Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, #5) - K.F. Breene Page 0,55

reason to spare troublemakers. Their army is in tatters.”

“They will fight.” Kallon walked toward them with a face made of stone and eyes as stormy as the sky before it crashed down on the land. His shoulders were back, straight and proud, but his emotions were in a turbulent state. “This is not the worst I have seen. In those towns I passed, or helped, I did not spend half the time on their broken villages that you are. Yet still they banded together.”

“You saying we should just fuck off and leave them to their misery?” Sanders asked, bristling.

Kallon cocked his head. He gave a frustrated shake of his head and muttered a curse word before whatever confused him dropped away. His eyes turned piercing before he directed his gaze back at Cayan. “You have plans, somewhere to be. You didn’t want to come this way, and you didn’t want to help because of the overall goal. Even though you bent your will for the Chulan, you still stay and fix the lives of these people instead of rushing on.” His chin raised a fraction. He shifted his weight, a barely perceptible move. “I always rushed on. I never stayed.” His hands clenched. “You are the better man for it. The better leader.” Kallon clenched and unclenched his jaw. “To keep my honor, I must admit that you deserve the Chulan. Her grandfather never thought a mortal man would. She is touched by the Elders, and speaks on their behalf. It seems she has found a refuge in you that our people find in her. For that, I will welcome you into our people when she decides to mate you.”

He stared straight into Cayan’s eyes, causing a shot of adrenaline to race up Cayan’s spine. War raged in that look. Pain. “This does not negate my challenge,” Kallon said, finally.

With that, he turned and glided away, much too graceful to match the sullen mood that swarmed around him.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Sanders said softly.

Cayan’s fingers tingled as he watched the other man. His Gift bubbled and boiled, desperate to be used. He glanced in Shanti’s direction. She was looking at him with a half-smile on her face.

“Her people are crazy,” Sanders said. “I like them.”

“Our Women’s Circle want to overturn the unspoken rule that nakedness isn’t allowed outdoors.” Cayan blew out a breath in a laugh, trying to work out the rush of Kallon’s renewed interest in a challenge.

“What the bloody hell?” Sanders stared at him, shocked. “If they think I am going to turn the other way when a man comes dangling along on the walkway, they have another thing coming. I don’t care that they can make my life hell; I will not bend on that point. I don’t need to see a bunch of dicks swinging around! And do you know what Junice would do to me if I glanced— glanced!—at a naked woman? I might as well look for a new house, because she wouldn’t let me stay with her, that’s for certain. What has gotten into their heads? It’s bad enough women are throwing on pants and marching into the army, but now they want to watch naked men wander around the place? No way, sir, if you don’t mind me saying. That cannot happen. Think of the children!”

Cayan laughed, blindsided by Sanders’ sudden shift in mood. Townspeople looked at him, shocked and confused. He couldn’t help it, though. The chuckles built, the misery from seeing these townspeople turning into hysteria. Guffaws erupted, consuming his body and making him double over.

“You need to get a handle on yourself, sir,” Sanders said in a low voice. “If these people see you cracking up, it’ll undo everything you’ve done.”

Cayan laughed just a bit harder at the absurdity of all this, at the madness of thinking he could bring down a tyrant like Xandre with their tiny force. They’d lost five people today, and this was only a small town. They’d lost two taking the Mugdock city, and that should’ve been nothing. There was no way they could win. No way this could work out to their benefit. What were they doing?

“Hey.” Shanti’s warm hand touched his shoulder. Her feminine scent, mixed with that of battle and victory, wrapped around his head.

Without thinking, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her away, out of the town and into the nearby trees. There he laid her down in a rush of need before stripping off her pants