On Saturday my wall air conditioner died. I put in a service order with the rental office. I live on the thrie floor of a three-story apartment building and my windows face south and west. It gets darned hot in here. That first day wasn’t too bad because the high was in the mid-70s and it cooled off at night. I set up every fan I owned to try to keep the sluggish air moving. Sunday was hotter. Monday was hotter than Sunday, Tuesday was hotter than Monday, and Wednesday (today) was hot and humid, and very smoky from the fires in Canada. I absolutely HATE being hot, so this was like my worst nightmare.

Today at 3:10 pm two nice men came to my door hauling an ancient and filthy air conditioner. I looked at the monstrosity with a lot of doubt but they assured me they had tested it at the shop and it worked. They obviously hadn’t cared about the dust. They put it in the sleeve in my wall and turned it on. It roared like a dragon, but air came out and it was cool. In a few minutes it was quite cool. One of the guys gave it a fond pat and said that these 30 year old models worked better than the newer models and lasted for decades.

Now, two hours later I feel very comfortable in the living room/dining room area. The bedroom is still 82, but hopefully it will cool off before bedtime. I am a happy camper.

So, a day late, here is the next chapter from The Storm King. And here is a pic of what Jerriel might look like. Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

His black brows slammed down. “Never. I am not a criminal.”

Except that he killed people and left the ones still alive homeless with callous unconcern. Ashley shuddered. Why is this happening? Ashley wailed to herself. How is it happening? What am I getting myself into?

His hands tightened over her shoulders. “Give me an answer or we have no deal, and your friend will have to fend for herself.”

How hard could it be to let Jerriel kiss her a little? He was handsome. Cruel and scary, but he hadn’t hurt her on purpose. Her fear was that the more intimate they became, the more attracted she would be to him. She might even start to like him. The more she liked him, the harder it would be to leave him.

She would leave him. She and Maya would find a way back home. They had to. And she would leave Jerriel behind because the mind boggled at the idea of him in 21^st century America.

He believed they were married. Ashley would have to find a way to convince him that she wasn’t lying to him. Maybe when Maya came, she could convince Jerriel. But for Maya to convince him, she had to be found and brought here. And for Maya to be found Ashley would have to go through with this bargain. She firmed her jaw. “Okay.”

“You agree to my terms?” Jerriel inquired, eyes intense and fixed on her face.

“Yeah.”

“This agreement is only until we reach home. Once we are at the House of Cool Waters, there will be no rules to prevent me from touching you where and how I like.” His smile was smug. Ashley hated that smile. “In private, of course. Agreed?”

Ashley swallowed. “Agreed.”

He took her hand but instead of shaking it he raised it to his lips and kissed the back. “Agreed.”

He lifted a hand in some sort of signal and two men hurried over. “My wife has a quest for you. She wishes her friend found and brought to her. Describe her, wife.”

Ashley wanted to do a little victory dance, but she kept herself calm. She looked at the closest man. “Her name is Maya Scholl. She’s my age, about this tall.” She held her hand flat, several inches above her head. “Her hair is blond, really light blond, and her eyes are blue.” Crap. She’d just described ninety-nine percent of the women in the city. “She’s wearing a blue dress.” Well, cut it down by at least fifty percent. “She’ll be looking for me. Tell her you’re taking her to Ashley.”

He inclined his head. “And where will we find her, lady?”

“She’ll probably be hanging around the city. She’ll be looking for me.”

Jerriel spoke up. “She may have joined a group of refugees heading north to New Thess City.”

Ashley opened her mouth to argue but shut it. Better to have them search carefully everywhere than miss her.

The first man bowed to Jerriel, and then to Ashley. “We shall find her.”

“Thank you.” She watched them walk away for a moment before turning back Jerriel. “Thank you,” she said again. “From the bottom of my heart.”

He gave her his cold smile and flicked a finger against her cheek. “You’ll earn it. Wait here. Someone will come with a horse for you.”

I’d earn it? Ashley swallowed, glad she hadn’t had breakfast yet. Her tummy was distinctly uneasy.

The man who came with a horse for her was probably in his late thirties. He looked familiar. He appeared almost effeminate compared to the other Erabiri. Ashley wasn’t sure what exactly struck her as girlish about him. His black hair was waist length, but so was almost everyone else’s. The black liner that all the Erabiri wore around their eyes was maybe thicker and more dramatic on him. The thick line curled up at the outer corners, almost to the tips of his eyebrows. He was slenderer than most of the other men she’d seen, almost as slender as the teenaged boys. Or maybe it was the languid way he moved. Or the double strand of heavy gold chains that hung around his neck. The jewelry reminded Ashley of where she had seen him before. He had been on the stage with Jerriel yesterday and he hadn’t seemed to like her.

