A Time of Blood (Of Blood and Bone #2) - John Gwynne Page 0,140

he had been so filled with a need to please his mother, to earn her respect. For the whole visit Erdene had been under the watchful eye of Israfil and his Ben-Elim, but for a few moments they had been distracted and Erdene had leaned close to Bleda, whispering in his ear.

“I do,” Bleda said.

“Never forget them,” Erdene said.

“But, surely things are different now?” Bleda said, puzzled.

Erdene opened her mouth to speak, then paused, cocking her head.

There was the whisper of wings above them; Bleda looked up to see shadows flitting across the moon and suddenly Bleda and Erdene were on their feet, swords hissing into their fists. Horns started blaring, Yul, Ellac, Tuld and Ruga appeared, bows in their fists, the camp suddenly alive, like a kicked hornets’ nest.

“Friend,” a voice called down from above, and Bleda glimpsed white-feathered wings.

A Ben-Elim dropped low over them, hovering, wings making the fire flicker.

“The Lord Protector is here,” he said, “you are summoned to a council of war.”

Bleda rubbed his shaved head, feeling the warrior braid that his mother had woven for him. It felt wonderful finally to wear the symbol of his Clan.

And cold.

He was sitting in a circle around a fire-pit, his mother beside him, Uldin and Jin there also, as well as the Ben-Elim captain, Hadran. Kol sat before them all, and Riv sat beside him. Bleda was trying to stay focused on what Kol was saying, but his eyes kept drifting to Riv, thinking about when he had seen her last…

Riv’s eyes were shining in the firelight, and Bleda could not be sure, but he thought that she was looking at him.

“Where are these Kadoshim and their followers, then?” Kol was saying.

Uldin shrugged. “We have only covered half of the distance to the site where I was attacked,” he said. “But if they are moving on Drassil, they should be close.” He looked left and right. “But this is a big forest and a small road.”

“Yes, I agree,” Kol said. “Galloping along this road with no ground support is dangerous.”

“Your Ben-Elim stressed that speed was important.” Uldin shrugged.

“It is,” Kol agreed, “but not at the risk of ambush and annihilation.”

“We will not be the ones that are annihilated,” Erdene said.

“I stopped at Drassil first,” Kol said, “and ordered a dozen units of our scouts and huntsmen to work towards us, scouring the forest as they go. And Lorina is marching up the east way with five hundred White-Wings. A rearguard support in case we need more ground troops.”

Bleda nodded to himself, thinking that was wise. The speed of the Sirak and Cheren was crucial in meeting this threat, but they were not best suited for combat beneath the trees of Forn Forest.

“What if this is a trick?” Riv said, speaking out for the first time. “An ambush? Or like before, when we marched to Oriens, lured out to empty and weaken Drassil?”

“I have thought that, too,” Kol said. “Drassil is safe, over two thousand Ben-Elim still there, with Aphra’s five hundred White-Wings and more besides. The danger is here. We are at risk of an ambush here, and the Kadoshim have done it before, at Varan’s Fall. Which is why we will move more slowly, and if we find them, we will only meet them in battle upon the road, and hold them until the White-Wings arrive.”

Bleda bridled at that, as did Uldin, by the look of him.

“If we bring our enemy to battle, there will be nothing left of them by the time the White-Wings have arrived,” Uldin said.

“The Cheren did not do so well against this enemy when they attacked you on the road,” Kol pointed out.

“We were heavily outnumbered, and taken by surprise,” Uldin growled. “But with our Sirak kin beside us, victory is certain.”

“We will move slowly, scout the land around us and hold our enemy unless they engage us,” Kol said. “That is my last word on it. Now, sleep, and we will move at dawn.”

Bleda stood in the starlight of a forest glade, waiting. Mirim and Ruga were close by, bows in their fists and arrows loosely nocked.

Not that we can see more than a dozen paces to shoot anything.

They were standing within the trees of Forn Forest, a few hundred paces away from the camp. Bleda could see the flicker of torchlight from the road.

Tuld, Ruga and Mirim had expressed their feelings about him doing this, sneaking out past the picket lines when there were possible enemies in the forest, besides