The Mercenary's Bounty

by Kristen Banet

  But she had to tell him something. One thing was now coming back to her, after all of that.

  “The merchant got away,” she said finally, looking down as they started moving back to the warehouse. She felt too exhausted to run and he didn’t rush her.

  “We’ll go over everything when we get back.” Their tails stayed hooked at the tips, the bond still there. He didn’t give her any worry or disappointment. His end was peaceful, accepting, happy even - maybe because they were alive, and hopefully, the rest of the Company would be too.

  It felt relaxed between her and Luykas, but it didn’t stay that way. As the warehouse came into view, she realized they weren’t done with the night yet. The males were still fighting the remnants of the Elvasi. Only half a dozen, most just trying to get away.

  She ignored Luykas when he tried to say something, breaking the bond finally and jogging to help. She killed one who didn’t realize she was behind him. Now it was clean-up. They didn’t want any runners, she was betting, so she took down another, meeting Kian face to face.

  “Good to see you alive! You killed my new friend! Why would you do that?” She could tell he was joking by his smile. His smile went from joker to friendly in a second, softening. “We’re pretty much done here. Jump on a cart and relax.”

  “Aren’t we going to kill the rest?” she asked, pointing with her sword at two running into the fields now.

  “Yeah.” He shrugged. An arrow flew over them and hit one in the back, then a second quickly followed it. The second wasn’t as on target, but it did the job. She looked up to see Bryn and Varon standing on a cart together now, both with bows in hand.

  “Varon’s was better,” Kian commented lightly. “Still need some practice, Bryn.”

  “I’m the second best shot in the Company,” he retorted, growling.

  “Second. You should aim to be the best,” Nevyn teased, grinning as he walked around the cart. Alchan and Mat were with him. Mat walked swiftly over to her, checked her body, kissed her passionately, then stomped off. She didn’t know what to think of that as he followed Alchan to pick things up. She would need to ask him later.

  “No one is ever going to be better than Varon. Stop fuckin’ with me.” Bryn jumped down in front of her.

  She was just enjoying a moment of peace, seeing they had succeeded. She knew orders were about to be dropped on them, and honestly, she was glad they were going to be leaving the same night they arrived. If she never saw another Elvasi, it would be too soon.

  “Ya saved my life,” he said softly as the other males began to talk and meander, stealing whatever they could get their hands on.

  She wasn’t sure how to respond except to shrug. “You’re…my friend.” She wasn’t going to let any of them die for her, and she liked Bryn. She liked him a lot.

  He shuffled his feet until Nevyn walked over and shoved him. She caught him, hissing as once again her back exploded in pain. Luykas was suddenly behind her, his hand on her lower back.

  “Get on with it, ya dumbass,” Nevyn said before walking off. Bryn and Mave both cursed at him as he left. Luykas quickly pulled his hand back and walked away, seeming tense.

  She was alone with Bryn, whose face was a shade of pink she recognized.

  “Thank ya.”

  “It’s not a problem, rea-”

  He grabbed her cheeks gently and pulled her face up to his. She didn’t stop him. Their lips touched in the softest of kisses, and then he was gone.

  She was left shocked, aching in more ways than one, and practically alone near the carts with only Varon, who had watched the entire interaction in an eerie silence. He gestured something, grinning when she flipped him off. He knew she didn’t understand yet. She was months away from knowing enough Andinna to start learning the hand signals he used. He patted the cart next to her and offered a hand.

  She took it, letting him help her up onto the softer bags of grain. She lay back, groaning.

  “I flew into a beam,” she explained at his confused expression.

  He nodded and spun a finger. She knew from Bryn and Mat, they normally wanted her to roll over when they did that.

  If it put her mind off Bryn and that kiss, she would let him look over her back.

  As he checked over her back and wings like Luykas did, she found she was watching Mat and Bryn work together to load another cart to the brim. They were working not just in the same group, but as a pair. Bryn smiled sheepishly when he caught her watching. Mat just raised his eyebrows a couple of times, an arrogant smirk on his lips.

