“Or a month digging latrine pits as penance,” Caden added.
“Henri always did like his punishments,” Fallon mused.
Darius set the glasses on the table. “He still tells that story and laughs. Says if not for that month, we likely would have walked out of the healer’s tent and gotten into another fistfight before we took five steps.”
“He’s probably right,” Caden agreed. “I hated you two. You were the clan leaders’ favorite pupils, and if I could have, I would have knocked all your teeth out.”
He’d envied and resented them. They’d had what he so desperately wanted—a place and a path. Fallon might have thrown the first punch, but Caden had been relentless as he pricked and prodded until the older boy lost his temper.
Darius had only joined the fight because of the taunts they threw his way. He’d laughed and thought they were amusing; he hadn’t thought that long when he’d tasted the sting of Caden’s words and Fallon’s fist.
That month of punishment had made them see past the illusion of their different stations to their shared history. Nothing bonded boys like having a common goal.
Surviving Henri’s mentorship became their common goal, and later, when Fallon told them his dreams, their goal changed to encompass his.
“What’s all that?” Caden asked, nodding toward the glasses Darius was filling with whiskey.
"I thought it as good a time to celebrate as any. We’ve cut off one head of this rebellion, but there are bound to be many more. We know our enemy now."
Fallon slid Caden a look. "I was surprised they convinced you onto the back of one of those Kyren, given your fear of heights. Does she know?"
Caden shrugged. "Who is to say?"
She didn’t. Eva had been too distracted corralling her fire fox to notice his lack of ease.
It helped that he had a face most couldn’t read, not even his closest friends. If he was lucky, she’d never know. He couldn’t imagine the teasing she would subject him to when she found out.
Darius shoved glasses of the amber liquid into their hands. “It’s true what they say; love can make even the most practical and hardheaded change their ways.”
Caden’s lips quirked. Darius slapped him on the back.
Darius was the first to raise his cup. "Here's to what comes next. May our hunt be fruitful."
"Our blades fierce," Caden said.
"And our mercy nonexistent," Fallon finished.
They all took a sip before sharing a long look. The battle for the Broken Lands had finally begun.
*
Eva cradled the littlebundle, surprised Shea had practically forced the small girl into her arms the moment she appeared in the door.
A warmth filled Eva's soul at the small weight, reminding her of the Kyren she’d helped foal. The trust and belief coupled with the knowledge that what she did mattered, filled her.
“What’s her name?” Eva asked.
“Rowan Lainie Hawkvale,” Shea said.
Eva peered into the tiny, wrinkled face. “Rowan. That’s a beautiful name.”
The light from the baby’s mind throbbed in Eva’s with the same clarity as a mythological’s even though she was completely human. Rowan was going to be special. Eva sensed that as easily as she could sense another animal.
She kept the news of what she felt to herself for now. Shea would love the child regardless of any differences, but information such as this couldn’t endanger Rowan if no one knew it.
The power Eva sensed in the baby, that same brush of shadow she felt in Ajari and the Kyren, might never bloom. Until then, there was no reason to worry the parents.
Caden slipped into the room moments later, his eyes softening on her and the child she held as Fallon crossed the room to press a kiss to his queen's head. Shea looked exhausted, her hair slick with sweat as her eyes practically glowed with happiness.
