Page 67 of With Fangs and Claws (The Wolf Queen 1)

Aila went silent for some time, only the sounds of the horses’ hooves and the birds in the trees breaking the quiet, but the peace all around somehow translated to a rising tension inside me.

“That little boy, he was whole when he was with us. A dear little man with eyes too big, like he’d seen too much. Absolutely no trouble for me or Mother. In some ways that was the issue.” She glanced back at us for just a second, then focussed back on the road. “A boy of that age? My boys are like a pair of puppies, always yapping on about something, but not Gael.”

She let out a sigh then, her spine softening.

“Next time I saw him he was almost a man grown and with his hair pulled over his face like he always does. And his eye—”

“It’s probably not wise to be discussing our betters,” Janis said stiffly. “This story is Prince Gael’s to tell, surely.”

“So it is,” I said, making a quick decision and pulling on Arden’s reins, guiding him out of formation. “Stay here, Pepin.”

Axe and Gael looked up when I appeared by their sides, turning Arden around so he was walking in time with their horses now, three abreast.

“Come to find us already, lass?” Axe said with a wide grin. “I knew it wouldn’t take long. You could tie yon Arden’s reins to my saddle, have him follow us as you sit on Poll’s back again.”

“You mean riding double like my father ordered me to?” I asked and his smile faltered.

“Ah, well, I was thinking…”

“Can I ride with Gael for a bit?” I asked.

“Well, I could shuffle the men in front of us—”

“Alone?”

The man in question didn’t respond, his back ramrod straight, his seat perfect, making me wonder if others saw the tension in him like I did. Axe’s eyes flicked from his brother and to me and then he nodded, pulling Poll out of line.

“I’ll fall back to the very end,” Axe told Gael, “but stay sharp. We don’t expect trouble...”

“But it finds us anyway,” Gael replied in a flat voice before he nodded. His hand strayed to his sword, caressing the wire wrapped hilt. “I will, brother. This shouldn’t take long.”

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