Page 95 of Emylia

But it was all wrong.

Too tight.

Too stretched.

The kind of voice someone used when they were holding something in so tightly, they didn’t trust what would happen if they slipped, even for a second.

Maalikai looked between the two of us. “Thrainn said everything is safe. We’re allowed to teach Emylia how to make a bow.”

My mouth gaped. “Are you serious?”

I absently fidgeted with the green thread on my dress, wishing I could rip the whole damn thing off and go hunting in Aelinthian Forrest.

Miniscule crinkles creased the side of Maalikai’s eyes as he smiled. “Yep, they finished examining the wreckage in Mera a couple of hours ago.”

“Any signs of the warlord?” Sebastian was all business, arms crossed against his chest.

Maalikai shook his head. “Nothing. They must’ve headed north. Ophelia is so far south that maybe they decided not to bother with it. But Mera… it was razed to the ground. I’ve suggested to Thrainn to search the mountains.”

“You think they’re hiding in the cliffs?” Sebastian murmured, looking pensive.

“Or beneath it.” He added without inflection. “Everyone except for the man who made it here, was killed. There is no sign of where they fled, so that’s what I’d put my money on.”

“Damn it,” Sebastian spat out.

We all stayed silent, considering the horrors they could commit if they were successfully hiding in the mountains.

This was a game changer.

And certainly not to our advantage.

Sebastian was the first to interrupt our dark thoughts. “Well, let’s go make a warrioress out of her then.”

He sent me a sideways glance. No doubt he was gloating about his new nickname for me if I knew him well enough.

Which I did.

Not wasting a second, I followed my two bodyguards through the streets until we reached the stables.

Calling over his shoulder, Sebastian beckoned to a man almost a decade older than himself. “

Watch her; don’t let her out of your sight. I need to talk to this one while we saddle the horses,” he commanded, authority oozing from him like he was born to be a leader.

“Seriously? An actual bodyguard?” My face twisted in disgust.

“If you could be trusted to stay put, maybe I wouldn’t have to give you one,” he retorted. I poked out my tongue in a juvenile outburst. “Wait here, while we get the horses.”

“Fine,” I conceded.

My ‘bodyguard’ made himself busy near me, but not too close to be in my space. He was probably on strict orders not to piss me off. Which was probably more for his sake than mine.

“Hi, Emylia.” My heart dropped. Slowly, I turned around wishing I could somehow turn invisible.

“Josephine, Evie, what a surprise.” I should’ve known wherever Maalikai or Sebastian were, that they wouldn’t be far behind.

“Where’d Maalikai and Sebastian go?” Josephine asked, no doubt already knowing the answer. No doubt, she just wanted to get under my skin.

She looked radiant today in a cornflower blue dress, that hugged her figure and was belted low on her hips. “Nice dress,” she added, looking me up and down like I was a plague on society.

---