Fingers brushed against mine, and I stared at where Knox’s hand was touching me. Lifting my eyes, I found him observing me carefully. I dropped my gaze and continued moving forward, not willing to accept the silent support he offered. I felt like I’d just killed a piece of myself, and worse, I would have to tell my sisters I’d murdered Amara when I returned, and I wasn’t sure how that information would be received. I exhaled deeply and inhaled slowly, calming the turmoil before it shifted to turbulence.
“Aria,” Knox whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me closer to him as we continued walking. “Breathe, they can’t touch you anymore.”
“I know that.”
He slipped his fingers through mine, lifting my hand to brush his mouth against my knuckles before he let it drop. Spinning around, he paused as the others stopped around us. His head turned, staring up at the cliffs that stood high above the valley we walked through, to where soldiers stood, peering down at us. Swallowing hard, I took in the men who wore the obsidian-colored armor, and shivered violently. The man in the middle wore the skeletal mask that I’d peered into, and I shrank back, hiding behind Knox as they continued to watch us from their vantage point.
My heart hiccupped to a stop and started with the force of thunder as everything within me turned to worry. Knox was a king in his own right, but that didn’t mean he was safe from the King of Norvalla. The royalty between realms could destroy one another, but only if the original bloodlines gave permission.
The problem was, the King of Norvalla was above that. He had refused to sign the covenant or even acknowledge that the Human Realm should be included in the same category, making it the Tenth Realm since it hadn’t been a part of the original nine. Until Hecate had ripped through the portal she created to discover it.
Hecate was the reason the portal barriers separating the Nine Realms had been broken. To create trade opportunities among the realms, she had merged them all together as one large region, while still maintaining physical borders identifying each of the Nine Realms. This also allowed the Nine Realms to be governed as separate kingdoms but overseen by the Council of Original Bloodlines, as well as the appointed High King.
Our family was considered one of the largest and most prominent families in all the realms. Not that we exploited it, but to land a Hecate direct descendant was huge. Or it had been until we’d left the Nine Realms to live among mortals.
Aurora had told us tales of the men who wooed her, courting Hecate’s daughter. My mother, Freya, had used it to mate with anything that had a cock she could physically take between her legs.
My heart kicked into overdrive as I peered up at the male who had watched me spinning in the Minotaur’s court. No one spoke as a shiver raced down my spine, and I leaned my head against Knox’s back as I closed my eyes.
The image of Amara and her husband filled my mind, and I gagged. It caused Knox to turn around, staring at me. He opened his mouth to speak, and I held my hand up, shaking my head as the images flooded my mind until I turned, throwing up. No one made a noise or questioned what was wrong, as if they knew I couldn’t speak about that place of horror.
Hands pulled my hair away from my face, and I heaved until nothing more would come out. Standing, I covered my mouth with the back of my hand as Brander’s pained stare held mine. He exhaled before stepping closer.
“I need to examine you, Aria.”
“No,” I whispered as I shook my head, covering my eyes with my forearm. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, Aria. You were in the Kingdom of Unwanted Beasts, where women are mutilated, and even if you think you’re fine, I need to be certain.”
“I said no,” I whispered through clenched teeth, trembling as I shoved the images away from the front of my mind. “I am fine, there’s no reason to check me.”
I turned, staring at Knox, who watched me through narrowed eyes before he spoke in a low tone to Brander. “Once we get deep enough into the forest, we will camp for the night.”
“I think it best we do. I think we could all use the rest before we go through the passes.”
My stare moved to the empty cliff and then back to Knox, who had yet to look away from me. The men started forward, and I settled into their quick pace while Knox walked behind me.
It was hours more before we entered a vast forest with trees that had trunks wider than ten men standing shoulder to shoulder. My eyes stared up as I took in their height, moving higher than my eyes could see, as if they were reaching for the heavens of the gods.
All around us, woodland creatures played, jumping from tree to tree as they followed us deeper into the forest. It took another hour of moving through the woods before a group of men came into view, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
Knox moved toward the men, speaking low, in a foreign tongue as he pointed to a large clearing a mile or so away from us. I didn’t rush to keep up with him and the others, preferring to remain back from the men who continually gave me a curious stare.
Large tents were set up in a clearing, but the sound of water drew my attention, and I walked away from the group, silently, finding a lovely pool. The water was crystal clear and welcoming.
Slowly, I lifted the dress from my body and stepped into the water. My hands scrubbed the glitter from my flesh, hating that no matter how much I tried, it wouldn’t all come off. Footsteps sounded behind me, and I turned, staring at Knox.
His eyes lowered to the angry purple and blue bruises that covered my breast and shoulders, where Garrett had tried to pull me through the bars by force. My arms held bruises from where the guards had grabbed me roughly, jerking me around. My thighs held even more bruises, but from what I didn’t know. I was battered and bruised in places I hadn’t felt until the fear had left me, along with the worry of escape.
Another male entered the small clearing and paused, looking at the damage to my body. Brander groaned, covering his mouth as he took in the bruises before I gave him my back.
“Set a perimeter up around the pool. Make sure the men know to keep their distance.”
“I need to examine her. When she is ready,” he added firmly, placing his hands on his hips, frowning as he shook his head.
“Go do as I said,” Knox ordered, and silence filled the small clearing.
My hands dipped into the water that gurgled up from the bottom of the pool. I heated it to a boiling point, dunking beneath it to close out the sounds that haunted me. I emerged to take a breath of air, and arms captured me, turning me around until I was forced to face Knox.
“What happened?” he asked with worry etched into his words.
“I can’t,” I whispered, looking away.
“Did they rape you, Aria?”
I shook my head, knowing he wanted to know everything that had happened, but I wasn’t ready to speak about it. His arms pulled me closer, and I leaned against his silent strength, hating the tears that fell as they dripped down my face. He exhaled slowly, but it shook his body with the force of it as he placed his lips against the top of my head, kissing it.
“You rescued me again.” I slipped my arms around him to lean back and peer up into his turbulent gaze.
“Is that what I did?” He smiled sadly, watching me closely.
“I can’t get the glitter off.”
“It’s just glitter.” He pushed the wet hair away from my face.