Free Sworn To Conflict: Courtlight #3 by Terah Edun Page B

reach the top of the log, let alone sit on it.
    From somewhere Titus came up with stools. Human-sized ones. Ciardis gave him a grateful look. He sat it behind her and put another in front of her to serve as a table. Inga promptly sat in front of her, handing over a large hunk of bread. The woman was already eating, and after a glance at Kane’s encouraging face Ciardis started to, as well.
    She tried to interrupt Inga once to ask her about the encampment and why they were here, but the glare Inga leveled at her, her cheeks full of stew-soaked bread and meat, made Ciardis reconsider.
    If it had been anyone else, Ciardis would have thought the situation quite funny.

Chapter 7
    W hen Inga finally finished her meal a half-hour later, Ciardis was fairly bursting with questions. She knew very little about frost giants but she did know the human mantra: They were deadly, they were evil, and they were stupid. For a stupid, deadly, and evil creature, Inga ate with a delicacy that rivaled that of most villagers. Picking her teeth clean with a sharp bone and tearing bread neatly to soak up the broth weren’t exactly high court manners, but her behavior certainly beat the ravenous, bloodthirsty beasts Ciardis had always assumed a frost giant to be.
    And it wasn’t just Inga. The frost giant warriors surrounding her ate, laughed, and sharpened their weapons just like a normal group of soldiers. They also didn’t appear to be cannibals with sixty claws like daggers on their hands. As she snuck glances around as she finished her meal, Ciardis was flummoxed. She continued to search, but there was one thing she didn’t see: frost giant men. Every single warrior in the encampment was female. It wasn’t hard to tell with the skimpy leather and fur outfits they wore; weapons weren’t the only things on display.
    Her eyes roved back to the area in front of her to find Inga staring at her with a frank gaze.
    “What do you want with us, human?”
    Ciardis bit her bottom lip. She didn’t know Inga. She didn’t know Kane or Titus. She couldn’t trust that tongues wouldn’t wag and whispers wouldn’t get back to General Barnaren. She was never one to gossip maliciously behind someone’s back. If she were going to confront the general, then she’d do it herself. Ciardis leant forward with her arms on her knees, a serious expression on her face and her hands clasped in front of her.
    “I want the truth. Why are you and your women warriors here? What are we fighting for in this north?”
    “We,” said Inga, a hint of mockery in her tone. “ We are fighting nothing!”
    Ciardis hunched her shoulders. A frost giant’s fury was something to see. All she could think was, She’s angry , over and over again, as she watched a curious effect of that anger appear on Inga’s skin. The pale skin turned blue. It certainly wasn’t a midnight blue that would rival her eyes, but her skin did, in fact, have a bluish tint. So light was the change at first that Ciardis thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. But the blue color continued to appear and thicken until it was the color of a dark robin’s egg.
    She was well aware that she should be horrified, but a half-smile graced her face. Inga didn’t take kindly to the half-smile, and her rant continued.
    “It is I,” she said while pounding her formidable chest. “I and my warriors who fight the battles on the plains and in the crags of the mountains. Your men are too pitiful and too scared.” Inga spit to the side into the flames, which flared when her saliva hit the fire.
    What in the world was in her saliva that would fuel flames? Whatever it was, Ciardis didn’t want to come into contact with it. Then she took stock of her surroundings. Angry hisses from the women warriors all around them erupted as conversations stopped and suddenly focused on Ciardis and Inga sitting by the fire.
    “You tell them, Inga!” came a shout from a woman standing far behind her leader. When Ciardis