Frisha shook her head. Tam swallowed hard and said, “No, I’m fine. I wasn’t injured.” Rezkin had not seen everything that occurred on the other side of the road, but the haunted look in the young man’s eyes told him that Tam had probably taken a life for the first time.

“We will talk later,” he said. When Tam just nodded, Rezkin continued. “We are going up the road to make camp. I would not expect any more trouble, but we must stay on guard. Lieutenant Jimson is preoccupied, so Tam, you take the rear. Stay close, but glance behind you and to the sides frequently. Your eyes should never stop moving. If you see anything, anything at all, even if you think it is just a deer, unless you can say for certain, you let me know.”

Tam swallowed and nodded again.

The travelers made their way along the road slowly for a couple of hours before finally finding a suitable campsite. It was located a few of dozen paces from the road and nestled among dense trees whose low-hanging boughs and surrounding shrubbery would hopefully hide their fire from the casual observer.

Rezkin scouted the area and found no signs of more bandits. After catching dinner, he returned to the camp and checked on his injured traveling companion. For the rest of the evening, Lieutenant Jimson fretted over Reaylin, doing everything he could to make sure she was comfortable. Unfortunately, Reaylin only had eyes for Rezkin. The fact that the young warrior had saved her life, avenged her, and then treated her wounds had only endeared him to her all the more.

Even Rezkin could recognize the young woman’s drug-induced longing gaze, although he may have been more attuned to the possibility simply because of his previous talk with the lieutenant. He was not sure why it should matter, but it made him very uncomfortable. Rezkin did not want Reaylin to desire him. He did not know exactly what his feelings were toward Frisha, if he indeed had any, but he knew he was not interested in Reaylin. The young woman was too chaotic, impulsive, and reactive. He knew he would never be comfortable being close to her, much less let his guard down long enough to be any kind of intimate with her.

Chapter 14

The first distant view of the capital city, the Seat of the King, was unimpressive. The land was completely flat so all the travelers could see was the massive bridge that spanned the River Straei and a very tall, grey wall. The wall itself was supposed to be one hundred feet high and composed of stone quarried from the Zigharan Mountains. The stone had been transported by ship down the Tremadel River, and supposedly, when the sun was at just the right angle, the walls sparkled. From here, they just looked grey.