Beguiled (The Fairest Maidens #2) - Jody Hedlund Page 0,31

fell to his knees, revealing a knife blade stuck deep into the flesh of his back.

I gasped and spun, ready to retrace my path along the cliff so I could race to his aid. Before I could take a step, Mikkel gripped my arm and stopped me. “Wait.” He narrowed his eyes and scanned the landscape.

Irontooth had left Tommy back at our camp as he usually did to act as a sentinel and protect our position and few possessions. Had Blade lured us away from our camp on the pretense of the prisoner exchange only to attack while we were gone? That would explain why our rival and his men hadn’t arrived yet at our prearranged meeting spot.

Tommy struggled to pick himself up. With his extraordinary strength, he somehow managed to stand and push farther toward the gorge. At the same time, several others from our group reached him and grabbed his arms, lending their support.

“What happened?” Irontooth shouted up at him, shielding his eyes with his hand against the bright summer sun. “Did Blade attack?”

Tommy shook his head, his expression radiating with both pain and devastation. “The Inquisitor, and his men! They took the women as prisoners and left me for dead.”

The Inquisitor?

“Felicity?” Irontooth asked.

“Aye, she’s gone.” Tommy’s voice cracked.

Irontooth dropped his hand from his eyes to his belt where he unsheathed his knife. With a roar that echoed all through the narrow valley, he bolted forward, racing up the trail that led back to camp.

The Inquisitor had Felicity and the two other women? My heart thundered with both pity and fear. How had this happened? Had Blade informed the Inquisitor we’d be away from camp, giving him the perfect opportunity to strike?

I jerked to free myself from Mikkel’s grasp, but his fingers tightened around my arm.

“Release me.”

“You’re staying with me.” His handsome features had turned to steel and his eyes to ice.

“I must go to Tommy. He needs my assistance, or he shall surely die.”

Mikkel didn’t loosen his grip. “I’ll go with you.”

I attempted to shrug off his hold again. “I do not need you following my every move and acting as my bodyguard.”

“You’re my wife. I am duty bound to protect you.”

I spun to face him. “I do not want your duty.”

“You have it regardless.” Any trace of the tender young man from moments ago was gone, and the regal prince with his lofty ideals was back in place. He’d been born and raised to be a prince and a king. He took his duties and vows seriously, and I could respect that.

But a small piece of my heart rebelled against his integrity and high standards. The part that longed for him to simply like me for who I was and not because he was bound to me.

His hard expression dared me to defy him again. I would have challenged him further if not for the urgency of Tommy’s wound. “Very well,” I whispered tersely. “Let us be on our way.”

“Very well.” His response was just as terse.

I glanced at his hand pointedly, and only then did he let go.

Chapter

11

Mikkel

At the sight of the destruction within the camp, I sank to the nearest boulder and shuddered. The caves had been emptied, and everything of value had been broken or burned.

The main thought reverberating through my mind was that if Pearl hadn’t insisted on going to the prisoner exchange, the Inquisitor would have captured her along with Felicity and the other women.

“No sign of their boats,” Toad called from the highest point of camp, a tall rock that gave a view of the northern side of the island and the sea surrounding it.

“They can’t be far away.” Irontooth didn’t pause in strapping on his armor over his chain mail, armor now blackened from the Inquisitor’s bonfire. “Everyone get ready to go! We’ll leave right away and head after them.”

“No.” I pushed myself up. “You can’t go yet.”

“No one is asking for your opinion,” Irontooth snapped.

I stalked toward him, my muscles tensing. This fearless leader might intimidate everyone else into obeying him, but I refused to allow him to bully me. “You’ll be a fool if you rush off after the Inquisitor.”

“Stay out of this!” He glared at me—a look that said he wouldn’t hesitate to beat me away if I dared try to stop him.

Pearl bolted up from where she was tending Tommy, and she took several rapid steps in my direction. Was she worried for me? Afraid of what Irontooth might do if I stood up to