Page 33 of Kingdom of Spirits
Why did travelers come here anyway? For the same reason Marius had? If so, what was that reason?
They climbed a small rise, then spotted Marius and Ragewing a good ways off, seated at a sparkling fire.
Well, if they could stop for the night, so can we.
“That’s bold,” Fara said, standing beside Tahlia and gazing down toward the fire. “They’re telling everyone they’re here. Why isn’t Marius more concerned?”
Tahlia shrugged, hiding the bulk of her worry. “Let’s keep out of their eyeline.”
She led Vodolija back down the rise. Soon enough, the fire Tahlia would make would be visible, but they could remain hidden for a little while longer.
Fara shivered as she helped Tahlia gather fallen limbs and broken sticks from the scattered trees growing here and there. A stretch of dark-leafed trees broadened into a full forest a stone’s throw away, and though Tahlia worried about taking on Fara’s habit of fearing everything, she wasn’t about to go traipsing into the woods. Not after hearing that sound earlier.
Once they had a pile of wood, Vodolija set it ablaze and settled beside it. She trilled with satisfaction, obviously enjoying the heat. Tahlia sat on a small boulder beside Fara and they shivered together.
Fara wiggled her mud-slicked boots. “My feet will never be the same. I’ll be tottering around like a hag years before my time. I hope Marius appreciates my hobbling.” Her lip curled, showing a fang.
Tahlia removed her riding gloves and held her palms toward the flickering light. Vodolija lifted her head and sniffed the air.
“If you want to hunt,” she said to Vodolija. “We’re good here. But I do have some dragonbread if you want to stick around…”
The dragon growled low in her throat, and Tahlia chuckled. Vodolija hated that stuff.
Vodolija bowed her head, stood, then walked toward the forest. Tahlia appreciated that she was being careful that her takeoff wouldn’t blow out the fire. Vodolija launched into the sky, her sea-hued wings spread as wide as a ship’s sails. She was so lovely.
When traveling, the knights always brought dragonbread in case hunting wasn’t possible or pickings were slim. A fist-sized serving of dragonbread could sustain a dragon for a full day, sometimes more depending on their activity level and how much they’d eaten recently. The dragons never seemed to savor the special meal, but they ate it when they had to. Marius had said they loathed dragonbread as much as younglings did their daily mineral drink, a supplement that Fae children in the Shrouded Mountains had to imbibe because of the lack of nutrients in their diet during the long winters.
Fara took some dried meat from their bags and heated it over the fire. Tahlia had eaten the stuff during training. It was pretty disgusting, but if you warmed it, it at least felt more like real food. The feeling finally returned to Tahlia’s hands and feet as they dined on their meager feast. Tahlia kept an eye on the darkness beyond and the forest. Gods, she was tired, more than she should have been.
The noise of wings had Tahlia on her feet with her bow drawn and an arrow ready in a breath.
Fara had picked up a rock and was poised to throw it.
The shadow above materialized into a dragon Tahlia knew as well as she knew her own.
Ragewing.
The large Heartsworn landed a stone’s throw from the fire, and Marius swung out of the saddle and slid to the ground. He looked like a living storm.
Fara sucked a breath through her teeth and took a step back.
Tahlia’s heart lurched into her throat. He had a cut along his cheek and the blood there had dried to a dark slash. She longed to touch it, to tend to it, and to ask him how he’d hurt himself. It was so odd to feel like comforting a male who appeared virtually made of solid stone.
Ragewing shook out his scarlet wings, blowing Marius’s hair. Marius’s gray eyes caught the glimmer of the fire and he fisted his hands as he strode toward Tahlia.
She gave him a wide smile. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Knight, you should not behereat all.”
Oooh, using his captain voice. “I realize that, but neither should you. In fact, I am pretty sure you disobeyed a direct order.”
His nostrils flared and his jaw worked. He looked Tahlia up and down, his gaze like a sweep of his hands. She swallowed and tried not to remember being pressed against this male with nothing between them but desire and joy.
“Lady Tahlia, you will return to the castle. That is an?—”
“Hold on.” Tahlia returned her arrow to the quiver and set her bow on the ground near the food and supply bags. Then she met his angry gaze. “Look. Hear me out, High Captain. Something is up with you.”
“Lady Tahlia…” Fara wrung her hands and looked at Tahlia like she was a madwoman.