Page 123 of The Kingdom's Reckoning
"Come on. Is that all you’ve got?" Ellie asked.
He didn’t hear the response, but he could hear some grunting and gravel shifting. He started running.
Had the soldiers come after them? Had?—
He skidded to a stop as he rounded the corner of the house. To his relief, there was no attack. Instead, Ellie and Kalisandre stood in the front yard of the farmhouse, both panting.
Graeson leaned against the side of the house, crossing his arms over his chest. His cloak hung over his arm. It was high-noon, and the day had quickly warmed up.
Kalisandre wiped the sweat from her forehead. Gritting her teeth, she charged at Ellie. Kalisandre swung, her fist slicing through the air. Ellie swatted it away as if it was no more than a fly buzzing around her face. Kalisandre groaned, but she didn’t let up. She quickly adjusted her stance and swung again. Ellie, predictably, dodged it. But Kalisandre had learned from her mistakes and already had a secondary maneuver lined up.She dropped to the ground and swept her leg across the earth, sending dirt flying and Ellie crashing to the ground as she struck.
Graeson smirked as Ellie let out a curse.
"Nice one," Menz shouted from the gardening bed, pausing his work to watch the two women spar.
"Good job," Ellie grumbled, pushing herself onto her elbows.
Grinning with pride, Kalisandre stood. But her adrenaline was gone. She mistakenly leaned her weight on her wounded leg and hissed out, grabbing her hamstring.
Graeson was there before he had even realized he was moving. "Are you all right?" he asked, panicked.
"I—yes," she stammered, eyes wide. "I’m fine." But when she straightened, she grimaced again and nearly collapsed.
Graeson caught her by the waist. "Maybe we should check on that wound, yeah?"
Kalisandre waved him off, and Graeson frowned. If she wanted to fight in whatever battle came next, she needed to heal first.
"You should be resting," he said for what was likely the one-hundredth time.
"We rested yesterday."
Graeson arched a brow. "I would hardly call the journey here a day of rest."
"Sebastian’s not resting."
Graeson ran a hand through his hair. "That doesn’t mean you need to push yourself to the point where you can’t even walk."
"I can walk just fine," she snapped, stepping away from him. Kalisandre took one, two, three steps before her knee gave out. She released a groan of frustration.
Graeson crossed his arms. "You were saying, little mouse?"
She shoved him in the chest. But a small smile pushed at the corner of her lips, one she tried and failed to hide. "Fine, maybe it still hurts."
"When was the last time you changed the wrapping?"
"Last night."
Graeson hummed. "You should probably check to see if the stitches opened."
Kalisandre straightened, favoring her good leg. She pushed her fingers through her hair and sighed. "Fine," she grumbled. "Ellie, do you mind?"
"Not at all. I’m kind of famished, anyway. A break sounds good to me."
Graeson looked between the women, aghast. "Abreak? I thought you were going to rest."
Both women shrugged, and Ellie said, "If her stitches are fine, I don’t see why we can’t continue."
A retort was on Graeson’s tongue, but Kalisandre nudged him, calling his attention to her before he could voice it.
