“We will mate.” He wanted Verity to know that. Or was it he who needed to know?
Her head turned with a snap to look at him. “So you have said and left the choice of when to me, and I have made it clear to you when that will be.”
He lowered his face closer to hers. “Laying rules down, wife?”
Verity smiled softly and spoke just as softly. “I am following yours, husband. You gave me a choice and I made it.”
Husband.
Never did he think he would be called that by any woman and yet it sounded good to his ears and that annoyed him.
“So you will not join with me unless I care for you from the depths of my heart?” he asked.
“Aye, that is what I said,” Verity confirmed.
He lowered his face closer to hers and whispered, “I have no heart.” His lips were so close to hers that it felt like he brushed a faint kiss across them and her body shivered against his, arousing him much too fast.
“I do not believe that.”
Her faint murmur tickled his lips and with his arousal growing, he could not help but challenge her. “Then join with me and find out.”
“And what if you discover you have a heart?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “That will not happen.”
“If it did?” she dared.
“I will spill my seed into you and keep you forever.” His response was unexpected to his own ears. He cared for Verity; he could not deny that. She tugged at something unfamiliar inside him, but it was not his heart. He had guarded that well. He was tasked with an important role... to protect the King and nothing came before that.
He felt the need to warn her, protect her, or was it himself he was attempting to protect? “I care for you, but you will not now or ever have what I do not have to give... a heart. Know that now before we join.”
Did he challenge her? Was he looking to prove he had no heart or to find that he did have one? She did not know, but she would like to find out. She smiled as she asked, “The choice is still mine of when and where?”
“Aye, but that does not mean I will not touch you.”
“Or I you?”
Wrath grinned. “You can touch me as much as you want.”
“And still not join with you?”
He laughed again. “You can try.”
A shout from one of the warriors had both their heads snapping around. Tilden rode forward past them and stopped to speak with the warrior who held something in his hand. Tilden appeared to stare at it as the warrior spoke to him and pointed behind him. After a moment, they both rode toward Wrath.
“What is it?” Wrath asked when the two men brought their horses to a halt in front of him.
The warrior held out a piece of cloth.
Upon seeing it, Verity quickly leaned forward to grab it, almost falling off Wrath’s horse as she did, if he had not grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back.
“That is a piece of Hemera’s cloak,” Verity said, stretching her arm out, attempting to reach for it only to be stopped by his arm that felt like an iron band around her waist.
Tilden took the cloth from the warrior and handed it to Verity.
Verity smiled once it was in her hand. It was not a large piece, only a small square and dark so it could be spotted easily against the snow.
“You are sure it is from Hemera’s cloak?” Wrath asked.
She nodded. “I am sure. It is two cloaks in one to keep her extra warm. Hemera stitched it herself, her stitches are not like others. They are small and tight and keep the garment held firmly together.”
“Then perhaps she found her way to the Imray Tribe. The path that takes us there appears to have been traveled by not one but many. She could have joined a group along the way,” Tilden said.
“But the trail stops suddenly, as if whoever traveled it vanished instantly,” the other warrior was quick to add.
Tilden shot him a warning look.
“What do you mean?” Verity asked.
The warrior looked from Tilden to Wrath and waited.
Verity looked at Wrath. “Please, let him have his say. I want to know.”
Wrath did not like hearing the distress in her voice and there was no reason she should not know what the warrior thought.
The warrior hurried to speak after Wrath nodded permission. “The tracks I followed brought me to that piece of cloth. I found it in a large arched hole in the middle of a tree that you could walk clear through to the other side. The tracks stopped at the hole in the tree and there were no signs that anyone turned around and went the other way. And the ground on the other side had not been trampled upon. It can mean only one thing.” The warrior turned silent as if he did not want to say anymore or feared saying more.
“How far is it?” Wrath asked.
“It is a ways ahead and around the bend, then a bit of a distance off the path and into the woods.”
“Take us there,” Wrath ordered and the warrior nodded. He looked to Tilden. “Let the others know what might await us.”
“What might await us?” Verity asked as Wrath followed the warrior.
“A Wyse Tribe settlement.”
Verity shivered. “I only know of the Wyse through the Northmen and they fear the Wyse. I heard them tell tales of seeing one of their own disappear right before their eyes. And all the Northmen did was step through a door of a dwelling that had only partial walls and no roof. He was never seen again. Never will a Northmen step through any type of door on Pict soil that has no wall behind it.”
“The Wyse protect this land and always will. They are good people,” Wrath said.
“How can that be if they keep people from leaving once they enter a Wyse settlement?”
“No one knows that for sure.” He thought about Anin, her mother having been from the Wyse Tribe. He wished he had had the time before he had left on his mission to have talked with her about the Wyse. There would be time when Anin returned to Pictland for him and Verity to learn more about the tribe that seemed more mythical than real.
A fearful thought had Verity digging her fingers into his arm. “Hemera could have stumbled into a Wyse settlement and be stuck there.”
