Page 44 of Pawns of Fate
Rose tried to reply but choked on the words. After a minute, she managed to grit out a thank you.
Ava and York said a dramatic, passionate goodbye, and then Depaerth seated Ava behind him on his horse. Rose looked around one last time for Nicholas. Camillus pulled her up by the waist to ride with him.
It reminded her of how she rode to Onanish with Nicholas all those weeks ago. She’d felt warmth and even a little attraction toward him then. Now, seated on a horse with her first lover, she felt like her body was turning to stone.
When everyone had mounted, the horses began the journey to the Ojoh desert.
Rose turned to look at Sharp Castle one last time. A silver-haired face in one of the upper-floor windows caught her attention. She and Nicholas locked eyes for a moment. Rose waved goodbye, then turned around before she lost her composure.
NICHOLAS
Nicholas angrily thumbedthrough another pile of documents, but he still couldn’t drag his eyes away from the window. The delegation was leaving soon; they may have already left. He should go down there and apologize before Rose was out of his reach.
But he couldn’t get the moment her face crumbled out of his head. The moment he’d accused her of not wanting this marriage. He’d known it was wrong, but he was just so angry… at York. At Ava. At that stupid, smug Ojoh warrior. At anyone but Rose. Yet she’d borne the brunt of his anger. He took a long draught of liquor. Then another.
The sound of many horse hooves striking cobblestones floated through the window. The delegation was leaving.
He raced over to the window. There was Rose, seated behind that stupid, smug Ojoh warrior. And yet, instead of rage, Nicholas just felt sad.
Rose waved at him, and he thought his heart might fall out of his chest because it grew so heavy.
After she turned around, Nicholas waved after his wife like a helpless idiot. He almost screamed. He’d never felt soimpotent before.
He wanted to race after the Ojoh, steal his wife back, and ride away with her into the wild forests of Onanish. They could forget all of these politics and live happily as commoners.
But Rose was doing this for the Sharp family. She’d just sacrificed her happiness to keep the peace and avoid war. It helped the people of Onanish and the Ojoh clan, not to mention Ava. She’d never forgive him if he ruined all of her efforts, though it made his heart heavy with loss. He missed her already.
So instead of stealing her away, he waved like a lovesick fool and watched for almost an hour as the Ojoh party made their way down the mountain, through Onanish town, and finally disappeared into the coniferous forest.
Chapter 15
ROSE
The journey to the Ojoh village was uneventful and tedious. After three days of travel and two nights of camping, first in the mountains of Onanish, then in the dry heat of the Ojoh’s desert territory, Rose was thrilled to hear they’d reached their destination.
She peered over Camillus’s shoulder, but it was hard to make out much of the village with what few rays of the setting sun remained. It looked large, far larger than Onanish Town.
The horses approached the gates, which swung open when Depaerth raised a fist. Rose turned her neck asthey rode through to look at the vast sandstone wall.
This was no simple village. She twisted again, looking at the many buildings the party passed.
“Were you expecting a little oasis settlement like my hometown?” Camillus must have noticed her curiosity.
“Well, yes,” Rose admitted with a bit of sheepishness.
“Uddedin is our capital. It’s nothing like the minor settlements.”
“I was beginning to wonder.” Rose knew she’d only seen a small portion of the Ojoh Desert five years ago. She just hadn’t realized how small that portion was. She’d assumed that all of the Ojoh lived in villages scattered across the sandy dunes, not a fortified city like this.
“This is the center of our trade, government, and military. You’ll probably meet the head elder at some point. Our conflict with your in-laws was very heated. Everyone is curious about you.”
The horses entered a city section with larger buildings spaced further apart. Rose suspected they were houses, but it was hard to tell from just the roadside lamplight.
A dark, bird-like shape flew over the party. Rose heard Ava yelp and felt a pang of sympathy. She’d reacted the same way she’d seen a giant crow for the first time.
“She’s skittish,” Camillus said, voice dripping with annoyance. The crows were a part of daily life for the Ojoh, having developed a symbiotic relationship with the giant birds. The crows would often follow the warrior’s monster hunts, feasting on the remains deemed unfit for human consumption.They also guarded against rock scorpions and served as lookouts for small settlements. Most families fed the creatures leftover food like some kind of stray cat or dog, occasionally even going so far as to treat them like a pet, giving them toys and cleaning their feathers.
“Birds larger than horses aren’t common in the rest of Albion,” Rose tried to explain.
