Abducted [W&W Book 3]

Chapter 15

Ildri rubbed her face. She had not thought about that time in a long time. It had been the best day of her life without contest. True to the old Lord Wildwood's word, she had become Ildri of Wildwood. He had placed her in the care of chef and had become as a beloved grandfather. He had ensured that she learned to read and learned useful skills and that she was cared for properly. There had been no one better than him in the world.

She missed him so much, as much as she missed her parents. If she closed her eyes she could see his kind face in her mind. Ildri was certain that she would never have escaped her wretched circumstance without him.

A few more tears escaped and she did not even bother trying to stop them.

Ildri hated being left to think about all the sad things that had happened. She liked being happy and being with other people. It was all Ty's fault that she felt bad now. Where was he, anyway?

Almost as if she had summoned it with her thoughts, the sound of hooves hitting the dirt met her ears. She waited as the sound drew nearer on the road and finally stopped near to where she was hiding. It had to be Ty.

She strained to see through the trees, to confirm if it was really him.

Something warm touched her back.

Ildri shrieked and spun around. It took her only a moment to realize that the huge predator who had come up behind was a half wolf she knew. She wondered if it had startled her on purpose.

"Good job, Farrel," she heard Ty say from out of sight. Farrel dashed off through the bushes towards his master. Ildri followed, feeling annoyed but at the same time incredibly glad that Ty had returned.

He looked up when she came out of the trees. Farrel was sitting beside him looking rather smug. "I recognized your screams," Ty grinned.

"Took you long enough," she said with a little pout, but there was no real irritation in her words.

"It would have taken longer had you come with me."

She shrugged and wondered what his business had been. Ty had already retrieved the horse's fittings from their hiding spot. He picked up the saddle and carried it towards the horses.

Horses? Two horses waited for him and neither was the large warhorse that they had been riding since they escaped from the war camp.

"You were stealing more horses?" she asked disapprovingly. He had left her sitting there alone so that he could go and steal other people's property? What else had he done while she had been waiting?

"I never stole any horses. The first was spoils of war and these two I'm only borrowing."

"Borrowing?"

"I'll bring them back eventually."

Ildri doubted that. "They don't know that you're borrowing their horses, do they?"

He just grinned as he moved around and prepared the slightly smaller of the two horses. He tied his bags onto the saddle. "Don't worry so much. We'll get to the capital quicker. These horses are fresh and they'll have lighter loads with only one rider each. We'll make up the time easily and we'll be less conspicuous as well."

"I'm not very good at riding," Ildri said sceptically. "I only rode a few times with Saul."

"You'll be fine," he assured her. "You're a natural. Now let's go." He helped her up onto the back of the saddled horse. She let him, but she felt horribly nervous about everything.

And she was definitely nervous about riding a stolen horse. "I still don't think it's a good idea. What if the owners come after us? Stealing horses is a serious crime," she said, not willing to let it go.