The Archer: A Dark Fantasy Romance by Ruby Rodrigo

Author:Ruby Rodrigo [Rodrigo, Ruby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-12-19T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Aslin didn’t remember closing her eyes, but the next she knew, Dante had returned with a bowl of fish soup and a piece of flatbread. She groggily sat up straighter, shielding her eyes from the sun before realizing it was well on its way to setting.

“Looks like you might have a bit of sunburn, Archer,” Dante teased. Aslin smiled sleepily.

“I take full responsibility,” he added with a laugh.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Long enough to get a little life back in you. Can you eat now?”

“Yes,” she agreed readily, reaching for the bowl and he handed it to her, laughing at her relish. Such a pleasant young man, she thought mildly, tasting food for the first time since departing.

“Eat slowly,” he cautioned, and she nodded. “I’d wager you’ll be brought below deck soon. I doubt Lord Ero wants you here when the men strip and prepare for sleep.”

Aslin coughed in her soup.

“Exactly,” he chuckled.

“For your hair,” he said a bit more softly, taking out a small leather band from his pocket. “It’s a bit wild.”

“Thank you,” she said slowly, taking it and looking up at him. His face was mild, with none of the heights of emotion she saw with regularity on Ero’s expression. But his gaze on her was appreciative. She could feel a warmth on her skin that had nothing to do with the sun.

“You’re not wearing clasps,” he noted with some surprise. His tone made it sound like she had forgotten to wear clothes.

“I don’t care about clasps,” she said sourly, and he let out a soft laugh.

He stood near her for a moment in companionable silence. “I’ll send some tea down to you in a bit.” After a moment’s pause, he spoke again, in a lower voice. “I’d best be off before I get myself killed.”She smiled a little, perplexed, and he left her to her soup.

Sure enough, she had barely finished when a different soldier came and brought her back to the cabin. She spent an inordinate amount of time gently combing out the numerous knots in her hair, read for an hour or two until the dizziness got to be too much, and then the same man returned with a shy smile, handing her another cup of ginger tea. She drank it contemplatively, her legs wrapped up in the cabin’s only chair, and once she was done, she changed into her nightgown and laid in bed. Even after sleeping on the deck she felt tired again, and as she drifted off she thought she could hear the sound of the soldiers above singing, a lyrical and melancholic tune that felt just right to her turbulent state of mind.

When she woke some time later, it was to the feeling of hands turning her over onto her stomach.

She blinked with sleep, and tried to prop herself up, but the hands applied just enough pressure to push her back down. Her hips were being lifted, and something soft was put under them, propping her rear up. When

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.