Page 76 (1/1)

There had to be a way to convince her she belonged and to use her ic, before it was too late to save his people

He titled her chin up to see her coht Her nose was red and there were tears on her cheeks

"Battle-witches do not cry," he said

"I'm a tree-witch," she replied stubbornly

"Now a tree-witch is not real"

"You-"

"Quiet" For once, she heeded the note of warning in his tone He considered her, aroused by the softness of her skin and her direct gaze "Naia"

"Yes Better than witch Why don't you use names here?" she asked

"If a sorcerer or witch knows a man's na half the truth about the custom The other half he did not think her ready for, not after she had unknowingly given her na on a witch or sorcerer, but he took no chances by revealing the truth

"Oh So no one here knows your name?" she asked

"They do not"

"You have no family or friends?"

"Faht, the lord, the doh she appeared bewildered as well He alhts but stopped hithen her connection to a place that did not exist any longer His own confusion ran deep; he had not known other worlds existed before her

"Can I be a knight?" she asked, calhed "You cannot hold a sword Hoould you be a knight?"

She sighed "I don't understand why there's so much death"

"Battle is for a purpose Each death must be necessary If it is not, it is cruel"

"I think killing anyone is cruel"

Each life taken, each kingdoretted none of it, because there was a ht "You do not fully understand h for what I saw And yet, I understand why you did it I don't knohat to think about it"

With soht not have the aid of the battle-witch in his final days of battle He would still fight until the very last breath in his body, with or without her help

Her tre had ceased, but the shi, the unguarded way she looked at him with her heart in her eyes and her plump lips parted