Echoes of the Raven (The Eldrystone #2)

27. CHAPTER 27

27

RíFíOR

“No one can be trusted. I will extricate her from my heart, no matter how much it hurts.”

Reina Amira Plumanegra (Casa Plumanegra) - Queen of Castella - 21 AV

T he weight on my legs hardly registers as a concern. I could bear it indefinitely without any problems. But this proximity to Valeria is truly unsettling. I want to rip apart the flimsy panel enclosing us and flee. I would bolt from the wagon and vanish into the forest, never to be found again. It’s a tempting idea, though an impossible one—not when the chance to reopen the veil lies so close at hand.

My jaw is clenched, and my eyes are closed. I intend to keep them that way, but as her scent—a blend of lemon and lavender—fills my nostrils, they involuntarily slide open, and I have to curse my heightened senses.

Despite the darkness, I see her clearly. She sits with her head hanging low, eyes directed at her lap. One of her thumbs worries at the other, picking at a hangnail. Her lips move as if in prayer, though I hear no sound escaping from her.

Jago’s hands are around her waist as she sits on his lap. The heat of anger climbs up my chest, and I have to remind myself that he’s her cousin .

Her tongue darts out, and she licks her lower lip.

As angry voices reach us from outside, her head tilts to one side to better listen. Chin trembling, she breathes through her mouth, chest rising and falling. It’s obvious she’s terrified of being caught. No harm would come to her if we’re discovered, but it seems she really wants to reach the veil and reopen it. I am terribly puzzled by her apparent determination. What happened that brought her to this decision and made her go against her sister? Whatever it is, it can’t be good, and I have to bite my tongue not to ask at that very moment.

“Search all the wagons,” someone orders.

Gaspar throws the door open and steps outside. “What’s the matter?” he asks in the groggy voice of someone who was rudely awakened.

If we’re discovered in this ridiculous hiding place, I will not be responsible for what happens to those guards. I’ll kill them all before Valeria even has a chance to remind me they are her kin.

“Shut your mouth and get out of the way,” the same guard barks.

Murmurs reach my ears. The other troop members, I assume. They sound scared, and I don’t blame them. The Romani are treated nearly as badly as us, fae folk. It’s a disgrace, one that Simón Plumanegra should have never allowed to fester and propagate. Any good king would have uprooted such tendencies.

Abundant trampling of horses and boots follows as they search for us. Our wagon tips slightly from one side to the other as someone climbs in.

In front of me, Valeria sits entirely frozen, but for that slight trembling of her chin. My hand twitches as the impulse to reach out and caress her cheek overtakes me.

Damn all the gods!

Every bit of logic in all the realms tells me I should despise this creature, but since the very beginning, my body has had a will of its own when it comes to her. She is as water to a parched body, a beacon to a sailor, chains to a prisoner. Inexorable .

Gods, erase her from my mind!

I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my jaw, doing my best to ignore her delicious scent.

“Anything?” The person in charge calls from outside the wagon.

“Um, no, Teniente Coronel.” He sounds unsure. “Uh… only a bedroll, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I mean, only a bedroll, ma’am,” he calls with added confidence.

The wagon rocks again, and the door slams shut. We are safe. At least, that is what I tell myself. I don’t feel at all safe in Valeria’s presence.