Free Wrath Games by B. T. Narro Page B

fists in his direction.
    He put his hands up defensively, wearing an expression as if this wasn’t his choice.
    “You should tell the king,” Shara urged.
    “Not a good idea, and I have to go now. Tell the commander I didn’t run away. It might be a day, but I will return. This is a matter of saving someone’s life. Please help him understand that.”
    “He’s not going to want to listen to me. But I’ll try.”
    I started toward the door but stopped. A few seconds shouldn’t make a difference, at least I hoped not. I took Shara in my arms and gave her the most heartfelt kiss I’d ever given anyone. I could feel her lose her breath as she kissed me back.
    I ran to the door but stopped once more to tell Shara something. Henry looked ready to follow me. Two hells, he would make this complicated.
    “Shara, Swenn might escalate things while I’m gone.”
    “What does that mean?”
    I couldn’t tell her that she might be in danger without revealing to Henry that I’d been on the balcony. “Just be extremely careful.”

 
     
     
    CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    I had to retrieve my horse, though I’d never set foot in the stables before. I truly began to wonder if I had a chance of finding Kayren before her assailants did. I reminded myself what they would do to her. To fail would mean her death… don’t think about it. Just get there.
    “I need my horse,” I told the stable master as calmly as I could.
    “Which one?”
    “Vkar.”
    He rolled his eyes. “If I don’t know your name, the odds of me knowing your horse by its name are even less.”
    Big Henry, with his hands already around his enormous horse’s reins, pointed to another horse…mine I saw after following his finger. It was disconcerting that he knew where my horse was better than I did.
    “Yes, that one.”
    I dragged Vkar out of the stables and jumped on his back. Henry showed me a concerned look.
    “I know it’s bad to leave,” I told him, giving Vkar a good kick.
    Henry’s mount galloped beside mine. He pointed at the approaching gap in the wall, then raised his hands in question.
    “I’m not telling you.”
    Guards jumped in front of me. I would plow through them if necessary. “Move!”
    “There’s another rider coming through,” one guard warned.
    They weren’t trying to keep me from leaving. I barely slowed Vkar in time. He reared up a bit and grunted in disapproval. Terren’s horse trotted through from the other side. He recognized me and pulled his horse to a stop.
    “Where are you going?” he asked.
    “I can’t talk, in a hurry.” I started past him. He quickly turned his horse and stayed close to me.
    “Are you leaving the army?”
    “No.”
    Having Vkar speed through crowded streets was about the worst idea I could think of, but I still kept him at a quick pace. Terren stayed beside me as people jumped out of the way.
    “I was going to set up a meeting with you and Charlotte,” he called out.
    The psychic. She was the least of my interests right now. “I’ll be back at the castle later.”
    Terren fell behind to keep from trampling a woman too slow to get out of his way. Soon he was right back with me.
    “Does Jaymes Jorgan know about this?”
    Shara should’ve told him by now. “Probably.”
    “Slow down, you’re going to kill someone.”
    “No. I need to save someone.” Henry was somewhere behind me. It wouldn’t be long before he figured out I knew about Kayren.
    Terren fell silent, though he still rode with me.
    “What are you doing?” I asked him.
    “I’m trying to think, yet you keep going faster and faster. I can’t concentrate.”
    “You don’t need to come.”
    He ducked under a low awning branching out from a shop. “What’s so important to make you risk everything?”
    Risk everything?
    I supposed he was right, actually. This could get me discharged from the army, which was the sole reason I was able to stay in Sumar. But if that was the case, Terren should be encouraging me to keep