Page 53 of What Lies Within Masks & Shadows

Screwhimand all the males who ever thought they could control a female.

Screw. Them. All.

Though the emptiness, and lack of watchful eyes, was a welcoming feeling.

She could return to her dreary, cramped tent. Sit and take pity for her situation, for getting herself into another game of beauty and beast. But stars be damned if she’d surrender now. And the longer she waited, the harder it would be to escape. There was no time to find comfort or let her guard down.

If I could just walk around this place, I’d find the best way out.

The trampled path beside the bastard’s tent remained empty for some time. It seemed the best option to wander off.

Alora scoured the area once more. The hill would hold little cover for her to climb, and once she crested the top, she would have to slip unseen through ten sentries before reaching the swallowing darkness of the forest. Low odds of success. The only option would be to explore the maze of tents until she found an unguarded opening or blind spot before slipping into the forest on the valley level.

If she was captured again, she could use the excuse of falling lost on her way to relieve herself, perhaps even to secure food.

Alora was so lost in her scheming that as her boots brought her to the edge of the path, she didn’t notice Aiden leaning against a tree, clouded in the shadow on the far side of a tent. Waiting at the edge of the path beside Garrik’s lodgings.

“As enticing as it may be to find yourself on a morning stroll, entertain yourself within our firesite, love. Wouldn’t want you getting yourself lost. Garrik would have my head for dinner. Which, in all honesty, might actually taste better than what’s planned for tonight. Thalon’s cooking.” Aiden’s mouth twistedinto a disgusted grimace. “But I still wouldn’t like my head to roll.” He pushed himself off the tree, his frocked black coat, embellished with ornate brass buckles and buttons, danced in the wind as he walked toward her.

“You can’t expect me to sit here and do nothing waiting for the High Prince to return.”I’m not his wife, and I certainly won’t wait around for him to return.Alora crossed her arms, visibly annoyed.

“How about a nice nap? Freshen up for this evening? Maybe a fun game of poker or Liar’s Dice?” Aiden produced two marble cubes from his pocket and smiled.

The dice were … oddly designed. Unlike others she’d seen, these both had skull faces on the side reserved for two blacked dots.

Alora surveyed them, and her expression warmed to fiery rebellion. “I’m going exploring. If you don’t wish for me to get lost, then you can join me if you must.”

Without waiting for any protest, Alora strutted past the High Prince’s tent and began her path of weaving around canvases. Taking great care to memorize every turn, how many soldiers were stationed at each fire, where random trees grew, tables … and weapons.

Eventually, she emerged in a large clearing where a wooden, oval-shaped wall was constructed only feet from the smooth, white stones lining the lake. The lake was silently present, mirroring the landscape of endless pines around its shores where water rippled and passed over the stones.

The oval structure—it was nothing glamorous. In fact, it was quite ordinary. Nothing but sun-faded wood, nearly waist height, large enough to fit a hundred bodies, with benches just as sun-soaked scattered around it.

An arena. A training or sparring arena based on the intricate maneuvers of swords, groaning battle leathers, and fists on fleshfrom within the walls. Horses were hitched to the left, some cargo wagons and carts stationed to their right in front of the forest.

The crunching footsteps on gravel and dirt disturbed her marveling.

Aiden jogged up beside her and slowed to match her pace. “If you want a good show, the ring is always busy. A great way to pass the time. Faeries practicing sword skills, Mystics practicing magic.”

Alora went wide-eyed, as wide as the moon himself. “You practice magicout in the open?” She stopped on suddenly numb legs, heart thundering. “Isn’t that justbeggingfor someone to see and alert the High King?”

Aiden only smiled. “Garrik’s powers protect us.”

She pinched her brows.His … Smokeshadows, was it? They protect this place?She crooked her neck, searching for any inclination of those powers manifested around them, but when her survey fell short, her confusion slid back to Aiden.

“He did tell you, didn’t he?”

“No.”Of course not. Why would he tell me anything that is actually important?“Tell me what?”

“Well. You see, Mister Tall, Gray, and Scary has a shield over this valley.” Aiden cupped her upper back, swiping his other hand through the sky.

So not Smokeshadows butanotherpower?

That must’ve been what Eldacar had referred to. How he’d never met anyone else with more than one power except the High Prince.

A shudder rippled through Alora’s flesh. Almost as if his lingering power surged through her in nothing other than a gloating, confirming display.

Even so far away, the smug bastard stirred the irritation inside her.

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