Page 61
Story: Blood & Steel
‘Once?’ Hawthorne prompted.
‘Years ago I saw him in the flesh. Heard him talking to the Guild Master…’ she said slowly, sifting through the recollection. ‘Actually, they were talking about you.’
Hawthorne raised a brow. ‘I imagine they had a lot to say.’
‘Oh? What makes you think that?’
‘Call it a hunch,’ he replied with a grim note. ‘But I also fought at Talemir’s side for a long time before he left the guild. We were inseparable for years.’
‘Was he as good as they say?’
Hawthorne smiled at that. ‘Better.’
‘What happened to him? Why did he leave?’ Thea asked.
The Warsword was silent for a moment, seeming to mull his words over. ‘After the official fall of Naarva, there were unresolved issues, and another conflict followed shortly after.’
‘And he went back to fight?’
Hawthorne nodded. ‘We both did. It was… unexpected.’
‘There you are painting a vivid picture again.’
‘I’m not used to talking about these things. It’s not easy.’
Thea felt a pang low in her gut and her hand drifted to her fate stone. She knew that better than anyone. How many times had she yearned to express how she felt about the hourglass she raced against? How panicked she was at not having achieved what she wanted? How she wasn’t ready to leave the midrealmsbehind? But once she opened those gates, who knew what else might come spilling out…
‘I understand,’ she said, waiting until he met her eyes again. ‘But… Well, if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.’
Hawthorne’s harsh face softened. ‘It has been a long while since I’ve had an offer like that.’
Those words splintered Thea’s heart. ‘Hawthorne…’
He took a measured breath. ‘Talemir was more than just a mentor to me,’ he told her. ‘Even long after I passed the Great Rite and became a Warsword. He was my family. Malik’s family, too. And he taught me everything I know. He was the greatest Warsword the midrealms had ever seen…’ Bitter admiration laced the warrior’s words and Thea noted how his hands gripped his reins tighter.
‘That’s what they say about you.’
‘Only because of him.’ Hawthorne replied. ‘But after that second conflict at Naarva, he left the guild for reasons I didn’t agree with, didn’t understand. Still don’t. Malik was badly injured, still recovering. Talemir was his closest friend, and he wasn’t there. He didn’t come back, didn’t… Well, after everything we had been through together, after everything with Malik… Talemir and I… We didn’t part on good terms.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Thea said, feeling the weight of his grief on her own chest. ‘Is he still alive?’
‘Somewhere out there, yes.’
Thea nodded. ‘Maybe one day you’ll meet again and mend the rift between you.’
‘Maybe.’ Hawthorne offered a sad smile. ‘Maybe.’
A few moments of silence passed between them. There was still so much Thea wanted to know about the man who rode beside her.
It was Hawthorne who broke the quiet. ‘Since you’ve so expertly wrangled my secrets from me, why don’t you tell me yours?’
‘You want to know my deepest, darkest desires do you, Warsword?’
There was a pause as his gaze intensified, became hooded. ‘One of many things I’m surprised to find myself wanting.’
Heat flooded between Thea’s legs and the rocking of the saddle against her didnothingto quell the sudden wave of arousal.
She cleared her throat and looked away, praying he hadn’t noticed the change in her. ‘You already know,’ she told him. ‘I want to fight for Thezmarr, I want to be a warrior, I want to be a Warsword one day.’
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61 (Reading here)
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182