The Kadaar mountain path was treacherous, but the Bonn and Leiffen Skaard knew it well and traversed it quickly. Starlex, shivering beneath Bonn's fur capelet, rode on the Roan's back while Leiffen led the stallion. By nightfall, they had reached an encampment in the gulley of an icefall. Leiffen told her they were in Rhynforde. The fishing village was the first outpost in Kadaar. Most of the people lived in tents in the burnt-out ruins of stone houses. The Thrades had attacked before.

Despite their obvious hardship, the men and women, many with young children and dressed in furs, greeted the Skaard warrior and his companion like returning heroes.

Starlex couldn't understand their native tongue, but she gleaned the people were refugees from the mainland. Their provisions were scarce, but they readily shared them. After a fortifying meal of marabou stew, root vegetables, and warm spiced wine, the men stayed by the fire having a conference while several women led Starlex to a tent made of tan hides. She fell gratefully into the pile of furs that made up the bed. The dogs that shared her tent kept her warm all night. Despite her captivity, she was treated well by the Skaards, and in the morning, an older woman with long gray hair brought her tea and a fur-lined cape to wear. She ripped off the remnants of the Nazeer wedding gown and wrapped the cape around her, using the tooled belt to cinch her waist.

Starlex thanked her in Ardelym's common tongue, and the woman nodded as if she understood. When the tea had warmed her belly, the old woman stood and beckoned her to follow her out of the tent.

Confused about where she was being led, Starlex obeyed, folding back the tent flap into a brilliant dawn. The sun peaked through the valleys of ice, bathing the glistening surfaces until they shone like pink quartz. The icy air filled her lungs, instantly clearing her head of the dreams that had tormented her throughout the night, dreams of shipwrecks, of being pulled into a whirlpool, watching the circle of sky close to darkness.

Following the old woman through the encampment of tents past low fires brewing morning tea and gruel, Starlex found it difficult to keep up through the crunchy snow.

When they finally reached their destination, the old woman stopped and pointed a gnarled finger at a torch-lit entrance to a cavern cut into a wall of ice.

"I'm sorry," Starlex stammered, unsure what the old woman wanted her to do. "What is this place?"

The old woman responded to her query by giving Starlex a hardy shove toward the mouth of the cave. Starlex panicked, wondering if she had been led to some burial vault where she would be imprisoned or worse.

Starlex slipped on the icy rock floor, propelling her down a steep drop. With a sharp yelp, she landed on hands and knees within a torch-lit cavern. Gathering her bearings, she looked around the enormous cavern with its jagged floor and high roof made of icy stalactites pointing down at her like spears.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Come on in, princess," a bass voice echoed off the walls.

She took a few tentative steps, skirting a low rock wall, and saw a naked Bonn Skaard half-submerged in a steaming mineral pool twice as large as the imperial baths at Oran Palace.

"I thought you might want a proper bath," Bonn said, smiling as he applied sudsy oil to his wet hair. "The dip in the sea where you nearly drowned doesn't quite count, now, does it?"

Stunned, she wrapped the fur cape around her tighter. She was filthier than she had ever been in her life, and the bath certainly looked and smelled inviting, but with him?

"Come, princess. Don't be shy. Besides," his ice-blue eyes glistened through the steam, "I'd like to see all of my bounty."

"Is that really how you see me? Your property?" Starlex challenged. "What kind of gentleman are you?"

Bonn Skaard's head tilted back, and his laugh echoed off the cavern walls. "I never said I was a gentleman, dear lady."

"But," she stammered, "At first, you were so nice. So kind."

"At first," the Skaard said, breaststroking toward her through the steamy water, "I was holding up my end of the bargain." He suddenly hoisted his naked body out of the rock pool and stood dripping before her. She averted her eyes to the ceiling and away from his rippled muscles, but she felt the heat of his body as it instantly warming her flesh. "And now I'd like to see all of what I own." He reached out and ripped the cape from her shoulders, letting it fall to the damp floor.

Humiliation painting her white skin with a pale rose blush, she held his gaze, daring him to look down at her nakedness. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He was so close she could feel the blood in his veins, count the rapid beat of his heart.

"And now you've seen it," she said as she stepped away from him and dove into the pool.

A loud splash followed, and when she surfaced, he was near her, watching her through the steam.

She opened her body to the warm waters, allowing it to soothe her tired muscles. She held his gaze as she cleaned her body with her hands, daring him to make another crass remark.

Instead, he swam to the other side of the pool and returned with a flacon of scented oil. "Here, princess," he said, handing it to her.

"What is it?"

"To make your silver hair shine. Shall I show you how to use it?"

Her heart now beat so fast she was sure the Skaard could hear it echoing through the cavern.

"All right," she answered.

"Turn around," he said in his husky accented voice.

Obeying his command, she turned. The heat from his body warmed the water surrounding her, and his fingers, applying the scented oil to her hair, were gentle.

"How does that feel, princess?"

"Good," she whispered.

Now his warm breath tickled the back of her neck as he lifted her hair.

"How do you feel, Bonn Skaard?" she whispered in a moment of intense daring.

"Right now," he whispered back, his breath like a feather tickling her neck. "I feel very good, princess."

He leaned forward, and she knew he was going to kiss her. And at that moment, her protestations melted away, and she realized that there was nothing she wanted more in the world. Still, she had one last layer of defense.

"Do you mean to take me as your mistress?" she asked, trembling.

"No."

Her eyelids fluttered. She was now completely at his command.

"No, princess. I mean to take you as my wife. If you will have me."