Soft enough was all that I needed. I would rather have eaten dozens of loaves of hard bread and cheese than have spent another moment in that accursed tower. Bland, stale bread, was nothing compared to the life I had already faced.
It was nothing compared to the prospects of the marriage I was running from.
Having filled the gnawing pain in my stomach, I took a moment to look around the cavern that was providing me shelter. It was small and didn’t appear to go much further than a few feet back. A few leaves dusted the rocky ground, but other than that, it was completely empty. Shrugging, I dug through my pack.
A groan escaped my lips. “Of course.”
My only other pair of clothes were completely soaked. Cursing, I shoved them back into my pack. I couldn’t stay here long enough for them to dry. I needed to get further from the tower.
Stewing about my bad luck, I threw my bag on my back and stood. I made it out of the cavern and back under the leafy canopy before the hairs on the back of my neck prickled.
A deep, gravelly voice came from behind me, sending shivers down my spine.
“You must be the reason there are soldiers everywhere.”
A Mutually Beneficial Arrangement
At the sound of the voice, my mind emptied of all rational thought. Only one thing remained.
Drawing in a deep breath, I centered my thoughts.
I will not go back.
In the space of one breath, my fingers wrapped around the hilt of the throwing knife sheathed against my right thigh. Ignoring the rope burn on my palms, I focused on thezingthe metal made as it met the air.
In the time it took me to inhale, I was already pivoting on the balls of my feet. My mouth was pinched in a straight line as I drew back my arm, the familiar weight of the blade welcome in my hand.
As I exhaled, my eyes narrowed. I took in the extremely large, burly male standing less than ten feet away from me. He was the largest being I had ever seen in my entire life. Mind you, I had been… sheltered. But even so, I could recognize someone big when I saw them.
And he wasbig.
I had to tilt my head up to look at him. My hood slipped back, and I kept my gaze firmly on him as I reached up with my free hand and tugged it forward.
Based on my limited experience with the servants and guards, I knew I was tall for a female, but my height had nothing on the male standing in front of me. He was imposing in a way that I hadn’t known was possible.
For a moment, neither of us moved as our gazes swept over each other. My eyes traveled down his face, starting at his rounded ears, and moving down from there.
His long, silver-white hair was being held back by a leather band that accentuated the strong boning in his face. Silver stubble dusted the bottom half of his face, adding an air of aloofness to him.
He had a strong, chiseled jaw with a nose that was slightly bent out of shape like it had been broken and reset one too many times. He was the palest being I had ever seen, but with my lack of life experience, that didn’t mean much.
His strong jaw was clenched, and his bright, golden eyes narrowed as he gripped a large wooden bow in his hands. He was muscular. Strong. And he looked like he could kill with a singular glance.
The wooden bow in his hands almost seemed like a joke, except it currently held an arrow that was nocked and trained on me.
My would-be assailant opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t wait to hear what he had to say. Large male or not, I was fast, and I knew my aim with the dagger was true. Taking aim, I released the knife before I grabbed my bag and began to run once more.
I was already flying through the forest when a cry of pure outrage filled the air. A guttural roar came from the male as a grim smile crept onto my face. I vaulted over fallen logs, rushing past another babbling brook before ducking into a thick grove of trees.
I kept my eyes on the sun, constantly running away from the castle.
Always away.
My heart pounded in my chest as the scents of the forest filled me. The fresh air invigorated me, giving me the strength to continue to move despite the many hours I had already been running.
Behind me, loud crashing sounds made me run even harder.
Pushing myself harder than before, I raced through the forest in an effort to increase the distance between myself and the male. I knew my dagger had hit him. Hopefully, it had caused enough injury to slow him down. If it hadn’t and he decided to bring me back to the tower…