauls me against him. I look up in shock to see Prince Drogo’s dark brown eyes glaring down at me. I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off. “I know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything,” I say, heart racing.

He leans in so close that his mouth nearly touches mine. “Be careful, witch, or you’ll regret it.”

And when he lets me go, I eagerly scurry away. Great, just great. I’ve already screwed up.

TWELVE

Tara

I awaken with my heart pounding, disoriented for a moment. Something’s changed. Then I realize what’s different. The carriage has stopped. Confused, I lean out the window and realize that there are massive trees everywhere and no sign of the huge mountains in front of us. Peering behind me, I see that jagged mountains stand guard over the way back to witch territory.

We’re in shifter territory now. Those mountains behind us are impassable, outside of this passage. There’s no going back now. If there ever even was a way to go back. I sit back on my seat trying to understand why I feel so uneasy. The marriage was done. The deal was signed. Nothing has really changed, except that I’ve left the safety of my people’s lands.

Not that it was all that safe for me.

One of the servants opens the carriage door, and I grab my bag of weapons, knowing what’s coming. He’ll help me but ignore me, like the others. He’s silent, but he extends his hand and helps me out of the carriage.

“Thank you,” I say.

---