Page 16 of The Dark Prince
Maddeus shook his head. “His gods are strange. Then again, maybe not. Maybe ours are the strange ones. Then again, maybe we all worship the same gods, but in different ways.” He paused for a moment, pensive, then gestured to Toke. His olive skin and green eyes also set him apart from the other men.
“That one is strong like an ox. He’s Lord Tyr’s shield. The king sentenced him to death, but Lord Tyr spoke for him. He’s probably the most fanatically loyal one here, besides me, of course.” He puffed up a bit at that, then dove into his food with enthusiasm.
I took a few bites myself. “You all seem very loyal to Lord Tyr,” I said carefully. “I know him as the Dark Prince.”
Maddeus’s face soured. “Don’t say that around him. He hates the name. He only does what the king orders him to, and nothing more. You’d do well to remember that.”
I felt eyes on me and turned to see Lord Tyr watching me from across the room.
I turned my attention to my breakfast, knowing it might be a long time before I ate again.
The crowded cottage was companionable, with Lord Tyr’s obvious tension the only source of coldness in the room.
When everyone’s spoons were scraping the bottom of their bowls, he stood, and the chatting men went quiet as one.
“Time to go.”
Without even bothering to finish the last few bites, each man immediately dropped their spoons and headed outside to ready the horses. Arne was last, raising a dark eyebrow at me as Lord Tyr walked up behind me. I turned to face him.
He frowned down at me. “You have a mark, right here.” His gloved fingertip pushed at a tender spot just above my lip. I blushed, knowing immediately what it was from. Heat flushed my body, remembering his lips on mine.
“It’s from—”
“I know what it’s from,” he spat vehemently, stunning me into silence.
I took a cloak from the chair and folded it around me, worriedly twisting the fabric between my fingers. The monk had insisted I take it with me.
Tyr sighed. “Come.”
He led me outside to where the men and horses were waiting. He picked me up and set me on his horse like yesterday, mounting up behind me after he’d strapped his ax to his back again. I twisted in my seat to wave at the monk who stood watching us from the door, thinking he deserved at least some thanks for his food and lodging, and the cloak.
The man waved back, a small smile at the corner of his mouth when he saw me.
Lord Tyr grunted in annoyance behind me, but said nothing.
The wind howled, and it seemed colder than the day before. We must be riding north, then. I pressed myself fully against Lord Tyr, needing his heat to keep my teeth from chattering. He said nothing as we rode, and neither did his men.
Lord Tyr was angry at me for kissing him last night. No, he was angry at himself. Why would he be angry? I was his wife—if he didn’t kiss me, who would? Was he ashamed of his desire for me, or had he simply kissed me to be polite and secretly abhorred me?
I wished he would say something. I wished Maddeus would ride up and say something. In the silence, I only had my thoughts, which was punishment enough.
All damn day.
A copse of trees here and there grew into larger patches of woods, until there was a large forest to the west. It wasn’t like the woods around my manor; that I could instinctively feel. It sounded foolish, but the woods feltdarkerhere, in the same way Tyr and his men felt darker. There was a cloying heaviness that settled over everything here in the north, like a blanket snuffing out flames.
My eyes kept darting to the dark forest and back, and Lord Tyr noticed.
“The forest is home to many things, but you needn’t fear while you’re with us,” he began, gesturing to the men ahead and behind us. “They—”
What exactly they were, I never got to find out because two things happened simultaneously. Arne bellowed out a warning, but it came too late as an arrow came whizzing from the forest, faster than I could trace with my eyes.
Right at me.
Lord Tyr grabbed me with both hands and shoved me off the horse. I hit the ice and snow hard, too stunned to register the pain at first. His men were shouting, and the sounds of battle erupted around me. I scrabbled desperately to find purchase, realizing I must have fallen face first into an ice-encrusted snow bank. My face felt raw, but I wiggled myself free, finally getting my feet under me and trying to stand.
The sounds of battle raged around me, with men screaming and dying to my left and right. The horses were shrieking as well, all of them huddled together and held tightly by a wide-eyed Dank.A dagger skittered across a piece of ice, the sun glinting off its blade. I grabbed at it with frozen fingers, nearly dropping it as I tried to force my hand to wrap around the hilt. I gripped it as tightly as I could, and looked up to see a ragged, thin man standing over me with a sword.
On instinct, I pushed up with my arm, the blade of my dagger clashing with his larger one. Pain exploded up my arm as something in my wrist gave, and my only weapon fell from my grasp. The man looked starved and desperate, his face black with dirt and his skin hanging off him. His sword descended toward my face as if in slow motion, and I closed my eyes.
