The woman she had been watching so intently over the past several days finally slipped between the tents.
Talia watched her through narrowed eyes, then set off cautiously in pursuit.
The woman moved with the practiced ease of someone trained never to draw notice. Her gait was so quiet and light that Talia would have lost her in an instant had she not recognized the distinctive techniques of the Taren house.
In the blink of an eye, the figure crossed the grounds and vanished into the line of supply wagons.
After a brief hesitation, Talia crept over to the heavy carts and peered into the narrow gap between them. The woman was already gone.
Unsettled, Talia scanned her surroundings and squeezed between the massive wagons. Suddenly, her foot caught on something.
‘What is this…?’
Frowning, she bent down and found a small glass vial lying beneath a wheel.
When she picked it up to take a closer look, a slick smear of liquid around the rim wet her fingertips.
Startled, she flung the bottle aside. She brought her fingers closer and sniffed; a sickening mix of sickly-sweet flowers and the raw, rank stench of animal secretions pierced her nostrils. The smell was so revolting her vision swam, and she gagged. Grimacing, she scrubbed the strange residue off with her handkerchief, but the vile odor clung to her skin.
‘Vile.’
She threw the soiled cloth to the ground and straightened up, only to find a dark shadow looming over her.
Talia gasped, her head jerking upward as she stumbled back onto the dirt. Varkas was looking down at her, his face cold and impassive.
“What are you doing in a place like this?”
Talia, who had been staring up at him blankly, scrambled to her feet.
How long had he been watching her?
Though she had not actually done anything yet, her heart hammered against her ribs. Talia forced an air of composure and snapped at him.
“You startled me! Creeping around without a sound like some filthy rat—what do you think you’re doing?”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Letting her venom pass right through him, Varkas unfolded his arms and took a step forward.
Talia drew back, then arched a brow defiantly.
“Why should I have to answer to you? What does it matter to you where I am or what I do?”
She tried to slip past him, but with a stride of his long legs, Varkas cut off her path.
Pinned between the heavy wagon and his imposing frame, Talia looked up at him, her eyes trembling.
“What… what are you doing?”
“I cannot leave you to wander alone, not when I might be forced to witness another revolting sight.”
Talia flinched at the lash in his voice.
Varkas looked down at her for a moment, then gave a faint sigh and gestured with his chin.
“I will escort you to your quarters. Walk.”
“I don’t need an escort. I can go by myself—”
“Is there a reason I should not accompany you?”
Her hand instinctively closed over the hilt of the blade tucked into her pocket. A fatal mistake. It was as good as announcing she had something to conceal.
Seeing his gaze narrow, Talia shoved both hands against his chest.
“None of your business! Move!”
She pushed with all her strength, but he did not budge. Beneath that lean frame, his body was solid as forged iron.
Hiding her panic, Talia lifted her chin with forced dignity.
“Didn’t you hear me? Move!”
After studying her in silence, Varkas slowly stepped back.
Talia seized the opening and squeezed through the gap between him and the wagon. But as she tried to hurry off, a firm hand clamped onto her arm and spun her around.
Before she could even gasp, his fingers plunged into her cloak pocket and drew out the finely honed blade.
The blood drained from Talia’s face. Varkas ran a casual thumb along the steel with an easy, practiced grace, then stared down at her with hollow, unreadable eyes.
She could have made an excuse, could have claimed it was for self-defense. But under that piercing gaze that seemed to dissect her very thoughts, her composure shattered completely.
She threw herself at him, frantic as a child robbed of her only possession.
“Give it back!”
He lifted the hand holding the knife high out of reach.
Talia rose onto her toes, clawing at his uniform as she strained upward.
“Give it back! I said give it back!”
His expression hardening at her senseless frenzy, Varkas flung the blade away.
Talia scrambled to retrieve it, but before she could lay a finger on the hilt, a gold-plated sabaton kicked it far out of reach.
Watching the knife slide under a wagon, she bent down to crawl after it. But before she could touch the ground, a thick arm locked around her waist and hauled her upright.
Talia’s face contorted as she glared up at him with murderous rage. Yet Varkas’s expression was just as cold, simmering with exasperation.
“I will not ask what you intended to do with that.”
Leaning in close, Varkas clipped out each word. His lowered voice cut like a razor.
“From this moment on, you will be kept under close watch. Rid your head of whatever wretched, idiotic notions you’re entertaining.”
Who are you to speak to me like that?
Who are you to take what belongs to me?
Who do you think you are?
You, who are about to belong to another woman.
You, who are leaving forever.
You are the one who made me want to kill her—so why won’t you let me do a single thing?
The ragged words lodged in her throat.
She wanted to shriek curses at him, but she clamped her teeth together, terrified that the moment she opened her mouth she would break down and wail like a helpless child.
Varkas watched her for a beat, then straightened and gestured toward the path with his chin.
Talia glared at him with venomous eyes, then strode out from between the wagons. True to his word of relentless watch, Varkas trailed behind her like a shadow.
The very presence she had once ached for now felt sickeningly repulsive. Never there when she truly needed him, yet he had appeared to ruin the one momentous decision she had ever made.
‘To protect Ayla…’
No. Perhaps it was Gareth he meant to protect.
He would never understand why she carried that blade. He could never fathom why she ground her teeth against the gentle half-sister who endured her, while paying no heed to the brother who beat her at every chance.
She looked out across the campsite as dusk began to bleed into the sky.
Ayla was probably passing her hours in blissful tranquility. Surrounded by adoration, savoring the brilliant future spread before her.
The mere thought of that blushing, smiling face turned Talia’s already churning stomach. Detestable creature. Possessing everything, yet daring to look at Talia with those mournful, pitying eyes—it was utterly nauseating.
I really do want to kill her.
Lost in the thought, Talia tore at the scab on her lip, when Varkas suddenly seized her shoulder and shoved her violently back.
Talia looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock.
For a heartbeat, her stomach dropped, thinking he had read her mind. But his gaze was not on her.
Talia turned, following his rigid stare up toward the sky, and choked on her breath. Something as massive as a house was plummeting toward them with terrifying speed. Before she could even process the shape, a deafening crash split the air, and a massive cloud of dust erupted into the sky.
“A monster!”
The solitary cry shattered the evening, and a chorus of shrill screams tore through the camp.
END