Page 65 of Scourged

He blinked and nodded. “Of course.”

With that, she climbed into the saddle, Feran settling in behind her. Across the clearing, Andrian mounted the seventh horse.

It took every fiber of her being to ignore the burning itch of his stare as they rode into the night.

A breeze pushedin from the north, and Mariah wrapped the wool cloak tighter, shifting deeper into the saddle. Feran’s warmth seeped into her bones, the gentle rocking of the horse between her thighs comforting and familiar.

They’d been riding for some time under the cover of darkness, the steady clip of the horses’ hooves beating a soothing melody against the forest trail. Their pace was swift, Sebastian leading them with his quiet urgency.

The trail dipped down a gentle bank, and the tinkling of a clear, starlit stream could be heard over the nocturnal woods. They crossed it without stopping, the water lit with silver-gold moonlight reaching the knees of Feran’s gelding. It splashed Mariah’s legs, bitingly cold. So cold Feran took a sharp intake of breath behind her.

But she didn’t even flinch. She’d learned how to find comfort in the chill.

Rylla was last to cross, shaking water from her sleek fur as she raced ahead, droplets raining around her like fallen stars. She slowed when she reached Sebastian, glancing up as he looked down. He pulled his horse to a halt, scanning the small clearing walled in by a towering copse of pine trees.

“We’ll rest here for a few hours—at least until sunrise. We’re far enough away, and we haven’t been followed.” Sebastian looked again at Rylla, and she nodded her head as if in confirmation.

Strange. The existence of shifters was … Mariah hadn’t yet been able to rationalize that to herself. It was extraordinary but certainly useful.

Sebastian slid from his mare’s back, concerned gaze landing on Mariah. “Trefor, Feran, you take first watch. Drystan and Matheo will relieve you. Quentin and I will take the final shift.”

At his command, Mariah’s Armature set about making camp, pulling pallets and bedrolls from saddles and clearing forest underbrush to create some semblance of comfort. Rylla retreated to the edges of the glade, near the banks of the stream, grooming her still-damp fur before drinking straight from the crystal-clear water.

Feran swung himself from his horse, offering a hand to Mariah with a patient smile. She tightened the cloak around her shoulders, taking his hand and sliding from the gelding’s back.

She tried to fight the pull.

But it was futile.

Her eyes locked on a dark figure over Feran’s shoulder. Tracked him as he dismounted his horse and walked with hesitant steps toward Sebastian.

“I can take a watch, too.” Andrian’s voice was low, but it still echoed around the clearing.

Everyone paused. Mariah’s heartbeat was in her throat.

Sebastian turned slowly, a strange, uncharacteristic fury written across his face. “You are lucky you’re not inchains, Armature,” he growled. “The only reason you’re not is because my queen commanded we let you travel with us. You will sleep where we can watch you, but Enfara will freeze over before I place our safety—hersafety—in your hands again.”

“Sebastian, that’s enough.” The surge of protectiveness that washed over Mariah shocked her, pulling words from her throat before she could stop them. But deep down, she knew why.

She had no desire to see Andrian in chains. Not again.

She especially didn’t want Sebastian to be the one to place them there.

“No, it’s fine. Really,” Andrian said, voice unusually soft, carrying with it a hint of unfamiliar defeat. Mariah darted a glance at him and wished she hadn’t.

He stared at her with utter anguish. Other emotions lingered on his face, too. Emotions she’d once acknowledged and given herself.

Never again.

Love is a weakness … but also your retribution.

“It’s fine,” she echoed Andrian as she turned back to Sebastian, exhaustion suddenly settling into the depths of her bones. “Let’s just focus on getting home. Then we can figure out … everything else.”

She didn’t linger on whateverything elsemeant. Instead, she watched her Armature settle into their temporary camp, enjoying something she never thought she’d know again.

Safety.

She still couldn’t believe it was real. That they were allhere. Anxiety still twisted in her gut, a nauseating worm, at the thought that this was all a dream. That she would lay her head down to rest, and tomorrow she would wake up in that cold, dark, terrible cell and find this was all just some new trick invented by the lords to torment her.

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