Page 12 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
‘Both good and bad,’ Adrienne added.
Drue glanced at her. ‘More news?’
Adrienne gave a stiff nod. ‘A report from one of our southern outposts – a gang of raiders attacked a small settlement there.’
‘Fuck,’ Drue muttered. How there could be Naarvians attacking fellow Naarvians amid all the other horrors, she didn’t understand. But war brought out the darkest parts of humanity, of which there was no shortage, it seemed.
‘I know,’ Adrienne replied. ‘There are more reports of people going missing as well. I’ve got all our watchtowers manned as of today.’
‘Good.’ Drue looked around then, scanning the familiar faces for one she did not see. ‘Where’s Gus?’
Angus Castemont was their shared charge, eleven years old and desperate to join their forces – and every bit the pain in the arse Drue remembered her brothers being at that age.
After they’d died, Drue had kept everyone but Adrienne at arm’s length, even her father. But Gus… Gus had wormed his way into her hardened heart. His older cousin, Dratos, had brought him to the safety of the stronghold from the wraith-infested south, another orphan of Naarva… He looked the part, too. Gus was smaller than the average eleven-year-old, forever wearing the same hole-ridden knitted jumper, a mop of curls always falling in his eyes.
Somehow, the world hadn’t dimmed the light in the boy.
He’d found Drue on watch one day and, despite her surly nature, had sat down beside her, pummelling her with a barrage of questions she didn’t bother answering. Nothing fazed him, though. The kid could talk under water.
Just as Drue had been losing her patience with him, he’d given her a piercing look.
‘Do you have brothers and sisters?’ he asked, so earnestly that Drue couldn’t deny him that one kernel of information.
‘I had brothers.’
‘I can tell,’ he replied proudly.
‘Because I’m trying to ignore you?’
‘Yep,’ he declared. ‘I had three sisters. I was in the middle: the big brother and the little brother at once. It was a mess.’
A laugh bubbled out of Drue unexpectedly and she looked upon the boy, all skinny limbs, big blue eyes and matted chestnut hair. ‘I know the feeling.’
His lower lip trembled then, and a pang of sympathy shot through Drue. ‘Where are they now?’
‘Dead.’
She’d figured as much. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘What about your brothers?’
‘Dead.’
The boy nodded in understanding beyond his eleven years. ‘Dratos says that anyone can be a family.’
‘Does he?’
Gus nodded, picking at his sleeves. ‘You just have to feed each other.’
Drue had barked another laugh at that, and decided then and there that she liked the kid.
Young Gus Castemont had grown on her, and Adrienne, ever since. Eager, insistent and infuriatingly charming, he longed to be a ranger like them. They’d agreed to give him small, safe tasks as a squire of sorts.
‘I sent him with Dratos for watch training,’ Adrienne was saying now, around a mouthful of food.
Drue came back to herself, tense. ‘To what tower?’ Dratos had been known for his recklessness and carefree nature before he’d taken his orphaned cousin into his care.
Adrienne gave her a knowing smile. ‘The first tower. Don’t worry, you know I’d never put him in harm’s way.’
