Page 39 of White Horse Black Nights

Basten stews in his guilt, and I wallow in my anger. Here I’ve been fantasizing about my first kiss for years, and it had to be with a brute who dumped my ass in the dirt after pawing me.

“We should be getting on the road, Lady Sabine,” Basten says without looking at me.

Hatred makes my steps stiff as I tug off his shirt, smash it into his chest, and start to comb my hair over my bare breasts. He keeps his gaze in the opposite direction, like his eyes will burn out of his head if he even side-eyes my naked body.

Myst, I call.The brute says it’s time to go.

She walks over, swinging her head between Basten and me like there is a visible, taut line of tension between us.

She whinnies.Mate?

I gape, utterly horrified. At least only I can hear her voice in my head.No, we didn’t mate! Don’t you dare suggest something like that again!

She snorts again, skeptical.

I mumble curses as I climb onto a stump and swing a leg over her back. Grumpy, I rearrange my loose hair to try to cover every inch of exposed skin. It’s been almost two weeks since Suri helped me wash my hair with scented soap, and now the full, soft waves that her braid made are clumpy and oily.

Basten swings his rucksack onto his back and, wordlessly, we return to the forest road. He walks a few paces ahead, and I bore holes in the back of his head with my glare, cursing him for existing. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here right now, shamed and naked, thighs rubbed red from riding bareback, in dire need of a bath. I’d be in Adan’s arms. It would beAdan’smouth on mine.Adan’shands in my hair.Adan’shard body atop my own.

Basten has made it crystal clear that escaping from him isn’t an option. I refuse to try again and put Myst or any other animal at risk of what happened to the wildcat. And yet, I’ll be damned if I let these men steer my future. I will never marry the man who forced me on this obscene ride. Somehow—either before we arrive in Duren or after—I’ll evade every gilded bond they’ve shackled me with.

I have to send a message to Adan.

Since I can’t meet him as planned, I need to let him know that I haven’t given up on us. It’s the least I can do after letting Basten kiss me.

The thing is, sending a message should be simple for a godkissed girl who can talk to animals, but it isn’t. Birds are able to travel anywhere in Astagnon within a day, but they don’t think as humans do. Even if one volunteered to help, it would be impossible to explain directions. They don’t understand the concept of town names, road names, or even people’s names. The best they can manage is navigating by natural landmarks, but that’s a challenge, since Basten has taken us into a forest where every valley looks the same.

I raise my voice, daring to break the tense silence that’s pervaded us all morning. “You said there was a crossroads ahead, right?”

“A few miles ahead, yeah. We’ll take the fork east, sticking to the woods.”

The Sisters of Immortal Iyre didn’t bother to teach me geography, so my knowledge of Astagnon’s topography is fuzzy. The best I can rely on are the few conversations I overheard in my father’s manor house, between him and Suri discussing the path I’d take to Duren.

“If we go straight at the crossroads,” I suggest, “That would take us north to Blackwater, right? On the Innis River?”

Basten grunts. “We aren’t going north.”

My thinking is that if I can get to a town on the Innis River, I can find a bird willing to carry a message to Adan. The Old Innis Mill is situated inland along that same waterway, and with its large waterwheel, it should be a clear enough landmark for a bird to recognize. All it would have to do is follow the river until it spots the waterwheel.

“But heading north would be a nearly direct path to Duren,” I press. “Otherwise, we’re wasting time skirting through the forest.”

“Blackwater is no place for a lady.”

Basten clearly isn’t inclined to have this conversation, but I pull Myst to a halt and wait, hands on my hips.

He turns around with a scowl like I’m a thorn in his side.

I clear my throat. “I want to go through Blackwater.”

“What youwantdoesn’t concern me, Lady Sabine.”

I trade him a scowl. My position on top of Myst gives me the advantage of height, and I draw myself up to take full advantage of that fact. Theatrically, I hold up a lock of my oily hair.

“If you can smell anything beyond your own stench, you would know that I’m in dire need of a bath. I doubt your master would be pleased to have his new bride parade through town looking like a cat who’s been wallowing in the mud. I need to stop at an inn to bathe before arriving in Duren.”

He folds his arms tightly. “I told you, we aren’t going north.”

I lift a pointed eyebrow. “Are there any inns along the forest road?”

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