Page 18 of Royal Fate

But he also wasn’t outside the cave, and I padded around the immediate vicinity, sniffing the air for him. I could sense him nearby, his pheromones attracting me, even if I couldn’t find him outright.

Finally, he returned, his eyes trailing over my face and figure before turning away.

“You’re up.”

“I’ve been up for a bit,” I replied. “Where did you go?”

He held up the wooden canteen, and I exhaled. “Oh.”

“We should get moving. I don’t want to be walking all day again.”

“Will we be?” I asked curiously.

“Not if we get moving,” he replied gruffly. “Let’s go.”

I hesitated, tempted to ask him about our cuddle session, but thought better of it. Instead, I started the way we’d been headed the previous day, and he whistled at me to stop.

“There’s a shorter way through here.”

I eyed the steep drop through the dale but didn’t protest. As I started to follow him, I slipped. With lightning-fast reflexes, he whirled around, catching me at the waist before I landed. Our faces were inches apart, my eyes huge.

“Watch your step,” he rasped, his breath warm on my cheek.

A hot blush tinged my cheeks, and I nodded as he placed me on my feet, his hands lingering on my back a second longer than necessary—or so it felt to me.

The moment he released me, he was back on his way, headed over the lower ground, fighting through the brambles as I struggled to keep up with him. I wondered if he was testing me by taking me on this more precarious terrain, but I didn’t complain.

We barely stopped over the next two hours, breaking only to take swigs of water and for Zen to gauge the location of the sun before powering onward until suddenly, I found myself unable to move.

“What is it, Mirielle?”

I pointed up ahead.

Zen grimaced. “You know where we are, then?”

“That’s where you found me, isn’t it?”

He stared at me, his slate eyes boring holes into me. “You don’t remember?” he asked sarcastically. “I thought you got all your memories back.”

“I remember,” I mumbled hoarsely. “I’d just rather not.”

His frown deepened, and he continued forward, but not without another backward glance at me. “Are you going to be able to make it the rest of the way? You realize we’re almost there, right?”

“I can make it.”

We didn’t speak again until the forest thinned and the tips of Silverhold Tower came into view. The sight of it was bittersweet to me. It indicated that our journey was over… but that my punishment was just beginning.

Two of the four identical turrets stood proudly against the afternoon sky, the beacon tower protruding from the center.

The rest of the woods cleared away on our right and left as the garden gates appeared, but before we could approach, Royal Guards enshrouded us from all angles.

“Hands up!”

“You’re on protected royal land!”

“Identify yourselves at once!”

The orders came at us loud and in unison, but Zen did not slow down.

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