Journey of the Wanderer

by Shawna Thomas

  To her surprise, his cheeks reddened slightly. “Arien showed me to a chamber for the night and told me he would come for me later. But I’d seen some artwork I’d wanted to examine, and then there was more down the corridor, which intersected with another corridor and up a stair, and now I’m lost. I suppose I’m looking for the dining hall.”

  Guilt chased away her irritation. It had taken her a long time to learn her way around Siann. She grinned. “You’re not even close.”

  He shrugged and smiled. “Yeah, I figured that. I was just looking at all this artwork and following it down the corridors until...” He gestured to her.

  Ilythra shocked herself by laughing. “Until I stopped you in your tracks.”

  He glanced at her with appreciation, and her skin warmed. She fought the confusion. Normally, if a man looked at her like that, she put him in his place immediately. Ryliann made her want to slow down. She relaxed in his presence. She backed up a step. She didn’t have time for petty attractions.

  “It’s good I did. You are going the wrong way. I can show you where the dining hall is.”

  “Thank you. Were you heading there too?”

  She gestured back the way he’d come. “No. I was heading to Ewen’s study.”

  “I don’t want to keep you.”

  Ilythra shrugged. “And I don’t want the guilt of letting you starve while you wander around the keep.”

  They walked in silence but Ryliann’s presence seemed bigger than it ought to. She was aware of his every movement.

  “By the gods.”

  She turned at the whispered exclamation to find Ryliann lingering by the open door to the library.

  He turned to her with bright eyes. “May I?”

  She shrugged. “It’s open to everyone.”

  Ryliann strode toward one bookcase and ran his fingers reverently across the spine of a leather-bound tome. “So this is where Ewen’s treasure is kept.” The words were barely audible, his eyes feasting on the book-laden shelves. A shiver tingled up her spine. His voice had dropped in tone, became intimate. It felt like a caress. Need quickened in her lower abdomen.

  “Some of these books are old even by Dawn Children standards,” she said. “I’m sure Ewen would not mind if you read them while you were here.”

  He shook his head, his expression sad. “I will only be here this evening.”

  A mixture of disappointment and relief surged through her. She didn’t need the confusing presence of the prince.

  “Besides, I can’t read Siobani,” he added.

  “Some of them are written in Anatarian.” Ilythra leaned against the doorway.

  The prince wandered from case to case, pausing every so often, He reached up to trace another book spine. The muscles in his back and arms flexed under his tunic. Her heart skipped a beat then made up for it in a staccato rhythm. For a moment, she imagined the candlelight on his naked flesh, how his skin would feel under her touch, and was suddenly jealous of the books.

  “You will miss supper,” she snapped.

  Ryliann turned. “I am sorry. We have a library of kinds in Edriel, but nothing like this.”

  His pale eyes had darkened. Did they change with his mood?

  Ilythra shook her head. It wasn’t the prince’s fault she was acting like a maiden waiting for her first kiss. It was time to start behaving like a warrior and a stone keeper, not a silly female. “My apologies. I just got back from a long journey. I am tired. When I first saw the library, I had the same reaction.”

  Ryliann smiled and a single dimple formed on one check. She fought the urge to reach out and touch it. “How long have you been with the Siobani?”

  “They prefer Dawn Children, Elderborn if you must. Siobani is their language, not their race.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know.”

  Guilt once again flushed through her. What was it with this man? “No. I’m sorry. You have no way of knowing that.”

  “And to my question?”

  He was persistent. She’d give him that. “Several years. Not nearly long enough to learn what I need to know.”

  “What do you need to know?” He stepped closer. His fragrance wafted on the air.

  She breathed deeply but fought the temptation to close her eyes. She stared at the prince, noted his dark hair pulled away from high cheekbones, his piercing eyes, long, straight nose and full lips. He was a good-looking man. But he was only a man. “Everything,” she replied.

  He returned her appraisal. “So you need to stay, what, one or two more years?”

  To her surprise, she laughed again. “I hope we have that.”

  The smile fell from his face.

  Ilythra sobered. “What happened in Edriel after Arien and I left?”

  Ryliann seemed unable to tear his gaze away. “I was arrested for treason before I even made it back to the castle. They took me before my father and Brishne. I tried to warn him but...” He shook his head. “They threw me in the dungeons to await trial. A few days later, my men rescued me.” He swallowed, a faraway look in his eyes. “I was taken to where two contingents of men I’d trained waited for me. They would not listen to reason. They were determined to follow me.”

  “And you led them here?”

  “This was only place I knew that was...” A look of sorrow crossed over his features and tugged at her heart. “I know the Sioba—the Dawn Children are honorable. You came to my father seeking alliance. I had hoped you would not deny me the same thing.” He stared at her with eyes so open and beseeching she felt her walls begin to crumble again.

  “I don’t know what help we can be to you. The problem is bigger than Edriel.”

  “Yes. So I’ve learned. The Riege said he knew who was influencing my father.”

  Ilythra stared over Ryliann’s head. “Yes.” She pulled Ilydearta from beneath her tunic. Ryliann’s breath caught. “He is a stone keeper, like me, like Ewen, and he will stop at nothing until Anatar falls under his influence.” She met his gaze. “Nothing.”

