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Page 65 of With Fangs and Claws (The Wolf Queen 1)

Chapter 28

It was going to be a slow process, riding towards the capital. There were so many of us in the party that we couldn’t move at more than a walk, for fear of tiring the horses unduly and separating the group into smaller, more vulnerable parties. I mentioned to Pep how many weapons the men were sporting and she’d just shrugged that off.

“The roads to and from the capital are the most policed. We’re unlikely to run into any trouble on the way. Obviously, there are some who turn to robbing travellers to support themselves, but I wouldn’t say it happens often.” Her lips thinned then. “The biggest thieves are situated in the city itself, not on the roads.”

“So why are we going there again?” I asked, my fingers tightening around the reins while Arden started to paw at the ground in response, wanting to get going.

“For looove, I thought,” she said with a grin, leaning out of the saddle towards me.

“Everything alright, ladies?” Nordred said, taking up position on the other side of me.

“Oh, just questioning the decision to travel to the capital,” I replied. “Riding away from the site of Kelly’s pies seems wrong somehow.”

“You’ll be fine, lass,” he said. “It might seem daunting, but this was always where you were going to end up.”

“You always speak with such confidence,” I said, looking the man over more closely. “That I was destined to be with the w—, the pack, that I’m supposed to be in Snowmere. Is there some secret source of information you’re privy to that I’m not?”

He snorted and shook his head.

“Just the same knowledge I’ve always had,” he said, holding my gaze with an even stare. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, when you’ve seen people get sent down the same track over and over, you start to see the patterns. I’ve trained young women before you, Darcy, which might tell you something. Another is that some of them have become queens.”

“How old are you, Nordred?”

“Old enough to know better,” was all he would say in reply.

Before I could interrogate things further, the order was given, coming down the line that we were starting off. Arden’s head jerked up and so did mine as the horses in front of us walked forward.

“This conversation isn’t finished,” I told the man at my side.

“It is for me.” He just stared placidly at the line of horses in front of us, sitting perfectly in his saddle. “I’ve always shared what information I can with you, Lady Darcy, and that still stands.”

“So, you can’t tell me or you won’t?” I asked, my back stiffening.

He cast me a sidelong look before turning back to the road.

“I will, when it's time and not before. I don’t like hiding things, but in the past when I’ve shared information too early, it's gone rather badly, for the girl in question and for me.”

I started to laugh at the ominous tone of his voice.

“How on earth can telling me how old you are be such a big deal? You make it sound like the fall of civilisation as we know it will happen as a result.”

“Because I’m older than your father, Darcy,” he said. “I’m older than your grandfather would be, if he was alive. I’m older than the town of Bayard. When your people came across the seas to take land away from mine, I was old then as I saw it happen. As I was forced to watch her…” He smiled and shook his head. “And now your mind teems with questions, ones you think you can pester me with for this whole ride, when you should be focussing on what’s up ahead.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to—” I began to say when Arden abruptly sidled sideways, having caught sight of a flapping piece of cloth and despite his size, he’d decided it was very, very dangerous.

“Hey!” Pep said, having to correct her own mount as Arden nudged into hers.

I soothed Arden with a pat to his neck, then got him back into position. When I was done, I turned to question Nordred, but he’d ridden off, slipping out of formation and taking Blackie further up the line.

“Damn, that man,” I said.

“Sooo, I didn’t want to say anything,” Pep said, “but Nordred? That’s a real famous name in Strelae. There are boys all over the country that wear the name, so I didn’t think too much of it.”

“But…” I prompted.

“But they’re all named for the one man,” she continued, casting her eyes along the horses further up, and focussing on Blackie. “He was advisor to the last Wolf Queen, before she defected to the blasted…” She winced as she stared at me. “When she went over to the humans in order to establish a truce.”

“You’re talking about Queen Rieka?” I said. “The one who thought our king was her mate.”


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