Warlords Rising by Honor Raconteur Read Free Book Online Page B

which was probably all it had taken to
explain the idea and get a hearty approval.
    Stepping back out, the Rikkana informed the waiting men, “It
has been approved. You start immediately.”
    Guard B actually smiled, and before that moment, Trev’nor hadn’t
thought that possible.
    A relaxed smile on his face, Trev’nor said, “Alright then.
Let’s go get bedrock. Where should I start?”
    “Let’s do east section first,” Guard A suggested. “Thank
you, Rikkana.”
    She inclined her head to them, the three men bowed
back—Trev’nor had quickly learned to treat the woman with full deference and
decorum—and then she left as quietly as she had come. Her work was done, after
all; she didn’t have to troop after them for the rest of the afternoon.
    It took some skill and substitution, but Trev’nor kept his
guards talking as they exited the city and he farmed up some bedrock, and they
were happy to suggest improvements to him as he worked. They were also just as
happy to complain about their warlord. The more Trev’nor heard about him, the
more he realized that Rurick wasn’t an exception when it came to corruption and
callous treatment of human life. The whole province was this way.
    And that thought made him boiling mad.
    He didn’t let his anger show, but instead looked sympathetic
and lent a willing ear as they moaned and bickered about which place was the
worst one to serve in. He learned a great deal that afternoon and had every
intention of carrying every single word back to Nolan and Becca.
    He stopped working when the light failed and they dragged
him back to his cell. After being in the suns a full day with little to drink
or eat, he was exhausted, and his plan to talk to his friends failed. After
eating dinner he fell fast asleep next to Nolan.
    Ah well, morning would be soon enough.

    By the tenth day, they stopped talking to each other except
to pass along information they had learned. Roskin would draw one of them out,
sometimes, having them tell stories about what life outside of Khobunter was
like. But in their own group, they didn’t say anything to each other.
Everything that could be said had been in the first three days. They silently
moved to accommodate each other, curling in close for warmth and comfort, but
they had become as silent and withdrawn as Orba. It was exhaustion that made
them act so, or so Trev’nor believed. After working a full day under the
blistering suns, he felt drained in more ways than one, and usually fell asleep
as soon as he had eaten.
    Becca started having terrible dreams, memories of those days
when she had been only eight years old and abandoned by her parents to face the
Star Order Priests on her own. The cave she had found as shelter reminded her
of this place the pens were in. She woke up many a time with a silent scream in
her throat. Nolan or Trev’nor would grab her, hold on to her, until the dream
had left and the shaking had passed. Sometimes Nolan would even purr, like a
mother cat easing a baby kitten. But sleeping became an uncomfortable thing for
her and she avoided it as much as she could, just drowsing while sitting up,
avoiding true sleep altogether.
    Trev’nor became very, very worried
about her. Becca was taking this harder than either he or Nolan. Being detached
from the sky for most of the day was highly uncomfortable for her. It was as
bad as Nolan being cut off from most of his magic. Between being cut off from the
weather and having severe sleep deprivation, she wasn’t holding up well at all.
She was becoming more fragile with every passing day, although her spirit and
determination to win free of the cages hadn’t changed. Trev’nor just wasn’t
sure if her strength would hold out much longer at this rate.
    Guard A came to stand in front of
their cage and he had a highly unhappy turn to his mouth. “We just received
word. You’ll be taken to Trexler the day after tomorrow. So whatever projects
you started need to be finished