Page 72 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
In the centre of the warehouse was a metal crate, complete with thick bars.
A cage of people.
Herpeople.
Innocent Naarvians captured and trapped byscum.
Her hand flew to her sword.
Talemir’s arm flung out in front of her. ‘Stop.’ His voice was pure command. ‘You said no attacking.’
‘You felled ten raiders yesterday. We can take them.’
‘How many men have you counted in the last hour alone?’ he demanded.
‘I…’
‘Exactly. Fifty. And that’s just the ones we’ve seen.’
‘They’re in afucking cage, Talemir.’
‘And we’ll be no use to them trapped alongside them,’ he said firmly. ‘We do what we came here to do. We map out the warehouse, note the guard changes, and now we try to discern the number of hostages. Every single piece of information will help us create a refined strategy that will get those people out alive.’
Drue’s hands itched to unsheathe her blades and launch herself at the monsters inside that warehouse, at the bastards who would sacrifice their own people to the shadow wraiths.
‘Drue.’ Her name on Talemir’s lips brought her back from the brink of a violent fury. ‘Do I have your word that you won’t go charging in there?’
She clenched and unclenched her jaw, rage still simmering just below the surface. She squinted, trying to make out the faces behind the bars.
‘Drue?’ Talemir demanded.
‘Yes,’ she ground out. ‘You have my word.’
He gave a stiff nod. ‘We should get back to the horses.’
Drue froze. ‘We can’t leave them…’
Talemir’s warm hand closed around her arm. ‘There is nothing we can do for them right now. We need to take this information back to the tavern.’
‘What if they move? What if they take them —’
Talemir pointed to a group of men who were feeding logs onto a fire and passing jugs of liquor between themselves. ‘They’re not going anywhere tonight, Drue.’
‘We could stay here, keep watch —’
Talemir shook his head. ‘We need to get back to our own base. Eat, rest… Ready ourselves for when Adrienne and the others arrive.’
Drue knew he was right. They needed to be at their best for when they burned those fuckers to the ground. Reluctantly, she let Talemir lead her away from the stronghold as she silently vowed to wreak havoc on the raiders when she and Adrienne led the attack against them.
As they satatop their horses once more, the sky darkening around them, Talemir became quiet. Drue noticed his gaze kept flicking towards the waning yellow crescent against the inky night.
‘We’ll have a new moon soon,’ she said, thinking of how much time had passed since the Warsword first stepped foot on her shores.
But Talemir didn’t reply. Instead, he rummaged in his saddlebag and retrieved his tonic, bringing it to his lips and drinking deeply.
The action sent a little ball of unease rolling through her.
He doesn’t even know what it is, she thought.And he doesn’t take it in measured doses as medications ought to be administered… But whenever he caught her looking, she turned away, making no comment. Nor did she mention those strange white lines appearing on his skin with each dose, which seemed to be hanging on for longer each time.
