Sharon Shinn - Reader And Raelynx

There might have been a shape standing behind one of the tents, but it wasn’t a Lirren man. Cammon stared harder, trying to make out details. It seemed to be a woman, dark-haired, stocky, dressed in black and silver. He shook his head and narrowed his eyes, but she was gone and he could pick up no sense of a lurking presence. Surely there had never been anyone there.

He bent his attention instead on someone who was in plain sight: Kirra, who had spent the day tending to fallen soldiers. She had been on the move the entire afternoon, but now she sat on a stool outside one of the tents, looking tired. Still, she had mustered enough energy to scowl at Cammon as she waved him over.

“You’re doing something,” she accused. “Amalie keeps looking back at you. You’re pouring some of your power into her, aren’t you?”

He opened his hand to show her Amalie’s pendant. “Pretty easy to feed energy to a thief mystic.”

Kirra pushed herself to her feet. “I want some. Give it to me.”

He couldn’t help laughing. “Well, that’s gracious.”

She hunted through her pockets until she found a small striated stone charm shaped like a lioness on the run. Kirra had found it last year in a deserted shrine set up to honor the Wild Mother, and she’d kept it as her personal token. “There are another five men in there who are so seriously wounded that they could die tonight,” she said in an uncharacteristically grim voice. “I’m too tired to help them. But if you lend me a little magic-”

His other hand closed around the lioness. “Of course I will.”

Kirra’s eyes closed. For a moment she looked as if she was luxuriating in a scented bath. For such a wild creature, Kirra was really a hedonist at heart. “Ah. This almost feels like healing itself. I could just stand here and soak up your energy.”

“Certainly. Do that. Don’t think about those lives you wanted to save.”

She opened her eyes and glared at him. “I never in all my days met a boy more irritating than you.”

He let surprise come to his face. “Not even Justin?”

That made her laugh. “Very well, you’re both irritating. But I must say, this is a very handy talent you have. I feel fresh as morning.”

“You’ll feel terrible once you’ve used up more magic and I give you back the lioness.”

She nodded briskly and turned for the tent flap. “I know. But let me first do a little good.”

Amalie had done a little good, too. Cammon could feel the soothing effects of her magic on a couple dozen of the wounded soldiers who had been suffering so mightily before she arrived. As before, the immediate impact on Amalie was both beneficial and powerful. Her hair owned a golden phosphorescence, and she glowed with a ghostly light as she picked her way through the pallets. But he still worried about the cumulative effects on her health, and he eventually insisted that she stop for the night and seek her bed.

“Kirra,” he called. “We’re leaving. I have to give you back your charm.”

Amalie leaned against him, tiring already. “But Kirra has so much charm,” she said sleepily. “How could you take it all away?”

A poor joke, but he laughed. “Well, I have special powers.”

Kirra emerged from the tent with a bouncy step. “Keep it until I find Donnal,” she said. “Because I know I’m going to collapse as soon as you return it to me.”

He nodded, and they made their way through the camp toward Amalie’s tent. Kirra and Donnal were billeted nearby-as were Senneth and Tayse, Justin and Ellynor. The other Riders were scattered strategically through the camp, and Romar and Kiernan slept near their men, but these six had chosen to stay near the princess and guard her even during their slumber.

Donnal had come looking for them, it turned out, and joined them before they were thirty paces from the hospital tents. “I just did one quick circuit over the enemy camp from the air,” he said. “Everything looked quiet.”

“Then put your arms around me and be prepared to help me back to my bedroll,” Kirra said, holding out her hand to Cammon. “I’m about to collapse.”

As soon as he placed the lioness in her palm, Kirra sagged against Donnal and seemed to shrink in size. Even her golden hair grew dull and a little lank. Donnal lifted her in his arms and carried her to their campsite.

“Time for all of us to go to bed,” Cammon said. “Tomorrow will be just as terrible as today.”

And it was.

BADnews came late the next afternoon, dressed in Tilt livery. Justin found the man trying to sneak across the northern battle lines, and he escorted the messenger at knifepoint to Amalie’s tent. Kirra was at the royal pavilion because she had come looking for Cammon, saying she needed an infusion of magic.

“Why, Justin, look what you’ve found,” Kirra greeted the Rider. Of course she instantly recognized the aquamarine jewels on the man’s vest, though Cammon was still struggling to identify the color. “I do believe he must be a courier from Tilt.”

“He says he’s got news from marlord Gregory,” Justin said with a sneer.

Cammon could understand Justin’s contempt. The man was small and scrawny, probably in his midfifties, and appeared to be shivering where he stood. Clearly he’d never seen much combat in his life and was terrified to be this close to it. Not the sort of brave messenger you’d entrust with a vital secret.

Amalie stood before him with her arms crossed. This morning, for the first time, she had dressed in trousers and a close-fitting jacket, and the ensemble added a certain sternness to her demeanor. “Well? What does marlord Gregory have to tell me? Is he finally going to commit troops to my cause, or is he too much of a coward to take sides, even so late?”

The courier looked around nervously. “I was told to deliver my message to the regent.”

Amalie drew herself even taller. “I am the princess .”

“Yes, but I-”

Justin stepped close enough to lay the edge of his dagger against the man’s throat. “Tell the princess anything she asks,” he said in a threatening voice.

The courier coughed and swallowed and bobbed his head. “Yes. I will. Majesty, marlord Gregory wants you to know that Arberharst soldiers have sailed to the northern seas and are disembarking even now. He thinks they number close to a thousand. They will be joining marlord Halchon and marlord Rayson as soon as they can mobilize.”

Justin was so angry he almost lowered his blade. “Damnation!” he swore. “We’re worn thin as it is-and the last thing we need is more foreigners prancing around, immune to our magic.”

Amalie ignored him. “And why are these soldiers allowed access through Tilt waters and Tilt lands?” she demanded.

The messenger cut his eyes back toward Justin and licked his lips. “Majesty, the marlord is-he is loyal to you-but Halchon Gisseltess made certain threats, and the marlord was afraid. He agreed to allow the Arberharst men into Tilt harbors, but he instantly sent me to warn you.”

Kirra struck her hands together in extreme frustration. “Oh, this is just like Gregory Tilton!” she exclaimed. “He finds a way to make each side believe he has played the ally!”

“Well, he has done us some good, if the news is true,” Justin said practically. “It gives us time to prepare.” He put away his knife and glanced at Cammon. “ Is it true?”

Cammon nodded. “At least as far as he knows. He’s not lying.”

“I saw them,” the courier said. “I saw the ships sail in, and I saw the men in their blue uniforms come to shore.”

Justin swore again. “Then let’s tell Romar and Kiernan and Tayse.”