A Righteous Killing (Barbarian Princess Book 2) by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2021-11-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

The return journey went much faster than the ride out. She knew the paths and roads this time so there was no need to consult the maps to find out where fords, bridges, and the like were. It seemed Strider understood their need for haste as well and maintained a good pace even as night fell. After only a few hours of sleep, she was up before the sun and in the saddle again.

The horse seemed to enjoy going at night more than the daytime, perhaps because it was cooler.

Still, the aches and pains of the constant movement took a toll on her body as they continued the relentless pace and they made it difficult to focus on anything else until the walls atop Draug's Hill met her gaze. She had never been quite so pleased to see it before, but something told her in the back of her mind that not all would be well.

It was confirmed when two riders rode out of the gates as soon as they saw her and pushed their horses to a full gallop to meet her. Cassandra was relieved again to see that the twins had come out and not the refugees who weren't refugees.

They appeared a little worse for wear than when she had left them. Both were tired and didn't look like they had trimmed their beards or braided their hair in a while but simply bound both as well as they could with only moments to spare.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you," Bandir shouted as they approached.

"I wouldn't. I generally only see my own reflection." She knew the attempt at humor would not make much impression on the twins, but it was unsettling to see how badly it was received. Both looked a little confused at first as they approached and reined their horses in. Maybe they hadn't heard her but she wouldn’t push her luck on the topic. "Something is the matter. What is it?"

They exchanged looks and tilted their heads. It was annoying how they did it like they were reflections of one another, which made it impossible to tell them apart.

"Everything," Tandir answered finally and shook his head. "Everything is the matter. It all went wrong when you left, to be honest. There isn’t much time so we'll explain on the way."

"Yes, you will." Cassandra nudged Strider to walk forward. "I think I might know a thing or two about where the problems started."

"You do?"

"Aye, but carry on."

"Well, like he said, it started when you left," Bandir explained. "The day after, to be precise. The dwarves began to complain about accidents with their equipment and one of the refugees vanished. The bards made considerable noise about that one. I'm not sure why since the accidents were the real problem. They started a fight we had to break up, and two of the displaced people and one of the bards wound up dead before we managed to settle it. Then a scaffold fell with one of the dwarves on it and almost killed him.

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