outside. I don’t look down, because I know without a doubt that something was a body.
“Get her,” a rough voice shouts from behind me.
“You let her go?” another voice shouts from my side.
I keep running, though not very far or very fast. They are gaining on me quickly, their loud boots drawing nearer and nearer. I can practically feel them breathing down my neck when a whoosh of air stops me in my tracks.
A beautiful white horse appears out of nowhere. “On. I take you to our King,” he says.
The. Horse. Says.
I look over my shoulder and notice that the men have not stopped in their advance. “On, now,” he says, again.
Without thinking, I run up to the horse’s side. It’s huge, at least twice as big as Lightning. He lets out a neigh and kneels down to allow me access to his back. “Just climb on and hold on to my mane,” he instructs.
I’m in a complete daze and feel as though everything is moving in slow motion. I climb onto him bareback, and then I reach forward and grip his beautiful white mane and hold on, my chest pressed against the back of his neck.
The beautiful huge horse lets out another loud neigh, lifting his front legs he begins to run and then something unbelievable happens. Something so outside the realm of my imagination that I can do nothing but scream as soon as it happens.
This horse extends his fucking wings and catapults into the air. It flies. I’m in the goddamn air on the back of a horse. Gripping him tighter, I hold on for dear life as he gracefully glides forward. His wings flap as my entire body begins to tremble.
I’m scared, I’m in shock and in awe, but beyond that, completely speechless. Pressing my cheek against his soft mane, I start to cry. This gorgeous creature just saved my life.
“Hold on, Your Highness, I deliver you to the king shortly,” he says.
I don't know if he’s actually saying the words or speaking in my mind, but it’s so unfathomable, so magical that all I can do is swallow thickly. With my eyes open, I watch as the sun rises high in the sky just before the horse glides down and lands gently.
“By the gods,” a voice hisses.
The horse’s front legs bend and he lowers his head to the ground. Lifting my head, releasing my death grip on his mane, I come face-to-face with my King, with Elias. He’s surrounded by his soldiers, and by his closest men.
He doesn’t say a single word. I watch as his jaw clenches and his entire body jerks before he stomps toward me. Then he cups my cheeks in his hands. “By the gods, what’s happened?” he demands.
“I woke up. I felt someone watching me. A stranger was in my room with a knife,” I whisper.
He closes his eyes for a beat before he swoops me into his arms and without a single word, he marches me toward a tent. Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, I bury my face against his neck and I inhale his scent.
It’s been two weeks and somehow, he smells better in this dirty camp, in the middle of war than he ever has. Once we’re in his quarters, he lowers me on to what I assume is his bed. It’s covered in thick woolen, scratchy comforters, but I don’t care.
Elias sinks to his knees in front of me. “Tell me everything,” he softly demands.
I tell him in detail everything that’s just happened, including tripping over a few bodies. “So, my protection could all be gone?” he asks.
I shake my head, then lift a shoulder. “I didn’t see who they were, I was just running,” I admit. “The girls are still there,” I whisper.
He presses his lips together, his hands cupping my face. His thumbs swipe the falling tears from my cheeks as his now indigo eyes search my own.
“You did the right thing, Sybilla,” he whispers. “You and my heir are the most important treasures in this kingdom.”
Lifting my hands, I wrap my fingers around his wrists. “The girls are important, don’t say that,” I softly say.
He smirks. “To me? They matter naught. You are what is important to me, My Queen.”
Without another word, he leans forward and touches his mouth to mine. His tongue slips inside and he tastes me, his tongue begins to stroke mine in slow soothing movements. My body almost erupts with a warming need that seems to come from