My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 106

Lyra

"You're doing it again."

Nadia’s voice cut through the quiet of my bedroom, pulling my attention away from the window. She was sprawled across the center of my mattress, resting her chin on her hands, watching me. Her dark curls were a messy halo against my white pillows.

"Doing what?" I asked, keeping my arms crossed over my chest.

"Staring at the main gates," Nadia said. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, the oversized linen shirt she wore was my shirt, slipping off one shoulder. "Lyra, it has been almost a month. She is gone. Staring at the road isn't going to bring her back."

I dropped the heavy velvet curtain. The room plunged back into mid-afternoon shadows.

"I know she isn't coming back," I snapped, harsher than I intended. I walked away from the window and started pacing the length of the rug. "I'm not delusional. I just hate this place. I hate that it’s so completely quiet. I hate that Torin and my mother get to travel, and I am stuck rotting in this tower."

Nadia watched my boots hit the floorboards. She didn't flinch at my tone. She just let me burn off the nervous energy. We had been slipping into my room for three weeks now, finding a rhythm between the empty hours of court life. No one knew. If my father found out I was taking a female lover, especially the daughter of a minor court official, he would have a stroke. Which, honestly, was half the appeal.

"Your father said you had duties here," Nadia pointed out reasonably.

I let out a loud, humorless laugh. I stopped pacing and looked at her. "Duties? Nadia, I am the spare. Sera was the pawn. I don't have duties. I sit at afternoon tea and listen to old women gossip about silk imports. He didn't keep me here to work."

"Then why did he?"

"Because he knew if I went with Sera, she wouldn't be isolated," I said bitterly. I leaned against the heavy oak post at the foot of the bed. "He wanted her completely alone when she hit the North. He shipped her off to a butcher, and he locked me in this castle so I couldn't interfere. He is a control freak."

Nadia sighed. She crawled to the edge of the mattress and reached out, wrapping her warm fingers around my wrist. She tugged me gently toward her.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify