Chapter 15 #2
Tal set the leather case on her lap and fumbled with the ties.
When she lifted the lid, she gasped at its contents.
Inside lay two beautifully crafted battle axes.
The craftsmanship was unlike any she had seen.
Each blade had been expertly carved with ancient runes.
The deep brown wooden handle was smooth as the surface of the Taralin at daybreak and secured to the blade with a fine leather strap braided down its length.
She’d never seen a weapon so well made, and if she had to guess, the materials used were the finest in the four nations.
“Where did you get these?” Tal asked without taking her eyes off the weapons.
“They’re a gift from the king for the person who rescued valued members of his staff.”
“You mean the king who may be responsible for their kidnapping. And who suddenly has an interest in me. You told him I helped,” she accused.
“I had to tell him so he could dispatch soldiers to Silaron, but I promise you, it wasn’t him.
I mentioned that a skilled bounty hunter and her associates tracked down and retrieved the missing staff with minimal repercussions.
He hasn’t made the connection to the masquerade.
” Faron met her gaze. He was an excellent liar.
“And I’m supposed to believe it’s a coincidence they were tortured under his palace and in his private summer home.” The skepticism dripped from her words.
“He has enough to occupy his every waking minute. Two palace servants are no use to him outside of their duties. It appears someone is hatching their own schemes while his attention is elsewhere.”
Tal still wasn’t convinced, but her companion showed no sign of doubt in his trust of the king. “What schemes would require the torture of two palace servants?”
Faron tapped his chin with a finger. “Those remain a mystery.” He narrowed his eyes at her, lost in thought.
She wondered how long he’d been listening before killing the mage in Silaron. She suspected the mages had mistaken Nola for the woman they were after with red hair and fury, but she didn’t voice it. That would require Tal to reveal too much about her own identity.
“I assume he’ll be looking into who is behind this then?” Tal wondered what information Faron held back. It seemed they were both keeping secrets.
“Of course.”
She turned the conversation to a lighter subject. “Does he know you took his horses overnight?”
He shrugged, unperturbed. “He leaves such things to his staff. And, fortunately for us, Jens will have to come up with an excuse as to why they’re gone.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you take advantage of the busy king more often than he knows,” she teased.
“Only in matters that benefit me of course.”
“And how does this benefit you?”
Faron paused, a wicked grin playing with his handsome features. “Because I get to see your face when I tell you the axes are yours.”
It took everything for Tal to say, “No. I cannot accept. Carrick and Rainier helped just as much.”
“And they’ve been equally compensated. I assure you.”
She shook her head. “We never discussed a contract. This was a favor, not a deal.”
“And these,” he gestured to the battle axes displayed across her lap, “are merely a thank you gift from a grateful king and his friend. Just accept it, or do I need to conspire with your very large friend to sneak them into your chambers when you’re not looking?”
“You stay out of my chambers,” Tal retorted, to which Faron laughed. It was a carefree sound, gentle despite its volume. Tal could see herself curling up and falling asleep to such a melody. She had to blink away the distracting haze while Faron replied.
“I wouldn’t dare enter your chambers without permission. I am a nobleman and a man of honor. I also prefer not to be stuck with one of your many daggers.”
“Which you would be if you came in uninvited.” Tal needed a different kind of distraction to clear her mind from thoughts of Faron in her chambers. “Alright, nobleman. Then let’s go see just how fine the craftsmanship is on these extravagant gifts.”
They spent the better part of the early afternoon allowing Tal to get comfortable with the weapons. Faron lounged along a fallen tree while Tal used the surrounding plant life for target practice.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve used a battle axe before,” the nobleman mused after the axe thunked into its mark yet again.
“You don’t think I’m naturally good with a new weapon?” Tal aimed for a patch of dry moss the size of a mouse halfway up the trunk of a tree.
“I’ve seen you with a bow, so no—Hey!” Tal’s throw landed a few inches from Faron’s foot.
She smirked at him as she approached. Pulling the weapon out of the dead wood, she inspected it, and a thought occurred to her. “You wouldn’t have brought me here to distract me from killing those men, would you?” She turned her attention to Faron.
“I wouldn’t dream of stopping you from exacting revenge.
As I said, I’ve located them and have arranged Ed and Egan to track until you are ready to pursue.
And I’d thoroughly enjoy accompanying you.
However,” he paused, sitting up straight, “if they do know about the mages, perhaps it’s best we wait and gather more information. ”
“In case you forgot,” Tal flipped the axe in her right hand, spun on her heel, and embedded the blade in the bit of moss she had previously set her sights on, “there were two men. I only need one to give away the mage’s location.”
“While true, wouldn’t the mage become wary, if not suspicious, if another of the thugs went missing?”
Tal sighed. “What would you have me do?” As much as she wanted the satisfaction of watching the horror in those criminals’ eyes while the life faded from them, the mages were the more pressing concern.
Sybil and Rainier had yet to get any further in their investigation.
This was their first direct link to the threat, and she couldn’t throw it away for revenge.
“We continue to watch them. Someone is bound to give up more information. Whether they meet with the mage himself, or someone in their gang does, there is something to learn here.”
Tal knew this was the right decision regardless of how eager she was to see those men rotting in the gutter. Rainier had said as much the previous morning. She nodded, her anger keeping her from agreeing out loud.
“If it helps, I can gather some sticks and make life-sized figures for target practice.” His attempt to lighten the conversation worked only minimally. “We’ll call them Dead Gully and D—”
Tal shoved a hand over his mouth. “If I think any more about them, I’ll change my mind.”
