Page 16 of Keeper of the Word

“Daved!” Elanna shouted, ready to flee after him, but a guard caught her by the wrist and tugged her inside the stone wall.

“’Tis all right, lil’ one. You’ll be right safe with us.” His voice was surprisingly tender for as gruff as his whiskery face appeared.

Elanna nodded, not daring to peer back to where Daved had retreated—for she was certain she would cry—and followed them into the hall of the constable.

Weeks later, six-year-old Elanna had found herself in the glistening castle of Aura Hall. Never had she gone hungry again. She’d always slept in a clean bed. And over the last nineteen years, she’dtrained herself not to linger too many thoughts on Daved. She understood now that he’d saved her.

So, when she opened her eyes and recognized the big man who’d perched on the tree branch scowling at her, her first thought was of her brother, Daved.

“’Tis you,” Elanna whispered. “The keeper of the word.” The words fled her before she knew their meaning. But of course. Here was the knight she’d Seen. The one with melancholy in his past. The one whose destiny crossed with hers in this moment. She hadn’t realized it would benow.

The man’s stern expression hardened at her words. “Your companion used that phrase. What does it mean?”

“I do not know,” Elanna said. “But you are the Wolf.”

She sat, noting for the first time the knight’s companions. Three men and a woman knight. They stared at her. She took her time scanning each of them, waiting to remember something she may have Seen about each of them, but nothing came. One of the men did not match the appearance of the others. His skin was a darker shade of bronze, and he had conflicting eyes.

“You are not from the Capella Realm, m’lord.”

The man hid his surprise well. His half-smile was an infectious, genuine one. “Nay, I am not. From Deogol, Lady. I am Hux.”

Elanna nodded and reconcentrated on the one called the Wolf. Now that she observed him in the full light of day, she wondered how this huge man had climbed that tree. Like the other men, his face was bearded, but a sharp chin outlined his scruff. A three-day journey, she assessed from the length of his unshaven neck. The Wolf was not only a knight, she noted, but a noble as well. His shoulders were squared in a way that came from dignity, not training.

“What do they call the Wolf?”

“Lord Tolvar Weslyn of Askella, Lady Elanna.”

She didn’t ask how he knew her name. Tara.

That complicated matters.

Blissfully, being upright did not cause the state of exhaustionshe had imagined it would. She examined the tears in her dress, noticing that a bandage covered her shoulder underneath.

“Dame Joss dressed your wound, m’lady.”

“My thanks.” Elanna inclined her head toward her. “Help me stand?”

On her feet, she breathed in determination. All she needed was Rasa to be found in the grove, some food, and the words to convince them to follow her plan instead of what she could tell theythoughtwas theirs.

Chapter

Nine

TOLVAR

The tightness in Tolvar’s chest slackened. He had fulfilled his task—and with not much trouble, Tolvar had to admit. Despite the fourth shadow cat’s surprise attack, none of his knights were injured.

So unlike last time.

Noting Hux, sitting alone for once, focusing on the light streaming through the tree branches, Tolvar knew Hux recalled the shadow cat battle in Ayla, too, in which his brother, Brinley, had died. Tolvar had never witnessed a man as close with his brother as Hux had been with Brinley.

The last thing Hux had expected in joining Tolvar in Lenfore was another battle with shadow cats. And now he no doubt relived his brother’s death all over again.

It again reminded Tolvar that they both grieved.

Joss and Barrett hunched over a cookfire while Gus sat next to Elanna, slicing onions. She spoke quietly to Gus, who almost nicked himself twice with his knife. His expression was entranced. Joss and Barrett kept stealing glimpses at her.

Being in the presence of a StarSeer for the first time could be a surreal experience. And she was beautiful. Even with her hair atangled mess, her tresses were a golden, coppery color that Tolvar found rare. Her features seemed more defined, sharper, as if the light she shared with the stars traced glowing lines around her cheekbones, jawline, and brow.