Page 64 of The King’s Man (The Kingdom of the Krow #3)

~ DIADRE ~

His little grin was a relief—he couldn’t be dying if he could joke… right? But the fluttering chill of fear coursed through me.

Jann grunted. “Don’t worry, Dee. I just need some time—”

“You need rest,” I interrupted him. “Surely even you can see that you can’t fly over those mountains tomorrow?”

His expression went dark—like a child faced with a truth they didn’t want to admit.

I sat back on my heels and shook my head. “Jann, you’ve been pushing yourself for weeks. And now you’re injured—”

“Yes, but we Neph heal quickly—”

“You won’t have a chance to heal if you’re dead!” I snapped, putting a hand on his chest when he moved like he’d get up. “And we’ll both be dead if you get those mountains wrong. You told me that!”

“Yes, but—”

“Dear God, my mate is as stubborn as me,” I muttered, putting both my hands on his shoulders and noting his wince when he resisted me.

The sheer fact that I could make him wince was startling—and not good.

“Jann… listen to me. We’re resting here.

For days. You said you wanted me to challenge you when you’re wrong.

Well, this is that moment. Prove yourself.

And besides, think this through. You’re a soldier, and you’re hurt.

Let your brother—or sister—in arms help. ”

He sighed, but lay back, nodding, though his expression was dark.

I sighed. “Lay here and rest. Soak in the water if you think it will help. Let me get camp set up—I’ll find a way for you to lay down more comfortably.”

“No beds in the middle of Kyrion Vale,” he muttered, but he didn’t argue and when I got up he didn’t leap to his feet again, thank God.

It took over an hour, but I got everything figured out.

I made a campfire in a spot where the trees were thin, but would shield us from view overhead, and stacked dry branches nearby so no one needed to hunt for more wood.

While I worked, Jann carefully stood, then stripped and walked into the lake, wincing and blowing against the cold, but soon letting the water take his weight as he floated on his back.

Finding a way to let him rest more comfortably was harder, but finally I found a way to knot the corners of the furs with the flying straps to fashion a large hammock big enough for a Neph.

I muttered a great deal about male pride and bullshit while I did it, but in truth it was only to distract myself from the creeping dread that Jann was more hurt than he was letting on.

I was worried. He was incredibly strong, but he’d been leveled by this, and we’d almost dropped out of the sky more than once. It would appear we had no allies out here, and…

God, help us both, I prayed frankly. What else could I do but force him to rest?

As I finished the hammock and tested it for weight with rocks and our bags, my mind turned that question over… and I discovered I had an answer.

One Jann wouldn’t like. But we needed something.

As I worked, I kept looking at the problem from all the angles.

*****

~ JANN ~

The hammock was a stroke of genius. I could sit down into it, then turn my body, so there was no need to get up and down from the ground. It would be warmer than laying on the chilled earth—and much, much softer.

I was… touched.

Diadre’s cheeks pinked when I told her so, and asked her to show me how she’d knotted the furs to keep them secure. This was a set-up I would use to travel in future and would teach to my men.

I lay in the softly swinging hammock, pleased, and humbled, while she hunted, cooked, and brought me food and water.

I was naked from my bath when I crawled into the hammock, and intended to dress before I slept in case we were roused from sleep by unwanted visitors. But the moment I finished the meal my eyes dragged closed.

I lay back in the hammock and told Diadre I would rest for a moment before dressing and preparing for the night.

And then the world went black.

At some point I half-woke when the hammock swung because Diadre crawled in to lay along my side—and that was a relief. I wanted to tell her I needed her there and loved her, but sleep overcame me again before I could form the words.

I slept the sleep of the dead, not even dreaming, coming half-awake once or twice when Diadre moved, but never fully aware of the world enough even to measure the risk. My body dragged me back down into the abyss before I could form the thought.

When I did finally wake, it was night and my chest was cold, which struck me as odd. I blinked once or twice, registering the leaves overhead. It took a moment or two to remember where I was—which was when I realized Diadre wasn’t with me in the hammock.

The night was deeply black and the air freezing, which meant it was the earliest hours of morning, before dawn.

She must have gone to relieve herself. Perhaps that was what had woken me. But no, my stomach growled. I was ravenously hungry.

Of course, the moment I grasped the sides of the hammock to push myself up to sit, the muscles down my spine screamed and sent me tumbling back to a prone position, cursing.

