Page 41 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
Something was wrong.
But Talemir was faster than she was. He was already at the hawk’s side, his previous fear for his fingers forgotten as he ever so gently spread Terrence’s right wing out.
Amid the brown feathers there was matted blood.
Terrence gave a feeble cry.
‘He’s hurt.’ The Warsword carefully fanned the feathers out, trying to locate the source of the bleeding.
Drue’s chest grew tight. How had she not noticed? How had she allowed the poor creature to fly for miles? She made to shove Talemir aside, but Terrence wasn’t fighting as he examined the bird’s leg now.
‘It’s not his wing.’ Talemir’s brow furrowed. ‘I don’t think it’s as bad as I first thought, but the wound needs to be cleaned.’
‘I’ll do it,’ Drue said, at last pushing his hands away.
‘That’s probably for the best,’ the warrior agreed. ‘I’ll leave you to it.’
Drue paid him barely any heed as she picked Terrence up. She hadn’t held him like this since he’d been a hatchling.
Using water from her canteen, she cleaned the wound, ignoring the hawk’s cries of pain. It was a jagged laceration to the upper part of his leg. She winced on his behalf as she bandaged it with a strip of fabric torn from her shirt. Drue didn’t know if he’d got the injury in the storm, or if he’d tried to fend off the shadow wraiths in the dark. Either way, the guilt settled in the pit of her stomach like a stone. She should have checked on him, she should have —
‘Here,’ Talemir said, reappearing from the brush, holding out his hand. The Warsword offered a small, dead rodent. ‘We don’t know if he’s eaten since that bit of hare yesterday morning. He’ll need his strength —’
Drue stared at him. Even Terrence grew still with interest.He caught that with his bare hands?
‘What?’ Talemir asked.
Drue swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘It’s just…’ She didn’t know what to say. Instead, she settled for: ‘Thank you.’
She watched, mouth slackening as Terrence, the hawk who hated everyone but her and Adrienne, drank the water Talemir now cupped in his palm. She stared for even longer as the bird hobbled on his good leg, gently taking the mouse the Warsword offered him.
Drue’s chest tingled. Was she truly seeingTerrenceeat out of the half-wraith’s hand?
Talemir glanced up. ‘What?’ he demanded.
‘Nothing.’ Drue looked away quickly.
‘He’s alright to fly,’ Talemir told her, standing and instantly towering over her once more.
Drue went to her saddlebag for something to do and rummaged for her water. She drank deeply, training her focus on anything except the Warsword, who seemed to sense her confusion.
That was when she caught the scent in the breeze – jasmine. She’d recognise that scent anywhere. It was the aroma that had clung to her mother: her hair, her clothes, no matter the time of day.
Drue scanned their surroundings and spotted the flowers immediately. On the slope of the cliff was a patch of wild blue jasmine – her mother’s favourite. The delicate cerulean petals flourished there among glossy, dark green leaves. Her mother had grown all sorts of jasmine in their greenhouse and the garden beds around their estate, but for whatever reason, wild jasmine, with blooms of this shade, had always eluded her, refusing to grow as easily as the rest. It had never fazed Drue’s mother, though. Galina, the elegant noblewoman, simply tried and tried again.
‘I will not let these flowers defeat me, Drue,’ she had said once. ‘Mark my words, there will be wild blue jasmine in my gardens before the next winter is upon us.’
But her mother hadn’t seen the next winter, and Drue hadn’t returned to their family home since. She had no idea if the blue blooms had flourished in their absence.
‘We should keep moving,’ she said, turning back to the horses.
Talemir was watching her, his mouth slightly parted as though he wanted to ask her something.
But Drue pushed past him and readied her mare once more. Terrence, who had made a quick recovery, spread his wings and flew ahead.
‘How long have you been a ranger?’Talemir asked as they started the second half of their descent past the falls.
‘Officially? A year or so.’