  “The stones are true too,” he whispered, his gaze intent on Ilydearta. He seemed to shake himself and looked at her. “But he is only one, and you are two. You have him outnumbered.”

  “I wish it was that easy.” Ilythra almost smiled. Now she sounded like Ewen. Had she been as rash and impetuous as this prince? She met his gaze. “Did your father just let you go?”

  “No. He sent men after me, a contingent. Three days out of Edriel, they caught up with us.” A half smile flirted with his face and the dimple teased. “Half of them joined us, the other half returned to Edriel. There was no fighting.”

  She examined the lines of strain around the prince’s eyes. There was more to the story than he was saying. Another question formed but she mentally shook herself. She was enjoying this conversation more than she should. She had plans to make. All of Anatar weighed in the balance and she was chatting with a prince. She pulled herself away from the wall leaving the questions unasked. “Come. Let’s get you some food.”

  * * *

  Bredych cursed. A quarter of the fighting men of Edriel escaped with the blasted prince. He wasn’t relying on the Edrielian warriors for his victory, but it was annoying all the same. Would the prince cause him any trouble?

  Bredych paced the room. It was larger than his previous room, which meant he could lengthen his stride. The king had insisted he have the bedchamber next to his own. It was convenient, if nothing else. King Jaryn hadn’t left his bedchamber since he’d found out Ryliann had crossed over into Siobani lands.

  What would Ryliann do? Beseech the Siobani for sanctuary? If that was the prince’s plan, he was in for a surprise. There was no sanctuary anywhere.

  He would find the prince and kill him just for making things more difficult. He paused the pacing and stared at the flickerin
g flames in the grate. Ilythra hadn’t contacted him through her dreams, and when he’d tried, he’d met a wall. He pondered the situation for a while. Even if she convinced all the Siobani to attack, even if she convinced Ryliann to march on his own castle, he had rank upon rank upon rank of warriors to meet them in battle. The Siobani would be overwhelmed.

  Ryliann led a little over two hundred men. He led thousands. A minor inconvenience. That was all they were.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ryliann walked down the curving path toward the clearing. He glanced at the two Dawn Children who had accompanied him from Siann back to the small empty town his men had taken over. Before he’d left, Ewen had summoned him. It seems they’d had word from some of the southern kingdoms. The western wave rider villages were almost decimated.

  Ewen had decided it was time to begin training his men in Dawn Children warfare. But Ryliann’s thoughts were not on fighting. He couldn’t get a pair of gray eyes off his mind. Her eyes spoke more clearly than her words. There had been moments he’d detected interest, but he couldn’t be sure. He’d never met another woman like her. A warrior through and through but with a hidden softness that was more sensed than seen. She was like a hidden treasure. He wanted to search until he found all her many layers. He shook his head. Although he’d asked around and discovered she wasn’t Arien’s woman, she was still so far out of his league as to be unattainable.

  He smiled, remembering the woman at the feast of Adune. Clarabel had interested him but he could see now it had been a shallow attraction. For the first time, the stories he’d heard of the lengths his father had gone to win his mother made sense. If he could, he would spend his time getting to know Ilythra.

  Swordplay echoed through the afternoon air. Men practiced in a small enclosure that must have once been a garden of some kind. Smoke from campfires and a few chimneys drifted into the air, breaking up the endless blue. Distantly, someone sang a bawdy tavern song at the top of his lungs.

  The weight of responsibility and loss tugged at his shoulders. These men had sacrificed everything, had left their families, homes to follow him.

  A knot formed in his throat and tears blurred his vision. What had he done to warrant such loyalty?

  “They are good men.”

  He turned toward the Dawn Child who spoke. His dark hair was pulled back from a stern face but his hazel eyes sparkled with emotion.

  “They are. I was just thinking the same thing.”

  The man turned his gaze to Ryliann. “You must be a good leader to have so many men follow you into unknown territory.”

  Ryliann shrugged. Did a good leader lead his men into exile?

  “You would die for them?”

  “In a heartbeat.”

  “Then why do you question that they would do the same?”

  Ryliann shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  To his surprise, the warrior placed a hand on his arm. “You are very young. If the One is gracious to you, you will have time to learn.” The warrior shrugged the impressive bow off his shoulders. “Ewen has ordered us to teach your men a new weapon. Will you prepare them?”

  * * *

  “He did what?” Ilythra dropped the piece of bread. She couldn’t quite believe what Arien was saying.

  Arien took a deep breath. “He’s decided to instruct the humans in the use of the bow.”

  “But that’s our only advantage.”

  Arien picked at the plate of food before him. When he didn’t have other duties, Arien had made it a habit to break his fast in Ilythra’s rooms. At times, Aimena stayed and ate with them, but she hated any talk of war and made her excuses before Arien even arrived. “Do you forget Ryliann’s humans are our allies?”

