Page 4 of Untempered
I had plenty of both to share.
“First lesson, Audrey,” I told her, feeling the strength of my own rage. “We are only conquered when we believe ourselves to be.”
CHAPTERONE
CHAY
“First, consider your approach, as it is critical you avoid startling them. Direct incursion from behind or the front will mark you as a threat and make taming your target either impossible or a very complex endeavor.”
~ How to Tame Your Brumby: A Collection of Raider’s Ban Wisdom
Ten years later
La’Angi was the birthplace of legends—and nightmares. It loomed over us between the limbs of the apple trees and their yellowing leaves like some sort of old, angry god. I was going to be within those walls soon, in the heartland of military prowess. I’d grown up hearing it spoken about with reverence.
I wasn’t planning on birthing any legends or nightmares, myself. I had enough of both.
“Remind me again why we’re here?” Callum complained, staring up at the foreboding keep in the distance.
Awe sat uncomfortably in the hollow in my guts, but Kadan grinned, the expression charmingly crooked and full of fun. From the front, his father Darrius, Count of Raider’s Ban and our liege lord, shot him a quick, amused look, anticipating the upcoming levity, before turning back to the road ahead of us and feigning dignity.
Kadan rolled his shoulders, settling the road-stained tunic better over his shoulders. He looked more like a merchant’s son than the prophesized one. With his dirty blond hair flopping over the crown-like scar on his forehead, no one would guess his birth had been preceded by comet storms. His moment of birth had been marked by a solar eclipse, and then celebrated by every soothsayer and wise man in the lands. The scar he hid with a studied nonchalance was left by a lightning strike that, to hear his father speak of it, had been less godly and more terrifying. The real legends looked like everyday men and acted like them, too.
Kadan’s smile vanished, and with eyes on where Callum sat scowling, he said, “You wanted to try your hand at seducing the lady of La’Angi before Luca claims her.” The words were heavy with the ring of sincerity, driving home the ridiculousness of his statement.
Callum’s lips twitched as he shifted in his saddle. “Don’t wish that on me. Wild horses—the Butcher as a father-by-law! Luca’s a braver man than I.”
“Braver,” Kadan repeated, pretending to consider the idea as we rode toward our destination and the Duke in question. “Less intelligent,” he offered, with another glitter of fun in his eyes. “Besotted. More ambitious. Take your pick.”
“Can we only choose one?” Callum sighed, giving in and going along with Kadan’s jest, leaning forward in his saddle and absently running his fingers over the full quiver of arrows before him. He was nervous—and considering what we wereactuallyup to, I didn’t blame him.
The Butcher had the kingdom at sword point, and the King’s advisor was stealing everything from us while we stood by, helpless.
At least, that was their intention. We weren’t practiced at being helpless, though.
How brave or besotted Luca was, marrying the heir to the Butcher—well, he did seem fond of her. He’d certainly visited La’Angi often enough over the past few years. Love or ambition? I’d always assumed the latter. You take La’Angi, you take the military, and then the country, you controlled the locways and every level of our society. “He told me La’Angi cider was almost as good as the expensive bottles of knappchs we import,” I offered, to keep Callum from complaining again.
“Ah, see,” Kadan agreed, with a nonchalant flick of one hand toward me, as if I’d just proved his point. His warhorse snorted and swung its head in my direction. “Noble women who don’t know we’re scoundrels, cider, our friend’s wedding—and, of course, the famed La’Angi tourney. I’m confused as to why we didn’t do this earlier.”
He left out “the assassination of the Butcher”. Yet more evidence he was wiser than people expected when they saw his carefully curated shit-eating grin.
Grim laughter rippled through the ranks of the men around us as though those unspoken words were heard. Even Callum’s scowl crumbled before the statement.
We’d been looking for this opportunity for years.
I saw him open his mouth to respond, but I’d switched my attention to the north of the road, where the orchard was dim and leaves lay heavily on the ground, blanketing the roots of the trees ahead of the coming winter. Was that hooves? Was it one of ours? Surely?—
A flash of movement was my only confirmation. Kadan reacted a moment before me, grabbing Callum’s reins and urging both of their mounts out of harm’s way. I reined in hard to avoid the path of a big chestnut horse bearing a young rider as a kite might bear a ribbon.
The chestnut whipped around, kicking and whinnying in fear, panicked to find itself in the center of our group. With my heart in my throat, I waited for the rider to give it directions as I tried to get Bliksem and myself further away, but they were either overwhelmed or clueless.
“Get clear!” Callum shouted unnecessarily as the beast reared up, snorting out a challenge as the rider scrambled to keep their balance.
“Lean in,” Kadan told the rider, his voice carrying over the horse’s commotion and the men’s shouts of surprise.
Desperate to help, I found myself doing exactly that, following Kadan’s instructions as if my own acquiescence would make a difference to the rider’s struggle.
“Close to its—” The beast whirled and bucked, snapping at Kadan’s own horse. The idea of this poor chestnut taking on a blooded Raider’s Ban warhorse would’ve been funny if there hadn’t been a lad on its back, one obviously untrained. The rider was wrestling with the reins, trying to drag the horse’s head in close to their knee, holding on grimly as it fought him, and I couldn’t do anything except stay out of the damned way.
