The sun was high up in the sky and blazing down but the weather had gotten chilly. Winter was coming, they could feel that in the air.

Iris and Ryder sat on their horses and stood side to side, neither of them saying a word to the other, or planning to. They waited for Xanth and Lyra so they could be on their way towards the Eldham border where Ryder had planned to cross into Rocheveron after he must have settled the issue of land dispute, and he would settle it his own way.

Xanth approached Ryder, Lyra walked close to his side, she had her head down, not to the ground but she didn’t look up to meet Ryder’s gaze. Both her hands had been bandaged and by the pained look on her face, anyone could tell that the pain from her burned hands still stung something painful.

“Could we delay for a day or two?” Xanth asked Ryder as he walked up to him, patting his horse’s head. Ryder frowned and looked down at him.

“Why?”

“I’m afraid Lyra won’t be able to hold on to the horse’s reins with her hands and ride with us.”

“Then…” Ryder began to say but Iris interrupted him.

“Isn’t she Khione? She can heal herself. Can’t she?”

Ryder found sense in what she had said and he looked to Xanth to answer the question. “Can’t she?”

“Summoning the light energy would require her to use her hands and that might worsen her injuries. She just needs a day or two to heal slightly then maybe she can try healing herself.”

“Then she can stay back at the castle,” Iris told Xanth but kept her gaze on Lyra who didn’t bother to look at her back. “She isn’t of no use to us where we are going anyway.”

“Iris.” Ryder cautioned and she scoffed then guided her horse away from them, heading towards the castle’s gate. Ryder looked back at Xanth and then at Lyra who still didn’t meet his gaze and he frowned. “We have delayed for too long, and every time we could not go it had something to do with her. We cannot delay further.”

Xanth frowned slightly at Ryder, not exactly taken aback by his coldness but somehow, he was angry. “Ryder…”

“We won’t delay anymore because of me,” Lyra spoke up, interrupting Xanth and then she looked up at Ryder, anger evident in her gaze which lingered on him for a while before she turned away and walked to where her horse had been prepared for her. She gripped the reins and saddle and hoisted herself up onto it. The pain shot through her palms but she held it in. She gave Ryder one last stare before she directed her horse away and past Ryder who gave an irritated smirk and just watched her.

Xanth moved to his horse and mounted it swiftly, urging it forward until he was beside Lyra. If Ryder wouldn’t care, then he would.

They rode nonstop for almost an hour before they stopped at a clearing. They were still in Kilead but had gone quite far away from the castle and were a little distant from the village. Lyra was the first to dismount from her horse, and without saying where she was going, she walked away from the group, towards the sound of running water. Her hands were sore and she could not bear the pain anymore, she would find the source of the running water and dip her hands in it to find some relief.

The source ended up being a creek, not far from where they had stopped, she walked quickly, unwrapping the now bloody bandages as she hurried to the creek’s edge, then she dropped heavily on her knees and dipped her hands into the water. The cool water washed over her hands which throbbed with pain and she shut her eyes. They were riding to Eldham and Xanth said that it would take two days to get there, she looked at her hands in the water, she could not carry on like this for another hour, not to talk of two days.

She pulled her hands out and tried once more to conjure up a ball of light energy to heal herself but the more she tried, the more pain she felt in her hands. She gave up in defeat and put her hands back into the water and cried.

Then she felt someone take her wrist and pull her hands out of the water, she opened her eyes and Ryder was beside her.

For a while she didn’t move, she just bent down there, watching him as he took her hands in his, drying them gently with his cloak. His actions confused her, first, he would be calm towards her and then he would be like a madman in need of her, and then other times, like most of the time he would act so cold towards her, having no feelings or any sort of human sympathy for her. 

She blinked twice and snapped out of her trance. No, she would not be falling for this again, and with that, she pulled her hand away from his, taking the long strip of white cloth he was using to wrap her hands in, and she stood up, turning away from him.

“There is no need for you to do that.” She spoke to him coldly. “Why would you care when I can do it myself?”

He stood up and fixed his eyes on her, giving her a stare so cold she could feel it even without looking at him. He placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her to himself, taking her hand in his again. She tried to resist but he held it firmly. 

“Wanted to see just how long you can endure,” He carefully wrapped her hand, the burn was severe and the fact that she had been riding with the injury for so long had caused it to worsen. Somehow, he felt guilty but not sorry. “But I admit I have to look after whatever I own.”

“Own?!” She tried to pull her hands away again but he had a firm grip on her. “I am not some property that you own!”

He paused and looked at her dead in the eye, then said his next words slowly, making sure that she understood everything he said and letting her know that he was serious. “I own you, you are my Khione and mine alone.”

She remained quiet and stood still as he finished wrapping her hands. She didn’t want to be around him because that only fueled the anger she had for him, causing her to hate him just a little bit more. But, why was she angry?

It was not because of the fact that he had not cared about her injury and had caused her to ride with it, no. She was angry because of what had happened before that. Because he had gone to Iris that same night he had been with her, but why did it bother her so much? Why did she let it bother her? They were betrothed and engaged so it would be normal for them to be together but why was this feeling overwhelming her? This feeling of jealousy.

He let go of her hands when he was done and turned away from her, heading back to where the others were, then very casually, he threw his next words over his shoulders. “You’ll be riding with me.”

“I can ride just fine on my own, thank you very much.” She replied, keeping her head down and walking behind him to catch up.

He stopped abruptly and turned to face her, causing her to collide right into his chest. She stumbled backward on the uneven ground and slipped on the stones. Ryder’s arm went behind her instantly and caught her by the waist, stopping her from falling. She gasped and instinctively reached out to hold his cloak by the shoulders but the injury on her hand prevented her from grabbing it, their closeness caused her to tingle nervously and she swallowed.

His intoxicating gray eyes were fixed on hers and his brows were knitted in a slight frown, his breath was cold to her skin which was strange and unusual but she did not keep her mind on that. She could not. The man was a walking temptation and she could not help but feel attracted to this handsome hunk of a person. The same ruthless attitude that pushed her away and caused her to hate him was what pulled her towards him as well, how could someone possess such abilities?

Her eyes went down to his lips and lingered on them for a while, they were not pale like hers from the cold and it seemed that the weather did not affect him. She swallowed again, remembering what he tasted like, his kisses were always demanding and his touches always awoke something in her, something she was curious enough to want to explore but scared to actually do. His lips parted and she looked back up and into his eyes.

“You will ride with me, Lyra of Dragonsbane, and that is not a request.”