Rangers of Linwood (The Five Kingdoms Book 1) by LeAnn Anderson Read Free Book Online

trouble?
    Suddenly, Tesni realized how exhausted she was. With a yawn, she collapsed into the bed and fell asleep, barely noticing how soft the bed, the mattress stuffed with feathers, actually was.
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Arya was not happy with the current situation. Almost immediately after Tesni and her “mother” left, Arya went to consult with Ryder. “Tesni still doesn’t trust her,” she said. “I gave her some things to use to leave a trail for us to follow, just in case.”
    “I don’t like the situation, either,” Ryder admitted, “but I still can’t come up with a viable explanation for how she knew so much about her.”
    “I can,” Arya said. “I’ve been keeping in touch with Knives about Tesni’s progress. If she ran into him, she could have pumped him for information on Tesni.”
    “Knives doesn’t seem like the type to just hand over information about someone else, especially a child, to a random stranger though,” Ryder said.
    “He’s not, and that’s what concerns me.”
    “So what do you want to do about it?”
    Arya shrugged. “I figured we’d do what we always do. Wait a little bit, give them enough time to move so that woman doesn’t realize they’re being followed, and then track them.”
    They waited for half an hour, and they used that time to pack full packs, knowing and understanding the high probability that they would have to make camp at some point that night. Arya packed an extra quiver of arrows, and Ryder packed extra daggers along with his sword.
    When they set out, they went in the direction that they were sure Tesni and the woman had gone. “Odd, I don’t see any extra horse tracks,” Ryder said.
    “I don’t see any grass beaten down by hooves, either,” Arya said, looking around. Then her eyes settled on something on a nearby green briar vine. It was a bright red ribbon, one of the ones she had given Tesni. “They definitely went this way, though,” she said, pointing it out.
    “I didn’t even know you were teaching Tesni how to leave a trail,” Ryder said. “Impressive.”
    “I wasn’t teaching her until today,” Arya admitted. “I gave her the briefest lesson possible while I helped her pack. I knew she would remember what I said.”
    “You sound like a proud mama,” Ryder said, chuckling.
    “Just a proud mentor,” Arya said, “and yes, I do intend to take her as my protégé when she’s old enough to start formal training.”
    Ryder placed a hand on his chest and gasped in shock. “Arya Summerbreeze is taking a protégé? I don’t believe my ears!”
    “She reminds me of myself,” Arya admitted, “of my own time with Knives and his group. If you hadn’t caught me with my hand in your purse…”
    “That was over a hundred years ago,” Ryder said. He drew up beside her, a longing in his heart that he worked so hard to keep hidden. “Quite honestly, I think taking you back to camp instead of turning you in was the best decision I ever made. I got one hell of a second-in-command out of the deal.”
    Arya felt her mouth run dry. Damn it all, why did she have to be such a coward? Now was not the time, she reminded herself, and she turned her attention back to tracking Tesni.
    A broken branch was her next clue. This was followed by a series of beads and ribbons, all of which Arya picked up as they rode. As night began to fall, they could see a set of ruins in the distance, approximately a half-hour’s ride further.
    “Do you think they might have made camp there?” Ryder asked.
    “It’s a possibility,” Arya admitted. “It would provide ready shelter.”
    “You know, they say that when Agrona fled Linwood after killing the royal family, she took up residence in a set of ruins,” Ryder said.
    “That was four years ago. I think she would have moved on by now,” Arya said.
    “I think she’d stay close,” Ryder countered. “After all, she needs the orb if she wants to succeed her brother and become Queen, and it would have to