Igniting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology #2) - Robin LaFevers Page 0,26

to the sounds of the forest, taking a step in time with the cry of a kestrel, moving forward as the wind rustles the branches.

Divona’s ears prick as she hears me coming, but sensing my urgency, she does not whinny her normal greeting. I vault onto her back, then ride hard to catch up to the rest of the group.

Beast rides behind the others, waiting for me. I warble like a thrush, and he quickly falls back. “How did you hear them?” he asks. “I pride myself on my sharp hearing, and I heard nothing.”

I smile. “Nor did I. I could smell them.”

He gives me an aggrieved look. “Even so, I should have gone, not you.”

“Might as well send a boar crashing through the woods to announce our presence.”

“I can move quietly.” He sounds mildly offended. “What did you learn?”

“Three groups of men, searching in crisscross patterns between the Loire to the north and the Vienne’s southward bend.”

“Camulos’s balls,” he mutters. “How fast are they moving?”

“Faster than us, but their search pattern forces them to cover twice as much ground. They should catch up to us by nightfall.”

“Any indication how far they intend to go?”

“They did not say.”

“No, but since you can smell and hear things that the rest of us cannot, I thought perhaps you’d discerned it through the weight of the gear they carried or the pacing of their horses.”

“Well,” I concede, “they were traveling light, no pack animals. So they are likely planning to spend the night in a town or holding.” I pause. “How far are we from any town or holding?”

“Not far. I had hoped to spend the night in Chinon, but it sits near one of the king’s castles and is likely where they are headed. I do not want to put ourselves so directly in their path.” He glances ruefully at our little party. Eight men-at-arms, two Arduinnites, one lady in waiting, a gnome, and two young girls.

“We cannot outrun them, nor are we close enough to the river to cross it before nightfall.”

Beast looks wistfully at the forest around us. “A cave would be nice. But the saints only know if there is one near here or how we could find it if there was.”

“I wouldn’t be so certain of that, O Angry One.”

He swings his gaze to me. “I only got angry once,” he mutters. Or growls. I can never be certain with him.

“But it was such a deeply righteous anger. And in all fairness, Sybella deserved it for trying to slink off without telling anyone. Here.”

I slip off my horse, hand Beast my reins, and move a dozen steps away from him. I kneel, spread my palms, and slowly press them into the ground, past the rich leaf mold into the deeper soil below. I close my eyes and slow my breath, allowing my pulse to match that of the earth beneath me. The rhythm is slow and steady, so profoundly comforting that my body hums with the rightness of it. I feel the pulse bounce off the roots of the trees, feel it swerve to avoid a deep boulder thrusting up from the bowels of the earth. It moves more swiftly after that, humming along until it opens up near the surface, then echoes off a small enclosed space.

I stand up and brush off my hands. “There is a cave due west, just before the forest ends. If we hurry, we can make it before they pick up our trail. But it will be close.”

 Chapter 12

Genevieve

The king stands before the east wall, studying the painting that hangs there. “Your Majesty.” I curtsy deeply. I had not expected another summons so soon. If ever.

Although it is not yet dusk, all the candles are lit and the fire built high. Without taking his eyes from the painting, he motions me to my feet, then bids me come closer. “Have I told you of this painting?”

“No, sire.” It is, I realize, what he was staring at the last time, when I glimpsed such longing and resentment on his face.

“My father had it made for me.”

It is violent and gruesome—a soldier holds a nobleman in a blue doublet decorated with gold fleurs-de-lis by the chest, his sword raised. They are surrounded by a mob of knights and men-at-arms. Blood already pours from the nobleman’s many wounds, but that does not cause the others to call off their attack, as they are poised to hack him to pieces like the two noblemen who already