LOGINSelene’s POVThe healer had asked me to lie still three times, and I was beginning to think she regretted letting me through the door.“It’s a little difficult when you keep making that face,” I told her.“What face?”“The one you make when you’re trying to decide whether to give someone bad news.”She lifted her head from my stomach and stared at me. “I’m trying to listen, Selene. You’re making it rather difficult.”I pressed my lips together and lay back against the examination bed.I’d suspected I was pregnant for almost two weeks. My monthly cycle hadn’t come, I was exhausted by the middle of most afternoons, and the smell of eggs had become enough to send me running from the breakfast table. Ronan had been ready to confront the cook after the second morning.I’d managed to convince him there was nothing wrong with the food, although explaining why I’d suddenly developed an intense dislike for something I’d eaten all my life had been another matter.The healer placed her fingers l
Selene’s POVHale was arguing with Garrick over the last supply wagon when Ronan helped me down the gatehouse steps.“I told you where I put the medical supplies,” Hale said, standing beside the wagon with his hands on his hips. “If you’d listened the first time, you wouldn’t be digging through every damn crate.”Garrick pulled a folded blanket from beneath the driver’s seat and tossed it onto the wagon bed. His injured forearm was bandaged beneath his sleeve, and he was doing most of the work with his other hand.“Then quit moving things after I’ve checked them.”“I moved them because the healers need to get to them.”“And I need to know where everything is before we leave.”Hale looked toward Ronan. “You want to tell him I’m in charge of this?”Ronan glanced at the two men, then toward the wagon carrying our fallen. “I want to get my people home. You two can argue about blankets when we get there.”Garrick muttered something under his breath and went back to checking the straps.I s
Ronan’s POVHale came into the gatehouse while Selene was trying to tear another piece from her bread.Her hands were still shaking. She’d managed to eat some of the meat we’d been given, but I could see how much effort it took for her to hold the food without dropping it. I took the bread from her, tore it into smaller pieces, and put it back on the tray. She gave me a look but didn’t complain.Hale stopped in front of us with a folded sheet of parchment in his hand. There was fresh blood on his sleeve, and the cut along his jaw had started bleeding again.“I’ve got the count,” he said.I put my own bread down. “Let’s hear it.”“Three dead. Eleven wounded badly enough that the healers are keeping them down. We’ve got another six with cuts and other injuries that need tending, but they can walk.” He looked at the parchment. “Two of the serious ones are still in rough shape. One took an arrow through his shoulder, and the other lost a hell of a lot of blood from his leg.”Selene shifte
Selene’s POVThe first arrow struck Hale’s shield before we’d made it halfway through the covered passage.“Keep moving!” he shouted, bracing his shoulder against the wood as another arrow hit hard enough to knock him sideways.I ducked behind the warrior in front of me while our archers returned fire from the western wall. Cassius’s men were shooting through the narrow openings above the entrance, using the stonework to protect themselves between volleys. One leaned out farther than the others, drawing his bow toward the men carrying the timber. An arrow caught him in the chest before he could release. He disappeared backward, and his bow clattered onto the stones below.Hale pointed toward the windows. “Keep those fuckers down! Garrick, get your men around the east side!”Garrick raised his sword before heading toward the building we’d secured earlier. His archers had a better angle on the residence from there, and within minutes, Cassius’s defenders were taking fire from two direct
Selene’s POVHale raised his fist, and the warriors behind us stopped.The gates to Cassius Varric’s property stood less than a hundred yards ahead, surrounded by a stone wall that disappeared into the trees on either side. Men lined the walkway above the entrance, bows in their hands, watching us from behind the protection of the parapet. I counted six before another two appeared near the western corner.The sight of them made my stomach tighten, but I kept my place beside Ronan.One of the archers pointed toward me. He spoke to the man beside him, who immediately disappeared down the steps behind the wall. I watched the exchange, wondering how many of Cassius’s men had been given my description and ordered to look for me.Ronan caught the movement, too. His hand closed around mine, and I could feel the tension in his fingers.“Stay with Hale when we move,” he said.“I intend to.”He looked at me, apparently unconvinced.I squeezed his hand. “I’m not planning to run through those gat
Selene’s POVThe storekeeper was halfway through counting the recovered sacks when the wounded guard beside me reached for one with his bandaged arm.“Don’t even think about it,” I told him.He stopped with his fingers around the corner of the sack.“I can carry flour.”“With one good arm?”“I’ve got two.”“Then why is one of them tied against your chest?”He looked down at the bandage as though he’d forgotten it was there. The storekeeper snorted and took the sack from him.I had to bite back a smile. The man had barely escaped losing the use of that arm, yet he’d spent most of the morning complaining that nobody would let him do anything. I understood the frustration. I hadn’t particularly enjoyed being ordered to rest after healing Ronan, either. But watching him reach for a sack that weighed nearly as much as he did wasn’t something I intended to ignore.Three days had passed since Damon died.I still found myself counting them whenever the courtyard came into view.The stones had







