Besotted (The Fairest Maidens #3) - Jody Hedlund Page 0,61

has set snares all throughout southern Mercia.”

I dried my face with my sleeve. “Her elite guard will guide her safely to Delsworth.” I was counting on Chester more than he knew.

“If we follow her, we can ensure her safety.”

The frustration that had festered since seeing him in the cottage turned into a burning wound. I shoved his chest, sending him toppling backward so that he landed in the dirt street on his backside. “Cease this endless hounding! You shall have her only over my dead body.”

The others stopped their preparations and stared. Mikkel began to cross toward us, his expression full of confidence and determination that made me angrier. He ought to be the next king of Scania. It was in his bones and his bearing. I was a poor substitute, and the realization added to my frustration.

Vilmar accepted Mikkel’s outstretched hand to aid him back to his feet. “You don’t realize the scope of the issue, Kresten—”

“I realize you wish to involve her in a war that isn’t hers to fight.”

“But it is hers, and it will be until the queen is vanquished.” His voice contained a note of passion that surprised me.

Was Aurora in greater peril than I realized? Or was Vilmar simply looking for another way to persuade me to go after her?

One of Walter’s daughters approached with a mug and trencher. I accepted it with a nod of thanks and waited until she walked away before divulging my thoughts. “We were sent to the Great Isle for our Testing. We didn’t come to solve all of their problems. Our duty is to our country alone.”

Mikkel spread his feet and crossed his arms, his gaze imposing and hard. “We are small-minded to believe our Testing can only occur in the places assigned to us with the specific challenges we were given. Rather, the Testing happens whenever we allow our circumstances to push us to grow in the areas we most need it.”

“Are you telling me I’m small-minded?”

“I admit to my own narrow view of the Testing at first. I have since learned the Testing is intended to push much deeper and wider than we can imagine.”

Mikkel never failed to rankle me, perhaps because of my own insecurities or the differences in our temperaments. Whatever the case, I guzzled my ale, ready to be on my way into the forest and away from my brothers.

As I was draining the last frothy drop, the pounding of hooves and shouting from the northern edge of town drew our attention. At the sight of several hooded and cloaked figures riding toward us at high speed, Mikkel’s brows wrinkled, and he jogged toward the newcomers.

“Mikkel!” one of the riders called in a distinctly feminine voice.

As the rider reined in, he grabbed the bit to steady the creature. The rider hopped off with a litheness I didn’t expect. In an instant, Mikkel was drawing the newcomer into an embrace.

The hood fell away to reveal a stunningly beautiful woman with ebony hair that rippled in long waves over her shoulders. Her features were exquisitely perfect and her creamy skin unblemished.

She stood on her toes while Mikkel bent in and eagerly captured her upturned lips in a kiss. His passion for the woman was unmistakable. And she responded in kind.

This had to be his wife, Princess Pearl. I’d heard rumors of her beauty, but she far exceeded them. Of course, she wasn’t as beautiful as Aurora, but she was the only woman I’d met who could come close.

Their reunion was poignant, and I couldn’t begrudge them this moment of happiness. But the grief of my own lost love swelled up so sharply I had to look away. Mikkel had found a treasure in this woman. I thought I’d found that in Aurora. But now I understood how futile our love had been.

“We have come from near Huntwell Fortress.” Pearl pulled away from Mikkel. From the way he strained after her, clearly he wasn’t ready to relinquish her, although he did so, but reluctantly.

For the first time, I took notice of her two traveling companions. One had an overly large head with big ears that couldn’t be hidden beneath his hood. The other had skin covered in thick black hair, almost as if he were a beast instead of a man. These men were no doubt from the Isle of Outcasts and friends of Mikkel’s.

“The news is not good.” Pearl spoke not only to Mikkel but the rest of the gathering. “Queen Margery’s elite knights have