Resthaven (The Chronicles of the Troop Book 1) by Colin Darney

Author:Colin Darney [Darney, Colin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-02-01T07:00:00+00:00

The Tol'An

Saress spread her blanket and began to eat, eyeing Ari as casually as she could, sitting right next to her.

The two gnomes had returned from their private instruction while the archers were shooting. Both of them were already asleep on their blankets, totally oblivious to everything around them. Camm was snoring softly, and Alarat was mumbling something in his sleep about food, turning restlessly every time he mumbled something new.

The correts were lying next to each other with their four eyes closed, periodically opening the two smaller eyes which glowed red in the darkness. Saress barely spared the animals a glance as she ate delicately, watching all around. She paused between bites, returning frequently to watching those around the other two fires. The men at the fires periodically looked in their direction, talking about her feat during the practice in the woods.

As he rubbed his head while watching her, it dawned on Tommy that she was uncomfortable sitting there being talked about with her face exposed. Without thinking, he said, “You can raise your hood if it bothers you,” not understanding her discomfort and wanting to put her at ease.

Saress froze with a piece of food halfway to her mouth and looked at Tommy with wide, surprised eyes. Glaring, her jaw hardened as she looked away.

Ari glanced between them, taking in their interaction. She’d been aware of Saress watching her but had purposely said nothing. Eventually, after Saress had finished her meal, Ari looked at her, quietly saying, “We have need of you pathfinder.”

She looked to Ari with a guarded expression. “Nisa Saliantrea?” she asked in the elven tongue.

“Common tongue please, Saress. Not all here speak our language,” Ari said. “I have need to perform the Tol’An this evening and need a watcher. Are you able?”

Saress’s eyes widened at this, and she looked at Tommy with shock. “Nisa—”

“Common tongue, Saress,” Ari interrupted.

“Is he mage … Lady Saliantrea?” Saress asked, looking back and forth between them in surprise.

“Ari, Saress. I am Ari, here.”

Saress settled her gaze on Ari, her eyes glowing with reflected firelight. She swallowed more than one comment before saying, “Yes … Ari ... I am able,” almost choking on Ari’s name.

Ari watched her for a time before looking at Tommy, catching his confused look at whatever was going on between them. “It is an elven cultural thing you just witnessed, Tomilanthus. Pay it no mind.”

There was no way he could have missed the sharp glance Saress threw Ari when she named him.

“Some of the J’al’osil treat mages with respect beyond what we need and deserve. It will be hard for her, a trained pathfinder, to treat me differently. But she is our watcher, so she will adapt.”

“What is a watcher, Ari?” Tommy asked as Saress shifted uncomfortably.

“It is what the word means. Saress will watch as we exercise our Tol. When you exercise your Tol, you can easily become unaware of things around you. If you are not in a safe place, such as here, it can be dangerous.

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