Siege (The Warrior Chronicles, #5) - K.F. Breene Page 0,98

stood. Smiling, she clapped Kallon on the back, harder than she needed to.

“Thank you,” Kallon said, wincing.

“Shanti Cu Hoi,” Cayan said in a strange voice. He dropped to a knee before her. “Will you marry me?”

With a flush, Shanti tried not to notice all the people staring at her. She swallowed as Kallon stepped away, giving them room. She opened her mouth, maybe to say no, but “Yes” tumbled out of her mouth.

Clapping and cheers filled the clearing. Cayan’s lips connected with hers again, sweet and delicious. “Finally,” he said, his smile so bright it could block out the sun. “C’mon, let’s head back. There’s something I want to show you.”

“I bet it’s big, and I bet she’s already seen it,” Mela hollered. Everyone laughed as Shanti hurried Cayan away from the group. They’d only get raunchier, which wasn’t as big of a concern as them getting grabby.

Alena stopped them, still looking tired from so long without sleep when she was alone in the city. “S’am. From what we’ve seen, it seems my poison hit about as many as we thought it might, but…”

“It helped,” Shanti said firmly. “You couldn’t be expected to rid a whole city of Graygual with one pot of stew.”

Alena shrugged and looked at the ground. “High expectations. I just wish I could’ve helped in battle—” She’d been kept back until the city people had taken to the rooftops.

“We can only do so many jobs, Alena.” Cayan leaned forward, catching her eyes and making her shrink back. “You did good. You fulfilled your place within this army. Shanti’s Honor Guard has never done things the normal way. You are the only one who notices. Trust me.”

“That’s certainly true,” Shanti said, covering the woman with a blanket of support. “Now go learn to use that sword.”

“Yes, S’am,” Alena said, hurrying away.

“She’s dedicated,” Cayan said, noticing Marc sitting by himself. “As is he, when he wants to be.”

“He’s taken it upon himself to learn more about the Gift. I think he’s under the impression that I won’t make him fight if he finds another useful skill.”

“My men are experienced, and he’s the doctor. They weren’t going to sacrifice their chance to get healed if they got injured. I don’t blame them. You put him at too much risk.”

“Usually there isn’t a choice.”

“Captain!” someone hollered, urgency in his voice.

Shanti’s stomach flipped over and worry started to eat away as she recognized the pain pouring out of the man. She spread out her Gift, feeling more sorrow and some confusion.

“Sir, it’s the prisoner.”

Cayan started jogging immediately, and Shanti followed right behind him. They covered the distance to the officers’ quarters in no time. When they got there, they both slowed, taking in the broken door hanging on one hinge. Shanti stepped through after Cayan and immediately felt her stomach drop to the floor.

There, on the ground with blood coming from a hole where his eye should have been, sprawled Daniels. Tomous was strewn on the floor across the room, one of his arms at an unnatural angle.

Heart in her throat, Shanti rushed to him, feeling for a pulse on his neck. Her Gift was pulled away, covering the city and then identifying each mind as Cayan searched for the prisoner. A pulse pushed at her fingers, strong and sure.

“Get Marc,” she yelled. One of the Westwood men peeled from the door and took off at a run. “There’s no point, Cayan,” she said, touching Tomous’ arm. It was hot to the touch. Only an idiot wouldn’t know it was broken. “He can hide from your Gift, remember.”

“Fuck!” Cayan picked up a chair and threw it against the wall. He walked toward the window and looked out, pain coursing through him as Daniels lay on the ground behind him. “How did this happen?”

The man who had summoned him, solemn and heartbroken, spoke up in a rough voice. “Tomous was guarding him. Daniels came to question him, I believe. We heard a commotion and came to see what was the matter. We found them like this. No one went by us.”

Shanti looked around the room, feeling the grief from Daniels burying into her chest. She rubbed her eyes as Kallon and Rohnan came running, feeling her through the link. Rohnan stepped into the room and then found the object of her pain. He paused, and then slowly walked to the wall and leaned his back against it, looking at the ground.

“Summon someone from this town that knows this building,” Cayan said with