Page 100 of Ashborne Forged

“Just pray Donavyn lets me swear in again.”

“He will. You know he will. This is a mission under orders, just as surely as any other. There’s just some pageantry.”

“Yeah.” But fear liked to spread cold fingers on the back of my neck at all the ways this could go desperately wrong in the future.

When we reached the intersection of aisles, Gil reached out and gripped my shoulder, meeting my eyes, his a little red. “Come back, bro. Even if you have to kill the fucker to do it. Just leave your options open. Right?”

I nodded, then he looked away. “Runar’s calling for me. I trust you to get your ass out of here. But if anyone ever asks, I watched you leave, then ran away to important duties.”

“Got it.”

There were no more words. We nodded to each other. I swallowed, and Gil’s jaw went tight. Then he clapped my back before trotting off to the other exit, while I walked out quickly with Kham to the launch hollow, and mounted.

Before we took off, as I settled myself and prepared to fly, I took a moment to look around.

The stable. The officers’ apartments. The barracks. The academy buildings behind them all. Men in leathers, going about their business. Stableboys grumbling, but smiling every time they looked at a dragon. The woods. The castle watching over it all…

This was my life. I’d spent countless hours flying in and out of this place, and I’d never just sat here and looked at it, I realized.

Kham danced and shook his head.

There was no need to speak. I patted his neck, gripped the straps, and prayed that this wouldn’t be my last sight of the Keep. Of home.

Then we were flying, right into that ache in my chest that was her.

33. On the Wind

~ VOSKI ~

At first, we flew silently. Both of us reaching for our mates. I knew they were many hours ahead of us, but the light was already fading, which meant they’d stop and rest the horses soon. I expected that we’d catch up quickly. I kept reaching for her. Stretching. Yearning. But… nothing.

An hour in, I told myself it was too early. But I was nervous that we hadn’t even gained enough ground for me to feel Grace in detail. I could sense her, the rough direction in which she lay. A simmer of unease, that meant fear or anger must be very strong. But nothing concrete.

I couldn’t reach her mind. Couldn’t assess her wellbeing. Nothing.

Kham flew like a well-fletched arrow, without wavering.

Yet, nearly two hours in, there was still no noticeable gain. We should have drawn closer with every passing hour. Even if they’d changed carriages to fresh horses and not stopped, we could travel several times faster.

How was it that I didn’t sense her drawing nearer, even by a hair? I needed to know if she was safe. Or hurt. Or…

In my mind’s eye, images of Breckon’s hand gripping her arm morphed into imagined grips on her neck—or other parts of her body. I swore. I had to push thoughts of that bastard away.

Maybe I would just kill him.

Kham rumbled disapproval at that thought.

I eyed him. ‘You can’t tell me you approve of his behavior.’

‘Certainly not,’ Kham returned darkly. ‘Which is why we have left our herd, and our duties, to go in search. We will not swerve from that path. But you of all know the weight of murder, even in self-defense.’

The thought came that she was worth that weight—but my instincts jangled. Any time death seemed like the only answer, I’d learned to question it. Gil was quick to jump to that solution, but I knew I had to look at the situation from many angles before drawing that conclusion. Murder didn’t just harm the blade-wielder. In any battle or assassination, unintended consequences could spiral out of control. Not the least of which, when a person was dead, they could no longer speak what they knew.

And, if my instincts on that thief in the alley and his connection to Breckon were right, this story ran deeper than simply bringing a woman back to soothe a man’s pride. In fact, it ran deeper than Grace and me.

And that thought turned my mind to the questions—and solution—that had been simmering in the back of my head. And how quickly our options were narrowing to a single course. The course I’d always sworn I’d never take.

Kham rumbled and shook his head, resisting the dark thoughts that crowded my mind.