He greeted her with a wide smile. “Good morning, my lady. I am Lord Vatir.” He moved close enough to take her hand and raise it to his lips. “However, since you are my sister, you may call me Oniel.”

She was his sister? She pulled her hand away, resisting the urge to wipe it on her cloak. “Good morning.” Ashley saw two more men behind him on horseback, each leading a saddled horse. She nodded at them too. “Good morning.”

They gravely dipped their heads. Lord Vatir ignored them as he took the reins of one of the horses, a long-legged brown horse with a white streak down its nose. He led the animal up to her.

“This lovely bay lady is Auriela, bred from my own stables. May I give you a hand up?”

Ashley accepted his help and the way his hand lingered on her ankle once she was in the saddle made her want to kick him away. She should have worn the boots, not the shoes, which left her ankles bare without socks. Dang it all. She managed a tight smile. He mounted the larger black horse and led her through the dismantled camp, with the other two men trailing behind us. They were joined by two more men Ashley vaguely recognized as the guards from outside her tent. It looked like half the army was already moving out. They made for a dirt road ahead. It was hardly more than twin tracks through the grass. Compared to it, the dirt county roads back home looked like well-established highways.

“I thought I was going to ride with the king,” Ashley remarked.

“Not this morning,” Lord Vatir said. “Jerriel always insists on staying until everything is loaded and on the road. He’ll catch up sometime after lunch.”

His tone told her he thought Jerriel was either wasting his time or above such mundane duties. It made her like Jerriel better. She just nodded.

They weren’t the only riders on the road. There were several Erabiri men in front of them, and others behind. Ashley turned in the high saddle to look behind. A long line of riders strung out along the road. Some wagons were just maneuvering out of the camp. Getting hundreds of wagons and thousands of men moving was going to be a long process. How saddle sore will I be by lunchtime? And speaking of lunch, since she hadn’t had breakfast, when would lunch time be? her stomach decided to give a loud growl.

Lord Vatir tittered. Ashley had never heard anyone make a sound somewhere between a giggle and snort. She decided it was a titter. She refused to look at him, just combing her fingers through her horse’s brown mane.

“Did my brother forget to feed you?” he asked.

Ashley didn’t know Vatir, but she didn’t like him. He wanted her to ask who his brother was. He called her ‘sister’ and he called the king by his private name, which according to Lord Bodiel, meant he was either related to Jerriel or was a good friend. Somehow, she just couldn’t imagine this man as Jerriel’s brother. Besides, he was older than Jerriel, so he would have inherited the throne. Unless he was Jerriel’s half-brother, and they had the same mother but different fathers? Then he wouldn’t have been in line for the throne. Ashley thought about this until she reluctantly gave in to curiosity. “Who’s your brother?”

He suppressed a smirk a little too late to hide it and widened his eyes at her. “Why, Jerriel, of course.”

“Of course. Half-brother?”

“Indeed. I didn’t realize Jerriel’s little pet Thessian was so intelligent.”

Could he be any more patronizing? Ashley fumed to herself.  No wonder I don’t like him. She bared her teeth in what might have been a smile. “I went to school and everything,” she said sweetly.

His smile turned apologetic. “Forgive me. I’ve been away from home too long. It wears on me. But yes, Jerriel is my father’s son from his second marriage.”

Ashley narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t know Jerriel had a brother. He never mentioned you. Your father was the last king, wasn’t he? Why aren’t you king then?”

“Very clever.” Again, he gave that titter that made her want to grind her teeth. “Some people believe there was a small irregularity in my parents’ marriage.”

Oh, she got it. He was illegitimate, and in Erabir bastards couldn’t wear the crown. She said in as neutral a tone as she could muster, “What a pity for you.”

“Not at all, dear sister. I am still the only other son of my father. The only heir until you produce one.”

Good lord. Why did she suddenly feel like she had a target on her back? She swallowed down the urge to blurt there would be no heirs from her and changed the subject. “So what do you do, Lord Vatir? You mentioned you breed horses? This mare is lovely.”

“Please call me Oniel. May I call you Valdis?”

Valdis wasn’t her name, so she didn’t care if he called me that. “Sure. Tell me about Auriela. How old is she?”

