Vivienne bristled, but she bit her tongue.
“I see.” The driver glanced at her and raised a brow before returning his gaze to the prince. “I take it you’re no longer traveling alone?”
“That would be correct.” Marius sighed and gestured to the newcomer. “Felix, this is my new bodyguard, Vivienne. Vivienne, Felix. He’s my friend and a groom at Castle Sanguis.”
Felix smiled, his eyes kind as he leaned forward and offered her his hand. “Nice to meet you, miss.”
“You as well.” She tried to keep her frustration from her voice as she reached out to shake his hand. It wasn’t Felix’s fault his friend was dragging her along on this ridiculous mission.
Her hand had barely touched his when a high-pitched scream shattered the silence of the night. A gutturalroarswiftly followed. Deep and long, it was filled with ancient, primalwrath.
Even though the sound came from the other side of the forest, it was far louder than any beast had a right to be…
Because this was no beast.
Vivienne’s muscles tightened, her lungs squeezed, and her knees trembled at the sound of King Sebastian’s fury. Every instinct urged her to fall to the ground and prostrate herself before her ruler.
Felix pulled back his hand. “Is that?—”
The prince cursed, blood draining from his face as he stepped towards the carriage. “I guess they’ve realized I’m missing.”
“It would seem that way,” Vivienne said dryly.
This was a monumentally bad idea.
Instead of turning around, which was what any intelligent man would’ve done, Marius yanked open the carriage door and gestured inside. “Come on, we need to go. Once the sun rises, they won’t be able to follow us. We need to put as much space between us before sunset as possible.”
Vivienne hated every part of this.
“This isn’t a good idea, Prince,” she warned.
“I don’t care. I’m doing it.” He climbed inside the vehicle.
Stubborn, obstinate man.
Felix raised a blond brow and looked at her. “Well? Are you coming?”
She really didn’t want to. In fact, as another roar echoed over the forest and the first rays of dawn slid across the sky, she wished she was anywhere else.
But the prince was in the carriage, and she was bound to protect him.
Wishing she’d accepted literally any other position, she followed the prince inside.
Marius’s brows rose. “You decided to come.”
“Decided implies I had a choice, which I didn’t.” She scowled and crossed her arms.
Out of all her options, this one seemed the least likely to result in her immediate death. Even so, that didn’t make it good by any stretch of the imagination.
The prince frowned. “Like I said, I’m sorry about that.”
“I know.” Vivienne believed him, but it didn’t make the situation any better. It didn’t matter how often he apologized; he was still dragging her into this.
Uncrossing her arms, she reached behind her and shut the door. The carriage immediately started moving. Throwing out a hand, she braced herself against the wall and took in her surroundings.
The vehicle was small, meant for one or two people at most.
A single violet orb burned within a lantern dangling on a hook, the Light Elf magic spelled to never go out. Blackout panels lined the windows, marking the carriage’s origin as Eleyta. Made by vampires for vampires. If she stretched, she could probably touch both opposing walls at the same time.