Iron Breakers: The Floodgates (Iron Breakers Book 3) by Zaya Feli

Author:Zaya Feli
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2017-06-22T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

They had shed the dark cloaks, moving south across the landscape not far off the road. Anik had disappeared around the corner of the city wall and returned with a mule. Ren didn't ask where he had found it; he was just happy to get off his feet, even if every jerking step the mule took jostled his aching shoulder.

Moving in plain sight was unnerving. It worked, but it still filled Ren with unease. Iskaal's city gates were open, and travellers, workers, and merchants moved in and out of the city, watched by Skarlan guards. Even though the guards were no doubt still on the lookout for the band of supposed thieves, no one would expect them to travel along the road with a mule.

Fatigue made Ren's eyelids droop. He rocked with the animal's movements and stifled a yawn.

Rafya came up next to him, placing a hand against the mule's neck. “I left your key in the gate,” he said, looking up at Ren, brows drawing together. “I'm sorry.”

A different kind of sting made Ren's jaw clench. He'd had his mother's key since she died. Then again, she had told him to use it for exactly this. For when you need to escape.

She had known the danger Ren faced, known that Halvard would hunt him down if he ever found out that Ren was still alive. She might even have foreseen that he'd find himself locked inside the castle of Iskaal the same way she had been. He closed his eyes, wondering if she was somewhere out there, proud of him. “It's fine,” he said eventually, looking down at Rafya. “It served its purpose.”

By the time they made it back to the gorge, the front of Ren's jacket was soaked with blood despite the makeshift gauze, and even Valkon was beginning to look nervously over his shoulder at Ren. Ren tried to offer him a smile, but it didn't seem to have much effect. The pain was constant and throbbing and he was starting to feel light-headed.

A scout from Evalyne's army spotted them from between the cliffs and guided them to the gorge entrance. The moment they approached the army, Evalyne was there, asking questions too fast and sharp for Ren to follow. Anik dismissed her and her face grew pale when she saw the blood on Ren's shoulder. She called for Jayce.

Ren tried to dismount, surrounded by men and women shooting nervous glances in his direction, but he couldn't grip the saddle properly with his right hand without pain making his muscles cramp. Instead, Anik reached up, wrapped strong hands around his waist, and lifted him off the mule. Despite the bleeding wound in Ren's shoulder, he couldn't help the blush that spread across his cheeks. It was just an arrow wound. He wasn't a delicate youth in distress. But he didn't complain. He had landed himself in this trouble.

Worry was etched across Jayce's features when they approached.

“It's not serious,” Ren said, hoping to ease Jayce's mind as he untangled himself from Anik before sitting down.

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.