Thankfully, he accepted the change in subject and proceeded to tell her all about the hundreds of horses he had bred. His tone settled into something less patronizing and more knowledgeable as he described his stable and how he decided which stallion should breed which mare and how he trained them. Ashley found it interesting, and a whole lot nicer than the previous conversation. Still, she was relieved when Lord Bodiel joined them an hour later. She was even more relieved that he brought a canteen of water and a bag of dried meat mixed with dried berries.

“I will attend the lady now,” he told Vatir dismissively.

Vatir’s eyes narrowed, but he smiled. “Certainly. It was wonderful to have a chance to get to know you, Valdis.”

Ashley smiled back. “Thank you for lending me Auriela.”

“A loan? No such thing.” He took her hand and bowed over it with a flourish. “A gift, rather, to welcome you to the family, dear sister.”

She bowed her head to hide distaste. “Thank you. That is very generous.”

“Not at all.” Vatir fluttered a hand at Bodiel. “Until later, my lord, my lady.”

He rode off. Ashley waited until he was some distance away before she put a bit of the dried meat into her mouth and chewed. It had a nice flavor, although an unfamiliar one. Not cow, she assumed. She didn’t want to know what it was, so she chewed and drank without asking. After she’d polished off the meat in comfortable silence, she turned to Lord Bodiel.

“Thank you for breakfast,” she said. “I was getting pretty hungry.”

Lord Bodiel bowed his head. “I regret you weren’t fed sooner. The king told the boys to let you sleep, and by the time you woke breakfast was over. No one thought of it until the king told me to bring you travel rations. Please forgive us for our carelessness.”

Ashley smiled at him. “It’s fine. It was a busy morning. Is the camp all packed up?”

“Nearly. The king will be with you within the hour.”

Her tummy did a summersault. She needed to distract herself from the knowledge that soon sexy, scary Jerriel would be here. “Can I ask you some questions?”

He inclined his head. “If I am able, I will answer.”

Ashley studied him, surprised to realize that Bodiel wasn’t so old. She estimated that his son was around fourteen or fifteen. In spite of the gray in his hair, Bodiel’s face looked somewhere between thirty-five and forty.

“Feel free to not answer anything that is too personal or none of my business. First, are you Jerriel’s father’s brother or his mother’s?”

“My sister was married to King Javiel and bore Jerriel to him only ten months after their wedding.”

Ashley rubbed a thumb along the worn leather rein. “Are you related to Lord Vatir?”

A shadow of distaste crossed his face so quickly that she wouldn’t have caught it if she hadn’t been studying him. “No, my lady. I am not.”

“Does Jerriel have any other sisters or brothers?”

“No. My sister died when Jerriel was only three years old, and the king never married again.”

Ashley pondered a little while, wondering how to frame the next question. “Lord Vatir suggested that the marriage between the late king and his first wife wasn’t quite …”

She trailed off because she couldn’t figure out how to politely say they hadn’t been legally married.

“There was no marriage.”

Ashley jerked her head around to stare at the king’s uncle.

“Lord Vatir would like to believe there had been a wedding. He would like all of Erabir to believe there had been a wedding.” His voice was calm and careful. “There was not. Lady Brucila gave birth to a son of the king, but not a royal prince.”

“Oh.” That must burn Vatir’s butt. “Is he Jerriel’s heir?”

“No, he is not. The king’s current heir is his cousin, Prince Suril of Fyrir. He is the son of the late king’s sister, who married Galtiel of Fyrir.”

Fyrir didn’t sound familiar. Had that been a country in the world she’d invented? “Where is Fyrir?”

“Fyrir is a principality of Erabir. It is in the southwest part of the kingdom. It is one of two principalities in the kingdom. The other principality is Iciel in the northern mountains.”

“I didn’t know that.” She pulled a strand of hair out of her mouth. The breeze had picked up and was swooping through her cloak and blowing her hair around. She understood now why the Erabiri braided their hair. She took the elastic off her wrist and gathered her hair into a ponytail before pulling the cloak Jerriel had given her closer, tucking some of it between her thighs and the saddle. “How big is Erabir? And does Jerriel rule over the principalities?”

“Erabir is approximately seven thousand square calculs. The population is just under nine million men and women. Children under twelve are not counted.”

Nine million sounded like a decent population, especially for a pre-industrial world, and not even counting the kids. But how big was a calcul? Was that an acre? A mile? “Is that big?”

“A rider on fast horses, changing mounts every four hours, can travel from one end to the other in seven days.”

