Dream Things True Duology Box Set by Megan Cutler

Author:Megan Cutler [Cutler, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adventure, dante's inferno, demons, Fantasy, fantasy series, hell, High Fantasy, love, love story, love triangle, Lucifer, magic, sorcerer, sorcery, Strong female lead, Strong Woman
Published: 2020-12-14T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six: The Right to Lead

By the time Asuk woke, the festival fires had faded into thin plumes of smoke and memory. The Festival of Proving had been glorious, a celebration of the long-held traditions between warriors. They had eaten freshly roasted boar and consumed several kegs of honeyed ale while recounting the year's many exploits to Vesald's other clans. She had drifted to sleep among a haze of contentment and excited chatter.

But it was hard to hold onto that joy in the grey light of morning, with clouds choking the sun and the chill settling into her old wounds. Poor weather always made her body forget its losses. Her mutilated right hand throbbed as if it still possessed the last three fingers. Her neck ached too, but that might have been from poor sleeping arrangements.

Massaging the fingers of her left hand into the flesh at the base of her skull, Asuk extracted herself from her sleeping clan mates and went in search of breakfast. Strange that she didn't smell the scent of smoking meat. This late in the morning, she couldn't be the first to rise.

With so many clans camped in close proximity, hers didn't cover much ground. Though the cook fires were abandoned, it didn't take long to locate the morning crowd huddled in a tight knot around the chief's tent. Voices drifted on the breeze, carrying a muddled mass of unintelligible speculation. Shaking the arthritic ache from the remaining fingers of her right hand, Asuk diverted to investigate.

Jesa intercepted her before she reached the outskirts of the circle and something about the young woman's gentle touch set Asuk on edge. “What's going on?” she grunted, jerking her head toward the crowd. “Are Bear Claw still angry they lost so many bets last night?”

“I wish that were the case.” Jesa hesitated, but a stern look from her old instructor loosed the words from her tongue. “The chief is dead, my friend. Murdered in the night.”

The words deflected like weak arrows off sturdy armor. Asuk had to repeat them silently three times before they penetrated her sleep-addled brain. “Impossible. The proving festival hasn't been desecrated by feud in centuries.”

“Never-the-less, blood has been spilled. And not in the name of competition or sport.”

Asuk glanced toward the tent in the center of the crowd and recalled the face of their chief as it had been the night before, lit by the shared joy of celebration. He had been like a father to her for several years after her own had fallen in battle. And when combat claimed a significant chunk of her dominant hand, he hadn't dismissed her as useless as many chieftains would have. Instead, he encouraged her to persevere, even spent several months re-training her. She shook her head and turned her attention back to Jesa.

“His wife?”

“Died defending him, it would seem.”

“Who?” Asuk snarled, unable to summon proper words to express her outrage.

Jesa took a step closer and lowered her voice. “His name was on everyone's lips last night. Seems he intends to keep it there.

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