Wrath’s insides twisted at the thought that Verity would rush through the arched hole in the tree never to be seen again, or until Anin could help free her, if that was possible. “You will not go through that hole in the tree,” he ordered sharply.
“But what if Hemera went through it and is now with the Wyse? I must free her. I cannot leave her there.”
“And what if she is not with them? One of your visions showed that you reunited with your sister. There is no reason for you to take such a chance.”
“This could be how we reunite.”
“I forbid you to take the chance,” Wrath ordered, an image of her rushing through the hole in the tree to find her sister and disappearing, sparking his anger. “I mean it, Verity. You will take no such chance.”
Verity turned silent.
Wrath took hold of her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Your silence speaks louder than your words. I will have warriors guard you while I see to this.” He pressed his finger to her lips when she went to speak. “I will hear no more about it.”
Verity knew it was useless to continue protesting, especially when part of her agreed with him. What would she do if she entered a Wyse settlement and did not find Hemera there? Would she be able to leave or would she be stuck there? The thought of not seeing Wrath again upset her and without realizing it, she pressed herself more tightly against him.
“I will not lose you,” he said, keeping a strong arm around her. “You will do as I say. I will have it no other way.”
It was a command, though a comforting one and one she thought would be wise for her to obey.
It took longer than Verity thought to reach the tree, or perhaps it seemed that way since she was eager to see if anything more could be learned of Hemera. She found herself speechless when they s
topped not far from the tree. Even if she had not known that it was a possible entrance to a Wyse settlement, she would have never gone through the arched hole in the middle of the wide trunk.
The sight of it gave her the shivers. The old oak, its age apparent by how high it reached into the sky sat majestically in the middle of a small clearing. Its branches spread so wide at the bottom that it gave the appearance of a roof over the arched hole that looked more like a doorway... but to where?
Wrath got off the horse and helped Verity down. He did not have to tell her to stay close or place a guard around her, since she clung tightly to his arm.
The other warriors dismounted and spread out to either side of Wrath and her, all staring at the arched hole in the tree. No one took a step toward it. They stood where they were and continued to stare.
“I found the piece of cloth inside the hole caught on a sliver of wood,” the warrior said to Wrath, breaking the silence.
“You did not go through to the other side?’ Wrath asked.
The warrior shook his head and slowly took a step back as if he feared Wrath would command him to do so.
Verity kept her focus on the tree. She had no desire to pass through the hole, though it seemed an easy step to take to the other side, but would it take you there? Or would you vanish?
Wrath stepped forward and she had no choice but to follow unless she let go of him and that she did not intend to do. He glanced at the ground and Verity’s eyes followed his and she was startled by the many footprints in the snow that suddenly stopped at the entrance to the hole. How could that be?
She raised her head, shaking it, not believing what she saw and her eyes rounded wide when she caught a flash of something on the other side of the tree. But it could not be. She had to be imagining it? Or was she? Was that Hemera’s cloak she saw flying by and had Hemera been in it?
“Did you see that?” Verity asked, letting go of Wrath’s arm.
“Did I see what?” he asked, looking where her eyes searched, through the hole.
“A flash of cloth.” Verity took a step forward.
Wrath’s strong fingers closed tightly around her arm. “I do not see anything and you will not go anywhere.”
Verity did as he said, though kept her eye on the hole in the tree.
Wrath turned to talk with Tilden who had stepped up beside him and also the warrior who continued to keep a cautious distance from the tree.
Verity remained staring through the hole and just when she thought there was nothing to see, she caught a flash of cloth again and a sound of familiar laughter... Hemera’s laughter. She did not hesitate. She yanked her arm free of Wrath’s and rushed through the arched hole. When she got to the other side, she spotted Hemera’s cloak lying on the snow-covered ground. She hurried to it, snatched it up, and called out, “Hemera!”
Her voice echoed through the trees and she turned full circle, searching all around her for any sight of Hemera. All she saw were trees being swallowed by a slow approaching mist and that was when she realized that these woods were not the woods she had seen when on the other side of the tree. She stared at the old oak standing majestically, its trunk solid, the hole she had come through was gone.
~~~
Wrath stood frozen as Verity disappeared through the hole and vanished before his eyes. She was there one moment and the next she was no more. He turned to Tilden. “If I do not return shortly, hurry to the stronghold and tell the King what has happened.”
He did not wait for an answer, he ran through the hole after Verity.
In all the battles he had fought, he had never known the relief he felt now seeing Verity standing there, turning slowly in a circle, looking lost. When she spotted him, fear suddenly left her wide eyes and a large smile spread across her face and he hurried to her, his arms reaching out for her.
Verity cried out to him, “Wrath!” Her heart beat rapidly against her chest as she ran into his outstretched arms as fast as she could and when they closed around her, hugging her tight, she hugged him just as tight. “You came for me.”
“Always.”
