Narrowing my eyes, I nibbled on my bottom lip. I didn’t really know what to say. Not for the first time, I bemoaned my lack of social awareness. I was certain that conversational skills were right up at the top of the list of things that I should have learned.
Alas, like many other things in my life, the king hadn’t deemed social skills a priority. So here I was. To call me awkward would have been an understatement.
“I’m fine,” I replied after a minute.
Jo pulled her hand away. “Okay,” she said slowly, glancing at the males. They were engaged in a quiet conversation not far from us. “If you need to talk, I’m a good listener.” She chuckled. “You have to be in my line of work.”
“Thank you,” I said sincerely. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She smiled softly, pushing herself to her knees. Jo set to work brushing off her skirts, and I stood, doing the same.
When I was relatively clean, I marched over to Xander. Now that we were out of Thyr and he had his… whatever it was he had gotten from Jo, I needed some assurances. “I need to talk to you, husband.”
Before Xander could answer, I grabbed onto his arm and dragged my fake husband away from his companions. Once we were a respectable distance away from the other two, he shook off my grip.
“What?” he snapped. He somehow managed to infuse a significant amount of irritation and anger into that one word.
My nostrils flared as blood rushed to my face. I stood on my tip-toes, holding my hand up between us as I waggled my finger in front of his face. “I wanted to make sure you don’t forget your part of our agreement. We got through Thyr. Now I need you to take me to the Indigo Ocean.”
“I made you a deal, Ana, and I’ll follow through,” Xander ground out through clenched teeth. “I’m a male of my word.”
“We’ll see about that, won’t we?” Stepping back, I crossed my arms and glared at Xander.
He looked like he was about to reply when all of a sudden, shouts came from the other side of the wall.
Xander cursed as the sound of metal filled the air. “There’s no time for chit-chat, Sunshine. We need to go.”
* * *
For the second time in as many days, I found myself running through a forest away from the king’s soldiers. This time, however, I was not alone.
Xander ran ahead, and Daegal behind as Jo and I remained in the middle. For safety, the males had insisted.
I hadn’t fought them. There was no way I could find my way through the forest at night. With every passing moment, the woods transformed until the trees were nothing more than shadows and stumbling blocks. I had no idea how Xander managed to pick his way through the trees so effortlessly.
My own movements were anything but effortless. The terrain was not flat, and it only took a few minutes before my muscles protested our course of action.
I knew from my limited studies that the forests around Thyr stretched for miles, over hills and mountains. The main economy in the province of Adatol was timber. Seeing the dense trees packed together, I wasn’t at all surprised by that.
About an hour into our trek, Jo touched my arm. She asked, “How are you doing?”
“I’m tired,” I replied honestly, exhaling a ragged breath. “This isn’t exactly something I’m used to.”
She raised a brow. “You’re married to Xander and you’re not used to running through the woods?”
Oh no. I felt like I was a moment away from putting my foot in my mouth. I shrugged, trying to infuse nonchalance in my voice as I said, “Oh, you know.” A dry laugh escaped me and I hoped Jo couldn’t tell how nervous I was when I said, “I meant not knowing where we were going. Usually, he tells me.”
“Ah,” she nodded. “We are most likely going north. I have never been good at navigating through forests, but your husband seems to have an uncanny knack for knowing exactly where he is at all times.”
“Handy, that,” I muttered under my breath. An insect buzzed in my ear and I slapped it. The moment it was gone, two more appeared. Soon, dozens of the tiny insects were flying all around me.
Great.
I added bugs to the list of things I hadn’t realized would be a problem when I escaped.
“It is,” Jo replied, oblivious to the tone of my voice or the bugs swarming me. “He mentioned that the two of you crossed the Niphil River yesterday.”
“Mhmm,” I muttered. I was distracted, trying to figure out how long it would take for us to reach the Indigo Ocean.