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Jared started up the road at a fast walk

Could aaware of it?

Thera would know Being broken didn’t erase her knowledge or training,it

Jared looked around

He couldn’t see the wagon

He couldn’t see any sign of Randolf or Garth

He started running

Thera was the only person in their group who ht have the answers he needed; was the only one who understood the Black Widows’ Craft

The Gray Lady was the only person in the entire Realm of Terreille ore the Gray Jewels; was the only Queen and the onlyfree person who outranked Dorothea SaDiablo

Both of theh to be vulnerable to an unexpected attack

And until he had some answers, there was no one he could trust to help keep the, mud-colored water On either side of the swollen creek were the ree they needed to cross As he watched, the water seduced another plank of the bridge and took it for a wild ride downstreale of branches and debris that had piled up at the curve

Brock hooked his thumbs into his leather belt, took a deep breath, and blew it out "Well, that’s inconvenient"

"For us," Jared agreed

Brock narrowed his eyes "I wondered if it could be a marauder ambush, so I took a chance and probed the area There’s no Blood around here but us We’ve been visible long enough to have co" He shook his head "I think one of the trees that had been uprooted in the flood se and pulled it down"

"Maybe" Jared wished he had insisted on talking to Thera But when he caught up with the others, Blaed had curtly infor, and there had been an edge to the young Warlord Prince’s voice that had warned him not to push Since his own anxiety had diminished once he could keep an eye on the woressive, protective instincts Blaed was fighting to keep leashed, he’d decided to wait until he could talk to Thera without drawing the other e and wondering if it had been the flood or Craft that had destroyed it he regretted that decision

"Maybe," Jared said again "Or otten here yet Or maybe there’s Blood out there who outrank you and are shielded so you’re not aware of the hiuard, Warlord," Brock said, anger si in his voice "The Purple Dusk , and I knohat to look for When I probe to find so, I find it, if it’s there at all"

Jared wasn’t sure of that, but he didn’t know that ree

"What’s happened, Jared?" Brock said, releasing Jared’s arht with me since we started out, and now all of a sudden you’re talking smoke"

Jared turned to face the water, not so much to turn away from Brock but to keep his back to the others He and Brock worked well together, and he liked the , and trust hat Brock was asking for now

Keeping his voice neutral, Jared said, "If you could kill the Gray Lady, would you do it?" He flicked a glance at Brock, whose face and eyes were carefully blank

"If she died out here, we’d be free," Brock answered, his voice giving nothing away

"Would you kill her?" Jared pressed

Brock seemed reluctant to answer, but finally said, "No"

Brock’s answer should have made Jared feel easier It didn’t He watched the water steal another plank froe "It could have been marauders"

Brock huffed

"It could have," Jared insisted "What if they destroyed the bridge to force us to take another road, find another bridge where they’ll be waiting for us?"

"Youhis chin "They’d have no reason to think we’d fight Slaves, if they’re smart, don’t take sides If their oins, they wouldn’t survive the punishment if they’d helped her enemy, and they wouldn’t survive what the others would do to the, a slave wouldn’t be any worse off and "

"The only thing he’d be granted is the chance to whore his honor for the illusion of freedom," Jared snapped "He’d never really be trusted, never really be free He wouldn’t be wearing a Ring he could feel or see, but--" The words suddenly stuck in Jared’s throat "But he’d be trapped by it all the same," he finished softly

Freedom from pain Freedoed to someone else who could use you, hurt you, sell you, maim you simply because she wanted to Freedom to have a lover,up honor

And all asince they’d started this fool’s journey<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>