My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 315: Additional Burden

Chapter 315: Additional Burden

Quinn and Cian were learning quickly that Desmond was a wild animal when it came to his wife. Instincts prevailed over logical thought. His tenacity to keep going forward even when he shouldn’t seemed inhuman.

They were only afforded a moment of pause and preparation before the man took off, not caring if the others joined or not. However, to everyone’s surprise, not only did Cian and Quinn ready themselves for an arduous journey ahead, but the mages who were underground with the mana stone readied themselves as well. Three stayed behind, one of them being the woman who had helped them on the surface. The other two were simply too old to travel and were fine with spending their time protecting the mana stone as they had been for years. While the tent encampment seemed impermanent, it was their home for a long time. Even with weak magic, shields against weather were enough as long as they had food and ways to get clothing.

The group traveled for an entire night and into midday of the next day before Quinn and Cian convinced Desmond that they all needed to rest or they weren’t going to make it much further. Traveling while they still had their wits about them was much better than pressing on out of their minds and not entirely sure that they were going in the right direction or able to even defend themselves against monsters if they crossed their path.

They also had to consider that the mages on the journey with them were far less used to the road than the three men so they ought to show them a bit of grace considering they volunteered themselves to go along, wanting to lend their weak magic if it could help with the dragon.

One trait common between seemingly all mages was that few had a permanent home. They were ready to pack up and go to the next place if needed.

Desmond relented, practically falling to the ground as he did. Even though it was midday, he slept easily under the shade of a tree. The entire group fell to the ground and made themselves comfortable under various cloaks or shaded trees. Normally it was best to have a guard but Quinn put out a magical device that would alert him if someone came close.

For a few hours, the tired party rested.

Desmond was the first to his feet, as expected, but as he readjusted himself and began to pull a cloak over himself, Quinn watched him for a while and gasped in horror.

"Blood?!" he cried.

The mage had been half asleep but, as he looked at the man, seeing his clothing stained with blood underneath his right arm, he was fully awake.

"Mind your business, mage," Desmond uttered.

If Stephano or Leonor were around, they would certainly bother him about this particular injury considering it wasn’t the first time. The way he saw it was that there was no other option when a dragon was in the sky. He was going to use his accurate right arm no matter what anyone said to him.

"I will not," Quinn insisted and stood up. "I will administer healing magic whether you like it or not. If your wife found out I was traveling with you and did nothing knowing you’re injured, she would undoubtedly shun me."

"Are you more afraid of her than you are of me?" Desmond asked incredulously.

Quinn hesitated for a moment but his silver eyes soon snapped to Desmond’s and he shrugged.

"I am undecided," he admitted.

Desmond scoffed, but it turned into a faint smirk as he thought about the way his wife, who was so impassioned when it came to magic, must have seemed to the mage.

It made his heart ache with how much he missed her. There wasn’t a minute of his days that didn’t belong to her. Even when he was asleep, all he dreamed about was seeing her again.

He needed to know she was healthy and doing just fine without him as much as it would pain him. He wanted her to be burdened by him because she told him she was allowed to be.

Desmond sat patiently only for Quinn to administer magic as he needed, but no more than that.

The ruckus of the men talking to one another had the others rousing themselves awake and they were already getting their things together so they could leave.

Considering Desmond was of the highest station, he felt responsible for all those following him. As he glanced at his mismatched traveling party, seeing that they were a bit underprepared and exhausted, he sighed. Perhaps they could unload them closer to the border where more of the knights were. They needed to get more substantial supplies anyway before they could go through the mountains.

Once they were all on their horses, they traveled all the way through the afternoon and evening, only making a camp at midnight and finally sleeping at a time when they were supposed to—which the mages didn’t hesitate to tell everyone they were grateful for.

Desmond was feeling an itch to keep going. The four hours of sleep they got was enough to carry him for a long time, but he also needed to be considerate.

How impossible it was to love a woman and yearn to be beside her while so many were relying on him.

Silently, he begged Leonor to understand his delay. He also begged for her safety and for the dragon to have died someplace in the mountains so it would be their problem and not the problem of Castille.

Desmond hunted early in the morning so that the party would have something to eat before they left. Many were grateful considering what they could bring from the mage tent encampment was meager. They had exhausted their supplies due to the winter causing their usual hunts to remain in distant regions despite Eirenguard having much of the same weather all year long.

When they were finally full of nutrients and ready to take on the next part of their journey, the party got onto their exhausted horses’ backs and took off. The animals would have to get expensive food and a long rest once they finally made it to their destination—wherever it was going to be.

In the afternoon, the party made it to the fortress where they would be able to get some supplies considering the last time Desmond went through it was devoid of anyone.

To his horror, Commander Aidan stepped out of the stronghold with a line of knights on either side of him.

"Just where do you think you’re going?" he asked.