Faron held his hands up in surrender, and his lips twitched on her hand.
Tal became all too aware of their proximity and the feel of his skin under her palm. She stepped away, clenching her fist. She ignored him and focused on a new target.
Faron changed the topic of conversation to Tal’s training. “Rainier and his sister taught you? Are they not much older than you?”
“They’re from the southern kingdom. Their father was a master warrior of sorts.”
“He must have been an excellent tutor for them to then train you so well.”
Tal rolled forward and threw her axe in one motion, hitting her mark and affirming his statement further. “We learned out of necessity; something your expensive tutors could never teach.”
Faron nodded in concession, but didn’t give any details of his own training.
Tal knew most noble families hired experts of all skill sets for their young lords and ladies.
He likely learned to fight in the privacy of his estate.
The near perfect way that he moved in a duel, almost like a dance, hinted that he rehearsed each move until it became second nature.
The more they talked, the more distracted Tal found herself.
Her companion still lounged on the fallen tree, and Tal’s mind wandered to thoughts of his training.
She thought of the way he would run his hands through his hair in frustration, how the muscles on his back would flex in the midday sun, having taken off his shirt because of the summer heat.
Sweat would drip down his muscled chest. She took a steadying breath when her throw went wide.
A sideways glance indicated Faron still watched her.
He smirked and raised his brow suggestively as if he knew where her thoughts were.
The answering flush in her cheeks made it more difficult to hide her thoughts, and she bit her lip in a futile attempt to regain focus.
When her next throw slipped out of her hands and disappeared in the surrounding trees, Tal swore. Faron laughed and teased her about taking back his earlier compliment. She responded with a rude gesture, earning her more boisterous laughter from the nobleman, and went searching for the lost axe.
She cursed herself while she stomped through the foliage.
Why did I think about him like that? Despite Faron’s suggestive smirks and flirtatious manner, it was foolish to entertain any ideas involving a noble and a commoner.
Some would say she shouldn’t be alone with the man to begin with, but a ruined reputation meant nothing to Tal, who had given up any expectation of finding a husband many years ago.
Someone of his status wouldn’t normally seek out her company, but she brushed off her curiosity when rustling leaves to her right demanded her attention.
Not a moment later, a piercing squeal broke the silence in the woods, and Tal realized too late that a large boar barreled toward her.
“Look out!”
Tal was knocked to the ground just as the beast lunged at her.
She only had enough time to see Faron kneeling over her, his bow in hand, and an arrow already released.
It embedded itself in the boar’s rump, earning a guttural screech.
The animal turned for a second attack, but before its next breath, another arrow hit home, and the boar slid to the ground a few paces from them.
Tal turned her shock from the dead boar to the man above her.
She’d been so distracted, she hadn’t noticed either of them following her.
Faron released a deep sigh and dropped his bow. His hands fell to his sides. “Some hunter you are.” His nervous smile failed to conceal the worry Tal heard in his voice.
Rather than admit he’d saved her from the boar, Tal grabbed his right wrist, locked his leg with her foot, bucked her hips and pivoted to her left.
Faron was so caught off guard, he let out a small yelp when he landed on his back.
With her right hand on his chest and her left still locked on his wrist, Tal smirked triumphantly at the shock on Faron’s face.
Silence hung between them. Tal felt his quickening heartbeat against her palm.
His eyes dipped to her lips. The distracting thoughts from before invaded her mind, and suddenly the position of her hips over his revealed his thoughts as well.
Their eyes locked again. Heat filled her cheeks.
She twisted off him with a jerk and stood, using the freshly killed boar as a distraction.
Faron remained silent while she inspected his kill, attempting to distract her racing thoughts.
The animal must have stalked her through the trees.
She blinked at an image of Faron picking through foliage, a predatory smirk on his lips.
She knelt beside the animal’s head, eyeing the angle at which the arrow impaled its chest. She’d spent the better part of the day forcing her gaze away from Faron’s own muscled chest barely concealed beneath his open shirt.
Her eyes traveled along the beast’s massive body to the arrow protruding from its rump.
The night she met him, her eyes once roamed down Faron’s own body, appreciating the way his leather suit clung to his muscles, until she reached—She exhaled in frustration and stood, facing the subject of her thoughts.
His lack of comment only allowed Tal’s mind and her eyes to wander further.
She caught herself surveying his attire, imagining how she would remove it, and cleared her throat to stop the thoughts.
She composed herself only to find that infuriating smirk returned. He knew exactly what she was thinking.
“I’ll get my axe.” Tal turned and walked farther into the woods, doing her best to ignore the laughter following her all the way.
She found her axe another thirty paces later despite her intrusive thoughts.
She returned to the little cottage to see Faron hooking Hazel up to a cart behind the shed.
He lifted the boar into the cart, his muscles straining under the weight.
“It’s probably best we return.” He faced away from her while fixing the reins. “Jens will be missing the horses, and I suspect the butcher would prefer we deliver our kill before the meat spoils.” He turned toward her, and his eyes traveled the length of her body.
Tal knew that wasn’t the reason they ended their little adventure, but she didn’t push the issue. They should return before she lost all sense. Her lack of self-control seemed to be growing, probably due to the little sleep she received on the pier.
“Will you be okay to ride back?” Faron spoke in a gruff voice as if he too was tormented with inappropriate thoughts.
She nodded. “If you ride, I’ll ride.”