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“I think I—” I broke off suddenly as I heard a sound nearby and touched my finger to my lips.
Honor went completely still, like a beautiful statue who didn’t belong in the deep forest, and my heart leapt again a little at how she trusted me without a second thought. The two of us listened deeply.
The forest was always silent around us in the past. Every prey animal hid, and every predator crept away, humbled, aware that there were dragons were at the apex of the food chain. It had felt strange since we entered the forest to hear birds winging through the air, chittering their songs, to see squirrels running up trees when we passed.
I’d never heard the noisy forest before. There had been small losses that came with our gifts, and we hadn’t even known what we had lost.
But now the forest had stilled around us. A leaf crunched underfoot, a twig broke, and them the low murmur of men’s voices rose in the air.
As if we were thinking the same thoughts, Honor and I moved as one, creeping into the underbrush. The two of us knelt in the trees, listening for the men, who are coming from the opposite side as our campfire. Soon, they might see it through the forest once they passed us. We needed to know if they were a friend or foe before they surprised the others.
“That was good sport, though not as good as if we’d found that bitch,” one of them said.
Sudden rage hammered at my chest, but I reminded myself that it might or might not be what I assumed.
I could barely see her pale face in the darkness beneath the trees, but Honor looked curious rather than offended. She saw me watching her and gave me a faint smile.
She mouthed, “If they’re talking about me, Tal, I’ve been called worse. You don’t need to go feral.”
My hands curled into fists. I very much would go feral if anyone dared to call her names anywhere I could hear them. But what was the drunk they were talking about?
“How do you think a drunk ended up all the way out here?”
“Who knows? Drunks are very enterprising. He could have stumbled away from the village looking for a place to sleep. Or he could have just stumbled away and then passed out.”
The other one snorted. “Either way he’s sleeping soundly now.”
Honor’s rage bristled in the back of my mind. She might not have been angry at the possibility someone was calling her names, but the thought that they had hurt someone just because they found them helpless in the woods made her want to creep out and tear those men apart.
It didn’t seem like a bad idea to me. But first, I wanted to get a count and I wanted to know exactly who they were. As they neared us, it looked like there were three men making their way—stealthily—through the woods. We’d been creeping carefully too, aware that Kallus’s men or Scourge might find us, so it didn’t necessarily mean they had evil plans. Necessarily.
. “Bad odds,” Honor mouthed. It was so unlike her that I frowned before she added, “For them. Hardly seemed sporting.”
“Let’s remember we don’t have our magic.” I wished there was a chance in hell of keeping her back if I had to fight them. I imagined how I could keep her back.
And then, as she threw me a quick look of annoyance, I realized she’d just seen what I was plotting. Did that mean our powers were coming back and with it the ability to speak to each other, not just feel?
I started to rise, and she sent me a flash of her own thoughts: in her imagination, she lashed out and kicked me in the shin. I doubled over helplessly while she drew her sword and darted out into the clearing. She seized all the glory for herself by taking down all three men in a series of brilliantly executed and highly unlikely moves.
“I have never seen you jump that high,” I told her, and she flashed me a quick grin. “Seriously, stay here. They might be willing to answer some questions for me, but you are currently the most unpopular person in the Kingdom.”
She pulled a face. “What else is new?”
Part of me wanted to kill these guys just for interrupting what was supposed to be a meaningful moment between the two of us: what had gone so terribly wrong was finally righted. I desperately wanted to knowwhy. What had changed that finally brought my memories back?
I stepped into the thin light that filtered between the trees, facing the three knights.
The three men jumped back, looking startled, even as they drew their swords. “Where the hell did you come from?”
“I’ve been trying to get away from Kallus’s troops and make my way to fight alongside others.” I was willing to hazard a guess these were dragon Knights.
They squinted at me, taking in my cloak and tattered clothing. They did not look inclined to sheathe their swords, but they all bent their knees in greeting. “Lord Talisyn.”
It was strange to see someone bow at the same time they seem more than a little inclined to decapitate me. It’s hard to feel respected and in mortal danger at the same time.
“Our understanding is that Kallus’s forces are moving toward Rylow,” one of them said.
“Interesting, then, that you are headed away from the capital city,” I said. When we emerged from the forest, we should be on the other side of the river from the capital city.
