Guardian (Sequel to Fearless)

Chapter Thirty Five

*warning -- graphic nasty.

Iris rode alongside Hench and Kayde as they left the guardian sanctuary. Ever since they had gone to dinner a few nights ago, her mentor had been in a wonderful mood. She'd been smiling more than usual and showing a sense of camaraderie to Iris that seemed to strengthen the bond they already shared even further. It had been infectious joy. Until now. Now, Iris was sickened and awkward as she looked across the path at Kayde. He noticed, too, which only made it worse.

"Are you okay?" he mouthed to her as Hench trail-blazed about seven feet ahead of them on a stocky black stallion. Iris just looked hard at his face to find it full of concern.

"Fine," she answered. "I'm fine." She spoke the words aloud, but if Hench was listening, she didn't show it.

Kayde raised a brow. "Have I done something wrong, dear girl?" he asked.

"No," Iris answered, and it wasn't a lie. He'd done nothing wrong. He'd done everything right, and wasn't that some shit? Iris took in a sigh and turned her eyes ahead of her. She didn't see the path as she walked, but rather, seemed to look through everything. Instead, she saw that night in Wallfront. It played over in her head like a skit.

He loved you. That dangerous thought whispered through her mind. She shook her head, as if she could physically shake the memory from her mind. It hardly worked. What did work, was Hench. The woman finally looked back at the two of them for a minute and spoke. "There was a sighting of the baron's men in this area recently. We'll be meeting the rest of our small entourage in about an hour."

"The rest of our entourage?" Iris asked, completely pulled away from her previous thoughts. "More guardians?"

Hench sighed and stopped her horse completely. "No." She bucked it around. "Scouts. From the Eldian army. They're helping us, girl." She turned forward again, and gave that a second to sink in. "We'll need trackers. That's where we're getting them."

Iris took a second to swallow that information, while Kayde asked the questions. "Does the master know we're... collaborating?"

Hench sighed. "Why don't you ask him?" She turned a narrow eye over her shoulder, and there was a certain tartness to her voice that was hard to miss. "When we get back."

Kayde opened his mouth to say something else, but after a long moment of stunned silence , he closed it promptly and looked over at Iris. Iris just shrugged and gave him a sympathetic smile, almost as if to say I know how it feels. Hench was bristly no matter who spoke or how much she liked them. Kayde pursed his lips and grumbled something under his breath but otherwise offered no rebuttal.

There was nothing after that... just the heavy plodding of hooves against the ground. Iris hummed to herself to break up the monotony of the ride. Every so often, she'd exchange glances with Kayde, who offered up small gestures and smiles in her direction.

By the time they'd reached their destination, Iris was ready to get on with it.

Four lightly armored men waited at the meeting place. They stood in place watching the three approach. Iris felt a surge of some cloudy emotion seeing soldiers again --it brought something back in her mind's eye. They all appeared to be archers, which was expected. In her days as Rogue Captain, she'd learned working with all the factions that a lot of archers were trained trackers.

Maybe they'd find something today.

Hench was the first off her horse, and Iris and Kayde followed suit. For what felt like the first minute, all of the soldiers looked up to the towering Hench with a look of disbelief. She didn't dissuade the glances, nor did she try and shrink to their level. She stood there pridefully at a full height of six foot five, with her chin held high.