Warrior's Heart (Book 1 of The Warrior Chronicles)

Chapter 10

As the tingling warmth began to creep into her feet, Leyla opened her eyes and looked out to where the first rider appeared. The Heat reached her calves. Steady. Keep steady. Leyla drew her arm back, her bow quivering as the first horse came into view. A blue and white shaffron? Leyla let out a pent-up breath, her bow lowering as the Heat drained away from her legs. There were crescent head coverings on all the horses: they were Warriors!

She stood slowly from her crouched position, still unable to believe her luck as she watched the riders approach.

"Spread out!" The familiar voice reached her a moment before she recognised first rider. Alec! What was he doing here?

She had yet to move when Alec caught sight of her and jerked on the reigns. He jumped off his horse, shooting off more commands as he ran to her side. The other riders remained seated, arrows drawn and pointed in different directions as they watched for possible attackers.

"Are there more?" Alec held her arms, his eyes scanning her for wounds. His fingers were warm on her shirt; strong and steady. Her bow and arrow went limp in her hands.

"An archer is dead under a tree." She pointed in the direction where the enemy had fallen, noticing the blood on her hands. Was it hers, or did it get there while she was tying up the No Landers?

"Sten!" Alec called to the closest of his men. Sten, the tallest Warrior Leyla had seen, looked up at the sound of his name, his braided beard brushing against his chest as he waited for orders. "You, check on the archer! Toke, Wolf, Bo, scout the area for runaways."

"Yes, sir!" The Warriors kicked their horses, each of them taking a separate direction.

"Leyla?" She looked up at Alec's face. The sun was making streaks of his hair appear almost white. He was beautiful. But why was he going blurry? She noticed the pressure of his fingers on the sides of her arms. Wait was he shaking her? "Leyla are you injured?"

I survived. I'm alive.

"I'm fine." She dragged a hand over her face, a ridiculous urge to laugh coming over her. A small sound escaped from her mouth.

"Are you laughing?" Alec asked, baffled.

"I..." Leyla suddenly realised that he was holding her up and the hilarity of the moment evaporated. She stepped back, dislodging his grip. "No, Sir, I am not."

He narrowed his eyes at her formal tone, then nodded stiffly. "Then tell me, why the Diya are you out here on your own, Lieutenant?"

Leyla stiffened her jaw. Alright, so she was the one who pushed his concern away, but did he have to interrogate her at this very moment? Moving as quickly as her shaking legs would allow, she went to retrieve the letter from her side saddle and handed it to him. "Captain Leo order me to deliver this urgent letter to Outpost 5."

"What kind of urgent message could that idiot possibly have for the 5th Outpost?" Alec tore at the envelope, swearing a blue streak when a blank piece of paper fell out.

Leyla blinked at the supposed letter and hilarity overcame her once again. This time she couldn't stop the laughter. Leo hadn't even bothered writing a fake missive; just a blank sheet of paper. He must have been certain that she wouldn't survive.

Alec retrieved the paper, his expression grim. "You should have told me you were being sent out here."

"Why?" She asked, her smile turning grim. "A superior decided to teach me a lesson for humiliating him. It's within his rights - "

"What rights?" Alec crumpled the paper in his hand. "No superior has the right to endanger a Warrior's life!"

That was true, under normal circumstances. But Leo was a royal and the rules didn't apply to royalty, especially when pit against a mixed-blood like herself.

"Please don't make an issue of this. As long as this pacifies the Captain, it's fine."

"Fine? Fine!" Alec growled at her, shaking her by the shoulders. "How can you say something so stupid? You could have died!"

"Enough!" Leyla pushed his hands away. She was too tired, and feeling too raw to keep her temper from flaring. "Just yesterday, you shot six dozen arrows at me for the sake of a demonstration! So stop acting like you care."

Alec looked stricken, "How could you compare the two? You were never in any real danger during the demonstration! I knew you'd dodge the arrows easily, plus, that demonstration got you on the next round of promotions list. I thought you wanted to be a Captain?"

Leyla's breath caught. She remembered the council member who had been watching from the banisters ...could it really be? "You? You called the general to watch?"

"I thought too highly of your intelligence, Lieutenant." Alec sighed. "Why do you think I have been pushing you so hard these past two years? Can you really be that obtuse?"

Leyla didn't understand what he was driving at, but her mind clung to his previous words. "You aren't lying? I'm really on the promotions list?"

Alec looked at her quizzically, "What could I possibly gain from lying?"

Captain! She was going to be a Captain! Which meant she would be able to look at the documents, she'd be able to search for her parents and Tia! She could save Tia from the abuse..."You have no idea what this means."

The tension from the fight, the anger at Leo, exhaustion and now elation; all of the feelings collided, leaving Leyla blank except for one irrational desire. Without thinking it through, she threw her arms around Alec's broad shoulders and clung. "Thank you."

The Colonel stiffened for a moment, then to her utter surprise, his arms came around her and gently squeezed. "You had me worried, Green Eyes. Don't do that again." His heat surrounded her, causing a strange fluttering in the pit of her stomach.

Flustered, she moved back. "But, what brought you here?"

"I told you I wouldn't let you get hurt," Alec shrugged. The sound of horses had Alec turning back to see his men returning from carrying out his orders.

"Sten?" Alec's unspoken question was returned with a sharp nod.

"Dead. He was Ra-Innu."

Leyla's blinked when she realised what Sten meant. Alec had had Sten check for the sun tattoo! He believed her theory!

"Alright," Alec looked over at the No-Landers Leyla had bound together. "Let's get these bastards to the closest outpost for interrogation. I want to be back at the keep before nightfall!"

Leyla stared at Alec's back, confounded. Why was he acting this way? Had he really been helping her all along? But, why? Didn't he hate her?

"Let's go Lieutenant," Alec looked over his shoulder, his brow arched in its usual haughty manner. "Or are you waiting for more No Landers to show? I guess single handedly beating ten Bone Eaters was not enough sport for you?"

Alec's Warriors laughed at the proclamation, looking at her with impressed eyes.

"No need to wait, Sir." Leyla bent her head forward, pretending to brush dirt off her trousers in order to hide the blush creeping into her cheeks, "I've had enough of No-Lander company for the day."

Another bought of laughter followed her, as she made her way to her horse.