Bearing Secrets by Riley Storm

Author:Riley Storm [Storm, Riley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: High House Press
Published: 2019-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

22

The word went out through the House. The Captain wanted to review his guards.

His guards. They were Kirell’s guards now, and by the end of tomorrow, that would be official on all levels. All at once the mantle of responsibility settled about his shoulders, weighing heavily on him.

This was no small task. Usually, when a Title Holder died or relinquished their position, the transition was smooth, with everything in order to help onboard the newcomer. The senior members in that section would shoulder a bit more workload while everyone adjusted, but in the end, there was very little in the way of disruption.

That’s not going to happen here.

Kirell was inheriting an office devastated by the rebellion. The guards were the best-trained warriors in the House, with the exception of the Queen’s Own. He liked to think they were all loyal to the House as well, but they weren’t. More of them than he’d like to think about had gone down in the internal fighting.

Now, a unit that should be upward of three dozen strong barely numbered fifteen. It didn’t take long for them to assemble in the training room on the second sub-basement. He watched them from his new office as they entered in ones and twos, milling around, talking to one another. The cameras were wired for audio but he wasn’t going to eavesdrop. Nobody would be saying anything interesting right now.

They’d be wondering what the meeting was about. They would be talking about him, too, all the typical gossip. None of them out there, if they were traitors, was going to offer themselves up in this environment. Accidents happened of course, but anyone who had been committed to the traitorous cause but remained unfound was very good at hiding their true feelings. It was how they were still alive today.

Kellas came in at a bit of jog, still dressed in his forestry uniform, having been out walking the grounds. He’d had the farthest to come, and now he was there, all fifteen guards were present and accounted for. It was time to go out there and talk to them.

So why are you still hiding in your office?

The mantle he’d been shouldered with shouldn’t have shackled him down, but he was having problems stepping out of the room. Once he did that, once he formally presented himself to the guards, then everything that had been verbal until now would become real. His nomination to the position of Captain, and his assuming that role; there would be no going back.

“You’re going to be fine,” he whispered, trying to boost his own confidence.

Natalia wasn’t the only one feeling like she wasn’t worthy. Ever since his Queen had said she needed him to assume this position, he’d dreaded actually doing so. What if he wasn’t good enough? The rest of the House, those loyal to Ursa, needed him to be the best Captain they’d had in a long time. There wasn’t time to spare.

They still had traitors amongst their midst, and if

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.