Page 34 of A Kiss of Hammer and Flame

‘Not tonight,’ Raiden chuckled, then winced, cupping his stitches.

She snickered and took a step towards the table, and was then gritting her own teeth as she slid on a stray rock, sore knee barking. ‘Fair,’ she admitted, Terryl at her arm. ‘I’m fine,’ she said, catching Raiden’s look.

Raiden’s eyes flitted between her and Terryl. Maybe it should have made her nervous. It was almost like he knew something had shifted, however slight.

But she didn’t care. For once, she felt happy. She didn’t want it to end.

The food was delicious, the pheasant tender with a crisp exterior, and the vegetables shimmered in a sweet honey glaze. Cahra talked and laughed with the people of Luminaux for the rest of the night, Terryl keeping her company. As the evening progressed, others peeled away to sleep or guard the cave, leaving her and Terryl alone. Even as her body craved sleep, the memory of Terryl’s hand on hers buzzed in the corner of her brain. But eventually, she couldn’t resist the lull of the fire’s warmth.

Terryl chuckled. ‘You need rest,’ he said, his voice hushed as people hunkered in the cave’s corners, with Raiden’s sentries by its entrance.

‘Mmmm,’ Cahra mumbled, her eyes fluttering shut again. She heard Terryl chuckle as he stood to leave. She was on the verge of nodding off when he returned.

‘Come along,’ Terryl said, gently tugging Cahra to her feet with surprising strength. He led her to a dying torch, half-way down the cave’s length, then sat her on clean bedding as he eased off her boots. She was too tired to be embarrassed about her holey socks as he held the bed covers open for her and she fell in. Pulling the blankets to her chin, Terryl paused. And though her eyes were closed, she could feel him watching her.

Just as she was on the precipice of sleep, Terryl ventured to stroke her hair, and she smiled at his intoxicating touch, at the warm luxury of the strange bed. She rubbed her eyes, struggling for words to keep the moment from slipping away.

But her consciousness was pulling her, dragging her into its peaceful depths, and it was all Cahra could do not to surrender.

All thoughts faded as she let the darkness come, a smile on her face.

CHAPTER 15

Terryl left Cahra to her slumber, his coverlet hugging her form, the steady rise and fall of her chest a sign of hard-won peace. He was not sure where he would sleep, but it mattered not. Cahra was finally resting, a temporary recess in their turbulent journey. After the day’s trials, she had unquestionably earned that. They all had.

Just as he had earned reading his sister’s letter.

In the torchlight, he pulled Sylvie’s envelope from his breast pocket and tore it open, deciphering the coded words as he rushed to read:

T,

Darling brother. Ignore what the Commander has told you so far. You know where his loyalty lies, and regrettably, it is with Father. I have been battling Father and Mother since you left us, not only about my duties (Mother implored me to relinquish my post and get a hobby – needlework! Could you imagine? I should rather stab myself with one, which is precisely what I have been trained for. Ridiculous!), but also about talk of suitors. Of course, they were all men. Yet, brother, these matters are not the reason for my letter. For having finally given up on matchmaking for me, our parents have refocused their attentions on you. This is what Tyne has neglected to tell you.

Father has decreed it. He and Mother have named you a bride.

And it is Lady Delicia.

I know that this will disturb you greatly. Yet I do believe that you can fight it, as I have fought their pairings all these years. However, I will say this: the longer you stray from home, the harder it will be to undo what has been done. You know their will. I pray that you and the others are safe, and that you return to us soon.

Love,

S

Upon finishing, Terryl held on to the letter for a time before folding it carefully away into his pocket again. Ire surged through him, its epicentre his closed fists. He wanted to roar. Howl. Pound his fists against the cave floor. All three at once. Not only at Delicia for her duplicitous manoeuvring, but also at his parents. The raw offence of it seared into his chest like a red-hot poker. For she had done it, Delicia had finally done it.

She had exacted her revenge, as she had vowed the day that he left her.

Though he was loath to depart from Cahra, he sorely needed Raiden’s counsel. Yet as he looked for his Captain, he found Raiden already watching him, a mug in hand beside the fire, its mound of smouldering coals sustained by Cahra’s little lump of tenebrite.

‘Where’s Cahra?’ Raiden asked, a nonchalant question that would have fooled most. The Captain’s eyes told him the man already knew.

He could tell exactly what Raiden was doing. ‘She is injured and alone in this place. And she was allocated a straw bedroll,’ he said, crinkling his nose at the thought.

‘How do you know she didn’t have one in Kolyath? I’ll bet all your classy wine that bedroll would’ve been an upgrade,’ Raiden said.

He dismissed Raiden’s words. ‘Cahra has proven herself as a member of our company. She deserved to heal comfortably. Besides, was her usefulness not the rationale behind your offer to instruct her earlier this evening?’

Raiden paused, his expression serious. ‘Sir, when did you meet Cahra?’

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