Ashley still had no clue how big that was. How far could the Pony Express riders travel in seven days? If she had her phone, she could look it up. “And the principalities? Do the princes rule on their own or does Jerriel rule there too?”

“Prince Suril and Prince Gavril rule their own lands. King Rodir does not make laws or command the armies there. Formally he has the right to take over in either principality, but in reality, no king of Erabir ever would do so. The kingdom crown trumps a principality coronet. But Fyrir and Iciel swear loyalty to the crown as soon as they are raised to their principality seats. They are independent territories who are allies to Erabir. When called on they support the crown with warriors, food, or whatever is needed. In return, Erabir does the same for them.”

Sounded like a feudal system, where a knight swears loyalty to a lord like a baron or earl, and each lord swore fealty to the king. Serfs had no power at all in feudal society.

“Is there friction between Erabir and the principalities?” she asked.

Lord Bodiel smiled. “Not for hundreds of years. There was a time when Erabir, Fyrir and Iciel were all principalities and the ruler of Erabir was called the High Prince. Fyrir and Iciel rebelled against Erabir. There was a war that lasted two years. That is when the Thessian Empire came to Erabir and stole our coastlands. I hope I do not offend you by speaking of it.”

Ashley was confused, not offended. “No, I need to know this. I didn’t write, er, learn this in, um, school. So Erabir used to include the coast of the Blue Ocean?”

“Yes. With a common enemy to face, Fyrir and Iciel agreed that Erabir was primary. That is when we became a kingdom. For generations we fought to keep the Empire out of our lands. I’m sure you know that one hundred and fifty years ago Erabir and Thess made a treaty in which we ceded the coast and one hundred calculs from the coast inland to the Empire and they agreed to stop trying to conquer the rest of Erabir. They called it New Thess. We kept the treaty.”

“Until now?” Ashley asked, trying to sound gentle. “Jerriel isn’t keeping the treaty anymore, is he?”

“Thess broke the treaty. You know full well, lady, that he was captured by the Thess and made a slave, even though he should have been returned to his father.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

“Even so, Jerriel’s father did not attack New Thess as he could have. Even then he held to the treaty. It wasn’t until King Mosir died that Jerriel led his armies east to New Thess.”

“I heard he’s never lost a battle.”

“No, never.” There was simple pride in Bodiel’s voice. “The Thessians call him the Storm King because, like thunder and lightning, he cannot be stopped. Prince Suril of Fyrir is called the Fire Prince and Lord Danir of Iciel is called the Ice Lord. Jerriel is cousin to both of them, so you will no doubt call them Iriel and Jabril in private.”

These names, all ending in -ir or -el or -il, made Ashley’s head spin. Why the heck had I invented such similar sounding names? Plus, they all had two names, which hadn’t been her invention. She was trapped in a game that had started out with Ashley as the dungeon master but which had been taken over by an evil mastermind. How would she ever keep these people straight? Well, if she found a way back home, she wouldn’t need to. That made her think of Maya. Had those guys found her yet? Maybe they were already on their way back with her. That would be great.

“Lord Danir isn’t called Prince?” Ashley asked.

“No, his grandfather Gavril is Prince of Iciel. His title is Lord Heir of Iciel. His father was the Lord Heir, but he died several years ago.”

Ashley slumped in the saddle, trying to keep track of who was who in Jerriel’s family. She’d given up by the time Jerriel joined them. He had braided his hair into one thick rope down his back. It swayed over the horse’s rump with every step. Ashley eyed it with a little envy. After chemo her hair had grown back, but not as thickly. Some strands had extra crimp, so it didn’t shine as lustrously as it had. It was kind of sad that she was envious of a man’s hair. As she stared at him, she noticed he was staring right back.

“Everybody get on the road okay?” she asked brightly.

Jerriel nodded. “One wagon needed to replace an axle, and another lost a wheel, but we are all moving now.”

It was like wagon trains on the Oregon Trail. Would they cast off family heirloom furniture to cross rivers? Ashley considered and decided that no, this army was experienced. They knew how to pack for travel. Besides, how much furniture did they carry with them? Cots and chests? Maybe some folding tables and chairs. And loot. Ashley would bet the Erabiri army had taken plunder from the conquered city.

“Come, wife. Let’s ride ahead a little so we can talk more privately.”

Lord Bodiel excused himself. A tremor of unease shimmered down Ashley’s back, but she followed Jerriel into a jarring trot which told her very plainly she was going to be saddle sore. They moved into a canter, which was much better. As they passed other Erabir on the road, they inclined their heads deeply to Jerriel. Jerriel slowed to a walk and Ashley was grateful for Auriela’s gentle walking gait. She leaned forward to pat the mare’s neck.

