Page 31 of What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

“Am I to be your prisoner, then?” Alora snarled through gritted teeth, matching the very rage in his visage.

Blackened abyss speared her eyes once more. His lips parted, breathing heavily as he gritted his bloody teeth as if he would speak. Such boldness wasn’t well received.

Her captor forced her forearms down in her lap. Making one thing clear:

This was his game … and she would play it.

As they deviated from the road hours ago, moonlight guiding them, Alora had been able to track every turn and every landmark. They only stopped to allow the horses to drink and riders to stretch their legs.

Surrounded by silence,hehad pulled her from the horse, steadying her when her knees buckled, and avoiding her cold glare when a waterskin was shoved at her hand.

She had refused to accept it, earning her an unamused expression and something she thought may be a disgruntled curse in a language she’d never learned. And when he wouldn’t be rejected and forced it into her hand, Alora had leisurely opened the top, her eyes defiantly glaring into his, rotated her aching wrist, and emptied it at his feet.

The rod he had shoved so far up his ass, securing his back in a permanent, stiffened state, eased into his neck by the time they continued their seemingly endless journey.

Good. Let him be angry.He wouldn’t win without a fight.

Under the limited glow of starlight, she was certain that they had long since crossed two calm streams, a tall, grassy meadow, and the north side of a thick forest. Beyond this, they eventually emerged into a clearing overlooking a valley.

Ten soldiers adorned in the same scaled, battle-black armor and dark cloaks were standing guard, to her surprise. Spread in units, wide across the cliff’s edge, with swords strapped to their sides and various weapons, such as spears and bows in hand.

A rider trotted up from behind, a raspy female voice breaking the silence. “Your orders?”

“Ride ahead. Ready the tents.” That deep voice had calmed. So had the tension pulsing through his muscles.

Alora swallowed in nervous anticipation.

So, this was it. Her captor’s destination. And no inclination of what horrible fate lay ahead. She had been saved in the alley, then forced through a sea of the High King’s army, only to be abducted once more when she tried to escape.

Alora watched as the female loped through sentries with no warnings or objections and disappeared, out of sight, over the cliff ahead.

Her rider—captor—theprickbehind her, leaned forward, adjusting her darkened hood as another rider nudged his horse beside them. That iron grip remained solid around her waistas he, without turning, commanded, “Inform our sentries of tonight’s events, then wait below.”

Glowing golden eyes caught her curiosity.

Before she could take them in further, theirdick-tatormotioned to the last rider awaiting orders, nodded to the darkened eyes that no doubt burned through the moonlight behind her, and rode forward to greet the summoned male.

Against her body’s every protest, they too closed the distance.

Both males climbed down from their horses and stood in conversation with the sentries, who bent at their waists when her rider passed them by.

Alora tried not to focus on the sentiment. Because what opened in her view was both breathtaking and gut-twisting.

The valley beyond opened to sounds of an encampment below. As if she hadn’t seen enough stationed around the perimeter, more soldiers were settled within white tents, and the very same dragon that secured the cloak around her neck, embroidered into the canvases. The glow from the fires and torches lit up the entire vale. Sitting around and walking by those fires were more soldiers. They crawled the land like vermin.

She’d never seen anything like it. Thousands of tents scattered, most only large enough to host two bodies inside, but a few ran in long rectangles, like barracks.

Among the sea of tents stood one lavishing structure, fit for a king. Only its canvas was muddled onyx.

Those tents extended far beyond the base of the hill, stopping outside the banks of a glistening lake that she could barely see across. A forest surrounded the outskirts until it bordered the edge of the steep hill they now descended. Campfires released heavy tendrils of smoke far into the night sky. Their burning aroma falling heavier and heavier with every step.

As they approached the bottom, the world turned completely silent. A surge of static energy charged the air. An overwhelming taste of metal intruded her mouth as a thrumming, tingling sensation rushed through her entire body, prickling her fingertips like needles and standing her hair on end.

As swiftly as it came, it was gone, shrouding her in a wave of piercing dizziness.

What was that?Alora’s mind surged, struggling to blink away the clouds covering her vision.

Fighting off the spinning and spotting dots, she knew that she had only managed to remain upright because that solid wall behind her interfered. When her body had fallen loose and limp toward the ground, his solid arms toweled around her, holding her steady. No doubt an act of pity, simply because he wouldn’t want to drag her into camp.

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