Disciple of War Disciple of War (Art of the Adept #4) - Michael G. Manning Page 0,33

habit,” he whispered in her ear.

Her reply was accompanied by a significant amount of heavy panting, as well as obvious relief in her voice. “You’re awake!”

“Maybe. It’s hard to say. It might be a dream. You’re in it, after all, but then again, this isn’t the way most of my fantasies go.”

“Can you walk?”

“Probably, but I’d hate to spoil the moment.” With a grunt, she let her legs fold and tried to ease him to the ground. Apparently, she was exhausted, and somewhere along the way he had to extend his legs and catch himself while steadying her to keep them both from falling over sideways. Will sat, and Selene flopped onto her back, spreading her arms and legs out to help cool off. Noting the stars, he remarked, “It’s dark out.”

“Glad you noticed.”

“You should have woken me.”

“I tried,” she said with some exasperation. “If being carried on my back didn’t wake you up, do you think anything else would have? You slept all day. I finally gave up and decided to try and move you somewhere safer for the night.”

“You made a heroic effort. Is this the place?”

“Unless you want to walk the rest of the night. I tried to use a travel-disk, but I can’t sustain the turyn for it. Even small spells make me want to pass out after just a few minutes.”

Will nodded. “That’s one reason you shouldn’t be using spells until you’re done with all the compressions and you’ve finished adjusting. No more magic for you unless something happens to me.” He paused, then added, “That’s an order.”

She growled. “Ungrateful wretch.”

“I’d be more grateful if you carried me the way you did last time. I felt more like a princess then. Piggyback? Today was just laziness on your part,” he shot back, earning a laugh. He was referring to the time he had nearly died in her palace bedroom and she had carried him downstairs in her arms—with the assistance of reinforcement from the earth elemental she had possessed at the time.

Selene recovered quickly. “If we’re going to point out lazy work, I think the regeneration potion you drank was defective.”

Will rolled his left shoulder and felt the skin pull slightly, as though it was too tight. With his other hand, he could feel a certain lumpiness in the area, as though it had scarred. He thought about it a moment, then proposed a theory. “It was a burn. Trolls can’t regenerate properly from burns and acid.”

“Most of it healed,” she noted. “It was just a small area that scarred. I guess that was where it actually charred the flesh.”

“I’ll have to be careful not to be burned half to death then,” said Will dryly, but then another thought occurred to him. “I forgot to ask you about the dead man before we took the potions.”

“I didn’t recognize him,” she said immediately, anticipating his question. “But his clothes and grooming definitely indicated he was a nobleman, probably a third or fourth son who didn’t like the clergy and couldn’t handle a military career.”

Will was impressed. “You read my mind.”

“I had all afternoon to think about it while you slept. I’ll draw a picture of his face when we get home. It might help us find someone who knows who he was.”

“You can draw?”

“Everyone can draw, Will.”

“Well, I mean, you can draw well?”

Having been raised as royalty, Selene wasn’t prone to false modesty. She nodded. “I’ve got a clear hand for putting what I’ve seen to the page, but I wouldn’t consider myself an artist. I don’t have that kind of passion.”

“You never cease to amaze me,” he told her as he got carefully to his feet and began to construct another elemental travel-disk spell. Once it was ready, he helped Selene up and on, where she stood next to him. “Let’s go home.”

The trip was considerably quicker than the carriage ride out had been. Although it was nighttime, he could see clearly, and the travel spell moved several times faster than the carriage had. He didn’t have to worry about a bumpy road or wearing out the horses. They had spent four hours in the carriage that morning, but he got them back to their house in Cerria within an hour and a half.

Blake was surprised to see them return the same day they had left, but they gave him enough of an explanation to satisfy his curiosity and then went to bed. Tired, they substituted a spell for a bath and were soon asleep.

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