The Ranger of Marzanna (The Goddess War #1) - Jon Skovron Page 0,142

So how about it? No soldiers, no tricks, no bullshit. Just you and me, being reasonable human beings. Come to the town of Les, and if I see that you’re alone, I’ll show myself, and we can sort things out between us.

Love, Yasha

Sebastian crumpled the parchment, thinking of those poor soldiers she had killed before fleeing Gogoleth.

“Oh, you bet we’ll sort things out, Sonya.”

56

Sebastian rode west out of Gogoleth nursing an old, familiar resentment. Who did his reckless idiot of a sister think she was? He could practically hear the patronizing tone of her voice when he’d read her letter. What reason did she have to act so superior? Just because she was a few years older than him? Because she could ride a horse and shoot a couple of arrows? Maybe he had been impressed once, but now he found it laughable.

Of course, Sonya probably thought he was still sitting around making little ice sculptures in a bowl. He couldn’t wait to show her what he could do now. That cocky attitude of hers would crumble and she’d have to acknowledge that he’d made the right choice to enlist in the imperial army. Then, as the final touch, he’d arrest her and drag her back to Gogoleth to await trial for her crimes. Freedom of choice was not freedom from consequence, and hers was long overdue.

He rode the rest of the day with those thoughts circling in his head like a cat chasing its tail. The longer he rode, the angrier he got, and the more eager he became to show her just what he was capable of now.

The town of Les was only about a day and a half ride from Gogoleth. He’d gotten a late start so he still had quite a ways to go when the sun began to set. He tried to push his horse to continue in the dark, but the roads in that direction were in poor condition, and after his horse stumbled, he reluctantly decided he would need to stop for the night.

There were no inns, but he’d been on enough missions with his men that he no longer hesitated to insist that a peasant provide him with room and board for the night. Normally he would at least try to get to know his hosts, but that night the idea of making small talk only irritated him further. Instead he ate with the peasant family in grim silence, still contemplating how he would punish Sonya, first for having the audacity to send a message to the home of his betrothed, then for her crimes against the empire. After supper, he lay in bed and allowed his mind to root through his memories of the last time he’d seen her in search of further fuel for his anger.

In retrospect, it amazed him how arrogant she had been. She had just strolled into his quarters, presuming that she knew what was best for him after their father died. She’d hardly been home for over two years. How could she possibly know about what was best for him? She didn’t know him anymore. Perhaps her “rescue” had merely been her attempt to assert dominance over him, as she had when they were younger. She’d been shocked when he’d stood up for himself, as if she hadn’t even thought it possible. Maybe it had wounded her pride to such an extent that she’d lashed out at two men who’d probably not even realized they were in peril until it was too late. She didn’t look dangerous, but clearly all that time spent killing animals had made her quite deadly, and she had exploited that advantage without mercy.

At some point in his rumination, Sebastian drifted off to sleep. But he did not feel at all refreshed when he woke early the next morning. His head hurt, and his stomach felt sour. The thought of breakfast was unappealing, so he immediately continued on to Les, anger his only sustenance.

When Sebastian reached the town, he found it to be a predictably drab and unvarnished Izmorozian collection of wood and stone huts. During his recent expeditions to root out traitors, he’d seen many like it. Places half broken by a war that had ended twenty years ago, and yet the people still hadn’t bothered to properly repair them. His father had built an entire farmstead in that time, so he wondered why they had done nothing. But when he looked at the dirty, ill-fed people who trudged down the