  Oh yeah, it was definitely time to figure out what was going on with that. On the way back to the village, or when they arrived. She wasn’t sure which, but soon, very soon. With this over, she could finally focus on the mundane things again and the nagging feelings she had growing for the rogue to match what she felt for Matesh.

  “Everyone finished loading up?” Alchan called out. All of the males yelled back, except Varon, who massaged her wings out. She could already feel the bruises forming, the tight knots of pain she knew would take at least a week to get over. She had never been thrown so damned hard. She didn’t answer back either, not wanting to expend the energy on it. No one bothered her to get an answer, especially not with the way Luykas kept hovering close by, almost protectively, and Varon glared at anyone who got around him, his hands leaving to sign for moments to get people to leave. Mat and Bryn never tried, just working and watching her from a distance, both secure and looking good.

  After a night of troubles and a successful mission, she knew her new family would keep an eye out for her.

  My new family.

  She wasn’t sure where the thought came from, but it sounded right in her head. She would reevaluate it later.

  Mave realized she had fallen asleep when she woke up. First, she realized the cart was moving. Second, she realized dawn was breaking.

  “Shit,” she muttered, shaking her head. She sat up, hissing as Luykas was proven right. Her back was on fire. The blow to her back was worse than just a half night of sleeping would fix. She turned slowly to see Mat driving their cart and looked around, seeing how they had six carts, full of supplies. “How long was I out?”

  “Only the rest of the night. It’s fine,” Mat said softly, looking over his shoulder. “You can go back to sleep. We’re going to stop at midday, hopefully far enough away that we don’t get any trouble. We’ll stay the night, everyone will get to heal as much as they can, and we’ll go over everything from last night.”

  “Everything?” she asked softly.

  “That depends on you,” he responded. “What are you thinking?”

  “I don’t know how to do this.” She moved to sit next to him, trying not to vocalize how badly her back ached. While her comment was vague, he knew exactly what she was saying. It was about another male, but she had no one to talk to about it except Mat. He was the only person she trusted with those types of feelings. He was the person who promised to teach her all about relationships for the Andinna, something she had very little experience with, all of it with him.

  “When we get back to the village, there should be a home available for you and me. A family home. Invite him to stay with us.” He was whispering, like it was their little secret.

  “Okay.” She wrapped her arms around her chest, shifting around to get comfortable. “So no one has debriefed from last night?”

  “No, we got out of there pretty quickly and everyone’s been quiet while we’re moving. We’ll get back to the village, then do all the celebrating for a successful mission.” He smiled and leaned over. She met him halfway, kissing him deeply. “I was so worried last night. We saw the barn go down…”

  “Luykas and I helped each other.” Something she was going to be thinking about for a long time. She wanted to fight like that again. Her bond was with Luykas, which meant if she wanted to keep trying it, learning to get better with it, she would need to train with him. Then there was the blood magic he did and how it felt f
or her. She wanted to learn it so badly.

  “I know.” Mat smirked. “Hate him a little less?”

  “A little,” she conceded.

  They went quiet like the rest of the Company, everyone focused on the road. They saw no other travelers, encountered no other Elvasi.

  By midday, she was feeling like she did on hard days in the pits. She was accustomed to being active and injured, but it had been months now since she had to deal with it. She knew she was growing a little softer in some ways, but seeing the Company around her as they all worked together to make camp, she figured the tradeoff was sound.

  Luykas gave them all the suggestion that Mave take two weeks off from wing exercises, and they had agreed without complaint. She was perfectly fine not forcing her wings. It would be stiff and difficult to restart, but there was no way she could do anything at that moment without hurting herself further.

