The Falcon in the Barn (Book 4 Forest at the Edge series) by Trish Mercer Read Free Book Online Page A

ever
experienced, he crossed his legs, removing his calf from her easy
access.
    Sareen smiled in what she likely thought was
a coy manner and repositioned herself on her chair.
    Maybe she had an itchy foot, Shem considered,
that she felt the need to scratch it now on his thigh.
    “ What makes you think
people will be interested in these relationship books?” Shem asked,
only to be polite.
    “ Oh, they’re interesting,
all right,” Sareen said with a lusty chuckle. That’s when Shem
noticed her perpetual giggle was gone, replaced by something deeper
and creepier. “So what’s new in Edge? Besides, everything, I
mean.”
    “ Uh,” Shem tried to think
of something, “Rigoff and Karna were transferred to
Rivers—”
    “ I know all of that,” she
said, suddenly bored. She slid her foot from his thigh. “I visited
Teeria after they moved. Rivers’ captain lives in something grander
than Edge’s colonel. And as for Karna’s intended? Miss Robbing is
far too serious, but I guess if he likes her,” she curled her lip.
“Wedding’s supposed to be next week sometime. They’re keeping it
small.”
    “ I know,” Shem said,
playing with some crumbs. “Brillen wrote to all of us. Marriage
will be good for him.”
    “ Be good for you, too,”
Sareen murmured. When Shem only looked at the table again, she
continued. “Teeria said there have been stories ,” she
whispered the last word.
    “ About what?” Shem tore
apart a roll.
    “ About Colonel Shin,”
Sareen leaned forward, her cleavage nearly crushing Shem’s
remaining rolls.
    He slid them to safety.
    “ Has he really lost his
mind?”
    Every muscle in Shem clenched. “No! Who’s
saying such things?”
    She sat back and folded her arms in something
like tinkling triumph. “Shem, people talk. When there’s no
entertainment, people go looking for it. The rumors have traveled
all the way down into Rivers. Quake’s probably heard a few stories
about the sad and terrifying—or should I say terrified?—commander
of Edge.”
    Shem’s left hand bunched up as if a long
knife were in it. “Well people are wrong!” he hissed. “He’s been
dealing with more than anyone can imagine. Can’t he grieve in
privacy? Can’t he live his life without everyone peeking through
the windows to gawk? That he continues is astonishing. What his
family endures is commendable. How Mahrree copes is nothing short
of miraculous! Tell people that , if they want something to
talk about!”
    An odd smile formed on Sareen’s face. “Well,
then. I will. So tell me, Shem Zenos—what’s going on with you? When
I wrote to Miss Mahrree last season she said you were still devoted
to soldiering. Still looking for the right woman to be devoted
to?”
    Shem sighed, relieved for the change of
topic, even an uncomfortable one. “I don’t know. Just not the right
time, yet.”
    She scoffed. “You’re in your thirties, Shem!
So am I. So when will the ‘right time’ be?”
    He shoved the rest of the second roll into
his mouth and wrapped the remaining two in his handkerchief. “I
need to be going to the fort, Sareen. I wish you well with your
bookshop.”
    He made to leave, but Sareen grabbed his arm.
“Can I see you again?”
    He shrugged, gently pulling out of her grip
as he stood. “I’m on double duty frequently, what with the
rebuilding and everything—”
    “ So if I come by the
fort?”
    “ I really can’t say,
Sareen. Hard to find me sometimes—”
    He headed for the door but heard, “What if I
go to the Shins? I’ll still find you there, won’t I?” Her tone
turned icy. “People talk, Zenos, and they’re wondering if the death
of his parents is the only thing filling Perrin Shin with
anxiety.”
    It was the insinuation that stopped him in
his tracks and made the back of his neck tingle, as if her glare
were singeing him.
    So that was the kind of relationship
books she was reading—the kind that led her to assume everyone else
lives as poorly as in the