“And what areyougoing to be doing while the rest of us are doing the grunt work?” Mattox half-jested.
“Schmoozing, keeping my eyes and ears open, and trying to appear as if I know nothing about a possible assassination attempt on one of our guests.” Striding over to Atty, Yulen gave her a quick kiss, then exited out the front door with the rest of them right behind him.
* * *
Caralas sat in their tent,her arms wrapped around her upraised knees. Her body was still shaking from what had occurred. Or almost occurred.
She’d spent the last few minutes debating with herself whether or not to tell her father about the incident. If she didn’t, there was the chance he’d eventually hear about it from D’Jacques’ son. Or worse, from D’Jacques himself. At which point Lorgon Edge’s temper would be near eruption level.
“I have to tell him. The sooner, the better. The only problem is, how is he going to react after I do?” There was the very real possibility her father could call it quits with the conference and pull up stakes to take them back to Vega City. If he did that…
The thought that she may never see Mattox again was like a punch to the gut.
The sound of soldiers talking passed outside the tent, but no one paused by the door flap. She didn’t want to see anyone except her father when he finally decided to return to camp.
More soldiers walked by. From what little she caught of their conversation, D’Jacques had called for a lunch break. Good. It meant her father would be here soon. That is, if he hadn’t been detained by another battle lord, or invited to dine somewhere else.
No matter. If he doesn’t show, Borlee will come looking for me to let me know where he’d gone, and report back to him.
She took a deep sniff. It may be her imagination, but she thought she’d smelled something grilling on one of the fires outside. Her stomach rumbled in response, letting her know it had been a while since breakfast.
Something tickled her cheek, and she ran a hand over her face. She stared in surprise at the wetness on her fingers. She had no idea she’d been crying.Stress tears. She took a deep breath. When was the last time she’d cried real tears? “Months,” she told herself. “No, years.”
A sound at the door flap told her someone was entering. Presently, Lorgon Edge appeared. He gave her a quick once-over when he entered.
“I’m famished. What’s on the spit?”
“I have no idea. Someone started lunch for us, I guess.”
Going over to the small table that held the washbowl, he poured a little water into it from the jug kept underneath, and proceeded to wash his hands. “I saw you leave earlier. Where’d you go?”
“To the practice field. With Mattox D’Jacques.”
Her father narrowed his eyes at her as he wiped his hands on the towel hanging on the hook embedded in one of the tent poles. “Well? What do you think?”
“Of the practice field?”
“No. Of the battle prince.” Walking over to her, he finally realized something was wrong. “What happened out there?” he tightly demanded.
Caralas shook her head. “Someone tried to kill me.”
“What?”
“If it hadn’t been for Mattox, I’d be dead right now.” She cast him an equally hard stare that proved she was her father’s daughter. “Sit down, Dad. And listen carefully. I…we think you, or me, or the both of us, may be targets of an assassination attempt.”
“Wethink? You mean you and that D’Jacques boy?”
“Just shut up and listen for once in your life,” she snapped. Amazingly, her father parked himself on the carpet in front of her and waited for her to continue.
13
Thanks
“Storm’s brewing. Wonder how long it’ll take to get here?”
The comment jerked Mattox out of his reverie. Silently cursing himself for his inattention, he managed to put on a bland face before turning around.
Nevo pointed off to the northwest. “Looks to be a nasty one,” his brother-in-law added.
