***
“Why does it seem like I’m the only one willing to tell him when he has a terrible idea?” Van asked as he glared towards the Wall and the mighty river cutting through it.
“Because you’re a cantankerous old grump who needs to let himself have some fun once in a while,” Rynne chided. “You’re also full of drek. I tell him his ideas are terrible all the time.”
“Yeah, but you still go along with them.”
“And what do you think you’re doing right now?”
Tiel’s eyes flicked between the two of them. As usual, he had a hard time deciding if they loved or hated each other. Maybe it was a little bit of both. “I think it’s a bad idea and I told him several times,” he put in.
“Fantastic, the two of you finally agree on something,” Rynne growled. “Maybe it is a day for miracles.”
The trio was positioned just behind the lip of a rocky outcropping a few hundred yards from the Wall. They had the horses with them, and now they were just waiting for Rook’s distraction to make their move for the opening. Rynne was flat on her stomach watching the sentries through her spyglass, while Van stood next to the horses.
“He wasn’t lying when he said you used this effectively during the war, was he?” Tiel asked.
Van snorted. “Lied? No. Exaggerated…”
“What does that mean?”
“The first time Torgain pulled this he got shot in the leg. We had to carry him across and run for cover in the forest.”
Tiel grimaced. “You didn’t mention that earlier.”
“It worked just fine the second time we did it. We didn’t even have magic.”
“So then why do you think it is such a bad idea?”
“Like I said,” Rynne muttered, “he enjoys being a mood-killer. There’s a reason I stopped inviting him to my shows.”
“You never stopped inviting me,” Van pointed out. “I told you I stopped going because watching a bunch of drunks try and grope you isn’t my idea of a good time.”
“So you were jealous, then.”
Van groaned and walked over to the horses. “Those sentries really need to just attack already.”
Tiel shook his head in bewilderment and decided it probably wasn’t worth bothering to figure them out. He let the silence linger a few moments before moving over to Rynne and kneeling down next to her. “Still nothing?”
“Nope.”
He nodded. “Do your fans really try to…grope you?”
She lowered the spyglass and raised an eyebrow at him. “Some. That’s why I hire big scary men to stand at the front of the stage.” She then frowned as if a thought belatedly struck her. “I thought you said you were a fan? Haven’t you been to the shows?”
“Uh, just the outdoor ones, and only from a distance,” he admitted. “Sometimes I could still hear the music down the street, so I would sit outside and listen.”
“But you knew what I looked like.”
“I…saw sketches. And a painting once.”
“Those never sold as well as I’d hoped,” she said, turning away again. A faint smile tugged at her lips. “Well, now you’re here in person. You like what you see?”
He blinked. “Uh…”
Rynne laughed and smacked him lightly on the arm. “Goddess, you’re so much fun. I didn’t think cheeks could get that red.”
He shook his head. “You’re a very…odd woman.”
“I’m Sunoan. We like it that way.”
Tiel smiled despite himself and let the rush of embarrassment fade. The truth of the matter was that he did like what he saw—he couldn’t imagine that any man wouldn’t. As she turned back to her vigil, he found his eyes lingering on the subtle curves of her back and the shapely thighs hidden beneath her leather leggings…
“Uh oh,” Van warned from by the horses. “Rynne, give me the spyglass.”
“What?”
“Give it to me,” he repeated, walking over and taking it from her. He aimed it towards the north, near the edge of the forest. Tiel could make out a few blurry shapes…a merchant caravan, perhaps?
“What is it?” Rynne asked, pulling herself to her feet.
Van turned, his lips pressed tightly together. “Faceless. And they’re heading straight for Rook.”
The Last Goddess Page 29
