Page 52 of Mated to the Alien Warlord

He waved his hand. "All warlords' firstborns are boys to ensure the line's continuance."

I rolled my eyes but didn't fully discount his claim. He knew more about this than I did.

He lifted me up and gently placed me on the bed before taking a wet towel to clean the evidence of our lovemaking, then he tugged me under the furs and snuggled up next to me.

"I missed you," he whispered, holding me tight.

I snuggled into his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart, relished how his arms held me tightly pressed against him, and felt safer than I had in a long time. "I missed you more."

"Tomorrow I will get an army ready to take you back to Wyrkymburg—"

"Oh no," I cut him off, pressing my chin into his pecs. "No, no, no. I will not be sent away again. Ever."

"The cold season has already begun, and we still need to hunt Grobhan down," he tried again, but I shook my head.

"I'm not leaving."

"Damaris," his voice sounded tortured. "Be reasonable. You cannot accompany us in your condition."

"I've marched for days in my condition," I pointed out. "Besides, nobody can keep me safe like you do."

A rumble moved through his chest, somewhere between a chuckle and a protest, and I took it that we were in agreement.

Thefollowingdaysweretorture. I was torn between wanting to send Damaris back to Wyrkymburg and needing to keep her by my side. She was right about one thing: nobody could protect her like me. No matter how many warriors I would send with her, my days and nights would be plagued with nightmares of her being taken again.

Gryck, Kendryx, and I agreed on two things. Grobhan couldn't have gone far, and the number of his warriors was greatly diminished. Fionbyr had been the mind behind the rebellion and Grobhan the brawn. Without Fionbyr, he wouldn't be able to continue.

Still, we had to catch and make an example of him before others got the wrong idea and decided to rise up. It didn't matter that there weren't many other warlords. Thyre had five, one was dead, one on the run, and two pursuing him. Leaving only Brogan.

"Let's ride to Grymburg and see where Warlord Brogan stands," Kendryx suggested.

"I have no doubt about Warlord Brogan's loyalties," Gryck stated confidently.

"Maybe Grobhan does though and is on his way there," I suggested.

An ice storm the night before had erased all tracks of Grobhan's progress. Where he was headed was anybody's guess at this point. It was getting colder with every passing day, and if we weren't careful, we would be caught out in the open at the height of the cold season.

The constant twilight that accompanied the cold season had already descended upon us, and from now on, we would only be able to travel a few hours a day before everybody needed rest.

Tents would have to be erected even for the horses, and one miscalculation, one surprise storm like the one that had battered our tents last night, could mean everybody's death.

Damaris bravely rode on Mordakay with me; that way, my body heat kept her and the baby warm.

Her horse walked beside us, ready at a moment's notice for me to deposit her into his saddle in case Grobhan tried to attack us or his army was spotted close enough to confront.

"Are you warm enough, czira?" I asked, rubbing her arms.

She was dressed from head to toe in furs, only her eyes stuck out. "I'm alright," came the same answer she gave me every couple of hours when I inquired. But she wasn't shivering, so I took her word for it.

We traveled two more days, and on the third, a scout galloped straight for our khazar. We had drifted away from Kendryx and Gryck a little, so I kicked Mordakay into a faster trot to be at their side when the scout arrived.

"Khazar, a storm is coming," the scout announced breathlessly.

Automatically, all our eyes moved to the sky, which was, as usual, dark from lack of sun, but cloudless.

"Please believe me, I was born not far from here. The cold season changes the weather here on the tip of a sword. We need to find shelter. Quickly," the scout insisted.

I stared up at the sky again. Just this morning, we had hoped we would make it further today than the days before because the temperatures had slightly risen.

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