Page 103 of The Twisted Throne

Then he saw a horse through the brush, brown hide almost perfectly camouflaged. “There,” he said softly, and his soldiers gave nods as they caught sight of the animal. The young man inthe saddle was watching the road, but James marked his red hair. The long knife sheathed at his belt. The fletching of the arrows in the quiver at his back. James had fought these bastards for most of his life, and goddamned if he didn’t know them when he saw them.

Amaridian.

“Try to catch him alive,” James told his soldiers in a low voice. “I’d like to question him.”

The men signaled understanding, spreading out as they approached the Amaridian from behind. The soft earth muffled the horses’ steps, but all the birds and creatures that lived in the trees had fallen silent.

Watching.

They prowled closer, and James carefully unsheathed a knife, not wanting to risk killing the man with a sword.

Closer.

Crack!

At the sound of a branch cracking beneath a horse’s hoof, the Amaridian jerked around, eyes widening in panic as he saw how close they were. He dug in his heels, but James was already moving.

Maven leapt into speed, weaving through the trees in pursuit of the man, who was riding as though his life depended on it. Which, in fairness, it did.

“I don’t think so,” James hissed, leaning over his mare’s neck to avoid being taken off by a branch.

His soldiers rode with equal speed, keeping low, one lifting the bow he carried.

“Shoot the horse!” James shouted, and arrows flew in quick succession, all hitting trees instead of the animal galloping ahead.

They reached the road, but instead of heading down it, theAmaridian plunged into the brush on the far side. Wisely understanding that his survival depended on his cover.

But James and his men had faster mounts.

Out of his periphery, he saw one of his soldiers press ahead, and then abruptly, the man was flying through the air and his mount going down.

“Trap!” James shouted, pulling Maven up.

But it was too late.

Amaridians exploded from where they lay hidden beneath brush, weapons in hand. Arrows flew, striking his other two men, one narrowly missing James’s face.

Too many to fight. Too many by far.

“The queen wants a word with you, bastard,” one of them said, lifting a long sword as he strode toward James.

Boom!

James’s eyes flicked to the sky, to the midnight clouds now blocking out the sun. And whirling his mare around, he galloped toward the storm.

Needing to escape the oppressiveconfines of the vault after the exchange, Ahnna left the building, her guards and several soldiers trailing at her heels.

“Where is His Highness?” she asked, not seeing James anywhere in sight, unease filling her.

“He took a company to search for whoever was following us, my lady,” one of the men answered. “They just rode out.”

Overhead, clouds had gathered, and a gust of wind sent Ahnna’s hair blowing out behind her. She could feel a charge in the air. From the coming storm, yes, but also something else. “How big a company?”

“Three men, Your Highness. Enough to run any spies off.”

Her jaw tightened, knowing he hadn’t taken more because he’d wanted them to stay with her and Virginia.

Taking Dippy’s reins from one of the stable boys, Ahnna mounted her horse, ignoring the protests of the soldiers as she rode down the street to the gate. The wind continued to rise, whipping her hair and tearing at her skirts, and the citizens were allscowling at the sky and drawing indoors anything that might be blown away.

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