Page 162 of The King's Man
She gave that low, throaty laugh that I loved. “Yes, Jann. I still love you. I do.”
“Good. Me too,” I mumbled. “Now. I’m going to sleep for a little while. Don’t mind me.”
*****
~ DIADRE ~
Jann had been flattened.
He’d been joking about sleeping, but it was clear that he had nothing left—and he couldn’t fly another span. So, I helped him to his feet and we walked the short distance to the thin forest at the base of the mountains. I shook out the furs, urging them todry quickly while I hunted, then made a fire, breathing on my fingers as I went because they were still tingling from the cold.
But an hour later, I had a fire crackling merrily, a strange, fat bird I’d never seen before roasting on a hastily erected spit, and Jann swinging in the hammock nearby, slung between two trees that were barely strong enough to hold us both. He’d walked through the trees a bit, muttering about leaving signs for any allies, just in case, but once he was done, he stumbled back to the hammock and hadn’t moved since.
“How far are we from Ebonreach?” I asked him as the sun dipped below the mountains and the evening birds raised their song.
“A few hours flight,” he sighed. “Three, four at most.”
“Well, we won’t be doing that tomorrow.”
“I should be—”
“No, Jann.” I straightened to meet his eyes. He was collapsed in that hammock, his body spent. “You said you have to fly into the city and we have to evade notice. You need to bestrong.”
He frowned, but nodded and turned his head away to stare at the tree canopy above him.
“Do you have to fly to enter the city itself? Or just to reach it?” I said. I’d heard the stories about Ebonreach, though never spoken to someone who’d seen it. The City was legendary—and apparently well fortified despite the very effective barrier of the Raven Peaks.
“It can only be entered on the wing, or by invitation from a Neph through one of two gates that are heavily guarded. The guards would be extremely suspicious to findmewalking in.”
“And you don’t want anyone to know you’re there, right?”
“Not until we’ve gathered more information,” he grumbled. “No point alerting our enemies to our location.”
I sighed. “Then we need a couple more days.”
“But—”
“Seriously, Jann, tell me you wouldn’t say the same if our roles were reversed?”
He muttered under his breath, but didn’t argue, for which I was grateful. I was weary too. But very, very glad we’d made it.
When the juices of the bird ran clear, I told Jann to come join me at the fire and began splitting the juicy carcass, eyeing the crunchy skin with eager hunger.
Until I took the first bite.
“Oh…shit.”
Jann chuckled and picked up an entire half of the bird, biting into it like an apple. “I’ll admit, I was surprised when I realized you’d taken a Kakapo.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it’s an excellent meal. Just… an acquired taste,” he said with a grin, wiping the grease from his chin, then taking another bite.
Ugh.“I’ll let you have mine. You need a meal more anyway.”
He laughed, but happily took my drumstick and dug in, while I found a few strips of dried meat in my pack and chewed on those until my stomach stopped grumbling.
As night fell, Jann remained weary and quiet, but in good spirits. Obviously relieved that we were safely over the mountains and on the ground.
