Page 51 of Feral Guardian
“What?” I snap.
“I…thank you.”
“You’re welcome, princess.” I sigh deeply. “You’re everything to me.”
I say the words I used to say to her nearly every day when we lived together in the palace. I wanted her to know how important she was. I wanted her to feel loved. I knew that neither her mother nor her father was giving her the kind of attention she needed, and her younger sisters weren’t equipped to help her, either.
Had I ruined her with those four words? Had I made her desire me and put us in this predicament?
“Alastair!” she calls one last time when I’m well into the trees, but I pretend not to hear her. If I turn back now, I will scoop her out of the water and lay her down beside the hot springs, doing things to her that no guard should ever consider doing to their ward.
Kor’Tar grumbles at me when we near the alcove where we fought the demon bear.
“What do you want from me?” I ask him.
He whinnies high, then low, like he’s being condescending.
“You don’t know what I’m dealing with,” I say.
Kor’Tar grunts incredulously.
“She’s my ward. It doesn’t matter what I feel, nor what she feels. It’s inappropriate, and it would not be protecting her. It would be taking advantage of her. She’s nine years younger than me, for Zephrom’s sake,” I say.
He snorts at me, his lips flapping.
“It’s not an excuse. She must ascend the throne, and that means marrying an eligible man.”
I dig in the dirt until I reach the briars wrapped around the bear. I unravel a few of them and tie them off on Kor’Tar’s saddle horn. I urge him forward and then pull as well, helping to unearth the giant creature. It looks much less intimidating when deceased.
We move slowly through the trees as Kor’Tar tows the beast.
“In any case, even if it were appropriate, even if we could…I shouldn’t. I could hurt her,” I whisper.
Kor’Tar grunts and kicks dirt onto my legs.
“Thank you,” I growl at him.
He whinnies high, as if laughing at me.
When we reach the clearing, Lily has transformed a few sticks into tent poles, but it’s clear she doesn’t know what she’s doing. She has never seen a tent in great detail or been inside one. This makes sense. It was never something I did for her. Swordplay and combat training, yes. Things I thought maybe one day would be of use to her. Not tents.
“Here, princess.” I take one of the poles in my hand. “Make the main tent poles have a wide Y shape at the top. This will let us rest the top support between them, adding stability. Another notch on either side will give us the option to put some supporting sticks around the opening.”
She nods and opens her hand to take back the wood she’d been crafting with her magic. I pick up some of the spare sheets. She’s clearly made them thicker, more tightly woven. They will be suitable for a covering, resisting any rain that might come.
I unhook the bear from Kor’Tar, then remove his saddle. He needs a good brushing. I wish we had the proper tools, but my demon claws will have to do for now. Kor’Tar makes happy grumbling noises as I gently tease out the knots and bunches in his fur.
With that done, I skin the bear and cut away several chunks of its meat, then skewer them on sticks that I set aside before preparing a fire ring. It’s sunset when the meat is cooking and the tent is erected. I’m glad we got started early, rather than trying to set everything up in the dark.
Lily sits next to the fire, rubbing her arms as the orange light dips below the peaks of the mountains.
I take off my heat shield ring and hold it out to her. “Use this.”
She shakes her head. “I need to get used to it. We’re going to be traveling for what, a month?”
“Two,” I say.
She chuckles once, staring into the flames.
