Page 72 of A Crown of Lies

“Naturally.” He pulled open the door and held it for her, his pulse quickening as he planned out an elaborate proposal in his mind. “I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”

He watched her go, hanging on the door and thinking,Dear gods, what a lucky man I am. I had better not screw this up again.

Despitethechillymorning,the day had warmed significantly. Outside the shady areas, it was still hot enough to have Rowan sweating in mere minutes. Yet as soon as the sun set—and it would do so earlier that time of year—the temperature would plunge.

He found Ieduin beyond the castle walls, in a small copse of trees. A series of targets had been set up at various heights and distances. He had several small hourglasses set up on the stump next to him and seemed to time his shots with when they ran empty.

More interestingly, he’d peeled off his tunic, giving Rowan an enticing view, especially since he was already coated in sweat. Every time he pulled back the bowstring, the muscles in his shoulders, side, and chest flexed. His bronzish skin shimmered with sweat in the sun, and it made Rowan want to lick him all over, just to taste it.

Rowan hung back for a while, watching him make his shots and admiring his body. When Ieduin hit each one, he retrieved his arrows, reset the timers, and began again.

“Working hard, I see,” Rowan called, just as Ieduin was about to fire.

Ieduin lowered the bow and glanced over his shoulder. “Not really.”

“Not training the troops today?” Dry leaves crunched under Rowan’s boots as he came closer.

“I don’t need to babysit my lieutenants. It’d be a waste of my time to stand up there all day and watch them work. Figured I should get in some practice of my own.”

“I doubt Trinta’s troops will come at us in perfectly timed intervals.” Rowan picked up one of the small hourglass timers and flipped it over.

“Probably not. This exercise is about strength and control.” He slid the arrow back into the quiver on the ground. “Archery is about more than hitting your target. Accuracy is only half the package. The last thing I want is for my arrow to slip, or for my arm to get so weak I develop a tremor at full draw. Honestly, though, it’s more a meditation than anything. Clears my head.”

“Is something bothering you?”

Ieduin took the timer out of his palm. “I’ve got a lot to think about.”

“I imagine so.” He shrugged and stepped back. “I heard one of your Crows has fallen ill.”

Ieduin nodded. “The scout who got bitten, yeah. The healer said it’s no surprise. Apparently, human mouths are full of bacteria, and dead mouths are probably even worse. They’re giving him something to help fight the infection. I checked on him an hour ago and he seemed better. He was talking and holding down water, at least.”

“Captain Leopold is ill as well,” Rowan reported. “Commander Runecleaver seemed convinced the two events were connected. He believes they’re the victim of a necromancer’s curse.”

Ieduin shrugged one shoulder. “The healers didn’t find any evidence of that.”

That was reassuring, at least. “Perhaps Tofi is mistaken, then.”

“Tofi’s an odd one,” Ieduin admitted with a sigh. “He thinks gods talk to him, Rowan. He hears voices and talks to people no one else can see. Sometimes, he just paces in circles arguing with himself. He’s not exactly sane. I’d take everything he says with a grain of salt.”

“I thought as much.” Rowan cleared his throat and gestured to the targets. “Well, you don’t have to stop on my account. We can talk while you shoot.”

Ieduin tossed the timer in the air and caught it before tucking it into a zippered pouch on his quiver. “I suppose that’ll be good practice. If you don’t mind, that is. Ruith always hated it when I didn’t look at him when he was talking to me.”

“Not at all. I’m interruptingyou.”

“Okay then.” Ieduin readied another arrow for his bow. “What else did you want to talk about?”

“Rixxis came to see me a short while ago.”

“And how did that go?” He drew the arrow back, letting the string rest even with his jaw a moment, and fired.

Rowan wasn’t watching the arrow close enough to see where it hit. His eyes never left Ieduin. “She’s agreed to marry me.”

Ieduin lowered the bow and looked at him, his expression tentatively worried.

“With conditions,” Rowan clarified. “Some of them pertain to you.”

“To me?” His eyebrows shot up and he snorted, readying another arrow. “I don’t see what I’ve got to do with it.”

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