Chapter Twenty-Four ~ Burning Bridges

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

"It's not love that hurts. What hurts is

being hurt by someone you love."
~Unknown   

He'd been planning to tell her that he loved her.

He'd known that it was soon—that he'd only met her several weeks ago—but he had just known. Known that he wanted to marry her despite the secrets and the cold manner she so often wore. That had come from her past... or so he'd thought.

Now he knew the truth.

When he'd seen them together—that man and her kissing under an oak tree, breeze rippling through her hair—his whole world had suddenly shattered into a million tiny, bitingly sharp pieces.

She'd been leading him on.

And he'd fallen for it. He'd known better, and he'd still fallen for it.

Duke raised a trembling hand to his face. He wasn't much of a drinker, but he'd naturally spent the rest of the long night with a bottle in his hand. How else was he supposed to get past how cruel she'd been?

The worst of it was that she cared so little that she'd let him see it. She'd wanted him to catch her with another man.

He reached for the bottle again, cursing loudly when he lifted it to his lips and nothing came. Perhaps he should go back to the tavern that he'd brought it from.

He stood unsteadily, wincing as the early sunlight hit his eyes and seared into his brain. The headache was starting now, but he wasn't sure if he was still drunk or just plain down hungover.

He took a step out onto the dirt pathway, nearly slipping as his feet hit it. Standing with his head bowed for a moment, he waited for a wave of dizziness and nausea to pass. He was remembering now why he didn't get drunk very often.

She'd lied.

The thought flashed through his head, and if he would've been close to a tree, he would have turned and slammed his fist into it, but he wasn't, so he slumped down dismally in the middle of the pathway, shivering and dejected.

How could someone so sweet and harmless looking do something like this? The shy way she'd ducked her head and glanced up at him when she'd invited him up north had completely fooled him. She'd been playing a game.

He dug his fingernails into the dirt path and stared up at the sky, blinking in surprise when a snowflake landed on his face. It was snowing?

Only then did he notice that the sky had grown white. The realization jolted him into motion, and he scrambled to his feet rather shakily. A blizzard could spring up in a matter of minutes, and then he'd be stranded brokenhearted and half-drunk in the middle of the forest, and Sophie probably wouldn't even care.

Fennel was tied to a tree branch. Duke didn't remember tethering her, but there she was with her head down. A flare of guilt shot up in his chest. He must have been riding drunk.

He patted her nose and whispered an apology. He'd warm her water and give her extra bran when he arrived back at the Fire Clan.

Mounting sent a wave of pain through his already-throbbing head, and he once more had to wait for it to pass.

He didn't know exactly where he was in relation to the Fire Clan or the Oak Clan but once he'd followed the little dirt path for several miles, he came into more familiar territory. It was snowing heavily now but he could still see where he was going.

The cold and fear that he would get lost in the snowstorm served to free his head of its fuzziness, and he and Fennel pressed onward.

The snow grew thicker and thicker, and soon he really couldn't see where he was going any longer. His mouth was now dry with panic. If only he hadn't gotten drunk. Now he was stuck out in a blizzard, and he was going to freeze to death all because of a woman who didn't love him back. What a foolish way to die.

Fennel slowed, head down, and Duke kicked her sharply in the sides. She sluggishly moved on, picking up the pace for several steps, and Duke pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders and leaned down against her. As far as he could tell, they were still on the pathway that should lead to the Fire Clan, but it was hard to know for sure with all the snow. The only reassurance that he had was that there were no trees growing in front of him.

That meant he was on the path. It had to. He kicked Fennel again, harder this time, and she raised her head and lurched forward. A heavy gust of wind blew snow into Duke's face, and he cussed again, loud and long.

He allowed his thoughts to settle on Sophie as he and Fennel went onward, though only because he didn't want to be afraid. He wanted to be angry. And the longer he thought about her and what she'd done, the more furious he became.

Onward he rode, silently stewing and occasionally swearing under his breath.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably only half a mile, a large, ancient oak came into sight. Duke's heart leapt with relief. He knew that he was close now, for the tree came directly before the back of the Fire Clan camp.

Silently thanking the Creator, he coaxed an exhausted Fennel onward until the thick, familiar brush that surrounded the camp, making it nearly invisible to those outside of it, came into view. He easily found the break in it and urged Fennel through. The snow had confused the mare, but she picked up speed as soon as she realized where she was, and made a beeline for the stables.

When they were in the stables and surrounded by the warmth of animals, Duke slid from her back, taking in gasps of warm air and brushing snow from his head and shoulders.

He didn't have long to catch his breath because Sophie came through the stable door just then, as if she'd been watching for him. A little bit of snow had gotten into her hair from her short trip to the stables, and her eyes were lit up.

"Duke!" she exclaimed, "I'm glad to see you. Are you alright?" Her voice was breathless and relieved.

Duke turned his back to her and ran his fingers through Fennel's mane, combing the snow from it. He didn't reply though he would have liked to shout at the top of his lungs. She wanted that, though. She wanted to see him lose his temper, so he bit his lip until he tasted blood and refused to look at her.

"You didn't come back, and it was snowing. I was worried about you," she continued.

"Were you?" he snapped back, keeping his eyes on Fennel. The poor horse was exhausted.

"Duke, I can... I can explain," she said after a brief pause.

He whirled around, glaring at her. "You had your tongue down his throat," he spat, no longer able to hide how furious he was.

