Page 71 of Of Blood and Banes
Sethan directs two of his soldiers to search Driftmond for Marge. While we wait for Corvin to return with word from the council and assessing Driftmond, the dragons settle into spots in the grass up against the hillside. Daeja’s black figure is a shadow against the green backdrop, with the other menagerie of fire dragons curled in on themselves, most of whom watch us with yellow eyes.
I settle into a spot by Daeja, throwing one ankle over the other and leaning back against her ribs. My eyes are heavy, and my stomach grumbles. As I’m about to lose to fluttering eyelids, Archie walks up to us.
“You’ve had a long day…” He crouches and pulls out a chunk of wrapped bread, then offers it. “…hungry?”
I lean up. “You brought that from Midkeep?”
“I always come prepared.” He smiles. “Food is just as important as weapons.”
“Couldn’t agree more,”Daeja purrs, then sniffs his hand and recoils.“On second thought, I’m not that hungry.”
Without waiting for a response, he tears it in half and hands it to me. Tossing a glance up at Daeja, he points to the spot next to me. “May I?”
Daeja blinks at him, and he slowly slides up next to me, and we both lean back against Daeja. My stomach feels better once I’ve swallowed the last bite.
“Don’t take this the wrong way but…you look spent. Are you alright?” he whispers.
“It’s been a long day to say the least…” I sigh. “I don’t know, Arch. Sethan’s adamant I’ll save the realm because of the prophecy.”
“The one about the sun and…death and stuff?”
“That’s the one.”
“My ma used to say when you’re angry, you should eat first. And when you’re sad…you should sleep first.” He tosses me a smile and pats his shoulder.
“Won’t…Melaina get jealous?—”
“No,” he chuckles. “She knows who you are to me.”
When I hesitate, he prompts, “Kat, get over here and just close your eyes. I’ll wake you up when Corvin gets back. It could take them a few hours, and you need to rest.”
With a small smile, I lean my head on his shoulder and close my eyes.
It’s nearing sunset, and I wake to the sound of blade against blade. Flinching forward with my heart leaping out of my chest, I reach for my sword at my side.
Archie grabs my shoulder before I can get to my feet. “Shh, you’re alright. Just sparring.”
Arterians and Vitalans are gathered in a circle, watching a pair of soldiers spar in the middle. After stretching out my aching bones against a dozing Daeja, Archie helps me up off the ground. We watch the spar for a few minutes until it ends. And then Archie playfully taunts Melaina until she gives into a match. Melaina beats him, and the two of them come to sit next to me.
Sethan turns his attention to Cole sitting over with his back to the dragons. “My father used to always tell me fighting your way out of a problem could be just as successful as talking it out. Care to test the theory?”
Cole’s eyes darken despite his hauntingly calm expression. Wordlessly, he stands and begins to withdraw his sword at his side.
“Ahh, ahh,” Sethan clicks. “Wouldn’t want us to get too carried away. Let’s start small, shall we?” He snaps at his men, and they retrieve two wooden rods from one of the wagons.
They hand one to Sethan. The second rod goes to Cole, who snaps his gaze back up to Sethan before accepting it. The two of them stalk out into the makeshift circle of people and begin to spar. They spin and lunge, swinging and striking like two angered snakes. Each contact of the rods is a heavy, hard smack. After a quick minute, Cole disarms Sethan, and the rod flies off several feet away. Cole drops his rod and turns his back to Sethan, returning to his previous spot on the sidelines. Not a drop of sweat on him.
Darian snickers from the crowd, still manacled and held between two soldiers.
Sethan drags a lethally slow glare over to him. “That funny to you?”
Darian’s lips tug up into a coy grin. “Hilarious. Would have never guessed you were in the King’s Close Circle. Though, I suppose you’ve always been lousy with lifting your weapon any higher than your knees. Explains why you were always second in command next to Jurrock.”
Sethan narrows his eyes. “You mean yourfather?” He kicks Cole’s wooden rod toward him. “Seems to me you never had that stubborn arrogance beaten out of you.”
Darian tilts his head to the side, watching as the wooden rod rolls and bumps into his boot, before glaring up at Sethan. “Is that you asking for a chance? Because I assure you, if it’ll be anyone getting their ass beat, it’s you.”
Sethan snorts. “I’d be glad to finally put you in your place, boy.”
