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  She slowly dragged her eyes back up his body to his face and noticed that he was staring straight at her. Ava flushed with embarrassment but she remembered there used to be a day when there would be passion in his eyes if he caught her staring like that. Now there was nothing but disinterest, with maybe a little bit of curiosity.

  “Sorry,” Ava muttered meekly.

  Carrick didn’t say a word but walked over to the dresser and opened the bottom drawer. He pulled out a blanket and Ava watched as he laid it on the floor beside the bed. She realized instantly that he intended to sleep on the floor.

  “Carrick, there is plenty of room in the bed. Well, there will be once I kick Bing out of it. But please, there is no sense in you sleeping on the floor.”

  He didn’t even look at her but said, “I’ll take the floor.” With that, he laid down on the blanket with his back turned to her.

  “Carrick, can I talk to you for a moment?”

  “It’s late Ava and I’m really tired. Can this wait?”

  “It’s just…I wanted to say I’m sorry for the way I’ve been treating you. Quentin came by today and told me everything… about why you had to send me away.”

  She waited for him to say something but was met with silence. “Can you forgive me?”

  “Just forget about it Ava. What’s done is done, okay?”

  This was not setting well with Ava but all she replied was, “Okay.”

  Turning out the bedside light, she put her legs back under the blanket and laid back down on the bed. Well, at least she’d started making things right by apologizing to Carrick. Hopefully, he would be a little more open tomorrow to further conversation.

  ****

  Carrick laid on the floor for a long time, listening as Ava rolled from one side to the other. Finally, he recognized her breathing had slowed down and she was asleep. He had lain in bed many a night and just watched her sleep so he was very familiar with her breathing habits.

  Gods, but she was driving him nuts. He’d been nearly stunned speechless when he had walked into the bedroom, and seen her sitting on the side of the bed, her glorious hair hanging over her sun kissed shoulders.

  And what the hell was she wearing? That top with the word “Pink” stretched tightly across her breasts about had him swallowing his tongue. Why did she have to look so damn beautiful and sexy when there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it? He had immediately felt himself getting hard just looking at her, and when he’d caught her staring at him, his cock jumped straight to attention. He had to turn away and get a blanket from the dresser, and hope like hell she didn’t see his reaction. After putting the blanket down, he immediately laid down on it and turned his back to her so she wouldn’t see the bulge in his pants.

  And what was with the apology? He wasn’t sure exactly what Quentin had told her but he was guessing she knew about the Conclave’s threats to coerce him into sending Ava away. Still, he didn’t deserve an apology. He deserved the constant guilt that wracked him every day over sending the love of his life away from her homeland.

  That was all ancient history and he knew it couldn’t be changed. His only goal now was in bringing Ralina down. He needed to stop thinking of Ava and the way things used to be. There were too many hard feelings in between them now and besides, he had nothing left in his heart to give. It was better to just ignore her as much as he could and get this damn war won so he could move on.

  His intention was to leave Vyronas. In fact, he liked the look of Wyoming a lot. Maybe that is where he would settle down once he got Ava back on the Clairmont throne.

  CHAPTER 9

  The next week went by quickly. Ava met every day with Carrick and the Conclave in the great hall. Her first day back, she made a heartfelt apology to the Conclave for the words she had said against Carrick. She made clear her actions were fueled by misplaced hurt and bitterness and she held no grudge against Carrick. In fact, she had told them, Carrick had her utmost trust in all matters. If Carrick was surprised by this revelation, his face told nothing. And that frustrated her greatly.

  The fact that the daily meetings seemed nothing more than futile brainstorming sessions left Ava’s brain feeling…well, strangely empty. And that frustrated her even more. Their inability to come up with a decent plan of attack had everyone’s nerves frayed.

  Ava was completely lost when it came to Carrick. He never sought conversation with her. If she asked him something, he was courteous but usually answered with the fewest number of words possible. She suspected he actually made it a game to see if he could answer her with just one syllable.

  She tried to broach the subject of her apology with him one more time, but he shut her down. He clearly wasn’t interested in talking about it any further.

  When not meeting with the Conclave, Carrick spent every day and most of the night away from her. She figured he was attending duties and training but she wasn’t sure because he would never discuss anything with her. She was always asleep by the time he came home. He was always gone in the morning when she woke up. It left her feeling bereft and lonely.

  Outside of meetings with the Conclave, Ava spent the rest of her time familiarizing herself with the town of Clairmont and its residents. She first visited every business owner to tell them how proud she was of their work and contribution to the town of Clairmont. She pledged her unending support to them when they were able to return home to Kestevayne.

  Ava then tried her best to meet every family. She would walk up and down the streets, knocking on doors. Some folks she knew, others this was a first meeting. But at the end of every visit, she gave each family member a warm hug and promised she would fight for their freedom. These meetings fueled her desire to defeat Ralina and helped combat some of the frustrations she had.

  She met little Sam across the street and learned that he was living with his Aunt Shelana, the local school teacher. He was very shy with her at first, but once she introduced him to Bing, he lit up like a hundred watt bulb. Since then, Bing spent most of the day over at Sam’s, happy just to sit by his side if he wanted to read, or chase a ball if Sam wanted to play.

