Page 34 of Stolen Thorn Bride
Or perhaps Kasia was just reading too much into it.
Nodding her thanks to Tiernan, she gave Aral one last hug before turning reluctantly to follow Eilis into the castle.
Chapter 10
Dechlan watched her go with a strange feeling of disappointment. Part of him had hoped to welcome her here personally. To show her everything he loved most about his home.
But his bondmate marched off, spine straight, as if she couldn’t wait to wash her hands of him.
And he couldn’t feel her through their bond. Which was not necessarily bad—as best he could tell, it was only the strongest emotions that reached him or enabled him to find her. At least, he reassured himself, that meant she was not terrified or angry. No doubt she was tired and sore and looking forward to a bath.
He would have to find her at some later time and offer to provide whatever was needed to make her life more comfortable. Now that he was aware that their bond was real in at least some respects, he knew he could not neglect their relationship as he’d once… yes, as he’d once planned.
It had seemed natural to expect them to lead entirely separate lives. After all, Kasia probably wanted to see him as little as he wanted her to remind him of all that he’d lost. But ignoring her completely was no longer an option. They would have to work out some mutual agreement. He was going to have to tell her that the bond was real. Eventually.
For now, perhaps it was best to allow her some rest and some time away from him to consider what she might want. Along the road, he’d come to believe that her antagonism had faded—that they were on their way to becoming friends, at least. Once or twice, she’d smiled at him in a way that sat oddly on his mind, and when he touched her, she hadn’t jerked away.
At the least, it seemed she no longer hated him.
So even though the weight of his title and responsibilities was once more heavy on his shoulders, a part of him remained hopeful as he turned his attention to the clamor from his steward, his captains, and everyone else who had born the burden of his absence. It was time to make a list of all the catastrophes that required his personal intervention. By the sound of things, it would be many long hours before he slept.
* * *
The following day,Dechlan rose with a million things on his mind. The battle lines to the north were holding, but the reinforcements due from the east had not yet arrived, and his own soldiers were desperately in need of a rest. He would need to send a swift to arrange for his and Kasia’s mounts to be returned to Caislan Daire. His armorers were struggling due to depleted stockpiles of steel, as the dwer reported their supply chains had been harassed and disrupted by dragons. The dragons had been driven out of their usual haunts by wraiths, and so the train of problems proceeded on.
But the first thing he did was go looking for Kasia.
What he found was a distraught Eilis, who seemed rather put out that her charge had somehow eluded her by rising far earlier than she’d expected. Either that or the Riene had not actually slept in her bed at all, though Eilis carefully avoided saying that in so many words. She’d meant for the day to include a tour of the castle, clothes fittings, and some beginning lessons in Elvish, but now what was she to do?
Hiding a bit of a smile, Dechlan promised to alert her to Kasia’s whereabouts and, after a moment’s consideration, decided he knew exactly where to find her.
Sure enough, a detour to the stables revealed Tiernan leaning unobtrusively against the wall. On the surface, the young elf seemed gentle and quick to smile, but he was one of the most trusted and deadly warriors in Dechlan’s employ. And also one of the least prejudiced. One of his great-grandmothers had been a human who accidentally found herself in Sion Dairach, so perhaps he had been the natural choice for the job.
Although he was also not typically assigned to bodyguard duty, so Dechlan suspected he might simply have been the only one willing to volunteer.
After making himself a mental note to question Callum and Nuala on the topic, Dechlan peeked around the door into Aral’s den, where the pale gold of Kasia’s hair was resting against the wolf’s silvery fur.
“I don’t think she knows what to do with me,” Kasia was saying. “Not that she’s cruel, but I’m not what she expected, and she doesn’t believe I’m good enough for him. For them. Whatever position it is I’ve got now, she doesn’t think I can do it.”
Dechlan heard a deep sigh.
“And I can’t, if I’m honest. What do I know about castles? My only real skills are keeping children out of trouble, telling bedtime stories, and chopping wood.”
Aral turned his head to snuffle at her hair and made a swipe at her cheek with his tongue, shooting Dechlan a look of mild curiosity in the process.
“You forgot to add pig-keeping,” he said from the doorway, drawing a surprised yelp from his bondmate.
She instantly jumped to her feet and flushed bright pink. “How long were you listening?”
“Not long,” he assured her. “But long enough to know that you are uncomfortable with Eilis. I am sorry for that.”
“It’s not her fault,” Kasia said, a hint of defensiveness in her posture. “She’s not wrong about me.”
“She hasn’t given you a chance yet.”
His bondmate shrugged. “It hasn’t even been a day.” She paused and threw a glance out the door before whispering, “Is he still out there?”
Dechlan carefully concealed his amusement. “He is. As your bodyguard, he sees to your safety at all times when you are not in your private rooms.”