*Fynn*The morning came too early. I slept fitfully for the second night in a row. As much as the sunlight from the previous day had fueled me deep into my core, I was still blearily tired as I crawled out of the covers.Sage hadn't moved. I was a little concerned she might have died until I saw the smooth rise and fall of her chest, breathing deep and steady in her sleep.We were almost to the town where my men were supposed to be meeting me. I had been separated looking for a rogue messenger weeks ago, and they should have made their way there by now. I was going to be the last to arrive, I was sure, because of my little detours.Was that all Sage was?I felt confident after our … conversation last night that she could actually be telling the truth. She might not be a spy from Evangeline after all. It was wreaking havoc on my thoughts because I couldn't determine if she was just that believable last night, or if she genuinely had no idea what I was talking about.If she t
*Sage*I had to force myself not to duck behind Fynn, out of the way of the looming stranger lumbering toward us. He was a mountain of a man, the kind of person that managed to even make Fynn seem small. I didn't want to cower, but I was worried about what Fynn had gotten us into."You son of a bitch, I didn't know they let trash like you in a place like this," Fynn yelled back, chest puffing out as he approached the stranger.I was fully expecting them to come to blows. They both held out their arms as if they were getting ready to swing. But, instead of swinging on each other, they clasped each other by the forearm and clapped each other on the back.My eyes narrowed and I could feel my befuddlement displayed clear on my face. I did my best to hang back out of the way, and let the two of them enjoy whatever reunion this was. I assumed this was one of the men Fynn had mentioned earlier, but he had been so vague, I had no idea what to expect."I wasn't expecting you to have a
*Fynn*It was a relief to see my men. It was clear that they had questions, but they were too polite to ask them in front of Sage. It was the first time I'd seen them present any sort of manners actually. I couldn't help but wonder how long that would last."I'm wearing thin. What else do we need to get done today?" Ragnar announced, bracing his forearms on the table."I think Sage needs a mount of her own. I'm tired of sharing Alastor," I said. I'd been considering what I wanted to get for her. She would probably be more comfortable on a horse of her own. I didn't want to get her something too fast or powerful, but I wanted her to be able to get away in an emergency. I had an idea of what to get, I just had to find it."Are you sure she hasn't already had a mount of her own?" Ronan asked, one eyebrow raised and a dangerous smile on his lips."You're disgusting," I dismissed. I glanced at Sage, surprised to see that she was ignoring the comment completely. I was used to he
*Sage*Supper last night was quiet. I felt like the men were trying to get a feel for me, working to try and decide how they felt about me. I wasn't sure if Fynn ever told them the truth about the nature of our relationship, but they were friendly enough.I slept hard, though I woke several times to the sound of loud crashing outside of our tavern room. Fynn had made a wall of linens and pillows between us, which was a difficult message to interpret. I couldn't decide if he was trying to put some new boundary between us, or if he was concerned I might be upset with him about the situation the previous night.I tried not to dwell on it this morning as we all prepared to leave. I had a breakfast of some sort of sweet pastry and fresh berries, and I felt surprisingly invigorated by it. I was also excited to go and see my very own horse.As a child, I'd always loved horses, but they were expensive and not exactly in my budget, or my mother's for that matter. Here, they were practic
"How did you know to order that?" I grinned at him. "That guy sent me the first one," I told him, pointing to the man at the bar."The first one? You've had more than one?" Fynn demanded."Maybe." I giggled, feeling better than I'd felt in years.Fynn stormed off to confront the man at the bar. I watched him grab the man by the collar of the shirt. It was such a masculine gesture, the way he got in the man's face snarling and demanding. I licked my lips, enjoying the sight.The man at the bar pointed over to Ragnar, and I turned to see what Ragnar was doing now. He was sitting at a table with the two girls from earlier, one sitting on each of his massive thighs. One of the girls was running a hand along his face, and the other was kissing his neck. Ragnar winked at Fynn, who glared in response.Fynn released the stranger at the bar, stomping back over to where I sat. Fynn grabbed all of the pints of beer left in front of us, downing the last bits of each one."Ew, Fynn,
Fynn and I didn't talk about what happened the night before. I felt like I should be embarrassed about how I had acted, but I couldn't make myself feel ashamed. The tension between us had been building for too long. It was some of the best sex I'd had in my entire life.We got ready in relative silence, but Fynn seemed to be in a chipper mood for once. I didn't want to feel too self-assured, but it did make me feel a little better that my notoriously grumpy guide just so happened to be in a better mood since we had sex the night before. Really good sex.When we made it down to the tavern, Ronan and Ragnar were already at the same table from last night, though they were both holding their heads in their hands."Rough night?" Fynn asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down hard in it.I sat down across from him, looking between the men. "Where's Magnus?" I asked."No one knows." Ronan shrugged."Only the gods know," Ragnar grumbled at the same time.Fynn grinned, and I ret
*Fynn*The green and gold tent always seemed gaudy to me. I would have been just fine in one of the tan canvas tents that my soldiers stayed in, or at the very most, in one of the moss-colored tents that my commanders stayed in. Many of my men insisted that I stay in the lavish green monstrosity though, and I quit fighting it years ago.I liked the fact that they built pens for the horses so close by though. Alastor was more loyal than a dog, and I liked being able to keep him near me. It was comforting to do most of his care myself, as I trusted my ability to know what he needed way more than I did the stable hands when we were traveling through town.We all dismounted, taking the tack off our horses and placing it in trunks by their pen. The horses were turned loose once we had them secured behind a fence. They seemed to divide themselves into two groups—the horses that went straight to the water trough, and the ones who took the opportunity to roll in the sparse grass.I fel
*Sage*I wanted to ask more questions. I wanted to demand that he tell me exactly what the hell just happened, but I couldn't really make the words form.The image of the woman who appeared in the mist was practically seared into my mind. She was an ethereal beauty, the kind of person that fashion magazines would photoshop their models to try and look like. Her features were sharp and fine, with the sort of look about her that made me jealous down to my core.I didn't know if she even had access to makeup, so I wasn't sure if that was her natural beauty or not, but I felt incredibly inadequate as I was. Her lashes were full and long, her lips a pale pink that seemed to be the exact perfect nude shade that every makeup brand was going for. She had brilliant blue eyes the color of cornflowers, and long, blonde hair that flowed like water past her shoulders and down her back.And she had some sort of romantic history with Fynn.I still felt like a fool for the way I had thrown m