Page 63 of Dangerous Exile
Asleep.
He reached over on the bed and grabbed the sheet, pulling it up over her rear so she didn’t get chilled, not that it was possible for how hot his skin was on her.
She rustled slightly, all of her limbs stretching for a moment before she snuggled back into him. Her voice, raspy with sleep, whispered into his chest. “You’re not death, Talen. You aren’t. And I’m not going anywhere.”
He didn’t believe her.
But for that that moment, that night, he’d not argue it. Let it be.
For he’d never been at such peace.
{ Chapter 22 }
“This is where you lived, or at least where you lived when I knew you.” From atop her horse, Ness pointed to the right with her left hand, the motion in her fingers not causing the slightest discomfort along her arm. She probably didn’t even need the splint attached to her forearm anymore, though Talen insisted on keeping it on her, patiently rewrapping her arm three times a day so her skin didn’t rot against the splint or itch too much.
She warily looked at Talen on his horse. The knuckles of his hand holding the reins were strained to white.
He didn’t want to be here.
But he’d come because she’d insisted. She was pushing too hard and she knew it, but she couldn’t stop herself. He’d been the one to teach her how to fight, so that’s what she was doing.
Fighting to get him to remember. Remember her. Remember his past so that he could believe in himself. In the good that he held within him. Because right now, he still thought he was death. Death to her.
He may have stopped saying it, but he still believed it. She saw it in his eyes. In the angst etched deep in his blue irises.
His look flicked from Washburn Manor to her. “We should be headed north right now, Ness. Not on some fool’s errand to look at a monstrosity of wealth and privilege.”
She glanced to her right. The main house was a bit much. It had been a grand palace of fun when she was young.Portland stone graced all sides of the manor house. Fat and wide and perfectly symmetrical. A beacon of light against the green surrounding it.
Wide green lawns unfurled in every direction until meeting with the forest on the back side and grazing fields on the right and left. The lawn held perfectly manicured evergreens all about, a labyrinth, several ponds and a multitude of gardens where one could easily get lost. The stables were beyond a swath of forest in the rear, five barns that had, at some point, housed some of the finest breeding horses in England, if she correctly recalled what her father had once said.
Grandeur and pomposity oozed in every direction. But that had been Talen’s childhood. A childhood she knew he’d been happy in. Happiness he could take solace in, happiness that could steal some of the pain away from what he’d remembered.
She cleared her throat and looked to him. “The coach got stuck twice yesterday on the way back to the village, and the driver said the roads were much worse this morning. So our options are to sleep on the roadside tonight when we get stuck halfway to the border because you are too insistent on leaving, or to spend the day here in the area. And there is no harm in visiting the estate—it may help you to remember more.”
His stare had moved off of her to fix on the manor house, his jaw shifting back and forth. “I don’t know that I want to remember more. Yesterday was enough.” His head swiveled, his wide eyes finding her. “The coach got stuck twice yesterday? How did you get it out?”
“The driver and I both pushed on the rear corner of the carriage as he turned the horses with a long lead rope.”
His brows lifted. “And I sat inside the coach the whole time?”
She didn’t try to hide her grin. “You did.”
“Pathetic.” He exhaled, his head shaking. “Well, I am back in the land of the living, you can be assured of that.”
A wanton smile crossed her face. “Anytime you need me to ground you to the present time and place, I am more than willing.”
A chuckle rumbled from his chest. “I may black out more often if that is my reward.”
She motioned with her left hand that had been resting in her lap. “Shall we at least go up the drive? We don’t have to inquire about going inside or meeting anyone in residence. Just poke about.”
He looked up the long gravel drive, staring at it for a long moment before nodding his head.
She flicked her reins with her right hand, sending her mare into motion next to his horse. They moved slowly, Talen’s eyes shifting across the landscape, the land unfurling out from the manor house, the lane lined on one side with majestic oaks about to drop their leaves.
His focus landed on the manor house up the hill, his eyes squinting at the structure. “Who are these people that I come from?”
Her lips drew inward for a long moment as her heart sank.