Page 27 of The King's Man
“At certain times and places… yes!”
“Ah, but those moments—when I submit to his will because he’s proven himself, and because I know him… those areenhancedby my notion of him as my friend and brother. I am proud to serve him.”
“My brother isn’t proud to serve me—he’s constantly reminding me that he outranks me because he was raised earlier.”
“Oh? Is it possible you’re the one doing the challenging? Not seeing the rank, but the sibling? Is he fighting foryourrespect?”
I blinked and opened my mouth to argue. Then closed it. And frowned. “That’s not… I wasn’t—”
“If you want to be admired, Diadre, you don’t need braids on your jacket to do it. You need to lead your life as a person with intelligence and strength—on and off the battlefield. Do what you know is right, and don’t waver. Let others recognize it for themselves, rather than demanding that they acknowledge it.”
I wanted to spit at him like a cat. “Yoursageadvice ignores the fact that men are notoriously blind when it comes to the strength of women.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Yes, I would.”
10.Thank God
~ JANN ~
Either I was growing old, or something about the damp cold of the mists stole more of my energy and strength than the normal chill air.
When we didn’t break out of the fog, before sunset, I chose to push on, assuming we had to be close. But my body complained.
Not about the wriggling, warm woman in my arms. But about the cold and damp everywhere else.
I was weary, and losing hope—perhaps the Shadows of Shade were far more magical than we’d thought. Perhaps they had swallowed Gall and Istral somehow. Perhaps they had turned my head and would keep me hidden endlessly until my wings gave out, and we plummeted from the sky.
The thought sent a jolt of nerves through me that invigorated my efforts.
It had grown dark, only the moon’s glow lighting the fogabove and around us, so I had no warning until suddenly we broke through the mists and a tall, rugged mountain peak loomed ahead of us.
“Oh shit!” Diadre cursed as I wheeled right—then left again, because going right would have taken us straight back into the curling fog.
Shit was right. “Where are we?” I asked her grimly, afraid to hear the answer. Fucking cursed Shadows and fucking Fetch magik!
“It’s not so bad—this is the Shade Wall, the mountains that border the Shadows of Shade. It means we turned north while we were flying. But… we’ll have a much shorter trip tomorrow. You can cut virtually due west from here to get to the Palace.”
“Half a day’s ride?”
“Yes.”
I groaned, but reluctantly looked for a place to land. I’d hoped I wouldn’t need to fly tomorrow—my shoulders and spine were going to ache. I was frustrated by the weakness, but didn’t want her to see it.
By the time I found a relatively flat area on which to land, and where we could safely sleep under trees at the edge of the hollow, I was ready to be done with this day.
Once again, I made the fire while Diadre disappeared to find food and I found I was grateful to be out of the mists, just in case she decided to abandon me. But of course, she only showed up a few minutes later with another limp creature in her fist.
As the creature cooked, I was weary and pissed off—and I didn’t even know why. It was easy to misjudge trajectory in the Shadows. I wouldn’t have held that against any Neph. But I was frustrated and tired.
We barely spoke as we ate, and Diadre looked as weary as I felt. Without speaking of it, we both readied for bed as soon as the meal was cleaned up.
It was gratifying that there was no hesitation this time. She laid her bedroll within arm’s reach of mine, though the chances of some Neph stumbling on us up here was negligible.
I groaned with relief when I finally laid down—then caught myself about to reach out for her and pull her close.
Holy, shit. Where hadthatcome from?
