Exile by Betsy Dornbusch

Author:Betsy Dornbusch
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, Literary Criticism, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9781597804523
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Published: 2013-01-31T18:30:00+00:00

***

When he woke in the night, he found Shisa still standing at the rear of the raft, her pole loose in her hands, her gaze resting on his face. Draken rose and looked down at his sleeping friends. Osias lay next to Tyrolean, closer than the captain might have allowed in consciousness. Setia’s bare arm had slipped around Tyrolean’s middle, and the dapples on her skin glowed in the dark.

“It’s from the moons,” Shisa whispered. She indicated two orbs dropping in the sky.

“What’s from the moons?”

“The Moonling’s dapples. Haven’t you seen them on Sohalia?”

Draken shook his head. “A woman once told me Sohalia betrays secrets if you’re not careful to keep them.”

Shisa smiled thinly. “You’ve friends among the Gadye.”

“I had one.” Draken sobered, thinking of Galene.

“You are the curiosity, aren’t you?”

Warning breathed across Draken’s bare back. “How so?”

“Consider your company. A Brînian traveling with an Escort.”

“I’m an Escort as well,” Draken corrected her.

“Aye, my lord.”

The moonwrought trinkets at her temples gleamed. She let the raft ride the current for a moment, holding her pole across her body like a weapon, handling the awkward length with practiced ease. The banks slipped away like black oil down a drain.

“You love the river?” Draken asked.

“It’s my home.”

“Do creatures swim below?”

“Many animals swim this river, searching for their prey, trying to survive, as we all do. Existence of one life always costs another,” Shisa said, swirling the water with her pole. She hadn’t looked at him once during their conversation. “Curious Va Khlar would be interested in you. His clan don’t often let themselves be seen, except recently on the river, and in Reschan.”

“What do you know about Va Khlar?”

“Never mistake them as allies, or even enemies. They spend love nor hatred on naught but themselves.” She finally lifted her gaze to his face, two worry lines graven between her brows. Her lips parted, but she didn’t say more.

He reached out and laid his hand on her arm. Her bicep quivered under his fingers. He felt Bruche shift under his skin. He wanted the driver. “You don’t even know me, and yet you sound as if you care for my well-being.”

“The people need someone to trust,” she whispered, “and they seem to think it is you.”

“You’ve heard of me on your river as well, then.”

“The Queen takes a Night Lord and word of it spreads like disease.” Draken realized they were standing very close, heads bent together as they spoke lowly. Shisa’s pole dropped back into the water and the raft slowed. “You’re good with a sword?”

“Better than good,” Draken said, meaning it as a complement for Bruche.

The raft bumped to a halt and Draken looked up to see it rested against a dock.

“May it serve you well, my lord, because you’re going to need it in Reschan.”

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