Page 22 of An Archer's Reckoning

“Why don’t you come have a seat?” I said, gently lifting him by the arm. “The wine will calm you as we talk.”

“Let me get this straight,” he said as he stood. “You’re sitting in a cave with a talking owl and drinking magical wine.”

“He’s every bit as bright as you told me,” Órla said with enough sarcasm to slap a baby’s bottom.

“Oh, just wait. You haven’t seen the half of it.” I cocked a brow, the mischief in me refusing to remain silent.

Ayden groaned and fell into a chair.

“You haven’t told him about—”

I glared at Órla. “No, we haven’t had a chance to talk yet . . . aboutanything.”

“Oh, boy,” she said, stretching her wings, then tucking them in again. “Pour us all a glass of that wine, will you? I might be an eternal spiritual being, but this conversation might do me in without a drink.”

Ayden’s eyes had grown into saucers the moment we appeared in the cave and still hadn’t returned to normal.

“Eternal spiritual being?” he repeated as he blinked at Órla.

“We’ll get to that. Just drink this for now.”

I slid a glass to Ayden, then another to Órla. He downed the whole thing before I could even fill my own glass.

I cocked a brow and gave him another refill.

Ayden sat up straight, then leaned forward, focused on the bottle. He squinted, then reached out and lifted the bottle, shaking it so the wine rocked like an angry ocean inside.

“There is no less in this bottle than when we started,” he said. “You have poured me three glasses, yourself one, and Órla one. This bottle should be empty. Hells, it should have been empty before this round.”

He set the bottle down and looked at me. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. I worried if I didn’t ground him quickly, he might pass out.

“Why don’t we start on, um, more familiar ground. You start. Tell us what’s going on with the Kingdom forces.”

Ayden swallowed hard, then took another long sip.

“This whole business is bad, Dec.” Setting his glass on the table, he clasped his hands on the tabletop. “Right after you left, a group of us was sent into the mountains to patrol for scouts. We divided the range into a massive grid. We had reports of increasing numbers of Kingdom forces crossing the border, and our team was sent to verify this, watch them and report back.”

“How has that gone?”

“In less than a week, I lost a third of my men.”

He grabbed his wine and finished it, returning the glass to the table with athudso loud Órla jumped.

“My lieutenant went missing a few days ago.” He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. “That left me in charge.Me, Dec, in charge. Is that not the silliest thing you have ever heard?”

“No.”

“No?”

“It’s not.” I ran a hand through my hair, realizing for the first time since we returned from the island how badly I needed to bathe. “Ayden, you’re smart, and the Rangers like you. They follow where you lead. You might be fresh out of the Academy, but you’re well respected.”

His eyes fell to his hands, as he muttered, “Thanks.”

“Don’t let it go to your head. You’re still a prudish little lordling.” I grinned when his eyes rose. “What other news? Any movement from across the border?”

He shook his head. “The whole Kingdom army is camped on our border, but it looks like they plan to wait out winter before marching.”

“So we’re assuming they will attack?”

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