Riders of the Realm #3 by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

Author:Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

19

No Mercy

BRIM CLAMPED HER STRONG ARMS AROUND Rahkki’s body and dragged him onto a cot. She spied the welts on his lower legs. “Monsoon ants,” she stated, shaking her head.

He flailed his arms as he tried to take a breath.

“All right, it’s okay. You’re going to be fine. I have an antidote, don’t move!”

Rahkki swatted and struck Tak. The burner hissed and fired green smoke, filling the hut. Rahkki heard Brim cough as she shuffled through her medicine jars.

“Up, up,” she said, lifting Rahkki’s torso off the cot. “Drink.” She forced a cup to his lips and lukewarm liquid seeped into his mouth. He choked. “Relax and drink,” she said, tilting back his head. He fought her, but Brim had a grip like a python.

Some liquid dribbled down his throat and his airway began to open. He drank more and his vision cleared. He lay back and let his eyes drift closed.

He didn’t sleep. He listened to Brim work and as he began to feel better, he slowly opened his eyes and looked out the window. The birds had stopped singing for the night and moonlight streaked between the clouds in silver stripes. He smacked his lips and wiped his face. “I’m thirsty,” he rasped.

Brim brought him a mug of juice and a bowl of soup. He drank, but just stared at the soup. The memory of what he’d done to Fire Horde reared in his mind.

Stroking his hand, Brim prodded him with questions. “Did you escape from the giants, Rahkki, or did they let you go?”

“I escaped.” Rahkki’s palms turned clammy. “Is I’Lenna home? Is she okay?”

“You haven’t heard?”

“I don’t know anything. I just got back.”

Brim nodded. “The Borla sentenced her to the Sunstone.”

Rahkki’s jaw clamped shut.

“Don’t worry, she escaped! I’Lenna is alive, no thanks to her mother. They called a dragon and one came, but I saw Koko yesterday. She was sneaking around that night with Mut, Tam, and Jul. They loosed some goats to distract the beast.” Brim pursed her lips. “Lilliam has gone too far.”

Rahkki nodded, his heart racing as he imagined I’Lenna fighting off a hungry drooler. “Where is she now?”

“She left with Mut and Tam to find Darthan, but I haven’t heard anything new. No one is talking. Harak has ears everywhere.”

Rahkki met Brim’s warm blue eyes. “I have to find her, and I have to warn the clan. The giants are angry, Brim. I—I made them angry.”

She arched her gray brows. “We’ve been at war with the Gorlanders for a thousand years, Rahkki. I doubt you’ve made things worse.”

He laughed. Brim always made him feel better. “That’s true, but I think I did. I struck a truce with all three hordes and they offered to help me fight Queen Lilliam, but then I ruined Fire Horde’s soup.” He shrugged helplessly. “Now they’re sending three armies to finish us off for good. That’s worse, isn’t it?”

There was a long silence marked only by Tak’s claws clicking on the floor as he chased a beetle.

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