This Battle Lord's Quest by Linda Mooney Read Free Book Online Page A

There was no need to. Tory always had a sixth sense about their
love life.
    “I’m heading out to let Renken and Paxton in on our
plans. At what time and where will we gather?”
    “Let’s meet at the east gate an hour before dawn,”
Fortune said.
    Nodding, Atty bent to give her son and husband both
a kiss on the temple. “See you two later.” Adding a wave goodbye, she left the
apartment, keeping an eye out for the men she needed to find.
    Several yards away was a guard tower. Shielding her
eyes, she peered up to see who was on duty, but the man has his back to her.
    “Ho! Guard!”
    The man turned around. It was Stanus. “Ho, Madam!”
    “Have you seen Paxton recently?”
    “He just went by, heading in the direction of the
main hall.”
    She thanked him and took off in that direction,
dodging a man with a wheelbarrow full of dung from the barns. Another woman and
child hurried by, their arms full of freshly-washed clothing. In fact, the
whole compound seemed unusually busy. Or maybe I’m just noticing what
normally occurs on a daily basis.
    Yulen often commented that she was single-minded.
Once she focused on something, very little managed to interfere until she
accomplished what she set out to do. Atty never saw it as a bad trait, but she
understood why people sometimes told her to slow down and get a chance to enjoy
the rewards she’d earned. The term rewards was one that puzzled her. She never
considered what she did at Alta Novis as anything more than what was required
of her from day to day.
    A shout from a distance caught her attention. It
was a man trying to lead a horse to the rear courtyard, but the animal was
balking at the narrow gate. Two more men rushed to his aide, and they quickly
got the horse to go through. It struck her she had no idea who those men were.
Alta Novis was growing at such a rate, she no longer knew everyone by name. She
had never lived some place where she didn’t know each inhabitant by name, or at
least by reputation or skill. Even during that first tumultuous year here at
the compound, she’d made it a point to learn who was who. Thank goodness for
Berta, who happily kept her up on the latest gossip and goings-on.
    Those days were over now. What had Warren told her?
That the compound was twice its size? Yulen had mentioned once that he was
seriously considering closing Alta Novis permanently to new residents, and
sending all newcomers to New Bearinger. The compound had been rebuilt and staffed
with many of Yulen’s trained men, most of them with families, and who wanted or
were willing to relocate. Although it was smaller than Alta Novis, it was less
than a quarter occupied.
    The scent of ozone wafted through the compound. She
turned around to see a bank of gray-black clouds hanging on the horizon and
heading in her direction. If it rained that night, hopefully it would let up
before morning, or else they would have a soggy start to their hunt.
    Hunt. Only, her mind hadn’t said hunt. Instead, it had flashed the word adventure. Either way, she felt herself tensing up at the thought. How long had it
been since she’d gone on a full-scale hunt/adventure to bring back game? Should
I take an extra weapon, besides my bow and Ballock?
    Reaching the main hall, she entered through the
side door and scanned the big room. Several men were in the far corner,
laughing and talking over mugs of drink. They immediately spotted her, and one
stood and detached himself from the group to stride over to her.
    “Madam?”
    “Have you seen Renken?”
    The Second shook his head. “Not since yesterday.”
    “Find him, and meet me at the armory in fifteen
minutes. We’re going on a...adventure,” she informed him with a smile.
    Paxton grinned. “Get Renken and meet you at the
armory in fifteen. Will do,” he said, and brushed past her to follow orders.
    An adventure. Yes, she should have listened to her inner voice. As always, it was
right the first