Susan Dexter - The Warhorse of Esdragon o1 by The Prince of Ill Luck

Author:The Prince of Ill Luck [Luck, The Prince of Ill]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-02-08T15:02:42+00:00

Kess didn’t recognize the face the starlight showed bending over her. She could see at best only half of it—there was blood dried black all over one side of it, and only a single eye glinted. Then Leith shifted, and she saw that his right eye was swollen shut, surrounded by a bruise almost as dark as the one gracing his forehead.

She had gasped in a breath to scream before she recognized him, and now it set her coughing. Kess struggled to sit up ere she choked, and Leith helped her, got her upright and steadied her till the spasm had passed.

Kess leaned gratefully against his chest—then realized what she was doing. She shoved Leith away with surprising force, so that he went sprawling onto the sand as she leapt to her feet.

“What else did you walk into?” she demanded to know, jabbing a finger in the direction of his face.

Leith picked himself up, feeling a small measure of relief, mixed generously with irritation. He brushed sand off of his trews. “A wall or two,” he mumbled, not meeting her eyes. “I tried not to be so … careless… but it was dark in there after the torch went out.”

His words bordered on the insolent, even if their tone was matter of fact. She still couldn’t catch his eye, so Kess looked about, and doing so noticed what was missing from the landscape far sooner than Leith had. “Where are the horses?”

“I would guess where we left them.”

Something in his tone alarmed Kess. He did not hesitate, but he had wanted to. “Where are we?” she asked accusingly.

Leith spread his battered hands, as if to ward off blows. He was looking at her now, with apprehension.

“Don’t you dare tell me you don’t know!”

Leith obediently swallowed his explanation.

“Are we lost?” His expression made the answer plain to Kess, even in the faint starlight. “How did that happen?”

“Just my luck,” Leith answered miserably, looking away again. “The torch went out, when I dragged you away from the crystals. I couldn’t see. I thought I’d kept track of the turnings—I know I did—but there are so many tunnels in there. I suppose there were some I didn’t see, when we passed them by …” He trailed off uncertainly. Kess could guess the rest. She likely already had. Leith decided not to speak of his Lady’s part in their escape—he did not think he could bear hearing Kess mock their deliverer.

“Just your luck,” Kess repeated acidly. “Well, that about says it all!”

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