Page 129 of The King's Man
She stopped abruptly, but her expression remained tense when she met my gaze.
“What is it? If you see something I don’t—”
“No, no. I think it’sgoodto get some time on the ground tomorrow,” she said. “I think you need to rest more.”
“I told you, we can’t afford the time—”
“Jann, if four or five hours of travel could change the entire course of this mission, we have much bigger problems.”
“That’s not the point—”
“It absolutely is—if you land in Ebonreach weak and exhausted, how are we going to be of any help to anyone? I canfeel you.You’re remarkable at not complaining, but you’re in pain from all this flying and carrying me and—”
I pulled her down, into my lap and held her tightly against my chest until she stopped struggling and slumped, her head sweetly under my jaw.
“That’s not fair,” she muttered, her lips brushing my collarbone, which made my skin heat, weary or not.
“Thank you for worrying about me. But you and I both know that pushing ourselves to our limits is what we trained for, and why we were given this task over others. Because wewilldo it.”
She sighed. “I still think you need to rest more. There’s no way that Gall and Istral, with an entire court or whatever it is that’s following them could be traveling as quickly as we are,” she grumbled.
I agreed and hoped for rest until they caught up. But the following afternoon, we discovered how wrong she was.
Somehow, impossibly, Gall had appeared in Skolrag almost a week earlier. Which meant he arrived there two days after we left Noctharrow.
“It’s impossible,” I muttered to Diadre as we walked out of the city with our bags slung over our shoulders like common travelers. “Vaysh must have been wrong about how recently Gall came through—”
“But your messenger friend said the same thing,” Diadre pointed out. “They must be doing something we can’t do. Maybe they have people flying them overnight or—”
“The Fallen,” I growled as we passed out of the gates of the city set in the wall that blended so perfectly into the brown grasses and rocks of the plains that I had to focus to see them.
Diadre’s eyes snapped to me. “They can fly people more quickly?”
“Who knows what they can do,” I muttered as the last of my hope died that there was a more mortal explanation for this picture. “But there’s no other explanation. A party of that size would never move as quickly as the two of us. Yet they’ve gaineddays?It’s impossible—unless what they’re doing isn’t bound to earth and time.”
Diadre shivered and since we were passing out of the city and back into the plains, I put a hand to her back then slid it over her hip and pulled her to my side as we walked.
We found a small rise with a thicket of scraggly brush a couple of miles out of the city and took shelter within it for the few hours left of daylight. I’d intended to eat, sleep, love my mate, then fly on, but my mind wouldn’t stop turning over the problem of reaching Gall.
I’d assumed I’d be able to get closer and possibly send Diadre among his entourage, shadow walking to overhear their plans. The idea of putting her among Nephilim alone had chilled my bones. But I knew how skilled she was. I’d thought if I could protect her from the weariness of travel and we made our move at night, she’d remain safe.
But if we couldn’t even catch them…
I sat with my back to a half-buried boulder, chewing on a twig to clean my teeth, and looking at the problem from every angle.
“What are you growling about?” Diadre asked.
“My plan isn’t going to work. I need a new one.”
“Which part?” Diadre asked, sitting next to me and leaning back against the rock as well.
“I thought we’d catch Gall and I’d send you in to spy. But they’re moving him more quickly than we can, I’m flying blind. Literally. Not only do I need to warn Melek, but it means we have to make a choice about which capital to visit for news on the way into Ebonreach. Meyrath, or Kyrion Vale?”
Meyrath was the smallest nation on the Continent, and the least powerful—primarily because it was a human nation in the shadow of the Raven peaks. The Nephilim, my people, took from them as and when we chose. The strongest and most resilient becoming slaves. Occasionally some chose the life for themselves and convinced a Nephilim of their value in trade or merchandise. But most of the best of the Meyrath wereownedby Nephilim against their will.
Conversely, the Centaurs of Kyrion Vale were our most powerful, natural enemies. Their strength matched our own, and they could actually fly. In theory, they could traverse the Raven Peaks, though none had ever shown a desire to do so. The greater threat they posed was their incredible abilities and strengths as archers. Rather than invading our lands, they’d developed powerful weapons and the skills to use them. Centaurs didn’t shoot arrows, they shotbolts.Nephilim were still mortal.
But then, so were the Centaurs, and their natural bulk, while powerful and swifter on land than we Nephilim, gave us a distinct advantage in the sky.