  Her welcome back to Vyronas had been heartwarming. Everyone was tremendously grateful for her to be back and there seemed to be a renewed sense of hope, even if it was only a small glimmer.

  The problem now…after just one week…was that Ava was bored out of her mind. She rode King every day but she was not allowed to go far and always had guards trailing her. She was sure King hated getting brushed and bathed every day, but Ava had to keep herself busy or she would go nuts. The only thing that saved Bing from a daily grooming was that he was keeping Sam company.

  Ava even broke down one day and went clothes shopping. She bought a few dresses that were typical of Vyronasian fashion. Where she planned on wearing them, she had no idea. Her lowest point in her boredom came when she scrubbed Carrick’s house down from top to bottom, and then went out and purposefully dragged in mud from her boots so she would have something to do the next day.

  Ava was finally saved from insanity when Quentin came by and invited her to go fishing the next day. He had a day off from training and thought to spend it with her. He also knew how much she loved to fish and she was terribly excited to go.

  That night, she waited up until Carrick came home so she could ask his thoughts about a fishing trip with Quentin. At first he emphatically said no, but after she argued with him for more than an hour, he finally relented. Ava actually enjoyed the argument because it was the most she and Carrick had talked in the past week.

  Still needing the last word, though, Carrick insisted they go with double the amount of guards and that they get nowhere near the edge of the Cloak. There had apparently been one incident where the Cloak had been breached several months ago. No one was hurt and the tear was repaired and reinforced. Ava certainly wasn’t worried and felt they were plenty protected with eight guards should that happen again.

  ***

  The next day, Quentin c
ame to collect Ava just as the sun was rising. She was so excited, she was sitting on the front porch ready to go. She had even beaten Carrick up that morning and he grumbled from his little bed on the floor about how loud she was as she got dressed.

  Quentin already had King saddled for her when he arrived and they started out. Quentin and Ava rode in the lead, and the eight guards trailed behind on their mounts. Bing started running after her but she gave him a stern command to return to Sam’s. It’s not that she wouldn’t have enjoyed Bing on the trip, but that crazy dog loved to jump in the streams and she knew their fishing would be unproductive if he came along.

  “So where are we headed Quentin?”

  “I found this great stream about three miles east of here. It sits right on the edge of the Cloak. In fact, the stream runs under the Cloak so unfortunately, some of the fish will be protected from us.” Quentin laughed at his own joke.

  Ava didn’t laugh though. She had promised Carrick they would not go near the Cloak. She looked back at the guards following them but they said nothing. Clearly, Carrick’s orders were made known only to her and he must have trusted her to obey them.

  Ava had an internal battle going on in her mind. Should she tell Quentin that she was not allowed near the Cloak, once again leaving Carrick in control of her life, or should she do what she wanted? Tough decision. Oh well, Ava had never been good at obeying anyone and Carrick knew that. Besides, she had nine members of the Royal Army with her. She couldn’t be any safer.

  After they had ridden a few miles, Ava asked the inevitable question. “Are we there yet?”

  They had entered a densely wooded area but there was still a well-worn pathway through the forest. They made their way through blue Leedle trees and her favorite giant Chappelles, with their flowing branches arching over and swaying gently in the breeze.

  It was a beautiful day and the sun permeated in through the leaves, throwing sparkling color everywhere. Ava actually felt a little dizzy from the kaleidoscope of colors waving before her. Her mind seemed to go blank for a few seconds but when she gained focus again, she saw they had passed through the thickly wooded area back into full sunshine.

  The road lay straight through a sunny meadow with forests bordering each side. Ava shook her head. It seemed as if she lost track of a few seconds of time. But then again, the moment was so brief she reasoned that she merely was dizzy from the swirling colors under the Leedle and Chappelle trees.

  “Quentin, quit ignoring me. Are we almost there yet?”

  Quentin snorted. “Almost and quit being so impatient. I swear, you can be such a…”

  Ava did not get to hear what Quentin was getting ready to call her. She heard shouts behind her and turned in her saddle to see what was going on. Horrified, she watched as several men dropped down from the low hanging branches of the trees from which they had just emerged. Her guards, still exiting the grove of Leedle and Chapelles, were caught unaware. Ava was stunned at the large number of men who were ambushing them. By her quick count, there were probably three men to every guard that they had.

  A quick and vicious battle ensued. There was a flurry of sword fighting and energy spells being thrown. Ava itched to throw some spells but she was afraid she would hit one of her guards. She’d been out of practice for the past four years.

  Quentin appeared at her side and yelled at her to get her attention. “Run, Ava. Get out of here.”

  Ava balked at the thought of abandoning the fight but then Quentin slapped King on the rear, yelling again at her to run. With a kick of her heels, King bolted directly into a full gallop down the road and away from the fighting men.

  Racing at full speed, they had only gone about a quarter of a mile when two horsemen came out of the woods, one, on each side of her. She bumped King in the side with her feet to urge him faster and thankfully they pulled ahead. But Ava’s heart sank when she saw four more riders appear directly in front of her. She had to pull hard on her reins to bring King to a stop so he wouldn’t collide with the other horses. With Ava’s hand directing him, King spun left, and back right again, trying to find an escape hole.

