บททั้งหมดของ Chasing My Barbarian Luna : บทที่ 41 - บทที่ 50

Ayla’s PovWe reached the camp shortly before sunset. Snow covered the ground, with a frozen stream running along one side and rocky hills in the distance. The scouts believed the Eastern wolves were somewhere beyond them, but nobody knew exactly where. The soldiers got to work as soon as we stopped. Some unloaded tents while others brought out food and supplies. Horses stamped their feet as their handlers led them toward the stream. A few men sat near the wagons, sharpening their weapons, while others argued over where to set up camp.I sat on a wagon and watched them. A boy hurried past me with two buckets of water, spilling some on his boots. Nearby, a woman counted spears as two warriors carried them off the carts. Everyone seemed to have something to do. I was beginning to wonder where Darius had gone when I noticed a man standing across the camp, watching me.I was tired. My back ached, and my feet were cold, and the sick feeling had come and gone twice since noon. But I could s

Darius’s PovI watched Haldor walk away with an attitude of authority. He went back through the camp with his hands loose at his sides, like a man who had said what he came to say. Two warriors near the horse lines looked at him as he passed. One of them smiled. Haldor didn't look at either of them.I kept my eyes on his back until he turned the corner of the cook tent and disappeared.⠀I could have followed him. It would have taken four steps. I knew exactly what I would say, and I knew what it would cost. There were three hundred Northern warriors in this camp, and every one of them had been watching. If I put a hand on Haldor, it would stop being about Ayla. It would become the Southern prince attacking a Northern warrior in the middle of a war camp. That was what he wanted. He said it so I would do it after making the statement, “You won't be able to protect her every time.” I let my hand fall away from my belt. It was a stupid thing to say. It was also true, and he knew that. Th

Ayla’s PovI wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the war tent, but the cook fires were only a few steps from it, and the old warrior had gone to fill a bowl for me. So I stood there with the bowl in my hands when the voices inside grew louder. I saw the tent flap tied back. I could see the fire in the stone ring, and the map on the ground, and Haldor with his arms spread, smiling at everyone but Darius.⠀Why should I follow you?⠀I heard it from where I stood, and so did everyone else. A few warriors near the cook fires stopped talking. One of them put down his spoon.⠀I wanted to walk in there and tell Haldor exactly what I thought. I took one step, then I made myself stop. Darius hadn't asked me to fight this for him, and it wasn't the place. Darius didn't answer right away. He crouched beside the map with one hand resting on his knee. He looked at Haldor for a moment, and then he looked down at the map again, as if the question had been about something else.⠀"You shouldn't fol

Darius’s Pov"Nobody says a word about the northern track outside this circle," I said.⠀The commanders looked up. The sharp-faced one frowned. The man with the gray braid stopped scratching his chin.⠀"Commander," the sharp-faced commander said. "If someone told the East…"⠀"I know what it means." I kept my voice low. "I also know I can't find out who it was tonight. If we start pointing at each other now, we lose the army before the East even reaches us. Whoever it is will still be here tomorrow."⠀Nobody argued. I looked at the messenger. A healer had wrapped his arm, and he was sitting up with a cup of water in both hands.⠀"How many guards are alive?" I asked him.⠀"I counted eleven who ran, Commander," he said. "Some were hurt. I don't know where they went."⠀"What's left of the supplies?"⠀"Two wagons that didn't burn. Some sacks that were thrown clear. Maybe a third of the grain."⠀"Were the Eastern riders still at the narrows when you left?"⠀"No but they didn't rid

Darius’s PovI counted the cost slowly, and then I realized that one of the warriors who got injured under the wagon was dead. Two of my riders were wounded, one badly, a spear through the thigh. One of Haldor's men had a broken arm from a fall. And the second wagon, the one we had been loading, was on fire. Someone had thrown a torch. We put out the fire and lost half of what was left.⠀I found Haldor sitting on a rock at the south end of the narrows, wiping his sword on a rag. He looked up when he saw me coming. He didn't stand.⠀"I told you to hold the south mouth," I said.⠀"I saw a chance." He shrugged. "They were sitting on that ledge like ducks. Another minute and we'd have had every one of them."⠀“There were four riders on that ledge. Twelve more were hiding behind the rocks.” I kept my voice calm. “They wanted you to leave your position, and you fell for it.”“You don’t know that.”“One of our wounded is dead. Two of my men are hurt, and we lost a wagon we could have sav