“You met my brother,” Jerriel said, watching her.

“Yes, I did. He gave me this horse.”

“What did you think of him?”

Ashley slid a quick glance over at Jerriel’s face. It was completely empty of expression. “Well, he knows a lot about horses.” That was polite and noncommittal, wasn’t it?

Jerriel did the raised eyebrow thing at her. “He is known as one of the best horse breeders and trainers in Erabir. What did you think of him?”

Ashley hesitated, then decided to be honest. “I don’t know him. I only spoke with him for an hour. But I’m not sure I like him.” Actually, she was sure she didn’t like him. “He seems …” Delusional? Full of himself? Dangerous?

He reached out a quick hand and touched her arm. “Do not trust him, Valdis. He is not a friend to either of us.”

Ashley nodded, not very much surprised. “Then why is he here? You should have left him in Erabir.”

“Leave him unsupervised at home without me?” His smile was not pleasant. “I think not.”

Oh. “You must believe in the old saying ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’.”

“Whole heartedly.” His smile warmed. “Just be careful. Do not allow yourself to be alone with him.”

Ashley glanced back and found the two guards riding a few yards away. “That would be hard, since I seem to have picked up a couple of shadows.”

“You will always have guards, but they will not follow you into your tent or mine.”

At least she would have some privacy. She wondered, since they were supposed to be married, why they had separate tents, but she didn’t want to give him any ideas by asking. “That’s good.”

“Valdis.” He nudged his horse closer to hers. He was already taller than her but on his bigger horse, she had to crane her head back to look at him. “Let us stop to eat. We can spread your cloak out under that tree there.”

Getting off the horse for a while sounded appealing. And this was a public place, so he wouldn’t try anything. Somewhat reassured, she followed him to the tree about fifty yards from the road and managed to get off the horse without falling. It was close, though. She had to cling to the stirrup with her free hand for a minute before she was able to move, very stiffly, to wrap her reins around a lower branch.

Jerriel looked sincerely concerned. “Are you sore, Valdis? Here, lean on me.”

She liked Valdis better than ‘wife’ but not by very much. She put her hand on the forearm he offered. The muscles there were taut and strong. Down, girl, Ashley told herself firmly. Handsome is only skin deep. Remember what he did yesterday in that church.

He used his other hand to unclasp her cloak and flapped it out onto the ground. With strength that seemed to cost him nothing, he picked her up and lowered her so she could sit on the cloak without collapsing. He left her for a minute to go back to his horse and take something from behind the saddle. He came back with a square package of waxed linen that he opened after he sank down beside her. Very close beside her. Ashley swallowed.

“More travel rations,” he said apologetically. “In a few days we will reach Herzborg, and we will re-supply there.”

Herzborg. Where had she heard of that? Oh, yeah. The woman in the pen talked about that place. “They surrendered to you, right?”

“They were wise.” He laid out the dried cracker-like bread, the dried meat, and a handful of dried fruit. “I have no cup. We will need to share the canteen.”

“No problem.” Ashley accepted his canteen and took a long sip. “How far will we travel today?”

“Until the sun sets.”

They ate in silence for a while. Jerriel didn’t seem like the type to hand feed his girlfriends, so she was glad he didn’t try it. When they had finished eating, Jerriel wrapped the leftovers back into the waxed linen and took it back to his horse. Then he came back and settled crossed legged in front of her again. Their knees almost touched.

“You are not wearing a veil,” he said. “Did you not like the ones I brought for you?”

She remembered the rectangles of light cloth in the chest. “Am I supposed to wear one? Do Erabiri women wear veils?”

“No, but Thessian women do. I brought them in case you preferred to wear them.”

That was considerate of him. In her story Thessian women did wear veils when they left their houses. Valdis had just reached the age where she would have to wear a veil when she’d first encountered the baker’s foreign slave boy.

“I’d rather not.”

He smiled at her, a surprisingly sweet smile. He was so beautiful just then that her lungs forgot to breathe. He was every bit as handsome as the imaginary Jerriel had been, and even more so when he wasn’t acting arrogant and cruel. It wouldn’t be hard to fall for him. But Ashley could not do that. She had to find Maya and get back home. When he picked up her hand and pressed it to his heart she looked wildly around for the guards or any other spectators.

“Relax, wife. We are alone.”