  “There’s nowhere for you to go missy, so might as well calm your horse,” one of the riders said.

  Like hell!

  Giving King a sharp kick, he bolted toward a slight opening between two riders and for a split second, Ava though she would make good on her escape. But then she felt a warm, heavy sensation around her arms, pinning them to her sides. She lost hold of the reins, and then she was flying backward off King’s saddle.

  She hit the ground hard and actually thought she might pass out from the impact. She slowly lifted her head and fuzzily watched as King continued to gallop away. She hoped he would make it back to Clairmont so someone would be alerted she was missing.

  Trying to get her bearings, Ava figured they must have used some type of containment spell on her that pulled her right off King’s saddle. She still felt it around her as she lay on her back, unable to move much more than her head. She felt sick at heart to think about what happened to her guards and she fervently hoped Quentin had made it out of the fight safely.

  Looking up, she saw several men gathered around her. They were all dressed in black, and had some sort of red insignia on each shoulder. One of the men crouched over her and waved his hand over her chest. She felt the containment spell release.

  She tried to sit up but experienced a wave of nausea that had her lying down again. She closed her eyes hoping her stomach would at least settle so she didn’t vomit all over herself. She listened as the men talked.

  “Is this the right one?”

  “She’s the one.”

  “That was almost too easy.”

  “Empress Ralina is going to be very pleased we fulfilled our mission.”

  Ava snapped her eyes open at that last statement. So these were Ralina’s men. She looked more closely at her captors. Although they wore matching uniforms, there wasn’t much more about their appearance that suggested they were part of a regimented force. They all wore scruffy beards and appeared filthy. They didn’t smell that great either.

  Getting a better look at one of the insignias on their uniforms, she saw that it was actually a red eye embroidered onto the shoulders. They were clearly hunting for her and Ava’s mind was spinning with random thoughts. She made another attempt to sit up and managed it without passing out. How did they get inside the Cloak? Were the people in Clairmont at risk now? How could she possibly make her escape?

  As if reading her mind, and maybe they could since Ralina was rumored to have that gift, one of the men said, “Can’t take a chance of you using your magic to escape.”

  He knelt down beside her. He had long, dark hair that was greasy. Most of his face was covered by a bushy beard and the parts of his face that she could see were covered in dirt. He smelled as if he hadn’t bathed or cleansed himself in weeks.

  Before Ava realized what he was doing, he leaned over her and snapped an iron collar around her neck. This is just freakin’ great! Iron neutralized magic and she was now rendered completely helpless as far as counting on her magic to get her out of this mess.

  She looked at the man who had ironed her. As he stood up, he leered down at her, his gaze roaming hungrily across her breasts. “I very much like the look of seeing you collared. I think we are going to have some fun with you before we head back to Kestevayne, right boys?”

  The rest of the men hooted and whistled in agreement. Ava felt dread settle in her stomach like a lump of concrete. She knew she must have some value to Ralina for their orders were to clearly capture her. But she had the sinking feeling that they probably had free license to do whatever they wanted to her, as long as they didn’t kill her.

  Ava was hauled up roughly by two of the men. She had another wave of nausea from the sudden motion but was able to get it back under control. The iron around her neck tingled and put her on edge. Her magic was clearly at odds with the iron.

  Dragged
over to one of the horses, Ava watched as the man who collared her mounted up. Then she was unceremoniously handed up to him and flung over his lap, her stomach resting right over his crotch, the pommel of the saddle digging into her ribs. She heard rather than saw the rest of the men mount up, and they began riding.

  Ava was surprised that they were not riding very hard, but were pacing at a leisurely walk. Clearly they weren’t in a rush to get outside the Cloak, which was very perplexing. She would have thought they’d want to get as far away from the cloaked area as possible. Their lackadaisical attitude worried Ava greatly. Could this be an actual planned attack on Clairmont? Her only solace was that with Carrick leading their forces, the people would be safe and protected.

  Ava’s mind was jolted away from those thoughts as her captor started caressing her back. He then let his hand creep down her side, smoothing over her ribs. Ava tried with all her might to will his hand to stop, but it moved upward and started pawing at her breast. She could feel the man’s erection pressing into her stomach. This can’t be happening to me. Ava had to clamp down hard on her fear so she could keep a level head.

  “We’re almost at camp,” the man whispered down to her, “And I cannot wait to get you alone.”

  The thought terrified Ava but she tried to keep it together. Show no fear. “Why would you camp inside the Cloak? Aren’t you afraid my people will come after me?”

  The man laughed as he squeezed her breast roughly and Ava had to suppress the bile rising in her throat. “Honey, we captured you outside the Cloak. No one will even think to look out here for you.”

  How was it possible that she was captured outside the Cloak? That meant she had to walk through the Cloak herself and she would have known if she had done that. She knew they never even got near the edge of the Cloak because she didn’t see the shimmery wall. What in the AltVeritas was happening?