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Had he taken his warriors with him, or did they keep their distance for other reasons?
Arianna’s heart pounded. She stared at the mountains in the distance then set the pile of wood beside the doorway. Arianna watched the guards, but even with her racing heart, none looked her way.
Was this her chance?
Arianna took a few steps toward the wood line, watching the surrounding males, waiting for the warning hiss or growl.
Nothing.
She wouldn’t get another opportunity like this. She could do it now. Run into the forest and with The Demon away, there’d be no one to stop her.
No, not demon. Rion.
Her heart ached at the thought of him returning to an empty cabin. She imagined him standing on the threshold, scenting the air for her presence only to find it missing. She envisioned him staring at a cold fireplace and then to her folded blankets in the corner. He’d sit on the bed with his hands clasped before him, left with nothing and no one.
Don’t get lost in the fantasy.
Arianna took a tentative step, still glancing toward the guards. She took another step then another until she was running through the remaining tents and the forest engulfed her entirely.
Alone. That’s exactly what Rion was. Completely alone in the world, a creature starved for another’s affection by a cruel land that’d labeled him a threat.
There had to be others, she reasoned. Surely someone from Brónach had earned his favor in the past. Someone that’d cared for him as a child. But no matter how much she reasoned with herself, Arianna couldn’t shake the pull in her chest. She could make a list of excuses. She could write them all down and burn them, but one fact would remain. Something about Rion called to her in a way she didn’t understand.
The breeze carried with it a familiar scent and Arianna slowed, letting her thoughts settle before shifting course. She ran her fingertips along the trees as she walked, and the water emerged through the tree line minutes later.
A beautiful, wide river. Arianna walked right to the edge, staring out over the water’s calm, flowing surface. Trees hung down from the steep bank on the other side, dipping their roots into the cool liquid, but on her side, the water was shallow. Pebbles of varying colors lined the bottom, and the crystalline surface reflected the morning sun like a painting in her father’s study.
It all reminded her of home. Of a time full of hope and laughter.
Arianna removed her shoes and rolled up her pant legs. She placed one foot into the frigid water, shivering as the cold shot straight through her body.
Arianna placed her other foot in and stepped deeper until the freezing liquid covered her ankles. She took another breath and dropped back into a stance, allowing the scent from the water to flow through her memories.
A smart female would have run.
She still could. She should, but—
Arianna let her magic glide through her body and into the river flowing past her feet. She tugged, pulling the liquid up and around her limbs in a way she hadn’t done in over a year.
The tendrils extended to her arms, spiraling around them, and reached her fingertips without ever really touching her body. So similar to the way Rion’s magic had caressed her skin.
She let herself flow through the familiar form, something that’d taught her control and balance.
Her mind stopped racing.
She remembered watching others perform the same dance, twisting and molding the particles as if they were an extension of themselves. She did the same now.
Arianna raised a large sphere of water to her front and with one swift movement, shattered it into thousands of tiny droplets that circled her body. Each sphere caught the sunlight and reflected it through the others, encasing her in a prism of light.
She didn’t stop the tear that slid down her face as she glanced toward that opposite bank, unwilling to face an impossible choice.
Home.
Or Rion.
RION MARCHED at the front of the line. He’d already washed the blood from his hands and swapped his blood-drenched clothes for fresh ones. He’d ensured his subordinates knew where supplies were to be distributed and what their next assignments would be.
So why was he still with them?
