“Thom! Thordin!”
Thordin twisted in his saddle toward the sound of a familiar voice, cursing under his breath. What’s Cameron doing here? We left him behind on purpose. One of them had to stay with Neve and Marin. We chose him. He reined up abruptly, wheeling his horse into a sharp turn. Rory swore and hauled back on his own reins. Thom and Jacqueline pounded on another dozen feet before they both pulled their mounts to a stop and turned.
“Cameron!” he barked. “What the hell are you thinking?”
Cameron reined up alongside him, the hilt of Caliburn glinting in the moonlight as it peeked up over his shoulder. “It’s Phelan. The skinchangers are coming after him again. We’ve got to–”
“Do something. I’m aware.” Thordin’s eyes narrowed. “You should have stayed.”
“Marin and J.T. weren’t giving me much choice,” Cameron said. He glanced beyond Thordin toward Thom, who’d trotted his horse back to them. “Marin basically said if one of us didn’t go, she was going to go herself and we all know that she’d have done it–and Neve never would have forgiven me if something happened to Phelan and I didn’t at least try to stop it.” Their breath steamed in the chill air as they looked at each other in the darkness.
“We’re wasting time,” Thordin growled, trying to tamp down his anger and annoyance. He should have suspected that they’d realize something, that they’d send someone to try to warn them–to warn Phelan.
He just hadn’t expected it to be Cameron of all people.
You send the bloody heir to the bloody sword with the bloody sword out into the wilds to face down a horde of beast-men who won’t stop until their quary’s dead. When are we going to learn our lessons about how this should all work?
Thom shook his head. “What’s done is done. Let’s keep moving.”
“Indeed.” Thordin kicked his horse back into motion again, trusting the rest to follow in his wake.
There wasn’t enough time for apologies and explanations, not when the Taliesin’s life was at stake.
I thought I’d never catch up. Now that I have, I’m clicking ‘refresh’ like some kind of lab animal hitting the ‘treat’ lever at the end of the maze. I lovelovelove this story!
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed it thus far!