  Ilythra stood and paced the room. If humans had knowledge of the bow, then the Dawn Children lost a valuable advantage. “No, of course not, but after the war is won—”

  “The world will never again be the same.” He placed a hand on her arm, stilling her. “One way or another, the world will never be the same again. Father felt the situation warranted it.” He took a bite of fruit. “You should eat.”

  She shook her head. After she’d finished her morning exercise routine, she was usually starving, but Arien’s news had ruined her appetite. Ilythra glanced overhead in the general direction of Ewen’s study. “It’s been two days. I still need to brief him. He’s been in meeting after meeting.”

  Arien gently tugged on her hand and Ilythra sat across from him. He smiled. “Your mission was successful?”

  “Yes. The traders will comply. They will spread the word that the Dawn Children are not the enemy. They will attempt to get into contact with my Rugians so I can send them messages.”

  He shook his head. “I still shudder to hear you say that.”

  “On some level, so do I.” She sipped her juice.

  “Do you really think that Rugian will stay loyal to you?”

  Ilythra shrugged. “I can only hope.”

  Arien took a deep breath.

  Ilythra stared out the window at the bleak gray sky. There was more. She knew it. She picked up the fork only to put it down. “Okay, what is it?”

  He grinned. “Father has issued one more edict regarding Ryliann’s humans.”

  Ilythra examined Arien’s dancing golden gaze. “Oh, great. Go ahead. I can tell I’m not going to like it.”

  “He wants you to teach them.”

  For a moment she couldn’t speak. She took a deep breath. “Is he mad? Why would I teach them?”

  Arien dipped his bread into some broth. “Because you took to the bow faster than most Dawn Children.”

  Ilythra opened her mouth and closed it. “I don’t want to.”

  “Why?” Arien’s eyes sparkled. He leaned back in his chair as though he was enjoying her discomfort.

  She leaned forward, punctuating every word. “Because human males are not very receptive to female warriors.”

  The healer grinned. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain prince?”

  Ilythra tossed down her napkin. “Are you serious? No. I don’t have time for princes or arrogant men.”

  Arien straightened, the mirth leaving his face. “Maybe that’s why he put you in charge. These men need to learn a new kind of discipline. Rion and Argutha are there now, teaching them the fundamentals. It’s quite possible that learning from a female will shake them up. But they might surprise you. The human prince has surprised me.”

  “He has? How?” She leaned forward again, her interest piqued. What had Arien seen in him?

  “He has not complained once. He has accepted anything Ewen has said without question. In everything he’s been compliant and respectful. He has already learned several words in our language, and I sense a strength of character in him that I have not seen in a human since...” Arien smiled. “Well, since I met you.”

  And he makes me feel like I’m not in control. She swallowed. There was more at stake here than her pride. Anatar hung in the balance. If Ewen wanted the humans trained, she was the logical choice to do it. Everything Arien said made sense. She just didn’t like it. But then, she didn’t have the luxury of likes or dislikes. There was a war to win. She straightened her spine. Her reaction to Ryliann was a fluke anyway. The last time she’d seen him, she’d been tired and her self-control had slipped. That was all. “Fine. I’ll teach the humans.” She glanced up toward Ewen’s study again. “Are they ready to discuss strategy?”

  Arien grimaced. “Are we?”

  She took Arien’s hand. “Let’s go and get this over with.”

  * * *

  “My lord.”

  Bredych turned toward the voice. One of his men walked in the room. Bredych gestured toward the door. The king was resting, but he didn’t want to risk being overheard.


  The man closed the door and bowed.

  “Speak.”

  “I have just received word. We found the healer. What are your orders?”

  Bredych smiled. “Where is she?”

  “She was in a small village south of us. Right where you said she would be.”

  “Good. Tell them to put her on a ship and bring her here. I’d have a word with her.”

  “Yes, my lord. But the report said she was very old and frail. She might not survive the trip.”

  “Well, that is a risk I’m willing to take.” Bredych moved to the map and traced the line representing the chasm. “This should be interesting.”

  * * *

  “What are you saying? We should behave like cowards, running and hiding from our enemies?” Sheenan asked, his brown eyes blazing.

  Ilythra entered the council chamber behind Arien. Ewen nodded to them, and they found their seats as quietly as they could. Tension vibrated through the air.

  Ewen took a deep breath. “Sheenan, listen. Perhaps it’s time to consider another way.”

  “Another way? Our ways have served the Dawn Children for thousands of years. I’ll not tell my warriors to turn and flee like rabbits under a hawk’s shadow.” The elder rose to his feet glancing at those around the table; his eyes seemed to gather fire as he considered his companions before coming to rest on Ewen.

  “The Children have never faced a threat like this before. Humans outnumber us by the thousands. We must be open to new ideas,” Ewen continued.

  “There’s nothing wrong with the old ones.” Sheenan brought his hand down on the table. The beading on his heavy woolen cloak clicked loudly in the ensuing silence.

  Ilythra stared at Ewen. What had they missed?

  Ewen’s chest rose and then fell. “Meeting Bredych’s forces in open battle would not just be foolhardy, it would mean the end of our way of life. They must not suspect our limited resources. We must confuse them and lower their number with little danger to us.”