Heiress of the Sea

Chapter 25

Caspian's body collapsed on the stone floors of the corridor, and I immediately sprinted towards him, forgetting all of the nonsense in my head from before. I bent over him, my eyes sharply scouring his body for any sign of injury.

"Come on, buddy. Let me help you up," I murmured, securing an arm around one of Caspian's cantaloupe-sized biceps and pulling with all my might. After a few moments, he grunted, sending me a smirk, and scampered to this feet.

"Thanks," he grumbled; still panting.

"What's going on?" I gasped, eyeing the sweat rolling down his face and neck. "And did you just run across the entire Land Kingdom, or something?"

He half-smiled. "Sort of. I was over in the East, fighting against some revolters, when I caught word from one of my spies that Goridian...."

He continued breathing heavily, his breath slowly catching up to him.

"That Goridian," he continued, "is going to strike today. Tonight. I didn't believe him, but then I realized that it was true. The sea is in a state of complete disarray. Storms, just miles away from the shores, waves the size of mountains...he means to come to Land soon. In fact, he already has soldiers beginning to invade. It will be no time before he's here."

I gulped. "Gods and Goddesses."

"I know. I ran all the way here, since my horse was injured in the battle. It was forty miles."

I ran my gaze up and down him once more. "You ran forty miles?"

He sneered. "I'm half-god, Ailith.  It was a light jog."

Rolling my eyes, I responded, "Well, you should probably lie down. Let's go to Soren's study."

Caspian curved a brow. "Is that were he is?"

I shrugged. "That's where he's been spending a lot of his time lately."

"Why don't you ask Lazarus where he is?" he mused.

Slowly, I shook my head. "Let's not. Laz is in a mood tonight. He's all pissy about life and whatnot."

I could have sworn I heard Caspian growling in irritation under his breath as we headed down the corridor, in the direction of Soren's study.

We arrived not minutes later, and were shocked to find the doors closed.

"Closed?" I whispered.

Caspian nudged me. "Someone's nervous."

I shot him a glare. "What are you talking about?"

"You're worried that he's not alone."

"And you should be worried that you're about to go into your boss's study, all sweaty and panting, with his fianceé," I retorted.

Caspian held back a snort as we heard footsteps approaching the wooden doors. Murmurs escaped the room, and we took a few steps back, having no idea what to expect. I felt my stomach turning in one fluid motion as I realized that the murmurs were not only Soren's, but Juniper's as well.

I swear, to the Gods and Goddesses—

All of a sudden, the doors were opened. Soren was standing there, fully clothed and hair still perfectly in place (to my great relief), and Juniper was slung over one of the velvet divans in front of the fireplace.

I felt bile simmering at the bottom of my throat as I eyed her; the short, low-cut pink silk gown, the way she lay on her side, head propped up by a willing elbow, the curve of her hips fully displayed in the flicker of the fire.