  Bryn gave her space, something she was a little grateful for. While he gave her space, that didn’t stop any of the glances. He’d kissed her, and the next day, it was still on her mind. It was so soft, but she knew there was a strong warrior there. She’d seen it. For his compact size when he was compared to a male like Mat, he was fearsome and fast. He was deadly. He was powerful.

  But the soft kiss was exactly right at the same time. Like the coins he gave her, he was very good at small things that had such an impact. Matesh and Rainev were the same, both good at small gifts, ones that shouldn’t mean anything but meant so much to her.

  Her heart panged at the thought of Rain. They had been away for well over a week now, the longest she’d gone without him around since she met him. They would have a nearly two week trip home thanks to the load they were now delivering. She hoped the time off in the village helped his headspace. She would find out when she got there.

  “Let’s eat and debrief, everyone!” Alchan called out. “Mave, how are you feeling?”

  She narrowed her eyes at the male with the caring words. While he didn’t deliver them in a caring way, she knew he meant them in that way. He never asked how someone was. He left that to others and took status reports.

  “Fine,” she replied.

  He narrowed his eyes back and bared his teeth. She returned with a snarl. She didn’t need the King’s care. He could go sit on a fucking stick.

  “Sure.” He tossed his hands up, rolling his eyes upwards. Again, the not-submissive way. One day, she was positive she would get his eyes to drop. The challenge of it was beginning to get her to keep messing with him. She reveled in the fact that she had free rein to piss off some royal, something denied to her for so long while in slavery.

  “Both of you sit down and let’s get this done so everyone can relax for a moment.” Luykas pointed for them to sit down. She didn’t argue with him, remembering that she had decided to put her eyes down just once, for him. Now it stuck and it annoyed her, but she could fix it later. She wasn’t in the mood to open that can of worms, but she would, and soon. She hated putting her eyes down. Looking back, she hated the moment of weakness that made her in the heat of battle.

  Correctable. I can fix this. He’s not above me.

  She reminded herself of that as she sat down next to Mat on the dirt like the rest of the Company.

  “The raid end went just as planned, so can one of you tell us what the hell happened with your half?” Alchan gave her a pointed look, but she didn’t take the bait.

  Mat was the one who answered. “The merchant had a hidden staircase and used it to escape, leaving his sorcerer and a ton of Elvasi to deal with us. They had security measures. It was always a risk.” Mat shrugged. “He got away. We never saw him again.”

  She could see Varon’s hands moving and tapped Mat, who followed her gaze. He frowned. “Yeah. He was wearing rich shit. Velvet doublet, if I remember right.”

  Varon’s hands continued. Everyone began to laugh, except her.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “Varon shot him as he was leaving the stables. He’s dead.”

  She couldn’t stop from breaking out in a smile. “Thanks.”

  Varon just shrugged in response.

  Bryn picked back up after that diversion. “The sorcerer tried to run when the mansion was burning, thanks to him. We broke through the men he left behind and chased him into the stables. Everything was a shit-show. Mave got hurt…” He coughed a little. She wondered if it was the smoke from the night before. Had he slept and healed yet? “Well, Luykas showed up. We know how it ended.”

  “And we ran away with everything. So, mission went just as planned, with some sideways shit. Like always.” Nevyn chuckled, elbowing Kian. “Good first mission back with us?”

  “Yeah.” Kian elbowed him back. “We’ll have to celebrate hard when we get back. We’ve never run a score like this home.”

  “You sure you want to celebrate with us? From what I remember, Senri-”

  Kian whacked his friend in the chest, making Nevyn double over a little and rub his pec. “You don’t talk about Senri, plus three weeks away won’t be long enough for her to miss me enough, especially if we’re wintering in the village.” Kian grinned. “I love it when she misses me.”

  “I bet you do,” Nevyn said, laughing, the hit forgotten.

  The entire group devolved into talk once they realized there was no getting Nevyn and Kian back on track. She grabbed some jerky and chewed on it. The night before had been fire and fighting. Now, it just felt like friends and family having a good time in the woods.

