Protector Of The Grove (Book 2) by Trevor H. Cooley Read Free Book Online Page A

would someone go through the trouble of sending basilisks just to scare you?”
    “No, not to scare me,” Justan said. He closed his eyes and focused on Jhonate’s strong fingers. “Could someone have targeted me to scare the workers and slow the rebuild?”
    “That could be it,” Faldon said, looking a bit relieved. “Things have been going more smoothly than we hoped. But if my son, the famous Sir Edge, were assassinated . . .”
    “I don’t know,” Hilt said with a shake of his head. “Basilisks are an expensive hire for that kind of subtle work. It would be far more destructive to the academy’s efforts if they killed one of the high council. Or more specifically, you, Faldon.”
    Faldon grimaced. “I suppose you’re right. Still, it would have to be something along those lines.”
    “What if this is about the Roo-Tan?” Justan asked. Jhonate’s fingers began to work harder, displeasure leaching through their connection. Nevertheless, Justan plowed forward, “Maybe someone thinks that a relationship between the Roo-Tan and the academy is a bad thing. They could believe that if I were dead and my betrothal with Jhonate void, contact with the academy would end.”
    The two men looked at each other and Faldon said, “Now that, my son, is a very real possibility.”
    “It seems that the council will have a lot to discuss this morning,” Hilt said.
    “And that will be in just a couple hours from now.” Faldon sighed as he watched the guards finish loading the basilisks’ remains. “I should head back with them and get ready, then. Let me know if you think of anything else. Should I leave a few men here just in case something else shows up?”
    “I doubt that will be necessary,” Hilt said. “Yntri said that he only sensed the arrival of these two. Besides, sending more than two basilisks after the same target is pretty rare.”
    “Sending any basilisks is rare,” Faldon pointed out.
    “Gwyrtha is still backtracking their trail with him,” Justan added. She had left with the elf on her back as soon as Faldon had arrived with Hilt and the wizard. She was currently out in the hills outside the camp. “She and Yntri Yni found a place where those basilisks slept the day before. They haven’t found a sign of anyone else with the basilisks yet, but they are still looking.” 
    “Alright,” Faldon said. “I’ll see you after the council meeting. You can update me then if they find anything else.”
    Justan waived goodbye at him and as the soldiers pulled the wagon out of the warehouse, he closed his eyes again. All thoughts of the attack fled and he just enjoyed Jhonate’s massage. Her fingers had worked out the tension left behind by the wizard’s rushed healing job and now it just felt good.
    Jhonate hadn’t given him this sort of attention in a long time. She had massaged his sore muscles after particularly strenuous training in the past, but they had started receiving looks from the workers. She was so worried that rumors of inappropriate contact would get back to her father that she didn’t do it anymore.
    She sensed his change of mood. “Does it feel better now?” Jhonate asked sweetly.
    “Yes,” Justan said in relief. “Much better. Your hands worked wonders.”
    “Good,” she said with a smile, then punched him in the shoulder, striking a particularly sensitive nerve cluster.
    “Ow!”
    “Why did you not contact me through the ring the instant you knew you were under attack?” Jhonate said, scowling.
    “I didn’t know for sure that I was under attack until they came at me. And then things happened so fast that I didn’t have time. Hey,” Justan put one arm around her and pulled her close. “I reached out to you as soon as the fight was over.”
    “Not soon enough,” she said. Her thoughts were still angry, though he could tell she was enjoying having him pull her close. Her green eyes looked into his and her voice softened slightly. “I should have been fighting with