He stands. "I should have known better than to trust a troll." Then he is pushing his way out of the room.
I lunge toward him, but my hunters grab me by the shoulders. Vann. Somehow he got in here while I was dealing with the prince. The other hunters file out, their hammers and spears at the ready.
The hallways are full of sounds as the remaining giants and their slaves bolt out of our mountain.
"Let him go," he urges.
And I do. I will allow him to flee, with the knowledge that his father will soon hear of what has happened here tonight. I know that there is no going back. War is coming. "Follow them out. Make sure they do no harm."
"Will you come?" he asks.
I nod. "I will tend to my mate."
Those around me freeze. It is still too new for anyone to hear those words lightly.
I wish I felt the hope I see in their faces as they fight for their people. It is unlikely that she will want to be in the same room with me. I can see that accepting our matehood will be a long, painful process–but the most important thing is that she is here. I will sort out the rest with time. If there is one thing I learned from my father, it’s that everything in this life has a price. As king, I am prepared to pay until I have nothing left to give.
It would not be the first time I would have to remake myself in the name of progress. I am strong. It did not break me last time, and it will not break me now.
My thoughts fall to oblivion when a feminine scream pierces the air.
Chapter5
Larimar
ESTELA
Hot tears prick the corners of my wide eyes as I stare down at the dead giant at my feet. Panic rises up through me like a tide, and my heart beats faster and fasterlike a caged bird. My instincts are screaming at me to leave.
The king wants me.
He won me in a bet.
Suddenly, everything the prince warned me of is reality. I’ll be brutalized and eaten. A small cut on my throat stings, and I smell blood—blood will be the scent of the rest of my life. Pain. Just like my mother. Agony until the bitter end, and Mikal will be alone.
Everything swims around me as I run, darting past more Enduares and into the hallway. The giant guarding the slaves has found his way into the room in order to save his prince. Fear clouds my mind as I try to remember where the slave room is located. It isn’t far from the Prince's.
Terror's vise-like grip closes around my throat and squeezes. I feel it everywhere—in my spine, my stomach, my hands. Who knows how many of the king's hunters are lurking in the shadows, like the six who tried to take me?
"Stop!" a heavily accented voice calls behind me.
I turn to see one of the Enduares coming after me and scream again. Another ugly bellow from the prince makes me flinch hard enough to trip. The hard stone ground bites into my palms and knees, yet the pain barely registers as I scramble to my feet and latch onto the nearest door.
The Enduar chasing me slows, hanging back as I pull on the door with all my might until it swings open wide enough for me to dart inside. He’ll kill me for wandering, like they did to Sergi.
The other fourteen slaves are huddled together on every available surface in the small space, with the contents of our carts overcrowding the space. One man screams, and the sound of a whimper draws my attention to the shadows. They expect me to be an Enduar.
“I'm human,” I call, shutting the door behind me after looking back into the hallway and seeing that the Enduar has disappeared.
We only have a few moments before they will come for me.
"Thank the gods," Arlet says, appearing out of nowhere and wiping away tears from her eyes. I feel guilty looking at her.
Mikal grabs me by the shoulders, his fingers unnaturally strong. “Estela, you came back alive.” He says my name as if it is a prayer answered by the heavens. I latch onto his hand and pull. Seeing him does little to control the world tilting on its side.
There isn’t enough air in this room for me to breathe.
"Mi amor1," I gasp, then kiss his cheek. He pulls me into a bone-crushing hug, and I yelp in pain.