Chapter 53 Ride home

Chapter 53 Ride home


LILY'S POV

For once I wanted Atlas to not be able to speak at all. I'm not trying to insult Black, I swear. But his silence? I was wishing that on Atlas right now. Just a few hours of him not opening his mouth. Is that too much to ask?

He didn't think before he said something or maybe he was trying to get on my nerves. Surprise! He did it.

I tried to sleep, rolling on that smelly mattress one way. Then the other. Sleep was so far from me

Once during the night I heard Raven sigh deeply and heavy. I turned to see what was wrong and found him glaring at me. Evil. Pure evil in those eyes. I laid back down so fast I probably looked like a corpse. I stayed like that until sleep finally took me.

It felt like I just closed my eyes for a minute.

Then someone's boot connected with my ribs, not gently either.

I cracked one eye open. I saw the towering annoying being standing over me. Atlas. He noticed I was awake and pointed behind him without a word.

I groggily sat up, rubbing my face as I looked around. His men were already outside the cabin. I could hear the sounds of horses. When I glanced behind him, it was to find out Anya was still asleep on her bunk.

At least they could have woken her too. Even if she did come to my rescue, even if she did defend me last night, I was still upset. The words she said still sat heavy in my chest.

"Anya." I called when I went up to her bed, tapping her softly. "We have to get going."



We rode in silence.

Not that I minded. But Atlas had made it his mission to not speak to me after last night. He led our group at the front with Black, his back straight, his shoulders broad.

But it was hard not to watch the way his muscles moved under his tunic with each stride of his horse. The way he sat so sure in that saddle, like he'd been born there. Like nothing could knock him off. The morning light caught the edges of him, made him look carved from stone and shadow....just like the burning flames.

I looked away, focusing on the road when I felt my neck getting hot.

Boar rode beside me. He was close enough to catch me if I fell, far enough to not crowd, not that I needed his help since I was good at riding the horse. But I think he was protecting me from whatever might jump out of these trees. I actually preferred it being him and not Raven. Raven still looked at me like I was a problem he wanted to solve with his knife.

"Atlas killed those men." I kept my voice low, meant only for Boar's ears. "The ones who took me."

It came out like a statement but it was really a question. I needed to know.

Boar grinned. Wide and sharp. "Yes he did. I'm sure not one of them is breathing." He said it like the thought made him happy, like death was something to smile about.

"Won't that cause more trouble for him?" I tilted my head toward Raven up ahead. "Raven said we can't tell anyone Atlas rescued me. Won't killing them make it worse?"

Boar shrugged. "Prince Atlas can handle himself. And they deserved it." He paused, glancing at me sideways. "He doesn't like it when someone takes something he's set his eyes on."

Something in my chest tightened. "Set his eyes on?" My voice came out sharper than I meant. "I'm not a thing to be owned, Boar."

He laughed nervously, the sound high and quick. "I didn't say that. I didn't say anything." He kicked his horse, urging it forward, putting space between us. "Don't tell him I said that. Please. My big mouth is going to put me in so much trouble."

The last part he muttered to himself. But I heard it anyway.

Anya rode up beside me when I was engaging in conversation with Boar. He noticed her hovering behind me, decided to give us a little space, riding behind us instead. Anya's hands gripped the reins tight, knuckles white, and she sat stiff in the saddle like she expected the horse to buck her off any second. I glanced at her, then faced the front again.

My mouth itched to ask how she was feeling. If she was in pain, if her head still hurt from that closet. But the words stayed stuck.

I didn't ask what happened when they dragged her away from me screaming and kicking, wanting not to be away from me.

Raven hadn't wanted her on a horse. He said she should walk because she wasn't fit to ride in her condition. But Atlas had overruled him with five words. "The earlier we reach the palace, the better." So here she was, quietly as if scared to upset whatever balance she was hanging on in their patience with her.

The silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable.

Then Anya spoke, as she couldn't take it anymore.

"Why is he called Boar? Like the animal?"

I blinked at the question, then looked ahead at Boar's broad back, the way his shoulders took up space.

"Probably because he's filled with muscles." I shrugged. "He looks like one."

Anya nodded slowly, considering this. "And what about Raven? Why Raven?"

I glanced at the man in question. He rode ahead, separate from the rest of them, his back rigid, his head constantly moving as he scanned the trees. If he didn't have the permanent scowl on his face, he would have been a pretty guy. Irony isn't it?

"I don't know about him," I said. "Except he hates my guts."

Anya let out a small sound. It sounded like a giggle but it was low and she was surprised, like it escaped without permission.

I looked at her. She looked at me. And then I was giggling too, both of us trying to muffle it so Raven wouldn't hear and have another reason to hate us.

We didn't talk about what happened between us, didn't bring up the words she said or the way I walked away. And I was grateful for that. All Grateful she let it sit in the past where it belonged.

Because at the end of the day, this was my fault. All of it. I put her in danger. I got her taken. I was the reason she ended up in that closet, bruised and scared and alone.

So no. I wasn't going to stay angry at her.

I couldn't.