Page 40 of An Archer's Redemption

Keelan ran a hand over his stubble and smiled. “That sounds good. Iamhungry, and that wine might calm my nerves a bit.”

“I make you nervous?” I asked playfully.

“Uh, well, maybe. I don’t know,” he stammered.

My laughter bounced off the walls of the cave. “I am teasing you. Just sit and tell me, how is Atikus? I miss that funny old man.”

The comfort of the cave made it easy to lose track of time, and we talked long past the afternoon and into the night. Keelan omitted few details of his trip back to Saltstone and the weeks he experienced following the Kingdom’s failed siege of Saltstone. He hadn’t been there when my mother fell but described the events as Declan and Atikus had explained them to him. Whenhe told me about Isabel’s order to hunt down the mass of fleeing civilians, tears began to trickle down my cheeks.

“She was horrible,” was all I could say.

“Jess, it was Irina, not your mother.”

My voice hardened. “My motherchoseto bring Irina back. Shechoseto sacrifice her husband, son, and daughter on the altar of Irina’s ambitions. In the end, it might have backfired when Irina consumed her soul, but it wasmy mother’schoices that led to all of this. As much as I may want to forgive her, to love and mourn her as a daughter, as Queen, I cannot forget or forgive the treachery and death that woman thrust upon our two nations.”

I peppered him with questions, and he patiently answered each. At the end of his tale, Keelan’s stomach rumbled.

I chuckled. “I take it you are hungry again?”

“I’m a big boy. I like to eat.” He grinned back. “And I happen to have purchased some salted fish and vegetables from the ferry that brought me across the bay. Would you like some?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Sure. I will try your salted fish, but do not hate me if I go back to my bread and cheese after the first bite. It sounds suspicious, especially coming from a ferry’s stores.”

While Keelan retrieved the fish from his saddlebags, I walked to the shelving and found plates and cutlery. When I turned, he was standing by the table staring at me. I looked down to see what was out of place.

“I’m sorry,” he said as his face colored. “It’s just that . . . well . . . the last time I saw you, we were in filthy, dusty riding clothes with tangled hair and dirty faces. I don’t think we bathed the whole time we were on the run. And now . . . well, you’re . . . beautiful.” He looked down as he muttered the last word.

I blushed then grinned at his discomfort.

That’s when I took my first long look at the Guardsman in his crisp navy uniform. He had removed his coat and laid it on oneof the cots when we first sat to talk, and I hadn’t given it much thought.

But now my mind was spinning.

When had he changed into a clean uniform following his journey here? Surely his clothes should stink of the road and the bay, but they didn’t.

Why would he change his uniform before entering the cave?

I was puzzling through those questions when Keelan found his courage and took the plates from my hand. I startled and took a step back.

“Sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin, then turned and began setting the plates on the table.

As if seeing him for the first time, my eyes traced the outline of his strong jaw. I watched the muscles in his back shift in his tight white shirt. I chided myself for staring and turned back to the shelves, pretending to retrieve something else for our meal before joining him once more.

Chapter 16

Declan

Kelså took my hand in her own, gripping it firmly, as I stared into the Well. “Declan, tell me what you’re thinking.”

I squeezed once and pulled my hand away, running my fingers through my unruly mop of curls as I stood. “I . . . I don’t even know what to think. If I go back through the gate, I can be in Saltstone in two weeks, maybe a little less if I find fresh horses along the route. Is there any food we can pack for the trip?”

“There may be another way. But—”

“Will it get me there faster? What is it?” I asked, hope creeping into my voice.

“You could ride the currents.”

My mouth dropped. “What?Thecurrents?”

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