Page 3 of The Duke and the Disciple

Rahn shed his own mask and the ridiculous furry overdress, wrenching them to the side. “Speak. Quickly and clearly.”

“I, ah...” Valerian turned and revealed his flushed, sweaty face. “I just wanted to scare her. I told her there was a wulf, but... fuck.”

“And?” Rahn asked, both eyes on the edge of the quarry.

Val shook his head. “There was no wulf.”

Rahn inhaled a bracing breath. “I’m asking what happened toher.”

“I didn’t realize she was so close.” Valerian scrunched his face with a tight roar. “She’s... Go look, but be careful.”

Rahn glared at him before inching toward the cliff. Even had Valerian explained that Aesylt was caught on the upper bows of a tall pine, it wouldn’t have prepared him for the sight of her arms spread around the broad trunk, both feet splayed across different branches.

“Aesylt, it’s Scholar Tindahl.”

“Scholar?” She was breathless.

“I realize this is a strange question, under the circumstances, but are you all right?”

She nodded against the bark, then shook her head. Her wig had fallen off at some point, and her pale blonde hair was a sweaty, matted mess.

“Are you injured?”

“Tak. I mean, yes. My ankle, and... I don’t know how long I can hold on. Tell that ill-born to close his jaw and get help already!”

“Val,” Rahn said with a swat of his hand. He couldn’t even look at the boy. It was the same story, all the time. Val was always getting her into trouble. “Barynov!”

“I don’t want to leave her.” The boy had gone pale. “You go.”

I don’t know how long I can hold on.“Are you prepared to climb this tree and help her?”

Val laughed without humor. “How?”

Rahn couldn’t remember ever having evenseena tree beyond books until a year ago, when he’d left Duncarrow for the kingdom, but it took only a second of deliberation before he was sliding down the treacherous embankment, maneuvering snow and plant roots to slow his fall. He hit the bark with a thud, but Aesylt’s scared voice asking ifhewas all right, when shewas the one dangling from a treetop, was all the courage he needed to act.

Hazarding a quick glance upward, he assessed his path. The conifer reached the bottom of the quarry, but Aesylt had fallen into the uppermost boughs, a good twenty feet up from where he’d landed. Twenty feet. Just over three times his own height.

I can do this.

He reached for the branch nearest him and gave it a sound tug, ensuring it could hold his weight. With a disgusted glance back up at Valerian, he dug his boot into the rough bark and swung up.

“Go,” he commanded with a grunt. “Valerian Barynov, move your legs and go! Find Drazhan. Find anyone.”

“You aren’t really going to climb that...”

“Go!”

Rahn paused only long enough to confirm the crunching of snow signaling the boy’s departure, then reached for the next branch.

“Scholar?”

“Don’t worry about me, Aesylt. Just focus on breathing and holding on.”

“My arms are shaking. I can’t... I can’t see anything. I’m afraid I’ll fall if I look for a better place.”

“I’ll find one for both of us. Just—” Rahn grunted when his hand slipped from a branch. Blood beaded along his palm. There wasn’t time to do a thing about it, not with the way the confidence in her voice slipped with every word. “Why don’t you tell me about the stars?”

“The stars?” Aesylt sniffled. His heart shattered at his bursting-with-life researcher sounding so small.

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