The Runt's Revenge

Episode3

"You're smaller than I expected."

Elara's chin came up. The man in the courtyard hadn't moved from where he stood — tall, dark-haired, molten gold eyes fixed on her like she was a puzzle he intended to solve.

"You're ruder than I expected," she replied. "So I suppose we're both disappointed."

His face flickered with surprise. He never expected her to be so bold given what he heard about her.

"Kaelen Thorne." He stated like a fact than introduction

"I gathered." She stepped down from the wagon without waiting for a hand, and regretted it instantly when her knees nearly buckled from three days of sitting. He didn't move to catch her. She felt embarrassed, this wasn't the dramatic first impression she'd plan to make.

"You didn't cry on the ride up," he continued. "My men usually report that."

"Would it have made a difference?"

"No."

"Then I saved us both the trouble. You're welcome."

He circled her, the way a wolf sizes up something it hasn't decided whether to eat or ignore. She held her frame. Flinching wasn’t something she handed out for free — certainly not to a stranger with a wolf's-head gate and an apparent flair for dramatic entrances.

"You're not what the reports said either," he said, still circling.

"What did the reports say?"

"That you keep your eyes down. Your shoulders small. That you make yourself easy to overlook."

"I do."

"You're not doing it now."

"You're not overlooking me. Different situation." She turned her head to track him as he finished the circle, refusing to let him land at her back unwatched. "I adjust quickly. It's the one skill nobody ever thought to be jealous of."

That earned her the first real reaction from him, he almost laughed then quickly waved it off. "Most people don't notice they're being watched."

"Most people haven't had seventeen years of practice."

"Practice at what, exactly?"

"Being small enough that nobody bothers looking twice." She held his gaze, refusing to let the admission cost her anything visible. "It's worked for that long. I don't expect it to work here."

"Why not?"

"Because you already looked twice. Before I could say anything."

That landed hard. She could tell the way curiosity and shock was written all over him

"Your father called you the runt in his letter," Kaelen said. "He said it like an apology."

"My father has never apologized for anything in his life. That was a warning."

"About what?"

"That I'd disappoint you." She met his eyes fully for the first time. "I find that people always expect what they're told to expect."

"I heard about the ceremony," he said. "The incident."

She shrugged hearing that. "News travels fast for a fortress this far."

"News about Damon Vance's household travels fast everywhere. I will always hear it."

"Then you already know more about that night than I'd like to discuss with a stranger."

"We're not strangers." His eyes settled on her. "We're married, as of three days ago. Your father made sure of that before you even left the border."

"A signature isn't marriage."

"It is here." His voice hardened. "You'll learn this soon enough."

"What was he like?" she asked, before she could stop herself. "Ryker. Did you know him?"

"I've met him twice. We met once as kids. Then again as grown men. He apparently thinks humiliating a girl in front of hundreds of people makes him look strong." Kaelen's mouth curved. "It doesn't. It makes him look afraid of something."

"Afraid of what?"

"That's the question you should be asking yourself, not me." He paused a moment. "A man doesn't reject a mate bond publicly unless something about it terrifies him more than the humiliation of doing it."

Elara wandered in thought. “I hadn't considered that, I never considered anything about that night except the shape of my own shame.” Hearing it framed as someone else's fear changed the whole thing for her.

They both stood in silence for a while. Probably lost in their heads while dozens of Shadow Peaks warriors watched the exchange like some kind of movie.

"And what should I expect?" he asked, remembering the unfinished statement she made earlier.

"I don't know yet." That much, was true at least. "Ask me again once I've decided."

He came close enough that she has to tilt her head back to hold his eyes. She could feel his presence like heat of fire

"Look at me," his voice dropped.

"I am."

"No." His gaze sharpened. "You're not. There's something under that."

Her pulse spiked. Her eyes sparked violet, and she felt it happen before she could stop it.

Kaelen froze.

"What was that?" He was concerned and fascinated at once.

"Nothing." Her heart was pounding hard. "Trick of the light."

"There's no light in this courtyard bright enough to do that."

She made it look like he was imagining things but He was sure he saw something. Deciding not to push further about it.

"Dorian." He didn't look away from her. "Take her to her room."

Another sharp-eyed guard stepped forward taken up her luggage. “This way.” Dorian led her.

They crossed the courtyard in silence, past warriors who watched her without hiding it. At the stairs, he finally spoke.

"You shouldn't provoke him," Dorian didn't look back at her. "Whatever you just did back there."

"I didn't do anything. I answered his questions."

"What you did with your eyes wasn't an answer to anything he asked." He lowered his voice. "You'll have to be careful if you intend to survive here."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's the only warning you’ll get from me for free." He stopped at a door, pushed it open. "Your room. Someone will bring water."

"Should I tip you for the escort, or is glowering included in the service?"

That got the faintest twitch at the corner of Dorian’s mouth. "Don't get used to the jokes landing. They won't, with him."

"Noted. I'll save my best for someone with a good sense of humor then."

He left, boots stomping down the stone corridor.

Elara walked in and shut the door behind her. Her keen wolf ears picked up faint sounds coming down the hall. She put her head close to the door and heard voices discussing. It was Kaelen’s voice.

"Send word to the border watch. Nobody enters or leaves without my say. And find out everything Damon Vance never bothered writing down about his daughter."

Elara's stomach dropped.

Whatever he'd just seen in her eyes, he wasn't going to let it go.