Page 23 of Cursed Dreams
“What in Esku’s name was that?!” Nyla grumbled, pushing her dark curls from her face as she untangled herself from Roina.
Cellen, groaned dramatically. “Remind me to send the driver a fruit basket, preferably filled with rocks”
The carriage door swung open, and one of the guards, a broad shouldered human with greying hair, gestured for them to step out. “The wheel’s broken. Everyone out.”
Thalia stumbled as she stepped onto the packed dirt road, her legs wobbly after the rough stop. A few feet away, the wheel lay at an awkward angle, completely ruined. Mud clung to the broken spokes, revealing the culprit, a massive rock lodged beneath the surface, hidden from view until it was too late.
“Great,” Roina muttered, dusting herself off. “How long will it take to fix?”
Before the guard could answer, the sound of approaching hooves drew everyone’s attention. Vaelith rode toward them, his haircatching the light like spun silver. Even in the middle of a crisis, he looked completely composed, the dark cloak over his shoulders barely shifting with his movement.
“What’s the issue?” His tone was calm but carried an underlying authority.
The guard straightened. “Broken wheel, my lord. We’ll need time to repair it.”
Thalia frowned slightly.My lord?
She hadn’t paid much attention to the guards before, but now that she was standing among them, she noticed that they were all human. And they were looking at Vaelith with a mixture of respect and… awe.
Vaelith’s silver eyes scanned the broken wheel before he sighed. “We don’t have time for delays. The open road isn’t safe.”
Cellen leaned in close and murmured, “They look at him like he’s some kind of benevolent God”
Thalia shot him a confused glance. “Why?”
Cellen arched a brow. “You don’t know? He helped put down the human rebellion a few years back.”
Her stomach dropped. “What rebellion?”
“Some humans wanted the Fae out of their lands completely. It got… messy,” Cellen muttered. “Vaelith was sent to deal with it.”
Thalia swallowed hard. Why had she never heard of this before? Had her parents known? Would they have still let her leave if they did? She knew there were some humans who distrusted the fae, but an outright rebellion?
A new anxiety crawled under her skin. She was heading straight into a realm where humans had fought to drive out Fae.
“Since we can’t rely on the carriage,” Vaelith’s voice cut through her thoughts, “we’ll ride the rest of the way.”
Thalia’s heart stopped.
Ride? On a horse?
The guards started bringing forward extra mounts, her panic set in. She had never ridden before. She knew the basics in theory, but she had never actually been on one.
A lump formed in her throat as she forced herself to step forward, attempting to look as if she wasn’t on the verge of a breakdown.
Vaelith’s gaze settled on her. “You look pale.”
“I, I don’t ride,” she admitted, voice barely above a whisper.
His expression remained unreadable for a moment before he nodded once. “You’ll ride with me.”
The words sent her spiralling into a whole new kind of panic.
Her mind betrayed her, immediately recalling one of her mother’squestionablebooks that she had accidentally read one evening.This is how it starts, doesn’t it? Some noble warrior throws the blushing maiden onto his horse, their bodies pressed together as they,
A surge of heat rushed to her face so quickly that she thought she might pass out.
Vaelith’s expression shifted from amused to horrified in the span of a breath.
