AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That nobody notices the pointed ears Kiaran hides under his hood, or the scale pattern on Taj’s back.
No Fae traits for me, not yet, or maybe not ever? Strangely, I feel bereft, needing that connection to my mates.
Sometimes it only happens if you are with child, Taj had said. I definitely need to ask him more questions about it.
Later.
At last, I make out the town walls and the gate from afar. A small crowd mills about it, and my heart sinks.
The guards are controlling the in and out. Usually, they just nod and go back to dozing, like they did when we entered, but the Temple or the army must have alerted them to take note of who enters and leaves.
“Keep your hoods down,” I hiss, “and Taj, take the lead!”
Kiaran barely slows down, but Taj digs his heels in and snaps the reins, overtaking him, shooting him a glare.
Men. Alphas. It doesn’t matter if you’re raised with wolves and jaguars, in the army or the Temple, it seems. They won’t stop competing, no matter what.
How did I end up with a bunch of alphas? They are as alien to me as the jaguars and wolves of the wild.
Alien but also so dear, and I grin when Kiaran rallies his restless stallion to walk almost side by side with Taj as they reach the gate.
And then he turns and smirks at me, as if to say, “see? I did it,” and I laugh outright.
Such boys.
Smothering another laugh, I join the line at the gate. With luck, we’ll pass inspection without trouble. In this, Taj was right. Changing the picture with two women and one man should throw them off our scent.
The gates loom over us, closer and closer. A little girl, gripping tightly her mother’s hand, is pointing at us with a chubby finger. Her mother is staring.
But Kiaran’s hood is pulled low, as is mine, and the guards cast us a fairly uninterested look as we approach their posts on either side of the gate.
It looks like we’ll just walk right through, and a nervous giggle almost escapes me as the other guard waves us on, pushing his helmet back to scratch at his brow.
Almost, almost there…
“Halt!” someone shouts, “halt them! In the name of Holy Barazyos, stop!”
Taj’s horse rears back when the guards cross their spears in front of him, and Kiaran’s stallion whinnies and dances right and left.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Taj demands, his voice carrying over everyone, every inch the affronted, arrogant rich lord. “How dare you stop us?”
“My lord,” one of the guards says, “who are you and who are your companions?”
“The nerve,” Taj says, all haughty and disdainful, and I’d grin if I wasn’t panicking inside. “We are of the House of Draigos, heading to Eremis to visit family. Only passing through here, so I’d thank you to step aside and let us leave.”
By now, the man shouting for us to halt has reached us, panting and red-faced. “The house of the D’Alerys was robbed,” he wheezes, pointing at Kiaran, “and a witness says one of the men was dressed as a woman. It has to be you.”
Oh, dear goddess. Lights flash over my mates as a strange fury grips me. I reach for the knife I have sheathed at my belt, stolen from the D’Alerys’ vast cellar. Finnen told me that the rituals I’ve practiced all my life are fighting techniques, and the ritual of the Swirling Heron comes to my mind, danced with two blades. I have one, and it will have to do.
One blade is enough to take a man down.
“You imply that we are robbers and thieves?” Taj roars. “You insult our House! The gods will punish you after I’m done with you.”
“Taj,” I whisper. More guards are gathering, drawing swords or raising spears. We are vastly outnumbered. No ritual of Artume has prepared me for an actual battle. “We have to retreat…”
“It’s just me and my sisters,” Taj goes on. “Let us through. Or are you implying that one of my sisters is a man?”
“She is rather masculine,” one of the guards says quietly.
