are humans. Men and women aren’t that different.”
Laina laughed. “And that is why I’m here as your bodyguard. You’re incredibly talented, brother mine, but you have some glaring blind spots.”
Chapter 25
Will stared suspiciously at the road ahead. Not only was it now barely wide enough for a single wagon, but over the course of the next quarter mile the hills rose steeply on either side of it. Scouts had been sent out the night before, and they’d returned safely in the morning with nothing particular to report. At the extreme end of their ride, they’d seen a few campfires in the distance, probably enemy scouts or light elements of the Darrowan military withdrawing toward the walled safety of Klendon.
All he could be relatively sure of was that there wasn’t a sizeable force of the enemy in the vicinity, but still the narrow road made him nervous. Gregory Nicht edged his horse closer, then asked, “Ready to proceed?”
Will held up a hand. He was watching two other figures ride toward him from the rear of the column. “Almost.” When the two men had reached him, he studied their faces. “Is everyone in place?”
Emory Tallowen answered first. “Right side is ready, sir.” Burke Leighton’s response came a second later. “We’re ready on the left side as well.”
Will nodded, then looked at Janice, who was sitting atop a piebald mare on his left. “Maybe I should take the front. I’d feel better with you on the tail end of this snake.”
She rolled her eyes. “The middle of the first column is the best we’ll allow you,” she replied, glancing at Laina, who was clearly in agreement. “The very reason you’re nervous about me being there is exactly why you cannot be.”
Laina chuckled. “Never fear, my lord. I’ll keep you safe in the center.”
He ignored the jibe and raised his voice for Gregory’s ears. “Start the advance, Sub-Marshal.”
The baron motioned toward the signalman, who promptly raised his horn and blew a short series of notes. First Division began moving forward in a narrow line, and Janice went with them, just a few horses behind the very lead. Will and the others waited behind. It would be almost half an hour before the middle, their portion of the column, would pass, at which time they’d begin to move as well.
“Seems like a lot of effort for one section of the road,” remarked Laina when they finally were able to move. Burke and Emory had already left, moving with a slightly earlier portion of the column. “Are you sure it’s necessary?”
“I hope it isn’t,” said Will. “But if they’ve rigged up some way to collapse part of the hillside onto us, we could lose hundreds of soldiers and weeks clearing the road or retracing our steps. The risk is too great to ignore. This is the best solution I could come up with.” He watched as the companies marched by, a sorcerer on either side of the line, spaced out at intervals of fifty yards.
Eventually the first half of First Division was past, and Will and Laina took their places on either side of the marching soldiers. “Don’t worry,” called Laina from the other side. “Janice and the lead company should be at the end of the narrow part by now. If there was a trap or an ambush, they’d have tripped it by now.” She smiled reassuringly at him then absently pushed back a strand of golden hair that had escaped from her helm.
They’d only ridden a few dozen feet when a deep rumble shivered through the ground. Something had happened ahead. Already looking at his sister, Will saw Laina’s expression shift from smile to worried frown as she felt the vibration run from the ground, through her horse, and into her chest. Vividly he saw the sun reflecting from her helm as her eyes turned to him, and then something slammed into his back and the world went black.
Will found himself tumbling through the air as his horse suddenly disappeared from beneath him. The air changed from black to brown as dirt and soil rained down around him and sunlight began to penetrate the thick cloud of earth. Then the ground made itself known as Will landed on his right shoulder. There’d been a sound, he was fairly certain of that, but he couldn’t hear anything over the loud buzzing in his ears. The air continued to vibrate in his chest, and the earth under his back was rumbling.
Somehow, he got back to his