"You showed cleverness when you disguised yourself as a healer. My soldiers fell prey to your lies."
She noticed that he hadn't included himself in that admission. Did the proud male before her refuse to confess that he had also been fooled?
"Your soldiers are but also barely grown cubs. Are you sure they are old enough to have had their coming of age ceremony?" she asked. "This is another reason as to why you will be defeated, my lord."
"Most of my soldiers are older than you."
"Then they are ignorant."
"Untrained, not ignorant," he corrected. "The skilled soldiers were needed for more important tasks."
Roy was being honest with her, but the look on her face indicated that she was insulted by the truth. She turned her back to him yet again in an attempt to dismiss him.
He was not ready to be dismissed. "I would warn you, Eris, that being clever is not going to aid you at this point. The journey to the main city of Claw Kingdom will be difficult for you at best, and the time we are forced to be in each other's presence will be tolerable for you only if you behave."
She refused to turn around now. Did this arrogant male just tell her to behave?
There was fire in her voice when she spoke again. "Goddess, you are an impossible male. I have been given sanctuary here and even as unholy as you and your soldiers are, cannot break this sacred law. I will not be leaving."
"You will." Roy countered, his voice cold and hard.
She let a gasp out and turned to confront him now, shock completely written openly on her face."You dare! You would violate the right of sanctuary?"
Did this ignorant male just tell her that she will do his bidding? Even openly state that he would remove her from her right of sanctuary of this sacred place?
Regardless of how good looking he was, now, she was unsure if he was fit to be mated. Females had the right to mate multiple males, reject whom they wish and he is directing her like one of his soldiers. Does he not understand the rules of this world or was he born with a tail bone for a brain?
Before she could comprehend or even formulate an opinion as to how his mind works, the bastard opened his mouth again.
"No, but I promise you that you will walk out of these walls on your own when the time comes."
A shiver of fear rushed down Eris's spine, she was truly afraid of the purple eyed beast now. What weapon would he use against her?
Was there something that she did not acoount for or did he find out additional information that she was unaware of? Her mind jumped from one possibility to another now, heart racing in her chest.
After a long moment of silence between the couple, she concluded he was bluffing. No hell or high water could force her to leave her sanctuary if she personally didn't wish to walk out on her own.
A small crooked smile appeared on her face. There truly wasn't a thing that could force her to leave this safe haven. After the tedious use of her brain, the rush of relief made her eyes fill with tears and shoulders feel light.
Roy watched Eris, observing her without a word. Watching her small stiff frame relax, he continued to stand quietly in her presence.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him. He smiled.
Her composure vanished.
Temper flaring. Fists balled up tightly. Back straightened and she unleashed all her fury onto him.
Eris completely forgot she was standing in a sickroom. She certainly wouldn't have shouted at the barbarian otherwise.
"As long as the King of Claw Kingdom is alive, I will never leave here. Never!"
Despite all the rage in her voice, when Roy had left the room smiling, it seemed like the Goddess was truly fair after all.
Eris's never, arrived exactly eight weeks later.
Warrior Hudson had fully recovered from his illness and had managed to walk out of the shrine on his own two feet the day before.
The healers told Eris that she'd overheard Warrior Roy ask his friend to stay at the holding until he had taken the 'prize' to the main city.
"I believe he was referring to you," the healer remarked, sending Eris a symphatetic look.
"He is bluffing," Eris muttered.
She repeated those words to herself again and again during the duration of the day. She didn't sleep at all that night either.
Roy had sent a messenger back to the shrine just before nightfall with the order that Princess Eris was to pack all her belongings and be ready to leave the following morning.
The older healer did not believe that the stern warrior was the type to bluff, but as she watched the young female wear herself down with worry, she kept that thought to herself. Instead, she helped by packing Eris's small travelling bag for her and carried it down to the front entrance as a precaution against the very remote possibility that the warrior did in fact have a plan of action in mind.
"Prehaps, if you are prepareed, nothing will happen," the healer declared.
Eris was dressed and pacing in earnest by the crack of dawn. She wore her favourite cream coloured dress. It was special to her for her birth father had personally helped her stitch the garments with the help of a keen eye from her mother. Clothing always made her mood lighten.
The material however, was too thin for the current, harsh winter weather, but she wasn't going outside, so that wouldn't matter.
Eris had declined the invitation from the healers to join them for morning prayers, knowing full well that she would be doing more squirming than praying.
Her trusted maid servant, Alina, came to give her a weekly report approxiately an hour later. The elderly female was sweet-tempered, extremely loyal and had a strong memory for detail. Due to a birth defect she had never mated, no male wanted to provide for her.
All beastkin could shift into their full soft form by adulthood, she unfortunately could not rid herself of her ears and her nose from her beastform. It was a stroke of luck Eris's own mother had brought her into the household and provided her with a job.
With a full fifteen solar years older than Eris, she still clung to the youthful habit of giggling whenever she was nervous.
Alina, was giggling as she rushed into the room where Eris was waiting. "It is just as we suspected, milady." Alina blurted out. She managed a quick nod of the head in greeting before she continued. "Warrior Hudson has prepared himself for a nice long stay at the keep and Warrior Roy is preparing to come get you for the long journey to main city."
All colour drained from Eris's face.