Page 14 of Light Up the Night

“Apprentice…” I scoffed only to be met with a smile.

“I knew that’d wake you up a bit,” he mused before tipping his head up toward Chalice. “Do you need to stop for a rest?”

“Do you?” she asked without malice. Her honeyed gaze surveyed the both of us before lifting to the procession of men behind us. She slowed the steed to a stop and slid down the side of the horse.

“Is he even alive?” Pariah asked, before teasing the end of his blade over Ryver’s bare foot. The king drew his bound legs toward the horse and kicked at Pariah. He began to yell incoherently around the gag.

“Shut the fuck up,” Pariah demanded. He moved around the horse until he was face to face with the prisoner and bent down low. “You might have been the Prettiest Prince of Tauran… but today… you’re exactly as you were meant to be. Bound and ass up.”

“Leave him,” Chalice said in a voice that was all steel.

“My Queen!” Fish excitedly called before barreling toward us. “I told them I didn’t want to go so far away from you. Stupid soldiers!”

The boy glared over his shoulder toward the dozen guards who had seen him to safety, while Messiah tried his best not to laugh.

“They were only following my orders, love. Try not to fault them.“ Chalice winked, palming his cheek, then turned on the men. “Rest your feet, water your troops, and let’s get on with it.”

“See? You were meant to lead.” I smiled and drew her into a hug that neither of us were eager to end.

“I was pretty good at naval warfare too, but you didn’t seem so keen to notice then,” she teased, playfully tightening her gaze on me.

“You know, I never thought I’d say it, but I think I’d rather be back on the ship than out in the open.” I laughed and surveyed the area dramatically.

“We aren’t in the open. You only feel exposed because we’re out of your element,” she insisted, giving me a playful shove. I let her walk away without trying to stop her—I was too busy watching her ass in those riding pants.

Messiah laced his fingers together and hoisted her back onto the horse. Young Fish kept pace beside her, babbling about the many fruits and berries he had tasted along the way.

“You mustn’t do that. We are in a foreign land; they may have plants that look like ours but are actually poisonous,” Chalice chided.

The boy talked about everything and nothing for the rest of the day, until Chalice finally sat him on the saddle and instructed him to get some rest. No doubt he would need it; there wouldn’t be any sleeping once we hit those mountains. I shivered, imagining the cold, and my feet ached at the thought of climbing mountain terrain after all of this, but I kept pushing forward.

I’d have moved that mountain for her if she asked, what the fuck was a trip over it?

---