Page 53 of Highland Lords of War & Thunder: The Prequel

Creagan turned a charming smile on her. “Aye, my queen?”

“You can stop looking for your woman.”

“You found her for me?” he asked gleefully.

Eudora stared at him. “Of course, I did.”

She turned and walked away, not reminding them to follow. She had ordered once for them to do so. She need not repeat it.

“Finally, this will be done,” Legion said as they followed a distance behind her.

“The Gods willing, for the last time,” Torden said and the other two nodded in agreement.

Chapter 15

Legion’s Task

Eudora waited until the door to her private solar closed behind the three men before turning to face them.

For a moment, no one spoke.

She had waited longer than expected for this moment. She had wondered if the summons had failed, if the men no longer existed or if the tales her grandmother had told her were nothing more than legends passed from one generation to the next.

Now three men stood before her.

She looked to each one. “I expected you sooner.”

“We're here now,” Torden said. “Tell us what you want from us so we can see it done.”

His tone made it clear he wasn't pleased to be there.

Eudora studied him. He was a large man, taller than most, with a powerful build that suggested the massive claymore strapped across his back was no burden to him. Dark hair fell to his shoulders and there was something hard and weathered about his features. He stood with the impatience she'd already noticed in the Great Hall, as if he'd rather be anywhere but standing before her.

“And which one are you?”

“My name is Torden,” he said, “that is all you need to know.”

The rumble in his voice made her think of thunder that roared, but Eudora kept the thought to herself.

She looked at the man beside him. He was quieter, but just as formidable, though in a different way. Tall and broad shouldered, with thick dark brown hair brushing his shoulders and fine features. He hadn't spoken since entering the solar, but he watched, attentive to his surroundings like a wise and skillful warrior would do. One who knew the intricacies of war.

“And you?” Eudora asked.

“I am known as Legion.”

Of the three, he most resembled what she had imagined when her grandmother had spoken of legendary warriors. There was something about the way he stood, a stillness that suggested he didn't need to prove what he was capable of.

Her gaze moved to the third man.

Creagan was smiling. Of course he was. He had somehow managed to turn a day her subjects brought grievances to her into a request that she find him a woman and had appeared to enjoy every moment of it.

Unlike the other two, there was an ease to him that seemed entirely out of place under the circumstances. He was tall and strongly built, his dark hair falling well past his shoulders, his hazel eyes holding the same amusement she'd seen in the Great Hall. A short growth of beard shadowed his jaw, lending him a roughness that should have made him appear more threatening. But his handsome features belied that. She had no doubt women fell at his feet, and it was obvious he was well aware of the effect of his exceptional good looks had on women.

Instead, he looked as though he'd come to enjoy himself.

Eudora found him the most unsettling of all, especially since she knew one was Lord of War, another, the Lord of Thunder, but her grandmother had never spoken the third one’s title. And she warned her not to, for once unleashed it was a force few could reckon with.

“I already know your name,” she told him.