The Blacksmith Queen (The Scarred Earth Saga, #1) - G.A Aiken Page 0,62

side of Keeley’s pallet, hyperaware of any strange sounds or changes in bird flight patterns. Anything that was out of the ordinary. Because at this point in their journey, there was no cover. There were no trees to hide their progress or tunnels to escape through. They were out in the open until they hit Amichai territory.

As they moved along, though, he kept expecting Keeley to wake up. Kept expecting her to raise her arm to shield her eyes from the two suns. Or simply ask where she was or where her family was. Maybe ask for some water. Anything that would tell him she was getting better. Anything that would tell him she would live.

But when they finally stepped onto Amichai soil, there was still nothing from Keeley. No sign that would give him hope.

A situation that made him sad for many reasons, but especially because he would have loved for her to see that which so few humans had seen. Her father being one of those few.

Many believed that the Amichais lived on the mountains, but that was wrong. The Amichai Mountain range actually encircled hundreds of thousands of leagues, land ranging from vast forest to open plains to hill-riddled grasslands. There were lakes and rivers throughout that ensured clean water and a good supply of prey animals for food.

The importance and beauty of these lands was why the dwarves, elves, and centaurs worked so hard to keep them closed off from most humans. Between humans’ constant need for war and their insistence on destroying all they touched so they could “rebuild,” the Amichais knew it would take little time for mankind to destroy all they loved.

But Keeley was different. She would love it here and Caid knew—in his hard, spiteful heart—she would take it upon herself to protect the creatures of this land as she protected the wild horses near her home and a boy stranger she’d never met before.

Just seeing her expression as they stood on the ridge that led down into the centaur valleys would have made his bleak day shine.

Sadly, she didn’t wake in time to see or comment on any of that.

She also had nothing to say when Caid’s hooves touched centaur tribal lands and their travel party was immediately greeted by armed centaurs drawing down on them with their bows and nocked arrows.

If it had been Caid’s clan, he wouldn’t have been too concerned. Unfortunately, it was the Clan of the Red Rivers. Another protector clan like the Scarred Earth, except these centaurs were a smaller breed and instead of antlers, they had curled horns. Although smaller than Caid’s people, they were still extremely dangerous and often thought that Scarred Earth didn’t do enough to protect the tribal lands—like kill any human on sight. Even before interlopers reached the mountain range.

Even worse, this battle unit was being led by the young son of the clan’s leader. Diarmad constantly expressed his belief that his father should be the chieftain, ruler of all the centaur clans.

Of course, for that to happen, Caid’s mother would have to step down. She had no intention of doing that, and the other chief leaders wanted her to stay in power. So, Diarmad and his kin did what they could to cause problems. Something Caid and Laila usually tolerated in order to keep the peace. But this was the wrong moment to point arrows at Caid’s sister.

And that wasn’t because Caid was, to say the least, a little tense these days.

“Diarmad,” Laila called out to the centaur male she used to beat up when they were yearlings.

“Laila. Happy to see that you and your brother have returned. Alive.”

Yes. Of course he was. “Thank you. Now if you’ll just—”

Diarmad held up his hand, then used his forefinger to point. “What is that?” he asked.

Laila glanced in the direction he pointed and found the burning eyes of Keeley’s demon wolves staring back at her.

“Pets,” his sister replied, forcing Caid to briefly lower his head to stop himself from laughing.

“And that?”

Now Laila didn’t look, simply answered, “That’s my friend Gemma.”

“You’re friends with a human War Monk?”

“Someone has to be. All that piety makes a being lonely.”

“Laila, you know I can’t allow any of these . . . things in our camp.”

“You can and you will because they are part of the queen’s entourage.”

“The queen? Last we heard the queen was with Prince Marius.”

“The Witches of Amhuinn confirmed two queens. The one we do not want is with Marius. The one we definitely