The Sorceress and the Spider King by Finn Evie

Author:Finn, Evie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sirenstone Press
Published: 2024-08-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

Neve and Eleksi rode late into the night, the memory of his brief, intense kiss warm on her lips.

A glittering starry sky guided the way north. The vegetation became starker and taller, and the temperature dropped. Snow capped the mountains in the northern regions of Zermes in the wintertime. Neve hoped she wouldn’t still be a fugitive at the turn of the season.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” said Eleksi out of nowhere. Their horses ambled side by side on the starlit forest path. “I was . . . overcome.”

Neve’s shoulders tightened in surprise and disappointment. She didn’t consider the kiss a mistake. She considered it wonderful, and she was dismayed that he seemed to think otherwise.

“Overcome by what?” she asked, trying to understand.

“My desire for you,” he replied in his low, deep voice, as if the answer was obvious. “I had no right to take advantage of you in a vulnerable moment. You’d just fought for your life.”

“You didn’t take advantage of me.” She paused, fiddling with the supple leather of her reins. “I liked the kiss.”

“So did I. I liked it so much that it disquieted me.”

“How so?”

He exhaled a measured breath. “The only strong feelings I’ve ever had have been bad ones.”

“Perhaps it’s time for a change.”

“Perhaps.” He gave her a sidelong look. “You don’t regret it?”

“I don’t regret it,” she replied emphatically. “You are the one gambling with your life by putting your flesh on mine. You know what happened the last time I kissed someone.”

The assassin chuckled. “Like I said, you just hadn’t met me.”

“Besides, we have more urgent concerns than a kiss. Our very survival.”

“Aye.”

“If we can’t defeat Meliohr, I’ll have to leave Zermes,” she said. “It’d be too risky to stay here. But where would I go?”

“You mean, where would we go?” replied Eleksi, his silvery eyes like stars in the velvety dark of the forest. “I wouldn’t leave you to your own devices. Nor would I want to.”

Pleased, Neve suppressed a smile. “Morktland isn’t an option, for obvious reasons. We’d be walking right into Garstang territory.”

“Although, hiding under their noses mightn’t be the worst idea.”

Neve shuddered. “Even if I’m not identified as Leonid’s child, if I’m captured for sorcery, a foul fate would await me.”

“Not Morktland, then.”

“I’ve always wanted to visit Velandia.”

“They are the closest kingdom, though,” said Eleksi. “People travel between here and there all the time. Your likelihood of discovery is high enough that you may as well stay here, in your own land.”

Neve sighed. “If only I had mountains of gold, we could hire every single Spider King to do our bidding, not Meliohr’s.” An owl hooted softly in the trees. “How much would it cost, anyway? To hire all of the Spider Kings, to ensure they can’t come after us?”

“There are hundreds of us. And new recruits are trained every day. Only the very wealthiest families have enough gold to command the entire company, and this is by design. Nobles can’t allow common people an avenue to overthrow them.

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