Page 55 of A Shattered Kingdom of Steel

But this?

This falls beyond the realm of what I know. What I’ve been taught to believe. So, I answer him as honestly as I can.

“I want to.”

He doesn’t say anything for what seems like a long while. Treetops sway in the wind. Leaves rustle. The clap-clap-clap of our horse’s hooves against the gravelly road and the muffled murmurings of our companions’ conversations fall around us—a soothing, yet peaceful reminder that neither of us is where we used to be.

That, somehow, we are no longer who we used to be.

“Me, too, Bladesinger,” Asheros says at last. “Me, too.”

A smile parts my lips.

“Now, if you repeat anything I told you,” he says, his tone losing its weight, “I’ll deny having this conversation.”

Shaking my head a little, I chuckle, glancing at him from over my shoulder. “How dare I expect anything more from you?”

“Truly, Bladesinger,” he quips, lips parted and tilted upward, flashing those perfect teeth again. “You should know better by now.”

“I’ll be sure to do better next time,” I counter, humor brightening my voice. “Just to spite you.”

Brows raised, Asheros gapes at me, a smile tugging the corners of his mouth. “Those are fighting words, Bladesinger.” He leans forward and winks. “I do hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“You said it yourself. I’m a fighter.” I tease. “It’s you who should be afraid. Especially now that I’m armed.”

“That you are.” His voice softens, eyes searching mine. He stares at me as if I’m something to be revered. As if I’m a goddess made flesh.

His attention doesn’t make me want to retreat, or shy away from the light. Instead, I want to bask in it, as if he’s the sun, and I, the moon, cold without his warmth.

Kheldryn’s words echo in my head again, but this time I can’t seem to will them away.

“Maybe, in marking you two as fated, the gods weren’t telling you that he’s your enemy, but rather, that you and he would become something so much more.”

When Theelia, the Goddess of Fate, marked Asheros and I as fated, I’d wondered why. Why him? Why wait to make her will known then, and not sooner when we’d first met?

The bonds of love….

Perhaps there’s some truth to Kheldryn’s words. Perhaps Asheros and I aren’t destined to kill each other after all.

Chapter Sixteen

Either the gods are terribly bored, or they simply want to vex us, because several hours later the skies open up.

Rain falls in thick, heavy droplets from a blanket of dark and billowing storm clouds. Thunder booms above our heads, filling my ears with its force.

“To the forest,” Asheros calls to the others. “Let’s take shelter beneath the trees.”

Worry works at Savell’s jaw—no doubt remembering the troll—but with one more glance at the skies above, he nods and directs his mount off the road.

Asheros urges our horse to go faster, only directing the animal to slow once we’re beneath the canopy. Though we’re less exposed here than the road, water still falls onto our heads. Not that it matters much. My hair and clothes are soaked. So much so, that strands stick to my face, and the shirt I wear beneath my leathers clings to my body.

Asheros tugs the reins, and our horse slows to a stop. Approaching us, the others do the same, all looking to him for guidance.

“We’ll make camp here for the night,” he says, eyes sweeping the group. “Be on your guard.”

Ronan nods, and then he and Orim turn to their packs. Ronan hands the rolled up tents and posts to Savell, while Orim withdraws a loaf of bread and a jar of some kind of fruit jam. Kheldryn and Gryska take the horses’ reins and secure them to a nearby tree trunk.

“What can I do to help?” I ask Asheros, itching to do something. Even as Captain of the High King’s Guard, I was never one to stand by and watch while others worked, regardless of the task. If those I commanded were working, then I was, too.

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