Page 7 of The Oracle's Journey

“I suspect so,” I answered. “And we can safely assume she can cause more of it than those human women.”

“Just let the crew have at her a little when she does,” Lobikno scowled. “She’ll learn quickly if she wants to live. The princess is the only one we have to keep pristine.”

“I will try to mitigate the situation, so we don’t have to make that distinction,” I growled under my breath. Lobikno faded back into the shadows and silence, despite his armor. It was part of our innate magic, something every dark elf could do. Lobikno looped around the carriage to the bodyguard’s side of the driver’s bench. The last whispers of sunlight had receded, and the waning moonlight wasn’t cutting through the forest canopy above. Our captive wouldn’t see my prowling brother until he was upon her.

Lobikno leapt up behind her, pinning her against the carriage railing. She yelled and growled and cursed, like a vicious little wildcat, trying to push off the rail with her arms, breaking our grip on her wrists repeatedly. I don’t know how she managed it.

“Hurry with the fucking rope if you don’t want her damaged,” Lobikno snarled.

We each captured one of her wrists and brought them behind her back, close enough that I could trigger the rope’s enchantment. I sighed in relief when it encircled her wrists with a touch of my will and bound them together. Hopefully we wouldn’t have to hurt her further.

The commotion set the women inside to wailing. Frustrated, I scolded my captive, gesturing to the carriage behind us. “Now you’ve upset them!”

The mercenary was flushed and sweaty when Lobikno took the pressure off her back. She scooted back into her seat and turned to glare at him, not that she could see, but he was already gone. Such a wrathful look wasted.

I watched her pull at the binding and almost missed my turn off the road and onto a narrow path that didn’t suit the carriage. At that point, I had to start watching for low hanging branches since she couldn’t see them at all. She tried to squirm away from me when I moved to pull her closer, to avoid being struck by a branch that I couldn’t quite reach. It pushed her over backward, scraping her forehead. I kept her from falling, holding her around the shoulders with an arm, and pulled her against me. I ducked as we approached another low bough, one solid enough I couldn’t just lift it over my head. She followed my movement.

That’s when I noticed more of her blouse lacing had come undone during the struggle. It was open beyond the swell of her breasts. She’d already tested and assessed my weakness for the fairer sex, but it was easier to hide when I had been farther away. Now her scent, like spring leaves and jasmine, was inescapable. I could feel the curve of her body pressed against my side, and practically tasted the salt and sweat on her skin. My mouth may have watered a bit.

I struggled to keep the sound of a smirk from my voice when I next spoke.

“Excuse me, madam mercenary, but you’re a bit disheveled. I’m going to fix your blouse.” Keeping an eye out for tree branches and relacing the eyelets without accidentally grazing her skin was tricky, but I managed.

The cold smile on her lips when I picked up the reigns again spoke volumes. She’d gleaned the truth, picked up on that weakness of mine, and filed it away for future exploitation.

Dead. I was a dead male.

CHAPTER 5

Emmelina

Iabsently stroked Eve’s golden hair while the three of us huddled, trembling in the candle lit carriage. I’d been trying to summon some kind of foresight, but the fear coursing through me was too strong for anything useful to come through. I’d never been so frightened! Not when my mother had been assassinated, not even when my father started wasting away. My amazing guardian had stood her ground against a dragon, so the sound of her struggling with our kidnappers drove a cold of spike fear in my heart. There was no missing the tremble of panic under that rage. Eve started wailing, but me and Judith got her to quiet down again. If I hadn’t been so certain of my prior visions, I’d have worried Ozanna was dead. But that knowledge didn’t stop my stomach from tightening into knots.

The carriage rolled on for a few more hours in the dark, the bumpy road making it impossible for anyone to doze off. Eventually, we heard one of the men say, “The beasts are tired and spooked. We need to camp.” The carriage lurched a little and slowly came to a stop.

My feet started itching again. I wiggled on the bench as Eve and Judith argued in wavering whispers about peeking out the window. Judith won. She unlatched a shutter and cracked it, peering through. A sliver of firelight shone on her face through it. Then the shutters flew open wide and a dark gray face with red eyes peered in. I clutched the sleeves of Eve’s dress and we all screamed.

Outside, boots scuffled. Ozanna shouted, “Get away from that window, fucker!”

Then came a man’s gravelly laugh. Others joined in.

“Now, now, madam mercenary,” a man said, the voice vaguely familiar, “you’ll get hurt.”

Ozanna yelped and then made a sound like “oof” before the face in the window disappeared, replaced by an armored arm, reaching for the inner door lock with long, scarred fingers.

Judith swatted his hand, tears welling up in her eyes. The face reappeared, growling at her to stop. When he breached the door, a tall, dark-skinned elf stood outside, waiting to greet us. His ice-blue eyes glinted over a generous smile.

“Ladies,” he said in that vaguely familiar voice.

You love it when I call you Oz.

Ah, yes. It was him! Then I realized he had Ozanna slung over his shoulder like a sack of onions.

“Perfect!” I shouted unable to contain the joy blossoming in my chest. The elves blinked at me and exchanged confused glances with one another.

Then I remembered my comportment. Or at least I tried. Straightening my tattered dress, I raised my chin and got to my feet. I held my hand out to the elf as if he were my footman. He hesitated only a moment before extending his free hand to help me down the steps. I smiled, and his brows knitted together for a moment. Judging by his confusion, it was probably the smile that made people wary of me.

In the fire light, I saw some of his thoughts flicker across his face. Where is the treasure and money? Is that wild little woman actually the princess? Would this wretched thing stop digging her hipbone into my shoulder?

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