Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, #5) - K.F. Breene Page 0,84
the room nodded.
“Okay.” Rohnan waited for a minute.
Almost immediately, Shanti’s ability to feel his mind faded. She mentally reached out, but touching his mind was like sand running through her fingers.
“What do you feel?” Shanti asked with a strange surge of fear. She reached out to touch him physically.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Just…myself. My own feelings, no one else’s.” Bliss transformed his face. “This is…nice. Although I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“That doesn’t go away,” Leilius said with his hand on his belly again.
“How long does it last?” Shanti asked.
“About four hours is average,” Tauneya said. “That is, if you no take anti-drug.”
“Mostly. Not completely. You still protected from Inkna, but they can feel. Judging by Inkna expression when they see us, something is off. But they have no pushed.”
Shanti grabbed the weed from Rohnan and took a big bite.
“What are you doing?” Kallon said, rushing forward.
Her mouth started to burn. “Ugh. This is gross.” She took another bite. “I’m going to beat Sonson.”
“What does it mean, sir?”
Weary and saddlesore, Cayan flung his leg over the saddle of the horse. Men staggered around him. They had pushed hard these last few days, but now their bodies were starting to give out.
Sanders stood straight and tall beside an expensive coach, refusing to accept his brain and body’s plea to shut down. The man was a rock.
Cayan noticed the horses off to the side, tied to a tree and shifting in the night. He opened the door of the coach and found a note lying on the velvet bench seat. “Bring me some light.”
Light bobbed as a lantern was thrust closer.
The note was written in Shanti’s hand, instructions for how to proceed with the coach.
“Damn it, woman.” Cayan handed the note to Daniels. He pushed away the fuzzy tiredness of his mind and focused on their Joining. All was quiet. As in, he couldn’t read her at all. He could feel her, but even that was muffled, as if she was speaking through a sock. He didn’t know much more other than she was alive and not in pain or danger.
“This…changes things, sir.” Daniels held up the note.
“What is it?” Sanders asked, sparing a glance for the men tying up the horses. “Rachie, that horse—you’re going to get kicked one day, son. You’d best watch yourself.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Idiot,” Sanders muttered.
“Shanti has found a way to hand-deliver me to the officer in charge of this city. Sanders, you’ll be leading the men in the charge through the gate. Daniels—work it out.”
“Yes, sir,” Daniels said, only a sliver of tiredness entering his voice.
“Just you, sir?” Sanders asked, following Cayan through the men setting up a makeshift camp.
“No. Three non-Gifted men, the very best warriors we have. I’d take you but I need someone to lead the charge.”
“No problem, sir. Who are you choosing?”
Cayan stopped and looked out at the night, flicking through countless options. The Graygual officers would be trained to the level of the Hunter, Cayan bet. They’d be quick and precise, with no emotion, and able to endure pain. He needed someone that wanted it with a passion. Someone good and fast, but that also wanted vengeance.
He blew out a breath. To Sanders he said, “I’ll think on it. In the meantime, get everyone fed and settled down. They should get a couple of hours’ sleep while they can.”
“Yes, sir. What about the Shadow?”
“They should be here by dawn. If they’re not, we go without them.”
The first rays of the sun crawled up the roof closest to the front gate and over Shanti’s boot. The creak of leather indicated soft shifts in position, of bowstrings being rubbed against hands or gloves. A fine coach trundled down the path toward the city led by a pair of exquisitely bred horses. The speed of the coach was much faster than when it had left the city the day before. The guards would think something was wrong.
The guards, roused out of their half-asleep stupor by the commotion, straightened up and stared for a moment. Recognizing the coach, one rushed out of the area, probably going to tell a higher-up. The two left behind rushed forward, ready to grab the horses and check in on the lady inside. If someone needed medical assistance, they’d want to direct her.
Everything was exactly as Tauneya had said. From the Inkna they’d overtaken, to the changing of the guards that was about to take place. The officer in this city wasn’t