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I’d live to see generations of their descendants born, grow up, grow old and die.
No wonder Fae like Vayne and Ryze were cynical. I might be cynical too in a couple of hundred years. Would there be anything I hadn't seen by then? Even a beautiful sunrise might be boring after two hundred years of them.
I glanced over and saw Zared looking at me. He seemed to have similar thoughts going around in his mind. That he would be dust hundreds of years before I took my last breath. That thought was an abrupt stab in my heart, harder than any arrow.
I should work harder to convince him to return to Fraxius. He deserved to live his life with someone who was at the same place in their lives as he was. Who would keep pace with him. Not someone who would be young and frivolous when he was old and struggling, and vague.
I'd rather live without him than have him come to resent me.
Something whizzed past my head.
"Shit, take cover!" Ryze ducked behind a nearby tree and dropped to a crouch.
"Fuck." Vayne quickly followed suit, motioning for us to do the same.
I dropped down behind them, with Zared pressed against my back.
I thought Tavian was beside me, until, his body bent almost double, he ran through the bushes, keeping low and out of sight.
"Let me guess, Summer Court border patrol?" Zared asked, speaking out loud, his voice low.
His breath was hot on my ear. I wasn't sure if I imagined his heart racing. Maybe that was mine. If that arrow was another centimetre to the right, it would have hit me in the face.
"More than likely," said Ryze, his voice calm and steady. "We need to deal with them."
Vayne nodded in agreement. "Nothing we can’t handle," he said. "Tavian will keep them distracted."
Over his shoulder he said, "You two, stay here. Don't fucking move."
Ryze rose, bow in hand and aimed before loosing arrow after arrow in quick succession. He ducked back down when a volley was returned in his direction.
Judging by grunts of pain and a thud or two, Ryze's arrows met their target.
While they were occupied firing at Ryze, Vayne rose and got off his own volley of shots with at least as much skill as Ryze.
I made out five, maybe six archers. Most of their attention was on Vayne and Ryze. The one on the end didn't even see Tavian until a knife was embedded in the centre of his forehead.
The remaining archers turned their attention toward the Master of Assassins, unleashing a barrage of arrows in his direction. He kept moving forward, his body twisting and turning, dodging.
He offered enough distraction for Ryze and Vayne to dispatch the remaining archers with quick shots through their heads or hearts.
The whole altercation lasted maybe two or three minutes.
Ryze and Vayne scanned the area for another two or three before lowering their bows.
"If there's anyone left alive, they've fucked off by now," Vayne said. He sounded satisfied, like he enjoyed the few moments of excitement. Perhaps he liked killing as much as Tavian did.
Ryze nodded his agreement and put his bow back over his shoulder. "Tavian?"
"I'm fine." He smiled even while he was inspecting wounds in his shoulder and thigh. "They're just grazes. I've had worse," he said with a grin.
"Well done." Ryze clapped Tavian on the back. "We should keep moving. Who knows how many more are on patrol are out here. Are you all right to walk or do you need to rest for a few minutes?”
"I can keep going," Tavian said. "It's nothing life-threatening. Not even much blood. They weren't very good shots."
"That's probably why they're border patrol and not in the main army," Vayne said with a grunt. "They wouldn't have been expecting to find trouble."
"But they did," Ryze said. "Lots of it." He wore his usual amused expression on his face, even when he inspected the dead Fae. "If only they stopped to talk to us, they would have found out we're perfectly nice."
