Page 40 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
As infuriating as she found the Warsword, the trek down the steep decline was slow and laborious, and soon Drue sought a way to pass the time, to draw her focus away from the pain in her lower spine from leaning back in the saddle.
‘These books you read,’ she ventured, glancing over her shoulder at him.
A gleam of amusement already shone in those hazel eyes, and she almost didn’t ask him.
‘Yes?’ he smirked.
She unclenched her jaw. ‘What are they about?’
Talemir raised a teasing brow at her. ‘What’s got you curious, Wildfire?’
Drue clicked her tongue in frustration. ‘Forget it.’
But Talemir urged his horse a little closer to hers. ‘The one I’m reading at the moment is about the romantic adventures of the Valian Kindred.’
‘The what?’
‘The Valian Kindred. A race of warrior women from faraway lands beyond the Veil.’
‘What do you know of things beyond the Veil?’
‘Only the things I read in books.’
‘Romance books.’
‘Among others, yes.’
‘Have you ever been?’
‘Beyond the Veil?’
‘Yes.’
‘I can’t say I have. Is that something you’d like to do?’
‘I wasn’t aware that was something the people of the midrealmscoulddo,’ Drue replied.
‘As my apprentice would say,where there’s a will, there’s a way.’
‘He’s not your apprentice anymore.’
‘So he would like to believe.’
Drue twisted in her saddle, glimpsing the Warsword, a fond expression lining his handsome face. ‘Oh?’ she asked. ‘So when does an apprentice move beyond the rank?’
Talemir smiled. ‘When he has an apprentice of his own.’
Drue turned back to the narrow trail before her. ‘Do you think he’ll ever take one on?’
‘Of that I have no doubt,’ Talemir replied.
Halfway down, the trail plateaued into a flat clearing and Drue insisted they rest the horses. Sweat gleamed on the poor beasts’ coats. Once they were cared for, she turned to the falls, feeling the light spray on her face. The rushing water was a stark reminder of how filthy she was, despite her hurried attempts at washing at the well with Adrienne. Her skin was still speckled with blood, both human and wraith, not to mention all manner of other grime. She glanced at Talemir, who stood near the edge of the cliff, drinking from his canteen. Infuriatingly, the Warsword suited the dirty, rugged look.
But he was frowning.
A concerned expression spread across Talemir’s face and Drue followed his gaze to where Terrence had just landed clumsily in the dirt.
Terrence didn’t do clumsy.
