Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, #5) - K.F. Breene Page 0,48

up. He wasn’t like a Graygual officer in character, and he certainly wasn’t trained like them.

“Deprive him of sleep,” she said to Sanders. “And by all means, continue to torture him with your personality. He’ll break sooner or later.”

“He’ll get brained with a rock sooner rather than later if he doesn’t start answering some of my questions,” Sanders growled.

Shanti made a clicking sound with her tongue. Her horse launched forward, throwing her back in the saddle. “Damn it!” She clutched at the saddle and pulled herself forward as the horse picked up speed. “Slow down, you filthy animal!” She pulled on the reins, tugging the horse’s head back. “Slow…down or I will put spikes in your mouth next time!”

The Bastard whinnied and half jumped, digging in his hooves on landing before hopping forward to slow. Shanti clutched with her legs and steadied her balance, breathing heavily.

“You’ll wind up as dinner if you keep this up,” she warned. She lightly tapped her heels to his sides. Thankfully, he started walking.

“Your horse is feeling better, huh?” Sonson asked with a grin. He was riding at the front of his Shadow, keeping everyone together. The Shumas were right behind them, all just out of the Graygual’s range and working on communicating through the Gift.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Shanti scowled down at her animal. “I doubt he’ll be any less surly, though.”

“Just like his rider.” A peal of laughter rang up from both the Shadow and Shumas.

“I’m really getting tired of that joke.” Shanti prodded her horse to go a little faster, wanting to get up to Cayan without making her horse sprint to do it.

“It’s not a joke,” Sonson yelled after her.

As she neared the front of the line, Cayan glanced back. Those beautiful blue eyes were a pleasant change from the icy ones filled with pain at the back. “Lucius,” he said. “Fall back.”

Lucius glanced over his shoulder at the Bastard before pulling back gently on the reins. Very obediently, his horse slowed to allow Shanti access to the Captain.

“I miss the boring horse I rode out of your city,” Shanti muttered.

“What have you found out?” Cayan asked.

A male skittered by the edges of Shanti’s awareness. Judging by the road they were on, others she had felt, and the fact that it was a single person, it was probably a bandit. He wouldn’t get close enough to be trouble.

“He’s hiding something.” Shanti thought over the lengthy and stilted conversation. “He wouldn’t say much, but with Sanders constantly annoying him, he made some admissions early on, one of those being that his village was cut down by the Graygual. He’d been confused at first when people around him were falling from the Inkna’s abilities, but he hadn’t felt anything. As soon as he figured out Sanders’ methods for extracting information—probably much different from the Graygual method of using pain—he stopped saying much of anything. He’s smart. And determined.”

“So the enemy grabbed him?”

Shanti furrowed her brow, considering his tone and words carefully, trying to make sure she pieced together the correct story. “I don’t think so. He was cut down, thought he’d die, but didn’t. It was when he was recovering that the Inkna approached him. I’m not certain, but I think it was some time later. I don’t know. He’s healed now, and showed confusion when I asked various training methods. I don’t think he’s been with the Graygual that long. So what was he doing between nearly dying, and joining the Graygual, if not being trained?”

“I don’t like it. He doesn’t fit.”

“No, he doesn’t, but we have no idea how. Or why. He must’ve met Xandre. Had to have, right? How else could he have ended up with the inner circle?”

“There could’ve been a go-between, but he would certainly know something. He has information we need, whether he knows if it’s useful or not.”

Shanti sighed and looked out at the trees. The Bastard did that weird noise, halfway between a growl and a snarl, both not sounding like they should come from a horse. She yanked the reins left, trying to put more distance between him and Cayan’s horse. The Bastard would pick a fight, and Cayan’s horse would not back down.

“This accursed animal makes my life difficult,” she said with another yank out of temper.

“Now you know how Sanders feels.”

Shanti narrowed her eyes at the side of Cayan’s face where that dimple was showing. The indentation smoothed over quickly as seriousness returned to Cayan’s bearing. “You told Sanders to start sleep depravation after