“But still in public,” Ashley pointed out, aware of how anxious her voice sounded. “Someone could come by any second.”

“I am touching only your hand. It is you who are touching me.”

“And whose idea was that?”

He laughed. Ashley stared. It was the first real laugh she’d heard from him. “Sweet Valdis,” he murmured.

In her story, his character had called the heroine ‘sweet Valdis’ all the time. In the story he had been sweet too. Kind of like he was being now. Ashley couldn’t quite forget the warrior king beheading his enemies, but this Jerriel seemed different, gentler. “I wish you would call me Ashley.”

A faint crease appeared between his brows. “Why? And do not tell me more of your lies.”

Somehow Ashley managed to not grind her teeth. One minute he was sweet, and the next minute he reverted to his arrogant self. She was inspired by an answer that wouldn’t be a lie. “Think of it like a private name. In public I call you Rodir, but in private I call you Jerriel. In public you can call me Valdis, but when it’s just us you can call me Ashley.”

The hint of a frown deepened into the real thing. “I have always called you Valdis.”

“I know,” she whispered. “But I wish you would call me Ashley. No one else will call me that except you.” And Maya, she added silently. “Please? A private name for private times.”

The frown smoothed away. “Very well. Ashley.”

He looked at her mouth and leaned in slowly enough for her to protest if she wanted to, but she didn’t. She didn’t want to protest, that is. He was going to kiss her. Ashley had never had a steady boyfriend, but she’d dated and had a few kisses. A couple had been nice, and one had been awful, and one had been wonderful. Part of Ashley, the part that thought he was handsome, wanted to know what Jerriel’s kiss would be like.

It was light, almost casual, a quick brush of warm lips over hers. Now she protested. Before he could move away, Ashley put her hand on the back of his neck under his braid and pulled him back in. This kiss was deeper, longer, and hotter. Ashley almost opened her mouth invite his tongue in but remembering he was the Storm King dumped a bucket of cold water over her head. Besides, she reminded herself, Maya and I are getting out of here as soon as possible. I shouldn’t encourage him. She jerked away.

“Sorry,” she blurted. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Why not?” His tone was languid but his eyes were hot. “I enjoyed it.”

Ashley felt blood rush to her cheeks. Darn her fair skin. “So did I,” she admitted. “But I shouldn’t have done it.”

Jerriel pulled back, studying her face. “Do you think a woman shouldn’t enjoy pleasure as much as a man?”

Ashley tried to force the blush to go away. That was an epic fail. “I think a woman should enjoy sex with the right man.” She was going to go on, but Jerriel spoke over me.

“Is not a husband the right man?”

“Yeah, of course he would be. But what I was going to say was that we are out in the open. Anyone could see us.”

In fact, a few horsemen were on the road right now. She jerked her head to indicate them.

“I’m hardly about to ravish you in full view of my army.”

Ashley blew out a breath. “I know. I’m the one who made the kiss more. Can we talk about something else? Or should we get going?”

“Stay. There is something I need to tell you.”

She settled back down.

He picked up her hand and swept his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. “You have not asked about your father.”

“My dad?” Concern niggled under her skin. She hadn’t seen her dad for a couple of years. Her illness had put a strain on her parents’ marriage, but he had stuck around until she was cancer free. It wasn’t until a couple of months later, after her nineteenth birthday, that he left. Now he was re-married and Ashley had a little half-brother. “What about him?”

“The Lieutenant-Governor is dead.” He watched her steadily out of blank black eyes. “If it gives you any comfort, he died fighting. He did not run or try to hide. He did not beg for his life.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good, I suppose.” Never having met the man, Ashley felt no grief. Did Jerriel expect her to cry? “We, uh, we weren’t close.”

“No, I know how he treated you. He was a fool to hold you responsible for your mother’s sin.”

“Um, yeah.” In her story, Valdis’ mother had fallen in love with another man from her own country and left her daughter behind when she ran away with him. Poor Valdis.

He leaned closer again, black eyes intense, frown terrifying. “Do not think you could ever leave me. I would not be like your father and let you go. I would follow and bring you back.”

“Jeez, Jerriel!” Ashley scooted back. “I’m not like that.”

He softened. “No, I know. You are brave and honorable.”

Inwardly, she squirmed. She was leaving him as soon as she found a way back home, and there was no way he could follow and bring her back. Was there? No, surely not. “Maybe we should get going?”

“Very well. I must attend the army. My uncle will ride with you the rest of the day, and I will see you this evening in camp.”