The Hunchback's Reluctant Bride ✔

26 | Shut

Sitting on a wagon, Vadde jostled when dainty fingers touched her tender bruises. She wasn't sure of much, but one voice brought her back from the great beyond.

"Thank you. Can you heal the rest?"

Wyrn.

"Yes. Hold on," Aggu begged. Gentle hands smeared a cold paste against Vadde's face and neck. Her skin tingled. Every bruise that mended left a dull ache where the wound once was. "Please be careful," Aggu said. "It's dangerous if nightfall catches you. So stay close to the path and keep your dagger at the ready. You have twice the usual offering so it should be more than enough."

"Mother...." Wyrn hesitated.

"Don't worry about your father. Of course, he wouldn't let you go without an offering. He acts contrary but he wants you to succeed. We all do." After a moment, she held Vadde's face. "Good luck."

Vadde still kept her head hung as the wagon started to move. They didn't head down into the village, but instead in the opposite direction, further into the forest.

Time and life came back to Vadde and she took in the last of the huts as they passed. The sound of rushing water closed in. It was when they crossed the river that she reached out to hold the reins.

Wyrn allowed the mule to come to a halt. They were ages from their home.

He shivered. Vadde feared he wouldn't allow her to hold his hand but he held hers instead.

"We don't have much time," he muttered. When she didn't answer, he brushed her hair back, worried. "Are you still hurt?"

Vadde's body began to tremble as well. A deep sense of shame washed over her.

The prince was here. Orm. That man was here. And she struggled to understand how or why. But then a thought made that anguish all the more shameful. Orm'd seen. He'd seen Wyrn's people because of her. Because of her and the damn fairies.

"Princess, please." Wyrn held her face, gentle but firm. "We must reach The Living Goddess before night catches us."

She turned from his grip and he didn't counter her action.

"How dangerous is this for you?"

His attempt at holding her hand yet again came with more determination. It contrasted his soft voice. "As dangerous as someone who couldn't hear what we are now knowing it."

At his words, Vadde tensed.

He knew.

Her mind raced as she tried to find out when he'd discovered that secret.

"You know," he said. "You know what we are. So please, let's continue on before my father catches wind of it. Because then, there's no more chances or talk. He'll take action. These are all laws of The Living Goddess. He will not—cannot afford to offend her yet again." His dire warning came with a squeeze of the hand. "So please.... Let's continue on."

But she grabbed his arm before he could do just that.

Vadde tightened her hold. As of now, her concern was the damn fairy and less so for herself and more so for what the one below the shield might do. "I'm sorry," was all she could manage.

"So long as you take the oath before we meet her, you'll be safe. We'll be all right then."

She turned those words over in her head then formed one conclusion. "My slight to the Fae comes to all of you?"

Per his habit, he hesitated but for once, he was forthright. "That's what it means to be a couple. We face things together."

Breathing heavy, Vadde paced herself and asked, "Where is Orm?"