A Circle of Flames by Kate Avery Ellison

Author:Kate Avery Ellison [Ellison, Kate Avery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2018-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“IT WILL TAKE us four days to reach Tasglorn at this rate,” Nath grumbled as the wagon rumbled west through the forest thick with moss. Sunlight lanced through a canopy of leaves far overhead, and the trees around them stood like giants, their feather-like leaves muffling the sounds the company made. He was driving, and the horse kept fighting the reins and trying to stop and graze. His left shoulder throbbed from the effort of steering the beast back onto the trail.

Beside him, Maera read from a palm-sized book. She turned a page without looking up. “Four? You estimate our travel to be very fast indeed if you think we’ll reach the capital that quickly.”

“What is your estimate?” Nath demanded.

The spy lifted her head and pursed her lips as she thought. “Six days,” she said. “If we don’t break a wheel.”

Her confidence annoyed him. To be fair, it was easy to be annoyed these days, for he was eager for something to direct his helpless anger somewhere. “You want to wager on that, city girl? I’ve been riding across this country since before you could walk.”

Maera’s left cheek dimpled when she smiled.

Tibus, riding alongside them, said, “Don’t waste your money, Nath.”

“Take the wager,” he insisted, ignoring the words of the soldier.

She sighed. “Fine. What shall you bet?”

“Two gold dubois to the winner,” he said.

“You’re on,” Maera said, and resumed reading.

Kael rode ahead of the wagon on a horse the color of jet. He sat straight in the saddle despite almost two days without sleep. The shadow of a beard darkened his jaw, and he did not speak much except to give directions.

“He’s frightened for her,” Maera observed, as if she saw the questions in Nath’s mind. She turned another page of her book.

“We’re all frightened for her,” Nath said.

“Hmm,” Maera said. “He loves her.”

“We all love her.”

Maera gave him a significant look, and Nath scoffed. “Are you mad?”

“Merely observant,” Maera replied. “You want to wager on this too?”

“I do not.” He was affronted. And bewildered. He took another look at their leader, who gave no indication that he felt anything other than calm concentration. “The man’s an icicle, Maera. You are mad. The dragonsayer? The girl’s half dervish. Kael is... Kael is...”

He paused, at a loss for words as he studied Maera. He’d always thought perhaps there was something between the spy and his leader, he wanted to say, but he didn’t say it. Maera was a woman with many rumors about her love life, most of which were probably started by herself and most of which were probably not true.

“The human heart can surprise us,” Maera said with the air of a sage. “Not that it should be surprising to anyone that he would come to care for her. She has spirit and fire. He needs those things. He is, as you say, an icicle. Someone like Briand could thaw him. Draw him out from himself. Challenge him to be better.”

“Kael doesn’t need to be better,” Nath said loyally.

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