“I’m sure you already know my name,” I said. “Like everyone else.”
“Yes, but…” She twirled a dainty hand in the air. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to be polite. But I understand how unpleasant this must be for you. Are you hungry, Dani?”
“I only allow my friends to call me Dani.”
Despite my standoffish demeanor, Arabis kept a pleasant smile on her face as she ate dry fruit and nuts from a small bowl. I glanced around, searching for the others. I spotted Silver feeding the horses, but the others were nowhere to be seen.
“They went by the stream to wash,” Arabis explained, as if reading my thoughts. “You may want to do the same later. I have some clothes that I think will fit you.”
“I don’t want your clothes.”
“Oh, they’re not mine. You’re tall and curvaceous, two attributes I’m not blessed with.”
Where would she have gotten clothes that fit me? Cylea was taller than me, so they couldn’t be hers either. But “why”was the more important question. Had they planned this to the extent of procuring clothes for me?
“Who is that in there?” I pointed toward the tent.
“He’ll be up soon, and you’ll meet him. In the meantime, you should eat.”
“I don’t want to eat,” I burst out, collapsing on the log across from Arabis. “I just want to go home. I don’t belong here.”
Arabis’s forehead parted with a deep frown. “I’m sorry,” she said, her tone sounding sincere. “We all wish there was another way.”
I glared at her, puzzled. She sounded like Jeondar, regretful and apprehensive.
With a sigh, Arabis stood and started walking toward the tent. “I’ll wake him up. I think you’ve waited long enough to learn why you’re here.”
“He needs to sleep.” Kryn blocked the entrance to the tent.
“He has slept enough. Get out of my way.”
Kryn stood nearly two feet taller than Arabis and was twice as thick, yet the withering look she gave him was enough to send him stomping away from the tent.
“Whatever you say,Abin Manael,” he said the last couple of words in a sarcastic tone.
The words meantrespectable lady, a term I’d heard many times in Pharowyn. It was the way the servers addressed females at the tavern, the term Yalgrun had used with me before he knew my name. Did Kryn not consider Arabis respectable or a lady? The guy certainly seemed to have a stick up his ass.
Suddenly feeling a mess, I pulled my hair from its ponytail and ran my fingers through it, smoothing out the knots that had formed during yesterday’s struggles and a night of restless sleep.
Arabis was gone for nearly twenty minutes. When she reappeared, she inclined her head toward the tent.
“He will see you now,” she said with a reassuring smile.
I stood, my heart pounding. Now that I was about to come face-to-face with the person responsible for my situation, I didn’t feel ready. Deep inside, I harbored the hope that this male was someone I could reason with, someone who would let me go once I explained why it was imperative that I return home. But what if he wasn’t?
Gathering my composure, I lifted my chin and walked into the tent. As my eyes adjusted, I spotted a tall figure standing at the back of the tent. He was facing away from me, strapping a belt around his waist and adjusting the large sword at his side.
As I fought to keep my breaths steady, I took in his wide shoulders, and the midnight blue hair falling to his shoulders and held back by a few thin braids. He wore a flowing shirt, rolled up to his elbows, and tight high-waisted pants. An aura of power emanated from him, his presence filling the tent’s every corner, the same way the smoke had.
I stood in front of the fire pit, waiting for him to turn and face me. He cracked his neck and took a deep breath before spinning around and…
Holy fuck.
Time seemed to slow down as I took him in, recognition flooding me despite the shadows in the back of the tent. My gaze slid over his features, taking in every detail, searching for something that would prove my eyes wrong, something that would make it clear that the person standing in front of mewas notthe person I thought was standing in front of me.
It was impossible.
Impossible!