Page 134 of A Crown of Lies

Aleks made a grunting sound.

Kat snorted. “Don’t argue with me, young man. I’ve already decided.”

The baby wrinkled his nose, and Kat could swear he almost smiled.

“I mean it! Can you imagine if we kept you? First, Isaac would spoil you to death. We’d argue all the time about it, you know. I’m very strict with children, believe it or not, and I just know he’d be a complete doormat. He’d give you everything neither of us had growing up. All the toys, the games, friends. Cute little clothes that you’ll probably hate. And then there’s Tom Whiteshanks. That cat hates me. I shudder to think of how he’d treatyou.”

Kat realized he was rocking back and forth slightly and patting Aleks’s back. The baby was nearly asleep, barely even sucking on the spout anymore.

Gods above, he was almost cute when he wasn’t screaming his head off.

Slowly, Kat removed the spout and set the little container aside. He couldn’t help but smile when Aleks started snoring and blowing little bubbles with his spit.

You know, this part isn’t so bad, he thought.But you’re going to grow up, and you’re going to learn to talk. You’ll have questions about where you came from and who you’ll become. And one day, you’d just grow up and not need us anymore and I don’t know if I could survive ever losing someone, Aleks. I just don’t know. My heart is too fragile for this, and I’m too selfish.

He shifted how he was holding Aleks, wrapping him tightly against his chest so that he’d be safe. Kat leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. He was so tired. A little rest, and they’d be ready to move on. Then he could ride straight for Greymark and be done with this mission, once and for all.

Forty

Drums,likeabeatingheart, echoed through the foggy glens and valleys. A lone horn announced the coming of the king, his army, and the twelve hundred Crows marching beside him. The morning was chilly, the first frost kissing the once dewy grass. Sunlight cut through the mist, and shadows danced across the fields, fleeing the light.

True dawn was upon them, and yet they had ridden many miles already.

Ieduin glanced behind him, watching the lines and columns crawl over the uneven hills like so many worker ants. It wasn’t the smallest army ever, but it was damn close. Less than two thousand men and elves to defend an entire kingdom. He had hoped for more, but the harvest had only barely ended. Lord O’Dea’s promised knights were nowhere to be found, and the Reformed Brotherhood was likely dead in its infancy.

So few to stand against them, he thought, watching the soldiers march by.At least I know I’m not giving the enemy necromancer more ammunition to throw at us.

He shifted in his saddle, uneasy as he considered how this might go. What if they lost? He should be more worried about the damage such a loss would do to the Crows’ reputation, but all he cared about was the damage it would do to Rowan and Rixxis. He had to make sure they survived, no matter what.

Ieduin turned his horse around and rode back to the front, a quarter mile ahead, where Rowan and Rixxis were with the vanguard, drummers, and flag bearers.

Rixxis was hunched over, her cloak pulled tight around her shoulders. She lifted her bare hands and rubbed them together. “Bloody cold out here.”

“You’ll miss the cold about midday,” Rowan promised.

“Doubt it,” she said, blowing on her fingers. “I still don’t know how you’re not bothered by it.”

Rowan smiled. “There’s a reason Trinta wants to get this done with quickly. In the highlands, snowfall can be significant enough that it shuts down roads for the entire season. Many people just hunker down in their little farmhouses and don’t leave until the spring thaw.”

“It doesn’t snow in Qet,” Rixxis said.

“It does in the mountains,” Ieduin said with a shrug. High, nearly impassible mountains separated Roque from Qet.

“Yes, but nobody actually lives there except madmen and hunters. Maybe convicts and criminals. You’d freeze your balls off before you ever found a hospitable place to put down roots.”

Rowan laughed at that.

They rode on for a long time, barely discussing anything. Rowan didn’t seem in the mood to do much talking, and Rixxis only wanted to complain about the cold. Ieduin actually thought the chill in the air was nice. It was just another thing that reminded him of the Yeutlands.

I suppose that’s not home anymore, is it?But then, where was? Aryn had his little estate with Mercia. Ruith and Kat had settled in Brucia, but that had never felt like home to him. Brucia had always felt like just another stop, even when he took over the Dove and Dagger.

That was the one thing he missed, but he’d had to surrender ownership to take over the Crows full time. Fleur would do a great job as the new madam. He’d have to remember to drop by to check on her. If that was okay with Rowan and Rixxis, of course.

He turned his head, watching the two of them as they crested yet another hill. Sunlight broke through the heavy cloud cover and hit the golden emblem on Rowan’s breastplate, the image of three little flowers in bloom.

Potato flowers. How perfect. Not just because it was a reclamation of the nickname that had insulted him, but because they were beautiful and deadly.

The clouds shifted, and the light danced over Rowan’s lightly freckled cheeks. Wind whispered between them, tousling his hair beneath the simple iron band he wore in place of a crown. The head of Rixxis’s war hammer gleamed. In the light, the shadow of her nose made the rest of her face even more beautiful.

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