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Chapter 322
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The Birthright Series Chapter 323
IN THE CLEARED, DRESSED, AND opened rooms Alek waited for Cat to round the corner in the ceremony rehearsal. With the walls of the ballrooms, plus the throne room and several other estate rooms all opened they would be able to fit almost twenty thousand guests, slotted in carefully. Elena had considered having it as standing space only, but the three-hour ceremony was too long to expect most of their guests to manage standing. Vesbel and her large team of workers scurried about, winding enormous lengths of flowers up the support pillars in the various rooms, decorating the chairs that lined the path to the altar with fresh boughs in crimson with accents of white and green. Several meadow sprites hovered about, chatting to the blooms, asking them to last the next couple of days.A trumpet rang out.Straightening where he stood at the discreetly marked position near where normally the door to the first ballroom was, Alek shifted restlessly against a growing unpleasantness in his gut. P
The Birthright Series Chapter 324
THE SHARP RAP ON THE door had the ardwyr's hackles up in an instant. Leseach made a sound in her throat that quietened the snarls to grumbles as she opened the door.'She knows me anywhere,' Rashid commented as he made a short bow to Leseach. 'Ready for the hunt?''Yes,' Leseach replied, stepping past him into the corridor. The ardwyr charged after her, stopping short at another sound from her. 'No. You stay.'Lips pursed as if he might laugh, Rashid shut the door neatly behind her. Leseach regarded him for a moment, indignant for her friend's sake.'What?' Rashid said it in the laughing voice he used sparingly around her.It gave rise to the urge to smile, but she resisted like always. Men forgot their place too easily. She kept her flat expression in place before lifting her eyebrows and looking down the corridor with a nod.They headed off in silence, the noise of those crowded along the second-floor corridor making up for it. With the wedding in just two days an assortment
The Birthright Series Chapter 325
AROUND THEM THE MASS OF centaurs began to shift. Leseach and Rashid stayed at the head of the group while the lines formed.Turning back in the saddle to stare at the three hundred or so entries to the hunt, a certain sense of satisfaction rose. She may have failed in her duty. But she'd killed the culprit. It caused an unpleasant tipping sensation within. On one hand she'd protected the princess from future violation. But oh, the thoughts of what he might have done. That scent, the memory of that musky male scent, it both turned her stomach and infuriated her.She expelled the swelling agony of emotion in a harsh breath, gripping the handle on the saddle while scowling unseeing at the ground.A sharp trumpet of the horns made her head snap up, recognizing the call for attention. There on the white stone steps of the castle stood Alek and Cat, smiling at them all. Leseach felt her heart ache at the sight. She looked lovely, hair aglow as she and Alek waved at the crowd with wide s
The Birthright Series Chapter 326
A HORN BLASTED. LESEACH LIFTED in the saddle and tightened her single-handed grip on the handle, the unpleasantly squishy splatterbug cradled close to her stomach.The next blast then the next sounded. Shouts rang out. Her centaur spurred into action, long strides breaking into a swift gallop. Wind rushed past her face, whisking errant hairs back from her forehead. The scent of the khalazyons reached her nostrils and they prickled at the sharp arid smell. Her heart began to race in anticipation, lips spreading in an instinctive bearing of teeth, nose curling as a snarl rolled up her throat.She'd missed the thrill of a hunt.The sounds of horses and centaurs charging toward the field were drowned out by the sudden deep warning bellows from the creatures still hidden in the grasses.Her soldier didn't slow, plunging into the long grasses. With his height she was able to see over the top of the grasses, able to glimpse the massive bodies.'RIGHT!'Her roar turned the centaur in h
The Birthright Series Chapter 327
'SHE DID IT!'The centaur's shout of excitement took Rashid's focus from the stained animal they'd been tracking. Leaning to peer ahead, he caught sight of the tall blonde Northerner standing alongside a fallen khalazyon, the soldier she'd rode next to her. A horn blast from the soldier he rode rang loud in his ears as he jerked back. Only moments later answering cries rang out as the hunters passed the call on. 'Head back?' his soldier called.'No! Let's go admire the kill.'Reaching the kill site Rashid swung a leg over, landing easily on the ground and grinned widely at Leseach.'Well done! I think you must have found the largest male too!''It was the first we spotted,' the soldier she'd ridden said laughingly. 'Beginners luck!'They chatted as other hunters rode in to admire the kill. Leseach took the congratulations in her stride, a half-smile in place. The scent of the kill grew stronger and the soldier she'd ridden set off with Rashid's soldier to go lead the cart pul
The Birthright Series Chapter 328
'LESEACH?' HE HAD TO PAUSE for breath, head spinning from the frantic run. 'Leseach?' The wooded area was fairly shallow before the hill went sharply up. Blinking, eyes watering from the dust cast up from the dragged kill, he spotted the drag marks. Following them without thinking he came up short at the cave entrance.'Holy Ahssan!'Not just two tehnears. A den of them. Horror spread as if he'd touched an ice jytnar with its poison spreading through his veins, freezing them solid.Closing his eyes for a long moment he waited, letting his mind calm.He couldn't lose her again.The heavy toll of resignation rang through his mind.He opened his eyes.With a calm deliberate step, he drew the long daggers sheathed to either thigh and entered the cave.THE MUSKY SCENT ONLY INCREASED within the tunnels, combined with an overwhelming smell of large animals and defecation. Leseach crept silently into the ink black darkness, the tips of her ears stiff as she listened with all her stre
The Birthright Series Chapter 329
THE BATTERED AND BLOODY MAN lay crumpled just beyond the entrance to the caves. A bellowing roar of indignant fury shattered Leseach's stunned horror.She stooped, slipping an arm under his shoulder and swung, throwing her other arm around his thighs and lifted, stumbling out of the thicket.Snapping snarls followed her. Shoulder blades flinching at the sounds, Leseach tightened her grip on the moaning man, lurching across the rocky riverbed, aiming for the river.Warning barks then a howl made the breath that had wedged in her throat gasp out in relief. She could hear the distance growing. The tehnears weren't going to leave their kill alone.Reaching the river, she booted smaller rocks aside, awkwardly sweeping her feet back and forth to create a smooth place to set him down.With a grunt of effort, she lowered first his legs then carefully his torso, keeping her hold across his back.Her hand touched the bandi sword embedded in his back.Rashid gave a hoarse gasp of pain.
The Birthright Series Chapter 330
WE RODE OUT TO THE hunt in open carriages, an organized mass of horse pulling vehicles laden with guests in ornate clothing. I pressed a hand out against the fine netting slung over the arches at either end of the wagon and watched a film of dust rapidly build over the mesh. The swaying motion of the carriages and the leg room made the journey feel ridiculously decadent; for a person used to centaur and horseback.I leaned back against Alek, a smile spreading as he tucked his arm around my back, hand splaying over my thigh.'Enjoying the ride?'I tipped my head back, meeting his dark blue gaze with a grin.'Yes! I didn't even realize carriage was an option.'He laughed while Elena, relaxing in the seat before us, twisted to look my way.'How else would you expect the royal family to travel?' 'I hadn't thought. To be honest.' One of the numerous things that had never occurred to me to consider.Alek snorted and Elena turned back. Beside her Aldeern sat with his back straight, h
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