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He released a sigh "This daaze off to the left
A lie?
"What are you not telling h, forced "I spoke with Thorne I don’t have all the details yet He just wanted to stress with me how i over the next several hours"
Alison kneasn’t telling her everything She also kneould tell her if she pushed him So the question was, did she really want to know?
His deht now, no, she didn’t want to know, not yet
She drew her sword into her hand, her fingers tingling with recognition, her heart now sla in her chest Did thisto know? Or maybe just sensible
One step at a ti more, she sent Just train me, Warrior
At that he turned toward her fully His expression lightened … a little You are a warrior, Alison Maybe not of swords and daggers, but you have a warrior’s heart and a warrior’s courage He nodded several times Aloud, he said, "I just want you to know this has been one of the finest nights of et to a girl "Ditto," she whispered She brought her hands together on the leather-wrapped handle of her sword She lowered her chin and shoulders She set her gaze on his abdomen to see which direction he intended to move
The sacrifice of hours,
Reveals the truth of character
--Collected Proverbs, Beatrice of Fourth
Chapter 17
At dawn Kerrick stood over Alison She was sound asleep in the guest rooht until she simply couldn’t take one more step He’d let her shower and head to bed The truth was, she’d need her sleep, dao this latest farce, which would take place in about twelve hours
At least she had a fucking ah
Who was he kidding? She would be fighting General Leto, former Warrior of the Blood, Greaves’s second-in-command How the hell was she supposed to defeat hiht as a warrior the entire time
He cursed under his breath He wanted to wake her up and keep teaching her how to use her sword, how to battle, how to size up an opponent, how to use her strengths and exploit the weaknesses of her enemy But now he couldn’t She needed sleep for the horror of as about to happen to her, but oh, hoanted more time to train her
COPASS, that bullshit Committee of bullshit Coain As he looked down at her, resolve tightened his chest He couldn’t let the arena battle happen without putting up a fight
Thorne had been right when he used the word reamed
He thu away from Alison
"Hey, duhuro," Jeannie drawled, ready to tease as always
"So not in the mood"
"Give" Yeah, Jeannie kne to read the warriors, and her adjustot it Location?"
"The Cave"
He thuan A moment later he stood in the middle of the rec room Thorne was sprawled on the sofa opposite, asleep or ed on a stool at the bar, sipping a French hed, then took another sip He had bruises up and down both arotten up close and personal for the Frenchman
Kerrick did a double take in the direction of the pool table where Luken and Santiago were actually playing a game Some kind of half-ass repair had been executed, which involved a lot of chicken wire and several two-by-fours The result looked like so taken from a really run-down Mortal Earth trailer park If they’d set up empty beer cans in a row on the rim, the picture would have been complete At least the table was functional
"Hey, Kerrick," Santiago called He flipped the cue and sank three balls He had a massive spidery bruise on the back of his left shoulder Yeah, the boys had been out fighting
Luken’s gaze tracked the shot "Lucky bastard," hedown his back, free of the cadroen, a thick ave hiod
Kerrick jerked his chin toward the sofa "How long has he been out?"
"The last hour He went to see Endelle"
"Is she going to protest the arena battle?"
Luken shrugged His cue stood upright and he tapped it on the floor "He didn’t say but as soon as he returned, he started tossing back Ketel shots You want a gaet back to Queen Creek after I aze drifted to Thorne