Chapter 77 Frozen Into Immortality


    Glenn''s face became ashen white as his eyes widened with shock. "Yes, Your Highness!" he squeaked again and looked at Tania who had flushed till her neck.


    Eltanin extended his arm to Tania. "Come here," he said, his voice full of possessiveness and an underlying threat to the soldier. Tania bit her lip and then took his hand. He immediately pulled her to him. Her fingers tingled the moment she touched him as if she could feel the powers that were crawling beneath his skin. She thought she imagined eather spilling out of his eyes, coating it with a line of hazy blue.


    He picked her up as if she was a weightless doll and made her mount the saddle in one swift motion. Tania gasped, shocked at the mere strength this wolf possessed. The stallion was heavily muscled. He had a wide girth and her legs parted pretty much when she sat astride.


    Eltanin took the reins, and swung with ease onto the horse right behind her. He curled his arms around her as if she belonged to him and held the reins. Then he stared down at Glenn who was watching it all with a gaping mouth. "Are you waiting for the night to mount that horse?" he said in a serious tone and nudged his horse to move ahead.


    Glenn snapped out of whatever was happening to him and instantly mounted the horse. The king was much ahead of him with the girl he wanted to marry by the time he mounted and followed him.


    Tania had never sat on a horse. He had pressed his thighs around hers in order to absorb all the jerky movements of the horse and give her maximumfort. His arms were curled around her waist and now they rested on her thighs. His chest was against her back because he had pulled her back muttering that he didn''t want her to tire so soon. His hand felt warm even through her trousers and she wondered if it was the heat in between her thighs or the one in his chest that was making butterflies churn in her stomach.


    They came out of the pce making their way through several thickets. When they were out of it through a gate that was open on the wall in the rear, before her Draka''sndsy shrouded in a dense fog. Eltanin guided his horse down a sloping path which curved around the pce''s wall and then brought them to a long winding road along the rim of a mountain, the peak of which was frozen.


    The horse was going slow, but Tania loved thezy pace as she relished the peace of the morning, enjoying thezy rhythm of the horse. "What is his name?" she asked, trying her best not to think about how close they were sitting.


    "Wind," he replied and leaned forward to press his cheek against hers. "Are you cold?"


    "No!" On the contrary, she was feeling hot like forged iron. Or was it the warm clothes she was wearing?


    "Good," he replied and pressed a kiss on her temple.<sub>


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    She blushed. "We are inpany," she reminded him when she heard clops of hooves behind them.


    "So?" He raised an eyebrow, feeling jealous and irritated that she should object to him kissing her publicly. What would girls do to be kissed by him in the open?


    "Well, you should maintain some distance," she said, not meaning her words.


    Eltanin narrowed his gaze. He didn''t say a word after that. His spine became stiffer and he actually distanced himself from her. Tania missed his warm presence immediately.


    They began ascending the mountain. The air became colder and soon they entered a path that had gathered snow fromst night._{ρ???????????}


    The clouds began to gather and grumbled as if they would burst out anytime. But as they continued to travel, Eltanin simply pulled up her hood. It seemed that Wind was quite adapted to travel in such weather because he didn''t even balk at being made to travel uphill on a snowy, slick road. Tania dared to look at her right and immediately pulled her gaze away from the steep slopes, hoping that they wouldn''t careen over it. As if realizing her fear, Eltanin gathered her closer to him.


    Although her answer peeved him initially and he ''maintained distance'' from her, his willsted for no more than half an hour and that too seemed like an eternity. The moment he saw that she was looking down and paled, he just couldn''t stay away from her. He tightened his arms around her and pulled against his restless heart. "Don''t worry," he said. "Wind traverses through snow withpetence. He wouldn''t miss a step even if both of us fell asleep over his back. He isn''t a normal horse."


    Tania took a breath of relief not only because she was back against his chest but also because of his assurance. "And how is he any different?" she asked, looking at his white mane that fluttered as he trotted.


    "He was specially sent by my mother for me when I was twenty summers old. Wind can also walk on water, and not justnd."


    Tania jerked her head up to look at him. "Really? Howe?" She had never heard of a horse walking on water.


    Eltanin looked down at her. She was so beautiful that he pressed a kiss on her nose. "My mother is a sea goddess. This horse was specially bred for me in her stables."


    Tania''s eyes became wide like that of an owl. "You know both you and Wind don''t look that old. I mean shouldn''t you be a relic by now?"


    Eltanin burst outughing. "I was frozen into immortality when I was thirty-five summers. That means that I would always stay at that age until I die. And don''t you know how long werewolves live?"


    "You won''t die!" she snapped. "And how would I know how long they live?"


    "What is the age of Menkar?" he asked as they rounded a particrly difficult ledge. He didn''t want her to see down or ahead because she would have panicked.


    "I don''t know… He looks very old," she replied, musing at the way Menkar kept his long silver beard ever since she had seen him.


    "He is over a thousand years old."


    "No!" Tania squealed in disbelief.


    Eltanin chuckled. He kept his chin over her head and took a deep breath of satisfaction. "He is, love."


    They went higher up and now her breath fogged in front of her. She moved her muffler over her face only leaving her eyes exposed. By the time they made it halfway to the winding pathway to the top of the mountain, it was already afternoon and she was very tired. "You said that it was a mound. Why are we going up a mountain?"


    "The mound is on the other side of this mountain," he said as he pointed to the valley in front of them. The valley was a vast field of forest that was dotted with thick aspens and tall pines covered in snow. And right at the end of the valley was the mound. "I know you are tired, love. We will stop at a clearing for the horses to rest in the valley."