Guilt washed over Verity and she held up the cloak flattened between their bodies. “Hemera’s cloak. I thought I saw her and heard her laughter.”
“I saw nothing, but the cloak is proof that you did, though I do not approve of you rushing off away from me.”
Verity shook her head. “I thought only of Hemera. She looked around. Now we are stuck, though I see no settlement only a creeping mist.”
“Our tracks,” Wrath said, pointing to the ground only to see the spots where their feet had tread being swallowed by the invading mist. “Hurry,” he urged, taking her arm and rushing her forward as they attempted to keep ahead of the mist.
When the mist swallowed the last of their tracks and began to creep up their legs, Wrath grabbed her around the waist and propelled them both forward with such force that they tumbled to the ground.
Chapter Twenty
Wrath kept his arms locked around Verity, his hand pressed to the back of her head, her face buried against his chest, and his body shielding hers. He released his hold on her only when he heard the familiar shouts of his men.
He was on his feet, taking Verity with him as Tilden approached. He rested her body against his, her legs too weak for her to stand on her own. He signaled to Tilden to bring his horse and when he did, he had the warrior lift Verity up to him after he mounted.
“We leave here,” he announced to his men, every one of them all too eager to obey.
Verity shook the confusion from her head and looked up from where she lay cradled in his arms. “Hemera is with the Wyse.” She hugged Hemera’s cloak to her. “She left this for me to let me know where she was.”
“Did she or did she leave it to let you know she was safe?” He watched her brow wrinkle in thought. “We did not escape the Wyse, they chased us away.”
“You believe she is safe with the Wyse?”
“Paine had shared what little he knew of the Wyse and of his time with them. If your sister is with them, then she is there by choice and her cloak is proof of it.”
Verity turned away, looking out over the land, though too lost in her thoughts to see. What could she do when her sister was with a mythical tribe?
“We will reach the Imray on the morrow,” Wrath said and wished he could ease the hurt he saw in her lovely eyes that held far too much sorrow. “If there are no signs of Hemera having been there, then it would add to what we already believe, that she is with the Wyse. All we can do is wait for her to return of her own accord.”
Verity remained silent, having no response. She thought back to her and her sister’s time at sea when the waters had turned choppy and the heavens had darkened. Hemera had told her then that if fate saw fit to separate them that they would both do what was necessary to survive and find their way back to each other. And that above all else, Verity was to trust her visions, for they would help lead the way.
Thinking on that, Verity wondered if Hemera had discovered that Ulric was here and realized it would be best if she was not around when he presented himself to King Talon. Or would she? She had never been one to back down to Ulric. Why then would she choose to remain with the Wyse?
“Your thoughts are too heavy. Let them be for now.” Wrath did not order her to do so, though his voice rang with strength.
“It is easy to say, but far more difficult to do.” She looked away from him.
“Your visions show you what will be?”
Her head snapped around. “That would mean I reunite with my sister only to have Ulric take me away?”
He gave her waist a reassuring squeeze. “I told you I will not let that happen.”
Fear suddenly gripped her. Why had the thought only struck her now? It had been the way Wrath had not hesitated to follow after her through the open door and into the unknown to rescue her from her own foolish action that had the thought spring into her head. It showed her that he would do whateve
r was necessary to keep her safe and that thought instilled a fear in her that she had not felt since she had been taken from her home by the Northmen. What if she had screamed out for Wrath in her vision as Ulric dragged her away and Wrath had not come for her because he was unable to follow after her? What if Ulric or his men had badly wounded Wrath? Or worse what if she had been screaming his name because she had witnessed his death?
“I see doubt in your eyes. You do not think I will save you.”
She pressed a gentle hand to his cheek and voiced her fear. “You must not place your life in danger to save me.”
He kissed her palm and smiled. “I place my life in danger every day for the King. It is nothing more than a chore to me.”
Her hand fell away from his face and surprisingly anger sparked inside her. “At least I am an easier chore for you than you are for me.”
Wrath found himself startled by her words. “I am a chore to you?”
“A burdensome one.”
His anger sparked as well. “Not for long. You can be rid of me as soon as this situation with your sister and the Northmen are settled. Simply say the word and you will be my wife no more.” As soon as Wrath said those words he wished he could take them back and that annoyed him even more. What was it about this woman that made him act or speak without thought or reason?
“I will see it done as soon as possible,” Verity said and turned away from him to once again focus on the land and once again not see it. He did not care for her. She was his chore and someone to dally with until everything was settled. She was a fool for thinking the mighty warrior Wrath would ever care for her. She willed her tears not to fall, refusing to let him see that he had hurt her.
Wrath was furious and he was not sure why. Or he did not want to admit that the thought of Verity ending their marriage, of never seeing her again or worse, her in the arms of another man had him ready to roar out his anger. It was near impossible to contain his anger when it reached a certain point and he was reaching that point fast.
The King's Warrior (Pict King Series Book 2) Page 18
