A luxury that the human no longer had. Thanks to Lord Greenriver.
“It just isn’t fair,” I whispered.
Xander’s voice was soft as he said, “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
For a long moment, we remained like that, barely touching, as my mind settled. I nibbled on my lip, asking softly, “Do things like this happen often in Thyr?”
“More than they should,” was Xander’s only reply.
I pinched my lips together. “That’s… horrible.”
“It is.” Blowing out a long breath, Xander gently wrapped my fingers in his right hand before pulling us both to our feet.
“We’ll talk more about it once we leave the city,” he murmured as he drew me against himself. Xander was so warm, and after what we had just seen, I needed that. He studied me, his eyes soft. “Do you think you can walk?”
I took a moment, swallowing as I assessed myself. My heart rate was slowing down and my chest wasn’t as tight as before. “Yes,” I murmured. “I can.”
“Good.”
He squeezed my hand before we rejoined the crowd marching towards the gates. We walked in silence, each lost in our own thoughts.
It wasn’t until I could make out the faces of the soldiers guarding the entrance to Thyr that I realized something. When Xander had held my face in his hands, his knuckles hadn’t carried a trace of the earlier beating.
* * *
“What is your business in Thyr?”
The guard crossed his arms, his voice low as he leaned against the stone wall. He wasn’t even looking at me, addressing all of his questions to Xander.
I didn’t mind. We had spent the past hour trudging along in the long line that had formed near the city gates. As we waited, I watched as the same thing had happened over and over again.
The soldiers spoke to the males—only to the males. It was as though the many females accompanying them didn’t even exist.
For my part, I was happy to remain unnoticed. My stomach was still in knots from witnessing the murder, and my hands were clammy as I ran them down my cloak.
“We are looking for a place to spend a night or two before continuing north,” Xander replied gruffly. He wrapped an arm around me, drawing me against his chest.
The soldier eyed me, his gaze traveling up and down my body. A lecherous sneer appeared on his face as he stared too long at my breasts. As he stared at me, I desired nothing more than to acquaint the male with the blade sheathed on my thigh.
You are trying to go unnoticed. Stabbing a guard is not a good idea, even though he clearly deserves it. Someone needs to teach this pig a lesson.
“This is your wife?” the lecherous guard asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. He directed the question to Xander, never removing his eyes from my body.
Despite the heavy cloak, it felt like he was stripping me naked. My fingers flexed at my side, reaching towards my pocket as I fought to remain silent. Xander must have sensed my desire to teach this male some manners because he grabbed my fingers and wrapped them up in his much larger hand. He squeezed tightly, drawing my gaze to his.
His golden eyes were burning into me, the warning within them clear: stand down.
Xander pasted a smile on his face before shifting his attention back to the soldier. “That’s correct,” Xander replied smoothly. He dipped his head ever so slightly, his voice going even lower. “We’re newlyweds.”
The guard grunted. “Do you have your travel papers?”
My chest seized as I stared at the guard blankly. Papers? I had no papers. Nothing of the sort.
Visions of whips cracking and red ribbons of magic flashed before my eyes. I could already feel the oh-so-familiar burst of pain as the knotted leather ripped across my back for the first time. The first was always the worst. When the whip tore across newly healed skin and broke through scars of older beatings.
How many lashes would they give me before turning me back over to the king?
A moan rose in my throat, and I swallowed.