Her chest burned. She could not see it herself, but bright embers released themselves from the tips of her hair, which concerned Adrian greatly. The horses were galloping at a much faster rate than he usually pushed them. Now, with the wind rushing past him, he unsteadily checked the status of his weaponry. Without his armor and arm guard the bow was out of the question. His crossbow and hand crossbow did have bolts loaded. That was good. As he tried to maneuver his crossbow into a usable position should he need it, he looked to Veleria again and didn’t like what he saw.
See me.
Veleria’s lips quivered. Her shaking gaze traveled down to her white-knuckled hands gripping the reins of the mare below her. They were not alone. Another, larger pair of hands held hers. Their owner whispered into her ear.
Never again will we be caged and shackled.
One of her hands was guided to her chest. She pulled the strings of her blouse and felt the scar. It was hot. Impossibly hot. Yet, it was comforting all the same.
“Heel!”
The horses came to a slow, somewhat jilted stop.
“Veleria!” Adrian shouted, jumping from the back of the stallion. His feet hit the ground. Hard. His knees nearly buckled, but he managed to remain upright and rushed over to Veleria’s position. The fire in her hair, the glowing eyes, none of it held a candle to what he was seeing now. She had her hand over her chest, her fingers caging her scar as the spot itself seemed to glow with the same intensity as her eyes. It was as if the very tips of her fingers were sinking into it. “Veleria, what the hell!”
Veleria breathed in. There was no one else on the horse with her. She looked down at her chest, then pulled her hand away. Her scar cooled. Then, she looked down at Adrian who held his hands out to her. She took them, and allowed him to pull her into an embrace once she was on the ground.
Adrian dropped his crossbow. He wrapped both his arms around the woman, burying his brow in her warm hair.
“I shouldn’t have left you alone.” He said, shaken. “You have no idea how glad I am to still have you by my side.”
With her head against his chest, Veleria collapsed.