The Sword by Isaac Hooke

Author:Isaac Hooke [Hooke, Isaac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-25T16:00:00+00:00

21

Kaeden awoke to a commotion.

At first, he thought the camp was under attack, because of the shouts. He checked that Grater was still strapped to his hips, and after, when he sat up and opened the canopy to peer outside, he realized those shouts were more outraged than fearful.

“I’m trying to sleep here!” Titus called. “Get off of me!”

Kaeden blinked groggily until he saw Amanda standing with her torch near the center of camp. Tamara was on the ground in front of her; Amanda had the tip of her sword Sliver pressed into Tamara’s cape, pinning her.

Not far from Tamara, Violet was just getting up. The trail of dispersed rocks leading from her current position to Kaeden’s tent told him that she had been dragged across the ground. Evidently Tamara had done the dragging, no doubt in an attempt to bring Violet to the horse line, but apparently the princess had awakened before then and hadn’t been very happy when she realized what was happening.

Around Violet were the signs of that displeasure: the closest tents had been knocked over, courtesy of her “repel” ability. Michael’s tent was on top of the dwarf’s at the moment, which was why Titus was making such a ruckus.

“Everything all right?” Kaeden called.

Amanda gave him a strained smile. “I have the situation under control. Go back to sleep.”

Kaeden shrugged, and decided to do just that.

He sealed himself inside the tent but remained awake until the commotion died down; when finally the camp became silent once more, he fell fast asleep.

He woke up again with the dawn. As usual, the first thing he did was confirm that Grater hung from his side. Then he emerged from his tent to find Amanda seated on the boulder at the periphery of the tents, her chin bobbing up and down as if she struggled to stay awake. The torch tilted forward precariously in one hand, threatening to fall from her grasp. Not that it mattered: the flames had burned down to a smoldering mass by then anyway. She held Sliver in her sword hand, though the blade drooped downward, its point touching the ground.

He glanced at the ground beside his tent, and saw the curled-up form of the princess, yet fast asleep. She lay on her side, in the fetal position. She shielded her face from the sun with one hand resting across her cheek.

He walked to Amanda, and stood in front of her. She straightened, blinking rapidly for several moments, as if having trouble seeing. Large bags hung beneath her eyes, but they did nothing to detract from her otherwise chiseled features. Her curls were beginning to tangle already, unfortunately—he remembered how much work it took to rid herself of them. He couldn’t help but let his gaze linger on that red mouth of hers, which seemed so silky and luscious in the morning light.

He reminded himself that their relationship was on hold, at least for the time being, and quickly averted his gaze.

Finally, she stood up, albeit slowly.

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