Page 40 of Feral Guardian
I mount behind Lily and tuck the laundry paddle under my arm like a lance. I wrap my other arm around her waist and grab the reins, urging Kor’Tar out of the stable.
“Good luck,” the old man says as we pass him into the street.
I can hear a constable’s whistle as we race away from the tavern, but I don’t look back. There is only forward. There is only Lily’s safety, and the great wide wilderness we must traverse to ensure it.
Iwillensure it.
Chapter twelve
Lily
I’m rocking side to side, andeverythinghurts. I crack my eye open just to get a blast of morning light straight into my brain like a knife, and promptly shut it. I smell Alastair’s rich, coconutty scent, and groan as I lean back into him. His hand tightens on my stomach to keep me in place.
“What happened?” I ask, coming to awareness a little more. I’m on a horse, Kor’Tar specifically.
“What do you remember?” Alastair asks, his voice quiet.
I rub my temples. “Drinking and playing cards, feeling a bit dizzy and deciding to go upstairs. The stairs…I don’t remember much after the stairs before seeing Duncan’s dead eyes under the bed.”
Alastair takes a slow, deep breath. “Do you remember the bounty?”
The parchment with my face and thick Seterian letters spelling “dead” at the top with four thousand gold. “Yes,” I whisper. “Do you still have it?”
“I do.”
“Did it say anything about who wanted me for such an exorbitant amount?” I ask, feeling my temper rise. It’s not Alastair’s fault, but I can’t help being upset about the situation.
“It referred to someone in Yelesna, but there was no time to track them down,” he says, sounding equally frustrated.
“You’re the best guard, Alastair. Have I told you that recently?”
He tuts. “Not for four years.”
“Well, I’ll tell you every day from here on.” I pat his hand on my stomach and feel him tense. “Thank you for saving my life so many times already.”
“It is my duty,” he says stiffly.
I lay my head back on his chest. “You should’ve quit ages ago.”
He chuckles softly and the sound soothes some of the pain behind my eyes.
That relief is quickly dashed as I suddenly decide to relive every moment of torture I’ve put him through in a flash flood of memories. It’s him teaching me to rune-write, teaching me swordplay and combat stances even when my mother forbade it, letting me sneak down to watch his men play cards—of course he knew I was there—getting into all kinds of troubleallthe time, and pranking him daily.
“Seriously, how can you stand me?” I ask.
“How can you ask that?” he replies angrily.
“I’m just a huge pain in your ass, all the time. I’m not worth the effort, nothing about me is worth protecting—”
His hand claps over my mouth and he lowers his lips to my ear. “You’re once again being a very naughty princess, but I don’t much like this version.”
“The headmistress found me so lacking she recommended I not take the throne,” I say, but it comes out muffled behind his hand.
He catches enough of it to respond. “You altered that document.”
How right he is…
His hand slides away from my mouth, trailing down my neck and gently grazing between my breasts as it comes to rest at my stomach again. My heart thunders and my pulse throbs in my lower belly as that touch awakens my mind like nothing has before. I’m more keenly aware of my behind pressed between his thighs and my position against his chest than ever. His warm breath feathers over my hair and I fight with myself to stay still.
