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That might be true, but Farrendel did not like sitting here, knowing danger was out there stalking the innocents of his kingdom.
Yet he did not want to leave either.
“We will keep it quiet for now. There is no reason to alarm the others yet.” Weylind speared Farrendel with a sharp look, brooking no argument. “We will quietly step up our patrols in the forest around Lethorel. I do not think the trolls will come this far into Tarenhiel, nor do they know the location of Lethorel, but we should stay alert.”
Farrendel glanced at Essie, where she was still smiling and laughing in blissful ignorance. He did not want to keep this from Essie. He was not sure if he could keep his added tension from her.
But he did not want to ruin this time at Lethorel. He was getting so close to working up the courage to tell her about his illegitimacy. Maybe even tell her about his magic. And finally kiss her. Properly kiss her, rather than just on her forehead.
“All right. I will not tell Essie.” Farrendel clenched and unclenched his fingers, trying to relax. He had not buckled on his swords that morning, and now his back itched with the lack of their comforting weight. Hopefully Essie would not think anything of it if he started wearing his swords around Lethorel. He wore them often enough around Estyra.
Weylind nodded, his own hands clenched far too tightly before his fingers and posture relaxed. “Try to enjoy our remaining time at Lethorel. I do not know what the trolls are planning, but I fear it will not be long before they reveal their scheme.”
All summer, things had been off. The trolls had conducted those mysterious raids, the ones where they seemed to be trying to avoid the border patrols instead of engage them. And now this. A small army of troll warriors had disappeared inside Tarenhiel.
This was not the same war they had been fighting for the past few years. The trolls were planning something bigger, something more decisive.
And it would be up to Farrendel to stop them.
He released a long breath and let his head hang for a moment. This happiness with Essie was so fleeting. Weylind said to enjoy this time they had, but was it worth it, knowing how soon it would be over?
Or, perhaps, that was the very reason he should savor it?
Before Essie, he would have already shut down and turned to ice.
But now, he had her to think about. He struggled to hope for a future, but he could not help but reach for the hope he saw in her eyes.
She hoped for a future where the tension between Escarland and Tarenhiel no longer existed. Where the two kingdoms together could bring about peace for Tarenhiel. And, most of all, a future for the two of them.
Could he both fight the trolls and fight for a future with Essie? He was not sure he had the strength to do both.
ChapterEighteen
Farrendel stretched his magical senses deeper into the forest around him, searching for anything amiss. His swords rested against his back, ready if needed.
Not that he was searching for anything specifically. The hundred troll warriors had yet to be located. For all the scouts knew, the trolls had returned to Kostaria.
Yet why would they have returned just as quietly as they had entered, without raiding so much as a single village? Was this simply a larger version of those smaller, mysterious raids? If so, then what was the purpose? The trolls were not sneaking in and out of Tarenhiel for no reason.
But figuring out their reasons was Weylind’s problem. And a problem for all the generals and experts.
Farrendel’s job was simply to fight the enemy wherever they showed up and protect his people.
He crept to the next tree, still searching the surrounding forest with his senses. As he kept moving, something icy sliced against his instincts.
He froze, pressing his back against a tree, as he probed his senses farther in that direction. There was something there. Something that did not belong in the green and earth of the forest.
Ice. Stone. And troll magic.
Farrendel waited another moment just to be sure he was really sensing the pack of trolls headed toward Lethorel. They were not just a figment of his overactive senses. But no. They were really there. Sharper now in his senses. Coming fast.
He spun and raced toward Lethorel. Toward where Essie had said she would be practicing archery with Jalissa that morning.
Essie. She was here. In the path of a hundred trolls.
He dashed around the trees until he reached the archery range. Jalissa and Essie stood at the far end, and Jalissa’s hand froze in the process of reaching for another arrow. He skidded to a halt next to them. “Get inside. Now.”
As much as he wanted to stay at Essie’s side, he could not wait for them to follow his orders. He had to alert Weylind and their guards so that they could set up their defense.