The hammock swung from my movement and I lay there for a few seconds, breathing, waiting for the pain to ease.

“Dee?” I called quietly, not wanting to raise attention from anyone who might be lurking in these woods, looking for us. I didn’t think the Centaurs would pursue us this far from Braventhall, but I hadn’t thought they’d be aggressive when we arrived, either, so who knew?

A niggling dread crawled up the back of my neck and I frowned. Then blinked into the dark again and made my voice a touch louder. “Dee? Are you here?”

No answer.

Shit.

Ignoring the claw of pain along my spine, I forced my body to roll sideways until I could get one elbow under me and swing my legs over the edge of the hammock and sit up.

The hammock wanted to keep moving, which made me wince as I had to brace to keep it still, but getting my feet on the ground helped.

“Dee?!” I hissed into the dark—and then the spear of fear bolted through my chest.

Where the hell was she? Was she hunting? Why didn’t she wake me? Was it possible she’d been stolen away—but surely the Centaurs would have attacked me before they abducted her?

Unless it was other Neph?

Snarling with possessive fury, I leaned forward and stood, groaning and only straightening slowly because my back felt like a white-hot dagger sliced down the right side of my spine.

There was no way I could fly—and that only made me more apprehensive as I limped away from the hammock, scanning the shadows.

The fire had burned to nothing but glowing coals and a thin trail of smoke that was dissipated by the leaves overhead.

The tension in my chest increased with every step that I couldn’t see or hear her, and then when I realized her pack was still on the ground next to mine which meant wherever she was, she had nothing of significance with her and—

‘You’re awake!’

I stopped and whirled, confused for a moment, thinking I’d heard her voice behind me, only to groan when the pain in my back caught at the quick movement, and she wasn’t there.

‘Where are you?’ I growled. ‘How far—’

‘I’ll be there in a couple of minutes. I’m glad you slept. You needed it.’

‘Were you hunting?’ I kept my tone neutral, because my heart was still pounding and my system pushing me to hunt, to fight, to protect.

‘Some,’ she sent vaguely. ‘Are you hungry?’

‘Ravenous.’

‘Well, I’ll have something substantial for you soon,’ she said.

I was somewhat mollified as she continued to ask me questions about my pain and how I’d slept until she revealed that I’d been asleep for a full day and night.

“What?!” The word slipped from my lips, luckily in a whisper, but the shock jolted me. ‘Why didn’t you wake me?!’

‘Because you needed the rest. And you still do. I’m going to feed you and fill you in, then you’re getting back in that hammock and—’

‘Fill me in on what, Dee?’

She didn’t answer immediately, but I heard her footsteps off between the trees, and I turned to look for her, relief washing through me when she appeared, dressed in her fighting leathers, which raised my hackles, walking quickly through the scrub and trees.

When she reached me, she dropped a small bag she’d slung over her shoulder to the ground and came straight to me—but caught herself right before she threw herself into my chest.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she breathed, placing one hand on my chest. Both of us sucked in when the bond crackled between us, and suddenly that spot that was her within me, bloomed to crystal clarity—and froze me in place.

She sighed happily and leaned forward, resting her head on my chest and sliding her arms gently around my waist. But I growled and pulled her hard against me, caging her in my arms and scanning the forest behind her, though she showed no signs of fear.

“Dee?” I muttered a moment later.

“Hmmm?” she said from under my arms.

“What the fuck have you been doing?”

She swallowed before she straightened and lifted her head, but she was smiling when she met my eyes. “Promise you won’t get angry.”

“I’m already angry, because I can feel it on you.”

“Feel what?”

“That you’re being sneaky.”

She rolled her eyes and stroked my chest, which only made me more wary.

Then she sighed and met my gaze again. “I have news,” she said simply.

“What news?” I growled.

“I know why the Centaurs attacked.”

I blinked. Then frowned harder. “First you tell me what you know, then you tell me how you found out.”

Her brows rose. “I know you’re tired, hungry, and in pain, so I’m going to ignore the lack of manners,” she said airily.

“You can ignore whatever you want, you’ll still—”

“The Centaurs attacked because they believed you were part of Gall’s envoy. And they have a very serious bone to pick with Gall.”

“Gall in particular, or his people?”

“Well, they attribute the event to Gall personally.”

My head spun. That couldn’t be possible. The Fallen could move through space and time, we knew that. But we were mortal and—