Chapter 69
The plan was already in motion. And Amira wasn’t just a passive pawn anymore. She was in this. She was carrying out something dangerous, something that might end with blood spilled across Sheridan soil.
And I was rooming with her.
Sharing horses with her.
I moved back to the window and glanced out, pressing my hand lightly against the old, uneven glass. The moon hung low in the sky, hazy behind a veil of clouds. My stomach twisted.
I’d told Alaric I was ready.
But I didn’t know this was what I was preparing for.
A soft knock sounded on the wall.
I turned quickly.
“Liana?”
Amira’s voice. Muffled. On the other side of the door,
I moved to the center of the room. “Yes?”
“You asleep?”
I blinked. What kind of question–
“I just… heard you moving, I was wondering if you’re okay.”
Right, She cared now?
“I’m fine,” I called back, forcing my voice to sound sleepy. “I was just getting water.”
Silence for a moment.
Then, “You should rest. We ride again at dawn.”
“I know.”
More silence,
Then her footsteps faded again.
I waited until they were gone.
Then I exhaled.
I didn’t know if she suspected me or if she was just double–checking that I hadn’t seen the letter but either way, her guard was up. Which meant I needed to stay three steps ahead.
And fast.
I rolled to my side. I felt awful. My head hurt. My eyes hurt.
Even my nose hurt, Lhadn’t slept much last night and spent most of the time roaming around the room.
When I finally slept, it wasn’t for
It took me a few seconds to remember where I was.
Not the castle. Not my bed. A tavern at the northern lands with my awful sister or adopted or not related sister, Forget it, just Amira.
The air was cold. The sheets smelled of mildew and smoke. I blinked at the ceiling, then sat up with a quiet groan. The room felt tight, like it was pressing in on me. I needed space. Air.
2/4
5:08 PM
Chapter 69
I slipped into my boots and threw on my cloak without bothering to fix my hair. Amira would probably mock me if she saw me like this, but I couldn’t care less. Not today.
The world outside was quiet. Fog clung low to the trees as I wandered beyond the worn path, further than I should have. The forest felt different here.
Or maybe it was because last night, wasn’t able to see it properly. The trees stood taller, older, with twisting branches that stretched like arms. Somewhere in the distance, I heard water.
A stream.
It would be good to wash up with stream water.
I followed the sound until I found it, cutting clean through the woods like a silver thread. I knelt by the edge, cupping the cold water in my palms and splashing it on my face. It stung a little, but it woke me up.
I was rubbing the back of my neck when I heard footsteps. I was at alert, my eyes widened as goosebumps filled my skin.
“You’re early, wife.”
My hand froze mid–motion.
I turned, slowly.
A man leaned casually against one of the trees near the stream. He looked relaxed, as though he’d been there for a while. His hood was drawn halfway over his face, but what I could see of him was…
Well, trouble.
He wasn’t dressed like the others in the northern court. His cloak was dark, expensive. The kind of fabric you only wore when you wanted people to think you were just a traveler but everything from the neat boots to the metal clasps at his throat screamed wealth. Royalty, even.
His black shirt had a few buttons undone, revealing a line of pale skin beneath. His dark hair was tousled, not messy, just… deliberately careless. And his eyes, were dark as he stared at me.
I narrowed mine. “Do I know you?”
He tilted his head, a slow, amused smile pulling at the corner of his lips. “No.”
“Then don’t call me wife.”
“You looked like one,” he said. “Standing by the stream, staring off like you’re about to run away from your arranged marriage.”
1 folded my arms. “Maybe I am.”
He chuckled. “Then I envy whoever you’re escaping from.”
“You say that now.” I turned back to the stream.
He stepped forward. “You always talk to strangers this openly?”
“Only the ones who call me ‘wife“. If you haven’t, I would have ignored you.”
There was a short silence, then a soft laugh. “Fair.”
I glanced back at him, trying to assess what the hell he wanted. “You from around here?”
He shrugged. “Sort of. I wander.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,”
“Oh well, take it as you see it.” He smiled again.
I gave him a look. “If you’re here to rob me, go ahead. But I’m broke. And bad company.
“Tempung offer, he murmured, then glanced toward the trees like he was watching for something. “But no.”
3/4
5:08 PM J
Chapter 69
I studied him. There was something in the way he kept his body slightly angled from the road. He was hiding. “You’re running.”
“Am I?”
“You keep looking back.”
He exhaled. “Maybe I like to know who’s following me.”
“Paranoid?”
“Careful.”
I hesitated. “Should I be worried?”
“Are you?”
I hated that I hesitated. “No.”
He smiled again. Not a mocking smile. Not a threatening one. It was… strange. Calm. Like he wasn’t used to smiling but didn’t mind doing it now.
Good,” he said.
We stood in silence for a moment. The stream gurgled softly. The wind picked up, stirring the leaves around our feet.
“Name?” I asked, mostly to break the silence.
He was quiet for a beat. “You first.”
I raised a brow. “Why?”
“Because mine’s not that interesting.”
I gave him a dry look. “I doubt that.”
He stepped a little closer. “You could just lie.”
“And so could you.”
Another smile tugged at his lips. “Fine. I’m… Elias.”
I knew that was a lie.
But I let it go.
“Nice to meet you, Elias.
“And you?”
I shrugged. “Let’s keep the mystery alive.”
He laughed. “Suit yourself, mystery girl,”
