own realm.” This was said with regret in his tone, which was why I replied,
“I understand.” Then I snuggled closer to him and, despite holding me close, when I sneaked a look back up at him, he still managed to look uneasy now all jokes between us had faded. His gaze was firmly ahead watching the road we travelled down, as if his thoughts were consumed with the danger that may greet us. Even being flanked either side by Carn’reau’s army, Lucius was still clearly anxious. It was as if he was at the ready to be attacked at any moment and couldn’t relax.
I couldn't say that I blamed him, not after everything that had happened. It was also clear that Lucius had felt out of control since arriving here, meaning it was of little wonder he wanted to get back to his own realm. To get back to a place he could control, being its King.
Because, no matter how much I tried to offer silent comfort, he remained like a tightly coiled spring, his muscles almost humming with power, and I knew at the first sign of trouble his demon would consume him. In fact, I knew the only reason I wasn't sat here now against that demon, was that with his armour it would have made the journey even more uncomfortable for me.
Thankfully, I was wearing a thick dress, and my shoulders wrapped in an even thicker cloak that managed to keep me warm against the cool night. A night that I knew would last three days and longer than this journey would. However, when it started to rain lightly, I knew that unless I was wearing a large plastic bag, then whatever I was wearing would soon be drenched. Especially should the weather decide to take a turn for the worse which, given the look of the storm clouds rolling in above us, I could say with confidence I was going to get cold and wet pretty quickly.
Something that definitely seemed to be an overwhelming factor in Lucius' decision to finally stop, and I nearly sighed in relief when he called out for Carn’reau. As soon as he pulled his beast alongside ours once more, Lucius declared,
“I don’t want Amelia to be out in this weather.”
“There are some caves not far from here, it is the ideal place for a camp and is sheltered enough to build a fire, and one that will not be seen from afar,” his general replied, and I didn’t realise until then that I had been tense until hearing this, only relaxing again as my relief set in. Of course, Lucius felt this and hugged me closer to him the moment I did.
“Good, then we will remain there until the storm passes and my Queen has had time to rest.” Carn’reau bowed his head before steering his beast out to the side so he could gallop ahead and get to the front of the line.
“You know, technically I am not your Queen,” I said, and despite the playful tone he scoffed at it.
“A fact I will change as soon as I can get a fucking ring on your finger.” At this I laughed, and replied in a whimsical voice,
“Oh, my handsome King, that’s so romantic… tell me, have you proposed much because that was so beautiful.” At this he laughed, tightened his arms around me and replied in a husky tone,
“That wasn’t a proposal, sweetheart, it was just a fucking promise.” My whole body shuddered at this and I ended up feeling his knowing grin against my neck before it turned into a kiss. Then he wrapped my cloak tighter around me and held me in a way that was as sheltered from the rain as he could get… well, that was until it became a downpour and therefore impossible. It was also strange being in the dark and not knowing what time of day it was, therefore making it difficult to know how long we had been travelling. Although, it was definitely long enough for me to feel sore, that was for sure.
But thankfully it must have only been an hour or so more of travelling before we were coming up to a series of caves. Caves, that unless you knew where they were, you would never have found without the aid of daylight and braved venturing off the road and into the forest as we had done. Because they were near invisible, and I wouldn’t have known about them at