ROYAL HOUSE OF SHADOWS Part 6 of 12 by Jill Monroe

Author:Jill Monroe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

They traveled for three days. Osborn didn’t want to rush their pace, despite Breena’s urge to run.

“At the end of this journey there will be a battle, Breena. We can’t afford to be worn out before the first strike,” he warned.

At night they made love where they camped, their couplings sometimes fierce, sometimes savoring, but always tinged with a touch of desperation. Osborn would hold her long after she fell asleep, staring up at the stars.

“What are you doing?” she’d ask sleepily.

“Willing time to slow. More”

Sometime after their noon meal on the third day, he discovered the whereabouts of the outbuilding. Breena gasped when she spotted tents dotting the area and her people milling about—families, soldiers, workers of the castle.

“My people,” she whispered, filled with so much relief and love she could hardly breathe.

“There’s Rolfe,” she nearly shouted, and Breena rushed toward him before Osborn could stop her.

Breena charged across the field with new energy, the breeze lifting her hair and cooling her face. The people working outside stopped to stare, their jaws dropping open in shock and their eyes filling with tears. Her people crowded her, welcoming her.

“Word of my brothers? Has anyone heard anything of them?” she shouted above the din.

But the Eldens continued to rejoice that one of the heirs had been returned to them, untouched by time.

“Rolfe,” she called.

The man turned at the sound of his name. Rolfe had once been an important member of their household, part of the security that guarded her parents. Age had crept over him since she last saw him. He looked drawn and defeated. His eyes grew larger and joy touched the edges of his face when he recognized her.

“How can this be?” he mused. Then his face drained of color.

Guilt. She knew that emotion well.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she rushed to assure him. “How could a small personal force defeat the Blood Sorcerer?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” he warned.

How silly for Rolfe to be worried about propriety right now. “Nonsense. These are my people. This is exactly where I belong.”

“How’d you get here?” Rolfe’s gaze searched the crowd, spotting the other newcomer, Osborn. “You—” he pointed “—get her out of here.”

Osborn’s hand immediately went to the hilt of his sword.

The door of the outbuilding opened, and out stepped a man, and the crowd hushed. Breena recognized him as a member of the group who’d once protected Elden’s perimeters. “What’s all this commotion?” he shouted. It was a loud booming voice coming from someone so gaunt.

Instantly the Eldens began to shrink away and cower.

“Why are you yelling when all they are doing is enjoying the day?” she asked, her voice stern.

“Cedric has been, uh, leading the people.”

Breena suppressed a shudder. Cedric had always seemed a particularly nasty sort, but then war made strange allies, and she glanced at Osborn. He was scanning the crowd, his hand remaining on his weapon.

“Sometimes a little force is needed to quiet and keep things orderly. You understand, I’m sure.”

No, she didn’t understand.

“I want no more of it.

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