Page 10 of Keeper of the Word (The Unsung and the Wolf Duology #2)

Chapter

Nine

TOLVAR

T he 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 a tangled 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.

Even as she spoke to Gus, she kept glancing at Tolvar. He didn’t like it. She gazed at him in the same way Lady Tara had when she set him on this task to find Elanna. But her expression was of its own ideas, clearly.

Nay, he didn’t like it.

Joss called for the onions, and Gus blushed as he left Elanna. Elanna stood and walked toward Tolvar. She certainly was tall. Probably as tall as Lady Tara.

Think not of Sloane. She’d been so small.

“Sir Tolvar, I would speak with you,” Elanna said.

He nodded, and they strode out of earshot of the others.

“Are you a man of faith, Sir Tolvar?”

He stifled a laugh before sobering and shaking his head.

“But you have seen something of faith. I detect it within you. I do not know if you will e’er be a man of faith, m’lord, but I know that you and I have been coming to this crossroads of fortunes for a long time.

I have searched the earth and skies to find you.

You have been brought here for a purpose. I?—”

“Aye, and that purpose is to bring you back to Ashwin. Lady Tara, the head of your Order, sent me to deliver you home.” Stars. He could not hear more of this. He wanted no speeches of fortunes and faith.

“Aye, but if you will listen?—”

“Lady Elanna, I have come from an arduous journey, a quest that barely left me with my life. That stole—” He quieted his voice, which had risen with the word ‘stole.’ “That stole from me a person of purity and heroism. A person whom I…”

The vein pulsed in his neck. Since leaving Deogol, he’d not felt so near to being out of control. He needed to break something.

Tolvar pivoted and stomped away; everyone called after him. He held up an arm, instructing to be left alone.

Once away from the StarSeer, Tolvar breathed more easily.

He took in the calming breeze rustling through the branches.

He would not listen to whatever prattle Elanna was about to say.

This was enough. If she needed a knight, she could damned well find another.

He owed nothing to a soul. Helping Sloane defeat the Befallen was plenty of heroics for one knight’s lifetime.

And there was the matter of Crevan. His curiosity about what had become of his brother needled him more and more. Tolvar would never admit this to anyone, least of all his knights or Hux. His newfound forbearance was supposed to place him above that.

His tensed-up shoulders dropped.

Nay, the Wolf owed naught to a soul. He would return this woman to Ashwin, mount Valko, with as much haste as possible, and ride back to Thorin Court.

And do what?

Tolvar banished the question by grabbing the closest fallen branch from the ground and striking it against the nearest tree. It snapped in two as if a mere twig.

“Oh, do that again. That was impressive.”

Hux.

The thought did cross Tolvar’s mind, but Hux’s baiting made the act less desirable. He tossed the broken branch onto the ground.

Hux came to stand beside Tolvar. “What causes your anger now? Is not rescuing a beautiful woman the enjoyable part of being a knight?”

If Hux only knew how close Tolvar was to breaking a branch over his head. Mayhap he’d stop his incessant…most likely not.

“I assume we’re to return to that uninteresting excuse for a city now?”

“Aye.” Tolvar still did not make eye contact with him. “Though that uninteresting city is what safeguards this land. The Befallen could ne’er have endured here.”

“So I’ve heard,” Hux said, focused on some chirping birds above. “But circumstances can always change. When you find everything is right with the world, the unexpected can always happen. ”

Hux was baiting him again. Wanted Tolvar to ask him what he meant. But he would sooner pet a field eel than grant Hux that pleasure. So Tolvar simply stated, “The StarSeers have graced the Capella Realm for a millennium.”

“So I’ve heard.”

Tolvar held his groan.

“I suppose we ought to find this horse of hers. The way she spoke of it, one might suppose we searched for a pup.”

Hux chuckled as if they shared a joke. “To her, he probably is. She’s quite green in the world.”

Tolvar had to agree there. Brought to Ashwin as a child, never leaving. He thought about the child, Maristel, who would grow into womanhood in the same manner.

Why did she leave Ashwin?

But to ask her would mean he’d have to listen to her answer, and ’twas clear that she was already full of words to say.

Nay, ’twas none of his affair. King Rian had ordered him to Ashwin to help the Five.

Done. The Five had only asked him to return her, nothing more.

Stars knew that Tolvar taking a stab at finding answers only led to heartache. And scars.

The stallion, Rasa, was surprisingly easy to locate.

And true to Elanna’s words, the beast was as tame as a newborn lamb.

When Tolvar and Hux led the horse into the clearing where the others sat, Rasa flicked his head away from Tolvar’s hand that held his halter and trotted eagerly to his mistress.

She whispered into his ear, and his tail swooshed like a happy hound.

The three knights did their best not to stare.

Stars, she was green. True, Tolvar and Valko were partners —one must respect his steed if he was to count on him—but certainly, the horse was not his pet.

No doubt Elanna had never been properly trained how to work with her horse.

Siria’s skirt! Stop concerning yourself about it. What does it matter?

Elanna drew back from Rasa, that same serene countenance on her face.

“Sir Tolvar, we must speak.”

Stars .

“Lady Elanna, I’ve already told you what my duty here is to the Five.

You, of all people, must know how important it is for you to return.

Lady Tara spoke of the thread of light that runs between you.

” He shook his head. It sounded like such a foolish phrase to say.

His former self, before meeting Sloane, certainly would have thought so.

Lady Elanna stood, unblinking, her mouth in a firm line.

“Sir Tolvar.” Her voice was calm. “Lady Tara is not wrong about that light being stretched thin at present, but I must go to Asalle to?—”

“Asalle? Nay, m’lady. You must return home.”

Still, Elanna didn’t blink. He was keenly aware that the others observed this exchange with wide eyes. He’d try another tactic. “Besides, Lady Tara told me she Saw us ride through Ashwin’s gates together.”

There was a slight crease of Elanna’s eyebrows, a quiver of her lip.

“Nay, she is incorrect.”

“M’lady,” Joss spoke, her face pale. “Surely, you doubt not the Sight of your sisters.”

Tolvar lifted his brow as if that settled it.

“I ne’er doubt the Sight of my sisters, but you must not doubt mine. Hear me. Asalle is in danger. The sovereign is in danger.” Her voice rose, and she took enough steps to stand directly before Tolvar. “The whole of the Capella Realm is in danger!”

“How?” Tolvar crossed his arms.

“I have not yet Seen all , but I have Seen enough. In ways, too much. Time is not on our side. We must hasten to Asalle.”

“I vote for that,” Hux said in the background. “Much more amusing than Ashwin.”

None of this made sense. StarSeers did not leave Ashwin. Ever.

“Is this what you’re after? Amusement?”

“How dare you doubt my words. I am a StarSeer, same as Lady Tara.”

“She is the head of the Five. And she did not run away like a child for me to find. She is not causing her sisters undue stress. She is behaving as she should. Mayhap a quarrel between you drove you away? Your desire to see the world? I know not, but I am fulfilling the task that she set. I was just in Asalle and can speak for its current safety firsthand. You are returning to the StarSeers in Ashwin.”

He gave a curt nod when he finished speaking. Aye, this all made sense. This all had to be some elaborate scheme for amusement.

Elanna appeared as though someone had knocked the wind from her. “You actually are an unbeliever.”

“M’lady, you know not the half of it.”