A Taste for Poison by Aleksandr Voinov

Author:Aleksandr Voinov
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical, gay, romance, adult, m/m, military, SF
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Published: 2014-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

They only lost two horses on the way to Eagle’s Test. Considering the dreadful condition of the road and the passes, Kendras counted their blessings. Once, they had to turn around and seek out a lower pass, as the main road was blocked with snow higher than their thighs when riding. It cost them three days, and they still almost lost Dev when a part of the road gave way and fell into the abyss. Nothing short of miraculous speed saved him.

Resting this far up was misery, with sometimes only a protected bend in the road serving as a campsite. If they’d had any other choice, Kendras wouldn’t have driven them all the way up.

He hated seeing them exhausted and freezing and still obedient. When the outer wall of Eagle’s Test came into view, the relief was so great that Kendras’s knees turned weak. Another night in the cold would have sapped their spirits worse—quite a feat as most of them didn’t feel their fingers or toes anymore, and all but Blood were coughing painfully.

The only thing that kept Kendras going was that Adrastes’s hunters likely wouldn’t think them capable of crossing the mountains in this fierce winter. Every danger they mastered would slow down or hopefully even kill the hunters in pursuit.

The guards looked at them like they were either madmen or snow demons when they arrived, though they jumped immediately to attention when they spotted Graukar. Within moments, they were ushered inside and through the outer ring into the core of the fortress, with soldiers gathering around them, whispering to each other all the way.

Shadow greeted them at the gate. Graukar muttered something in a foreign language, and Shadow hurried to lead them inside, with their remaining horses taken care of by his soldiers.

He guided them into the mess hall, where a fire roared in the fireplace and a few junior officers were playing dice.

“Out.”

They looked at Shadow, then at the Scorpions and Kendras, and gathered their cups and dice and vanished.

“You look like something spit you out.”

Kendras nodded. “Yes. No doubt.”

The three Jaishani stood so close to the fire that Kendras almost feared for them. His own hands and face came back to life, a thousand invisible needles pricking him now, exactly halfway between pain and relief.

“Something hot to drink if you have it.”

“Food?”

“We won’t refuse it.”

“Just a moment.” Shadow left for the kitchen, where he gave sharp orders, and returned. “They’re working on it.”

The Scorpions more collapsed on the benches than settled down, and Kendras winced at how drawn their faces were. They’d need days of rest, probably weeks to shed that cough. “All right. What happened? Graukar?”

Graukar had stood near Kendras, his cowl drawn deep over his face. After that first night, he’d stopped pretending nothing was wrong with his eyes, and he now wore bandages around them. When he pushed the cowl back, Shadow gasped.

“What—”

“The king blinded me.” Graukar’s jaw tightened. “I was scheduled to be executed, but before that, he beat me like a dog.

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