Page 91 of Pawns of Fate
Rose wanted to answer, but the words to explain stuck in her throat.
“He used his shadow form to escape the explosion he caused, I’m sure,” Nicholas retorted.
“That sounds like Lysander,” Syzman replied, a hint of chagrin in his voice. He nudged Lyla, who looked like she might be sick, then turned to Nicholas and Rose. “We have food and water. Let’s rest here for a moment, and you can tell us all thedetails before we walk to the village north of here.”
As they ate, Rose and Nicholas recounted the events of their time with Lysander, sparing no details.
“But how did you know where to find us?” Rose asked as they packed up and began what she hoped was their final walk through the desert.
“Duke Talbot has a shadow mage in his employ. When you two didn’t make it to his castle, they contacted Syzman,” Lyla replied.
“After seeing the ruins in the swamp, I had my suspicions,” Syzman added. “So we mapped out all of the monster attacks on the Ojoh villages, and did a little research on the locations of ancient druid temples. Uddedin has such an extensive library; we found helpful texts and maps almost immediately. It turned out that there was an underground druid temple close to the attacks.”
“I wanted to reserve mana, so we settled on teleporting to the oasis and walking to the cave.”
“Where are York and Ava? Did they make it to Onanish safely?”
“Yes, Lady Rose,” Lyla replied, a faint smile on her lips. “They’re safe. Ava is back at the castle, and York is leading the Sharp military from the swamps to help rebuild Uddedin after the monster attacks.”
“Oh.” Rose felt a bloom of hope. If the Ojoh were willing to accept military aid from the Sharps, would they still need her and Ava as collateral?
Syzman added, “Marquess Sharp has renegotiated withthe Ojoh leaders. Pescinnia has already left Castle Sharp and is returning to Uddedin. There’s no more need for an exchange of collateral.”
She let out a deep breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in. For the first time in what felt like months, Rose knew that she was really going home.
Chapter 29
10 Months Later
NICHOLAS
Rose leaned her head on Nicholas’s shoulder. Using a carriage to travel to the Robson estate took far longer than just riding on horseback because carriages couldn’t handle the shortcuts through the rugged terrain. They had to follow the main roads that wound slowly through the Onanish mountains. It tested his patience, but how else was a heavily pregnant woman supposedto travel?
A satisfied smile crossed Nicholas’s face, and he put a hand over his wife’s rounded stomach. She was seven months along, so the pregnancy showed quite a bit. It looked like she was hiding a cabbage under her dress.
Nicholas gently nuzzled the top of her head with his cheek, breathing in her floral and vanilla scent. His favorite scent.
“Stop it.” Rose giggled. “You’ll mess up my hair.”
Nicholas huffed in feigned annoyance. He bent down to kiss her lips. It started as a chaste peck but turned into something more heated. Nicholas plunged his tongue into her mouth, and Rose responded sweetly, gently sucking on it while resting her hands on his biceps. Heat rushed to the lower half of Nicholas’s body. His attraction to Rose only seemed to increase with time, and her pregnancy made her even more desirable in his eyes.
When they finally broke the kiss, both of them were utterly breathless. Nicholas grabbed Rose by the hips and sat her in his lap, adjusting the fabric of her full skirts so that it didn’t completely flood their seats. He started kissing her neck and exploring the curves of her body that pregnancy had made even more generous.
“Not in the carriage, Nicholas!” Rose gasped. “What if the driver hears?” Her cheeks pinkened with embarrassment. Rose had developed too much concern for the staff’s opinions when she’d learned that she and Nicholas had replaced Ava and York as the most amorous couple at Castle Sharp.
Nicholas pulled the shoulder of her dress down and gave her a small love bite. Personally, he couldn’t be more proud of the rumor. Thoughts of taking Rose on his desk or in the gardenflooded his mind, and he had to adjust himself.
“Not here,” Rose said with a faux pout.
“Why not?” he huffed.
“We’ll bounce around everywhere.” Rose’s cheeks went from pink to red as she realized the double meaning of her words.
It made Nicholas want to mess with her more, but he settled for a gentle teasing, “Isn’t that the point?” They were almost at their destination.
He had unfinished business with Hector Robson and needed to stay focused.
Nicholas pulled the shoulder of his wife’s dress up so that no one could see the marks of his physical love for her. He smirked again when he thought her pregnancy was already enough proof of that.
