Of Kings and Thieves (Wanderers of Ruin Book 2) by Tiffany Hunt

Author:Tiffany Hunt [Hunt, Tiffany]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wild Ink Publishing
Published: 2023-08-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Once, we were called the Ironguard,” Scarlet said. “Now we are the Wanderers.”

I stood with the red-haired warrior, facing three strangers. Scarlet and I had ridden hard to a woodland south of the city. We passed hovels and dilapidated homes, but many families lived with no shelter at all, even as a light snow began to fall. They were starving and barely clothed. Scarlet told me they had not lived like this when Col’s father was king; then, the people had prospered and no one had gone hungry, for there was work and food aplenty. But since The Harrow had taken over, everything had changed.

We had just entered the trees when the newcomers stepped out of the lengthening shadows. “He surrendered,” Scarlet had said to them, her voice cracking. A stunned silence ensued, and without another word, she and I followed them to a small fire and three tents deep in the forest.

Only after a tall, slender man began stoking the fire and adding logs to it did anyone speak. The logs crackled and popped, and the fire illuminated the man tending it.

A thrum of pain from Col echoed through our bond, and my heart, so battered these days, skipped several beats. Are you okay?

I’m fine.

You promised you wouldn’t lie to me.

I’m not. I wasn’t fine earlier but now I am. They’re leaving me alone for now. Are you with the others?

Yes.

Trust them.

The bond went silent, and I struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to overwhelm me.

“What happened?” asked the man tending the fire. He wasn’t a man, I realized, but an elf. With long brown hair and long ears ending in delicate points. Two short swords were strapped to his back, along with a bow and quiver of arrows. He returned my gaze, and his green eyes seemed to shine with a light of their own. I had only seen one or two elves in my entire life. They weren’t often found outside of the kingdom of Glimmerdale.

Scarlet gave them a brief account of the last two days, including my status as Col’s love. I tried not to blush when their stares turned to me, studying me with interest. When she finished, she introduced me officially, though she had already included me in her story. “The elf there is Kolvar,” she said, “one who would rather have his nose lost in a book than his hand on a sword or bow.”

“And it’s a good thing too,” Kolvar said smoothly. “Otherwise, most of the knowledge of this kingdom would have already been lost. Welcome, Samara.”

The elves were distant kin to the lost Fae, and Kolvar looked like the other elves I’d seen, tall but not as broad as Col or the other man staring menacingly at me.

“The big brooding guy there is called Melion,” Scarlet continued, pointing to the staring man, who had dark hair that fell over his eyes and a long scar running across his face. He fidgeted with something on his right hand, caught me looking, and dropped his hands.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.