Bride of the Traitor (The Prophecy of Sisters #1) - Hayley Faiman Page 0,48
I know that I’m being a tad bit extra.
Maybe I’m not easily talked into things, but instead, I see reason quickly? Though, maybe that’s a bit far of a reach.
No matter what it is, I decide to get my shit together, pull myself together and stop wallowing in my own self-pity, I sniff, and my own stench.
“Can you please call in my girls, I guess I’ll get out of bed.”
Merek chuckles, bowing slightly. “We would all be much obliged, Your Highness,” he murmurs.
“But only if you stop calling me Your Majesty and Your Highness and instead call me Sybilla.”
Dipping his head slightly, his gaze finds mine and holds it. “I cannot, Your Highness. You are the Queen,” he says, needlessly pointing it out.
Though, I don’t feel like a queen, not at all. I’m not sure how a queen is supposed to feel, but I feel depressed, alone, and as if something has been ripped from my heart.
“In this castle, to you and anyone else, I’m just Sybilla. If you want me to be a queen out there,” I say, motioning toward the window. “Then that’s fine, but I’m not a real queen and you know that as well as I do. I’m just Sybilla from another world. Plain, ordinary, boring.”
“You’re definitely not plain, ordinary, or boring, Your Majesty,” he rumbles, his eyes focused on mine and nowhere else. His gaze is intense and I don’t know what it means, but something inside of me twists beneath his scrutiny. “I will send your handmaids in immediately, along with some food?”
“Please,” I whisper, unable to take my eyes from him.
I watch, wondering what exactly I’m feeling as Merek moves around my room. With a flourish, he opens the door and disappears, but I can’t look away, something just feels off. I’m not exactly sure and I’m not exactly sure I want to know either.
ELIAS
My gut clenches as we guide our horses over to a stream to rest and water them. Reaching into my saddlebag, I pull out a sandwich that the cook prepared. It’s nothing fancy, but it will sustain me until we stop for the evening.
Asher and Frederick watch me as Lief goes about guiding the horses to the water and keeping close watch over them.
“You have something to say?”
“You’ve ridden quite hard, are you okay?” Frederick asks. His concern is real, but the way he watches me, he’s curious as well.
Shoving the thick bread in my mouth, I tear off a chunk of the sandwich, chewing so that I do not have to answer him. For, I do not lie to my men, and to admit that I am indeed not all right, will make me seem weak in their eyes.
The truth of the matter is that I do not understand why my stomach clenches harder with each mile that separates me from the castle. The storm swirls around us, seeming to have come from nowhere, the horses are on edge as am I and the other men as well.
“She will be well, Elias. Her guards are your trusted men, Merek your cousin, if it is Her Highness you worry after, she will be safe,” Asher announces. “Though, I’m still uncertain why you married her.”
Thinking of being without her sends another wave of sickness through my body. I push it down and aside, ignoring it. “Doesn’t matter. I have married her and that is the way of it. The celibates will guide us to what’s truly going on with her appearance in Bunafi.”
There is a moment of silence before Frederick clears his throat. “Speak freely, Freddy,” I grunt, knowing that he must have something on his mind.
“The storm is unusual. The way you hold yourself, it is unusual. Are the witches certain that she holds no power, even power that she may be unaware of?” he asks.
Nodding my head, I take another bite of my tasteless food. “They are both certain,” I say.
Turning around to look behind us, I notice where Frederick is staring. Dark clouds circle around the area of the castle, though we’ve ridden too far to actually see the building any longer.
Shifting my gaze back to my men, I shove the feelings of gut-clenching guilt down. I shouldn’t have left her, I knew it before I walked out of that chamber, but I did it anyway.
She will be fine, I repeat to myself over and over again. “Shall we head toward Kelna and stop there for the night?” I ask.