Page 175 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
“What’s the matter with them?” I ask the knight beside me.
Red lifts his brows heavenward. “Did you not hear the call to the hunt yesterday?”
No. I was too busy worrying about my sweet Nel to care about the blaring horn and the annoying drumming.
The knight’s easy expression turns grave. “The Fae King and his allies have declared war on Aelfheim. They’re coming for us.”
For her.
It grates me that little fawn has to shoulder this burden, but I cannot fault her for it. The girl is wise and brave. My equal in every way that matters. I should have seen that from the start.
“There she is, your wife,” Red suddenly says, breaking my thoughts.
I follow his gaze to one of the white-topped healing tents. The infirmary is filled with dwarven prisoners and orcs. I don’t see the polite one from yesterday, Rollo.
“I’m sorry. I’ll get you another one.” I hear Nel’s voice apologizing to the band of dwarven prisoners. I trace the sound among the crowd to find the girl.
Then I see her, dressed in a healer’s acolyte robes, sneaking to bring the prisoners food.
“She is helping them?” I don’t realize I voiced out my surprise out loud.
“Of course she is,” Red says simply.
I watch in stunned silence as Rhianelle settles beside a dwarven lord, assisting him with his meal.
“I saw the whore queen’s horse earlier,” one of the orc prisoners whispers in Orkavan, Myrkheim’s mother tongue. “I bet the silver-haired bitch is around here somewhere.”
His friend merely nods, focusing on his rations of food. Their leather armors and surcoats are faded and overpatched, and they have been disarmed. Despite the orkan warriors lack of weapons, I find their proximity to Nel unnerving.
“For what she did to us yesterday, the bitch must pay in full—in blood,” the same orc mutters, his keen eyes train on every healer in the tent. The necklace translates his insult, carving it into my brain, each one worse than the one before. Nel resumes feeding the dwarven lord his porridge, ignoring the orc.
“Once I have my staff, I am going to kill her. Then I’ll bring her back to life, just so I can have the satisfaction of killing her the second time,” he grumbles. It’s becoming unbearable having to listen to the orc ramblings any longer without wanting to crack his windpipe.
My hand inches for my blade.
Red clicks his tongue, his hand quickly grasping my arm. “They have surrendered. Rhianelle will hate you for it.”
“That asshole is openly mocking her,” I snarl at the elf. If he keeps holding me back, I might rip Garrett’s hand off.
“Come on. Don’t lose your marbles now…” His hand remains stiff on my arm. “I thought you want her to like you.”
The reminder makes me stiffen.
I am trying to earn her heart. I want Nel to trust me again. I want her to be mine.
The knight narrows his gaze to Nel and smiles. “She’s probably trying to find out her friend’s fate from the other prisoners. Let her do her thing.”
That make sense…
I shrug him off, but I heed Red’s advice. This once.
“Get that fucking look off your face,” I tell him.
Garrett, the bastard, laughs.
Little fawn’s ears twitch and she starts looking around the camp.Her gaze immediately finds mine. Just like that, a stunning smile spreads across her face. It immediately shifts to frown the closer she walks towards us.
Red and her exchange greetings but her eyes turn glassy when she looks at me. “I woke up and you weren’t there this morning.”
