Page 62 of White Raven

“I figure you had one.” I pushed against the barrier he was putting up. “Where is she?”

“Dead.” He stared boldly at me, shoving food into his mouth.

“Sorry.” I did the same, muttering between bites. It still tasted awful, but the need for nutrients overrode any desire for flavor. “Me too.” He probably knew that. Paintings of Queen Elsara hung all over the castle, preserved in her youthful beauty. I would get sympathy and anecdotes from those who knew her, but they didn’t realize she was nothing more than a pretty image to me. A stranger.

I never knew my mother.

“Father?”

His lips thinned at my continued inquiries.

“Siblings?”

“Dead,” he muttered.

“Wife? Children?”

He dropped the spoon in his empty bowl, abruptly standing up. “Come on.”

“What? Wait!” I peered down at my half-eaten porridge. “I’m not done.”

“You should’ve thought of that before running your mouth instead.” He reached over, his fingers cupping under my armpit and pulling me to my feet, throwing my soiled cloak over me. “I have some business before venturing on north. Items to get.”

“Like what?” I twisted in his grip, my mood wanting nothing more than to annoy the fuck out of him. “More tattoo ink? Another thrall to kidnap, mutilate, and torture?”

“No . . .” He yanked us through the crowd. “Purchasing metal cuffs and a muzzle for the one I already have.”

The main street was lively with activity, the lane brimming with horses and carts. The smells of cooking meat, horse manure, urine, and body odor hung thick like fog over the town. I burrowed further back into my hood, using it to buffer the strong aromas.

A few horses were tied to the hitching post outside the inn, drinking water and eating the hay in the trough, but I noticed the draugrhest was missing from where we left it. It also made me wonder about the poor little groundling. I hoped he was all right.

“Stay close, kanin,” the Northerner muttered to me, stalking forward.

“You know I have a name, right?” I stood in place, folding my arms.

He glanced back at me, showing no emotion.

“Fluffy have better luck than I and make a run for it?” I motioned to the empty spot.

Onyx stepped up to me, his body flattening into mine, his heat soaking through the wool of my wrap. A shiver ran through my body as he reached over, tucking my hair under the cloak.

“Unlike you . . .” His fingers grazed near the tattoo on my neck. “I would never tie up a draugrhest.” The memory of him securing me to the bed frame, his taut physique straddling me, pinning me down under him. My heart ticked quicker against my ribs. “And I only give silly pet names to things I own.” He turned and strode into the street, the hum in my blood breaking into ice.

Fuck. That. Man.

Anger and humiliation gurgled in my throat, ready to emerge in a scream. My knuckles cracked, nails digging into my palms. I breathed in and out, fantasizing about grabbing that knife on his belt, the one he’d tied me with, and stabbing the shit out of him.

He didn’t even bother glancing back to see if I followed. He knew I would.

A repressed noise strained my vocal cords, aggravation screaming in my head.

I had nowhere to go and nobody I could trust.

Stepping into the busy street, I trailed after his tall figure looming over the populace. Crisp air had me pulling my cloak tighter to me, fog lacing through the top of the trees and buildings, dimming the already dusky light. The sun hid behind the mountains, playing hide and seek, teasing at the horizon but never showing itself.

“Come get it while it’s hot!” a man bellowed from a stall. Old, dehydrated carcasses of animals with sharp fangs the size of my head hung by their feet on a long stick. The man stood over a fire with a sizzling pan, chopping up pieces, wiping his nose with the back of his hand, his front tooth missing. “Hot, fresh horned gopher!” he sang out to anyone walking by. “Just got them today!”

“Authentic relics from the Battle of Blood!” another man shouted out, jerking my head the opposite way. He held objects up in his hand, and a few on a small table in front of him. “Get real artifacts straight from the battleground! Genuine battle armor from a Night Raven! A bone from the last Leatherwings! A broken blade from the King of the Day Ravens!”