Chosen (The Warrior Chronicles #1)(77)

Cayan’s gaze was calculating as he motioned for someone to take the wedding bribe. “What did you find out?”

“The Inkna aren’t well liked. I was told to think twice before moving closer. They killed the old government and started making changes right away.” Leilius dug his hands into his pockets. “The farmers are nearly starving, the working man is little more than a slave, and the foreign people are rich. Those that are beautiful, or gifted in a necessary craft, are doing well, though, so no one has tried to kick the Inkna out.”

Cayan ignored the young man’s hands. “Could you see the city walls?”

“I went in. That’s what took me so long. There is a large metal gate. Inside—“

“The gate is up?” Sterling asked.

“Um, yeah. A couple guys are—“

“Details, please,” Shanti said in a low tone.

Leilius straightened and took his hands out of his pockets. He probably thought Shanti was going to kick him. Cayan gave her a brief glance before Leilius focused once again. “Two men on each side, but lazy. Inkna—they are light and small—but they are bored. I don’t think they get much action. And inside there is a large area with traders stalls. If that gate were to close, there are a few places to sneak in, but only for a few at a time. That gate has to be open for us to get through with enough to pose a problem for their guards. They all have wicked looking swords and beady eyes.”

“Are the guards inside our coloring or Shanti’s?” Sterling asked.

“They are all Inkna. Small but maybe fast. Just like the ones that came into our city. A few loiter around the trading stalls, making trouble for the younger girls.” Leilius’s jaw clenched briefly before he went on. “A few dot the walls, and others wander around the inside of the city.”

“Are any outside?” Lucius asked with a focused stare, leaning forward on his mount.

Leilius shook his head. “Only those originally from this land are outside. They would scatter if we came through. Or take up arms with us. They really aren’t happy. Desperate, too. That girl’s mother wanted me to take her daughter away back to my land. I look poor, but she still wanted me to take her.”

“You only look poor for your country. Those rags are made from new fabric with holes cut in them,” Shanti muttered. “Someone actually poor can tell the difference.”

Cayan looked at the sun, deciding.

“Sanders doesn’t have much time,” Leilius said quietly. The Captain let slip a blast of power. When Leilius stopped cowering, he said, “I heard rumors that four soldiers were originally taken, but one died. One captured soldier in particular was giving the guards a hard time, and the guards were giving them all they had. It sounded like Commander Sanders. He doesn’t have long, though. The local people are shaken. There’s screaming.”

The Captain’s blue eyes glowed slightly. Power wrapped around him in tight bands, flirting with Shanti’s power, gathering might. “Then we go now. It means we will be running home in the dark, but if we wait until morning, my men might be dead.”

“We won’t need to run home. There won’t be anyone left to chase us,” Shanti said in a voice she hardly recognized.

A few men looked at her with wide eyes. They’d just remembered the girl who laid waste to a tide of Mugdock. She was brimming with power and anger, ready to unleash her wrath and give a town back to the people that rightfully owned it.

At the Captain’s command everyone mounted. He reached a hand down for Shanti.

“No,” she said, meeting his sky blue eyes, hopefully not for the last time. “I need to be first and on foot. When they see us coming they are going to come at us with every Warring mind they have. Or whatever they have that’s similar. I need to be on foot for that. Plus, I am going to inspire some townspeople to take up arms.”

The Captain looked at her a long time before he said, “Stay alive.”

She winked, excitement bubbling. With a manic grin that would make Sanders proud, she turned and started running.

The Inkna had stolen her home and killed those she loved. It was time for revenge.

Chapter 38

Leilius saw S’am starting to walk and fell in beside her, caught up in her presence like a small ship in a giant wave. He didn’t want to file back in with everyone else; they snickered at him constantly, wondering if they would have to play nursemaid to the boy in soldier’s clothes.

It must have looked odd, a young man and a woman, walking in front of a team of horses, a small army at their backs. But if she worried, she didn’t show it. Head held high, long braid the color of wheat swinging behind her, S’am drew her sword in one clean, practiced movement. A thrill coursed through Leilius, ending in a tingle at the base of his balls. The adrenaline was kicking in. Soon he would have to fight. Kill people probably. It was necessary, though—he couldn’t have the Inkna ruin his home and turn his friends into slaves—but he hated killing. Even in revenge for what they were doing to Sanders.

The busy intersection lay ahead, teaming with farmers and their livestock, desperate mothers and fathers trying to trade for enough food to feed their families. The road they were on intersected another, each corner replete with stands of fruit, grains, or merchandise, all gathered in the hard packed dirt. Faces looked up in alarm and surprise, eyes taking in the approaching war men with their rich clothes and furnishings.