She looked up at him with wide blue eyes, taken aback at his outburst. He had never raised his voice with her before. He marveled at how innocent she still appeared, like she hadn't just had her hands all over another man. She had really pulled the wool over his eyes.

"Duke. I can explain if you would just let me speak," she replied soothingly, which only added to his anger.

"So you can lie to me again?" He knew that if he let her give her side of the story, she would explain it away. He had to keep her out of his head.

"I never lied to you. And this was not what it looked like," she contradicted, folding her arms over her chest. "That man, his name i—"

"Stop!" Duke interrupted, putting his hands up. "I don't want to know what his name is or how long you've been sneaking around with him!"

"Duke, listen to me!" She had the nerve to raise her voice at him.

"Save it, Sophie. I won't believe you."

Sophie opened her mouth and then closed it again. For the first time, he noticed the purple circles under her eyes, like she hadn't slept much. Perhaps she'd spent the whole night with that man.

"Why didn't you tell me you were whoring around?" he snarled, rage blurring the edges of his vision at the thought of someone else putting his hands on her. "It would've been nice to know that I was just one of the many that you are bedding."

Sophie's face tightened. "Did you just call me a harlot?" she asked in a dreadfully calm voice.

"Ah, I guess I did," he hurled back. "And this, whatever it was, it was a mistake. A mistake that I will never make again."

"A mistake," Sophie repeated in a soft voice, hurt flickering across her face. "Yes, I guess it was." She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were hard, and her face was expressionless. She let out a breath of air, turned on her heel, and left the stables, and he concentrated his attention on Fennel once more, even angrier than he had been.

He was going to pack his things, and then he was going to head back to the Oak Clan to stay so he wouldn't have to see Sophie and her winsome, falsely innocent blue eyes any longer. Will, with Duke's permission, had taken Dani back several days ago, and Duke supposed that by now they were betrothed and ready to find a priest to marry them.

Duke ground his teeth together at the thought of marriage. Oh, he'd been such a fool. Never again. He was done with women now.

He knew he was being childish, but at the moment, he didn't really care. He'd actually thought that the ice-cold, high-and-mighty assassin wanted him. That fact was going to embarrass him for the rest of his life. He should've known that she was too good to be true. Too beautiful to be his.

It was always the stunning ones. The ones that knew their beauty and knew that they'd always have another man to pull in and use.

As soon as he was finished brushing Fennel down, he stalked from the stables and into the stone building. He'd grab something to eat, and then he was going to stay in his room until the snowstorm was over and he could go home.

He didn't make it very far before Darius stopped him, arms folded over his chest. "Duke, out in a snowstorm? Did you stay out all night?"

"Yes, yes I did," Duke replied sourly. The headache was seeping back into his brain and making his ears ring, and Darius was looking at him with a confused, concerned look on his face.

"May I ask why?" Darius asked in a light tone.

Duke stopped and stared at him, rather wanting to start a fight. But he thought better of it and ran a hand over his face, closing his eyes for a brief moment. "Something came up."

"Oh?" Darius' tone was still bright, but his eyes had narrowed into dark slits. "What of Sophie?"

"What of her?" Duke's ears began to ring more loudly, and he tried to brush past Darius, but the officer stopped him.

"What did you do to her? She looks upset."

"Does she?" Sophie never looked upset, and right now it was extremely irritating to Duke that Darius apparently had the ability to tell that she was upset even if she didn't look it. "I suppose she must have had a bad night."

But she hadn't. She hadn't had a bad night. She'd probably been with that man. Duke's jaw clenched as he waited for Darius to side with her.

But Darius only tilted his head, eyes crinkling. "She just went back to her chambers, and she looked sad. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Duke snapped back, feeling a little more guilty than he would have liked. Perhaps whore was a strong word.

"What did you do to her?" Darius leaned close and asked the question slowly this time, putting emphasis on each word.

Normally, Duke would have been uncomfortable under his instigative gaze, but he was still too angry and hurt to care what Darius thought. "Why don't you ask her what she did?" He tried to keep his voice calm but the bitterness in his tone hung in the air between them.

Darius shrugged a shoulder, clearly unconcerned with the resentment in his reply. "What did she do?"

Duke glared at him, not sure if he was angry or merely curious.

"Duke, you need to be patient with her. She's be—"

"No," Duke interjected. "I'm going to stop you right there. Her and I are over."

Darius' expression grew dark. "If you've done something nasty, we are going to have a problem, Duke."

"Is that so?" Duke threw back. "I'm sure she'll tell you what I did wrong, but now that I think of it, I'll bet you are part of the problem." He was growing moodier and moodier with the throbbing in his head and the sudden thought that maybe Sophie and Darius' relationship had more to it than he'd been led to believe.

"Uhm, Duke... what do you think she did?" Darius asked, eyes narrowing once more. 

"I caught her with someone else," Duke snapped, feeling humiliated. What had he done to deserve this? 

"What? Uh..." Darius started, looking confused. "I don't... think." He stopped abruptly and began to chuckle. "No, Duke. There is absolutely no way." 

"I know what I saw!" Duke said, raising his voice and then snapping his mouth shut as several men came into view, walking down the corridor.

"I know what I saw," he repeated in a softer voice, pushing roughly past Darius, who stepped to the side to allow him room to leave.

Duke went on down the corridor with his back rigid and jaw set, not looking back. Let Darius choose Sophie's side if he liked. It made no difference. He was getting out of here as soon as the snowfall ended. 


You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net