Page 59 of Lake of Sorrow

The door to the infirmary opened, and Targon walked in, looking straight toward the office. One of his men must have told him Kaylina and Frayvar were inside.

Targon ignored him and squinted at her. Suspiciously?

Kaylina hadn’t done anything that should irk him. She’d even helped Jankarr. Of course, Targon might still be irked that she’d been entwined with Vlerion when he and his rangers had shown up in the preserve…

“Is everything okay, Captain?” Kaylina wanted to ask if Vlerion was okay, especially since he hadn’t come back with the rangers, but she didn’t bring him up in case their relationship was the reason for Targon’s squinty eyes. She would prefer to distract the captain from whatever dark thoughts he was having about them together.

“Little has been okay of late.” Targon looked at Frayvar, then back to her. “Come to my office, Korbian. We need to talk.”

“All right.”

His squint deepened.

“My lord,” Kaylina made herself add.

He grunted and walked out.

“Does this mean we’re not visiting the inn tonight?” Frayvar asked.

Kaylina only shook her head. As she followed the dour Captain Targon across the courtyard, she worried she was about to lose any semblance of freedom she’d had.

16

Prove yourself useful, and you’ll never want for a place in the world.

~ “Foundations III” Scribe Menalow

Because Vlerion’s office had been attached to his bedroom, Kaylina worried Targon would take her to the barracks. She didn’t want to see the room—or bed—where he’d entertained the queen and who knew how many more women.

But, after she grabbed her pack, he led her into a building that held an armory on the first floor, the air smelling of metal and weapons-cleaning oil. They climbed wooden stairs to a hall lined with offices, name plaques stating they belonged to various high-ranking rangers. Most of the doors were closed, the occupants gone for the night. Targon opened one at the end and stepped inside to multiple chairs, a desk, a conference table, and a bookcase full of thick texts, atlases, and old scrolls, as well as a few dented helmets and daggers. A huge fossilized skull leered from the top. Prizes he’d won over the years?

A lamp burned low on the desk, and Targon turned it up and used the flame to light others. The placement of some emphasized the daggers, helmets, and skull.

“I don’t know what to do with you, Korbian. You’re turning out to be much more than I expected.”

Much more what? Of a delight?

Kaylina doubted it. She suspected Jankarr had told his captain about her new ability to convince vines not to kill rangers.

“Vlerion is helping me find evidence to clear my name,” she offered. “If you would like to do the same, I would be most grateful.”

“Vlerion is obsessed with you.”

“I don’t think that’s true. He’s helping me because…”

Because why? He’d admitted that he had come to care for her, but Kaylina didn’t know if that was because she was appealing to him as a person or if the beast in him was drawn to the anrokk in her.

Targon finished lighting lamps and raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to complete the sentence.

“He’s a nice guy,” Kaylina finished lamely.

“Uh-huh. I would have said he’s helping because he’s into your tits, but I’ve never seen him fall for a beautiful woman. Up until he met you, he was almost preternaturally restrained when it came to that. His mother has a hypothesis about it.”

Yes, Kaylina had been thinking about that hypothesis. She grimaced at the thought that Isla of Havartaft might have come to the city to talk to Targon about her.

Oh, Isla had specifically said she would do that, but she’d implied it would be about her destiny as a mead maker. She’d said she would try to get Targon to release her from the ranger training. The thought that they might also have been discussing her and Vlerion’s sexual attraction mortified her.

“I’m aware of the, uhm, hypothesis, my lord.” Kaylina selected her words carefully, not sure what Targon wanted. Was he thinking about making her disappear?