Page 223 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
She shouldn’t look. Not when he was fighting for his life.
But alas, Les read the first letter because it was addressed toHals. She raised her eyebrows. Hals? She flipped through a few other pages. They were all addressed to Hals.
After picking up context clues here and there—including one atrocious, if adorable, stick figure doodle of a man and woman riding in what she thought was meant to be a hover—she guessedHalswas short for Hallie.
These were meant for Miss Walker.
She couldn’t help the smile that graced her face despite everything going wrong. Her little boy had found someone to love, and if nothing else worked in their favor, at least Kase had found that.
She’d realized his feelings for the girl before she’d even met her. Kase would bring her up in conversations and make offhand remarks about howHalliewould love to see the first edition of Marisee’s commentary ofRomeo and Juliet. He’d mentioned girls in the past, but none brought the same sparkle to his eye like Miss Walker did.
She rubbed her thumb across his fingers and placed the journal back into its place. Miss Walker had been recovering from her own ordeal in the ward last Les heard. Did Kase know? Should she tell him once he woke up?
Ifhe woke up.
She chewed on her tongue to keep her emotions in check. Kase would be fine. He would get through this. His body needed to replenish its energy and repair itself, that was all. If he’d survived the last fifteen years, he could survive almost anything.
Surely.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry I haven’t protected you.”
He didn’t respond.
“I’ll stay with you until you wake up. I promise.”
Ana had always been the one scared of the dark, but it was Kase who’d refused sleep until he was certain both his sister and mother were taken care of. That was after the nanny had long since given up, of course. Those nights usually ended with Les singing them to sleep in his bed and tucking them in. He’d always been proud and curious and quick-witted, but he’d always been courteous…and quietly romantic, apparently, based on the journal letters.
He'd lost much of himself when Ana died, but he’d started to come back. Les suspected Hallie Walker had everything to do with that.
“Is she in there?” a feminine voice shouted from outside the tent.
Les jumped a little and rose, dropping Kase’s hand. The tent had a few guards, but whoever had attacked Kase had murdered his last one. Bloodlessly, but the man was still dead, and she wouldn’t allow the same to happen to her son.
It was difficult not to blame her husband for that oversight. She clenched her hands. Not yet. She wouldn’t deal with that just yet. Not until Kase recovered.
She hadn’t spoken to Harlan directly since being rescued. No matter what he said, she refused to listen. He didn’t deserve it. She had a pile of unopened letters in her own tent, and she couldn’t find the patience, grace, or love to read them. She wasn’t certain she ever would.
One of the guards outside replied, but Les couldn’t hear it. She moved toward the front of the tent.
“My daughter is missing, and Kase Shackley has something to do with it, so you’d best put that sword away before I snap it in half,” the woman snapped.
Les opened the tent flap. A short woman with dark, graying hair pulled into a tight knot stood beside the medic who’d helped rescue her and Jove, Stowe. The woman looked like she couldindeed snap a sword in half. Stowe looked dubious. “Zelda, I’m sure Hallie is just—”
“May I help you?” Les asked, stepping out of the tent and nodding to the three guards. “You must be Miss Walker’s…?”
“I’m her mother,” the woman said, crossing her arms. “And you are? Do you know where my daughter is?”
Les stood a little to the side. “Why don’t you come inside? We can chat quietly without prying eyes and listening ears.”
Most of the cavern housing Kase’s tent had been cleared out by now; not entirely, but enough to give them space.
Stowe and Hallie’s mother, Zelda, followed her inside. It was a little cramped but manageable. There were no other seats besides the little rocky outcropping Les herself had been using.
Zelda froze at the sight of Kase; Stowe’s gaze locked on his wounds, widening in horror. Zelda took one step forward. “What—what happened?”
Les folded her hands in front of her and summoned the aristocratic lady she’d been raised to be. “My son was gravely injured during a skirmish not too long ago. I’m afraid no one witnessed the attack, so until he wakes up, we are at a loss as to what exactly occurred.” She paused and glanced at him before turning back to the Walkers. “What is this about Miss Walker missing? The last I heard, she was in the ward. I was hoping to check in on her once I was certain my Kase would be fine.”
Stowe gestured to Kase. “May I?”
