My Second Chance Mate is a Barbarian (Sera and Fenris) novel Chapter 41

Sera

The Valdris carriages looked like a joke against the brutal grey stone of Ironmaw. They were painted white and trimmed with gold, built for paved southern roads, not mountain passes. The horses pulling them looked exhausted, their coats thick with sweat and frozen mud.

I stood in the courtyard. The wind was biting, slicing right through my heavy wool cloak. Fenris stood ten feet away from me. He wore no cloak, just his dark leathers and a thick tunic. Yvara was beside him, her arms crossed, watching the carriages with open disgust.

The lead carriage stopped. The door opened.

A man stepped out first. Lord Torin. He was one of my father’s top advisors. He wore a thick silk cloak over velvet, and he immediately pulled it tighter around his neck. He looked around the courtyard, his nose crinkling like he smelled shit.

Then, she stepped out.

My mother.

She looked smaller than I remembered. She was wrapped in layers of expensive, useless southern fur. Her blonde hair was pinned up perfectly, but her face was pale. She looked around, her eyes wide and frightened. Then she saw me.

Her hands flew to her mouth. She burst into tears instantly.

She ran across the dirt courtyard. I didn't move to meet her. My boots felt glued to the frozen ground. She crashed into me, throwing her arms around my neck and sobbing into my shoulder.

She smelled like crushed roses and vanilla. It was a familiar smell, the smell of my childhood. But out here, mixed with the scent of pine and woodsmoke, it just smelled wrong. It smelled fake.

"My sweet girl," she sobbed, pulling back to look at my face. Her hands gripped my cheeks. Her thumbs brushed over the fading yellow bruise on my jaw and the fresh cut near my hairline. "Look at you. Look at this awful place. What has he done to you?"

She glared past me at Fenris.

I grabbed her wrists and gently pulled her hands away from my face. "Fenris didn't do this, Mother."

Lord Torin approached Fenris. He didn't bow. "Alpha Volkov. King Aldric sends his regards. We have a long journey behind us, and much to discuss regarding the trade routes and the border lines."

Fenris looked at Torin for a long, quiet second. "My study. We don't do politics in the snow."

Fenris turned and walked toward the main doors. He didn't look at me. Yvara followed him, throwing one last sneer at the Valdris guards. Torin hurried after them, shivering.

That left me in the yard with my mother.

"Take me inside, Sera," she said, her teeth actually chattering. "I am freezing to death."

I led her into the fortress and down the corridor to the guest quarters. Mina followed silently, a few paces behind. We went into a large room with a roaring fire. My mother immediately walked to the hearth and held her hands out to the flames.

"Savages," she muttered. "They live like actual beasts in a cave. I told your father it was a mistake. I told him this place would ruin you."

"You didn't tell him anything," I said.

My voice was flat. The words just fell out of my mouth before I could stop them.

My mother turned around. Her eyes were red. "What did you say?"

"When he made the deal," I said, looking right at her. "You sat next to me. You held my hand under the table. You didn't say a single word. You let him sell me."

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