“It appears to have had his name instead.” Sawyer chuckled and nodded to me. “Until next time, my friend.”
***
I visited Briar and Thane first. They ate their sandwiches while I brewed tea in the small kitchen.
“While I appreciate this, love, I don’t want to take you away from your own work,” Briar said from his seat at the table. He had eaten half his sandwich already. Scarfed it, really.
When I’d arrived, he had been reading through a huge stack of documents from the magical academy. Mages-in-training had submitted research papers about subjects Briar specialized in, and he’d been asked to read them over and provide an assessment of their findings. On top of his own research and heavy workload.
“Be quiet and let me take care of you,” I said.
Thane snorted.
Once the tea was ready, I poured them a cup and carried it over.
“Thank you,” Briar said, then grabbed me before I could walk away. He rested his head on my belly as I stood beside his chair.
“You’re welcome, Doc.” I wove my fingers through the light-brown strands of his hair. “I better get these muffins to Maddox.”
He lightly laughed. “Yes, you should. It will brighten his day.”
“Well, being able to see both of you has brightened mine.” I bent and pecked a kiss on Briar’s lips. “See you this evening.”
The little stirrings of happiness in my chest swirled even more as I left the clinic and headed toward the knights’ barracks. The clang of swords against shields and grunts reached my ears as I neared the enclosure of buildings. Knights trained in the field to the right, some of the newer recruits by the look of it since I didn’t recognize them.
A pressure landed on my shoulder.
Shrieking, I flipped around and lost my balance as I did.
Maddox caught me against his chest. “Still so clumsy. What am I going to do with you?”
“It’s your fault.” I bumped my fist against his pec. “You almost made me drop your muffins.”
“My muffins?” His blue eyes dropped to the basket.
“Well, I don’t think you deserve them now.” I stepped back from his large body and held the basket away from him.
It was then snatched from my hand.
“What do we have here?” Callum asked before opening the lid. “Oh, gods, yes. Banana muffins. Just what I was craving.”
“You keep your grubby hands off them,” Maddox said. “Those are mine.”
“Says who?”
“Says your goddamn captain. Now hand them over.”
I laughed so hard I snorted.
Unfortunately, that’s the moment when all hell broke loose.
“Captain Maddox!” a man shouted as he rode up on horseback. He wore armor from the Third Order, and his breastplate was banged up and bloody. His sleeves were tattered, and blood trickled down his face, covering one eye. As the horse came to a sharp stop in the yard, the man slumped forward in the saddle, nearly falling off.
An arrow protruded from his back.
Knights who stood close by dropped everything and rushed over to help him from the saddle and onto the grass, keeping him propped up. One of them shouted for a healer, and another knight jumped on the horse and took off toward the clinic.
“What happened?” Maddox knelt beside the injured man.
