Page 57 of Enamored
I didn’t wait to see her reaction, didn’t want to subject myself to her rejection. Instead, I kicked my horse forward and plunged into the battle.
Chapter
20
Elinor
Maxim had declaredhis love for me.
My entire body and soul down to my marrow quavered with the need to race after him. But he’d been swallowed up among the fighting, his proud bearing and black cloak no longer visible.
Even if I’d been able to spot him, Halvard’s grip was unyielding. He led our horses and guided me alongside him. Though I wanted to resist, I couldn’t deny the wisdom in moving away from the fighting. If the tide shifted, if King Canute’s main force broke through the front, Maxim was right. I would be in terrible danger. King Canute wouldn’t stop at simply capturing me. In his quest for Norvegia’s throne, he’d force me to be his the moment he laid hands on me.
“I love you. I always have, and I always will.”Maxim’s words cut through the confusion I’d been feeling since overhearing his conversation with Rasmus. Deep inside, I knew Maxim had spoken the words of love from his heart, that he hadn’t been manipulating me, and that his declaration went beyond friendship. His tone had been too raw and his eyes too full of love to be anything other than genuine.
Maxim loved me.
A strange warmth opened within me. Like one of the hot springs high in the Frozen Wilds, it bubbled amidst the cold, thawing the truth I’d let stay frozen for so long. The truth was, I’d always loved him too. Even when we were young, my love had been real and consuming, though it had been childish and untested.
Now that we were adults, my love was different. More mature and charged with physical attraction. Even different, it was still just as real and consuming. Perhaps that was what scared me so much and why trusting him was difficult. I was afraid I’d lose him again... just like he’d been afraid he’d lose me.
“Oh, Maxim,” I whispered. We both had insecurities. If we didn’t learn to face the doubts haunting us, we’d never have confidence to give ourselves freely in a relationship.
I shook my head, forcing my attention forward to aid Halvard in our safekeeping instead of impeding him. ’Twas foolish to ever believe Maxim and I could consider a future together, since the law forbade royalty from marrying a commoner. Even if Rasmus convinced everyone to change the law, Maxim insisted he didn’t want to become the next king, that he was leaving for the north and would never return to Vordinberg.
My thoughts stalled, and I drew to an abrupt stop. Maxim’s declaration of love had been his farewell.
Panic burst through me.
“Your Highness.” Halvard tugged me. “Please, we need to retreat farther.”
I strained to see Maxim through the clashing swords and thrusting pikes. He wouldn’t have declared his love if he’d had any intention of returning to me. No, he expected to die. Today. Out there.
I jerked my arm free from Halvard and began striding back toward the battlefront. I had to go with Maxim. And Halvard needed to come too. The three of us would be safer together as we sought the king.
“Mayhap we should retreat to the ravine.” Halvard fell into step next to me. “We don’t know who we can trust here.”
A shriek came from a distance, from the direction of King Canute’s camp—the kind that belonged to a draco, the kind that made the hairs on my arm stand up.
I searched the sky but saw nothing, not even a faint wisp of campfire smoke. Halvard, too, peered up at the cloud cover, his aged face creased with concern.
Perhaps I was wrong. I prayed the shriek had come from a dying or wounded soldier instead.
We continued forward more cautiously, but a moment later, another shriek filled the air, louder and more distinct. This time a red-and-black draco broke through the clouds and swirled above the battlefield.
The noise of the fighting subsided as the men lowered their weapons and broke apart, staring at the sky. King Canute’s men were running in retreat.
The creature flapped its wings harder and faster, circling low enough that I could clearly see the checkered design of its underside.
Was this the same draco we’d previously encountered? Maxim would have been able to tell right away. I prayed it wasn’t, but my intuition told me we were in grave peril.
As the draco swooped down, my heart plummeted with it, especially as I realized where it was headed. The northeast area of the battlefield. Directly where the king and his knights were fighting. And directly where Maxim had gone.
Shouts erupted nearby from commanders calling for archers to ready their arrows.
But it was too late. The draco released another of its skin-crawling cries, and a moment later, the heat of its breath swept over the army, setting on fire and burning everything in its path.
Arrows whizzed through the air. But the draco shot upward out of range, leaving billows of fire and smoke in its wake.