  The only person who was consistently quiet was Zayden. She watched him carefully, seeing he was carving a piece of wood down with a small knife. She wasn’t sure what he was doing really with it. Finally, curiosity and the good afternoon got the better of her. She left Mat, who watched her in confusion, and sat next to Zayden.

  “May I ask what you’re doing?” She nodded to what he was doing, but he never looked up to her.

  “I like to carve little things,” he said in reply. “When I need time to think.” He glanced at her. “Alone.”

  “Still upset over Rain, I’m guessing.” She sighed. “Mat is still your friend. Why don’t you come hang out with us?”

  “I’ve been told that more than once, but you and he are keeping secrets about my son. Makes it a little hard just to have a good time like everyone else.” He sighed. “And last night. Well, at least I didn’t have to worry about him dying.”

  “Excuse me?” She didn’t like the accusing note to how he said that.

  “I fished you out of an ocean to stick around for Rain and you nearly got killed on your first job with us. Good job.”

  She growled. “Fuck you, asshole. Fine, play with your wood alone.” She got back up, deciding she didn’t have the patience for this. She found herself sitting next to Mat again, glaring at Zayden with a heat she hadn’t had since the pits, like she glared at some of the other gladiators when she was in a bad mood.

  “I would have warned you if I had time, but you were off in a flash. The rest of us know better than to mess with Zayden when he’s carving. He normally only does it when he’s unable to find other outlets for his temper.” Mat wrapped an arm around her waist. “Been a long time since I’ve seen him do it.”

  “It’s Rain. He’s fucking cranky.”

  “He’ll be that way until he knows Rain is okay, that he’s still the son he was, and that he still loves his father. We just need to give them both time now.” Mat kissed her shoulder, trying to distract her. She knew it. He always did things like this, it seemed. “Let it go. He’ll be different by the end of winter, promise.”

  “Okay. I just was trying to keep him company, like we’re all hanging out.” She felt stupid.

  “Don’t let it bother you.”

  “Why not?” she demanded.

  “I don’t want to kill my best friend, even if he’s being a bit of a shitty one right now.” He gave her a sheepish smile. “Let’s just leave everything until we get back to the village. How does t
hat sound?”

  “Perfect.” She was ready to get off the road and find this elusive new home they kept telling her was waiting in the village. Over two months free, and she hadn’t yet been able to enjoy being able to decide what to do with her own day.

  43

  Mave

  The road home was slow, but in a way, it flew by. On their fourteenth day, near the village, Mave found herself listening to Kian and Alchan.

  “I don’t need to send you back early. What are we supposed to do with your horse? We’ll be there by the evening meal.”

  “Fine, Alchan.” Kian sighed.

  For the first week of the trip, Kian hadn’t been missing his female too much. The second week, he was dying for her. She enjoyed the sight of it as much as she enjoyed the male in general. His exuberance to talk and make friends always made her shy, but she knew there was nothing foul in it. He had an open face, an inability to lie, and loved telling stories. Plus his friendship with Nevyn was always funny to watch. They were a better version of Mat and Zayden, since neither of them were cranky assholes. Just two middle-aged males who stopped taking half the world seriously. Varon was always watching them with fondness.

  “It’ll be okay, Kian,” she called out. “Senri will probably be there when we get back.”

  “Not probably. She will. Kian just wants to get home to enjoy her for a moment.” Nevyn was laughing. “Sorry, but none of us want to deal with your horse. You are keeping your ass on it, my friend.”

  “You are a terrible friend,” Kian fired back at the warrior. “Mat, surely you would understand. You would pull my horse so I can get home a little before all of you to enjoy my female.”

  “No, not really.” Mat grinned, riding next to her. “Mine is part of the Company and we don’t get to fly home early to enjoy some time. We have to ride, too.”

  “Mave can’t fly, therefore that makes sense. I can fly and Senri is right there.” He pointed off into the distance.

  She sighed, her eyes rolling upward.