Free Reign of Ash by Gail Z. Martin Page A

They’re unconscious and bound just beyond the tree line.” He seemed to see something in Blaine’s expression that made him wary. “Why?”
    “One of them may be my brother.” Blaine turned to Verran and Dawe. “Go give Niklas a hand on the cleanup and tell Kestel and Piran what’s going on. I’ll be there as soon as I see whether Carr is among the guards.”
    Dawe and Verran strode off toward Niklas’s camp while Blaine accompanied Geir back to the forest. Two men in tattered, dirty uniforms lay bound and gagged on the ground. As Blaine approached, he found that he was holding his breath.
    Carr was just a child when I was exiled. Will I even recognize him?
Blaine wondered, feeling his stomach tighten.
    He looked at the two unconscious men. One man was pale as moonlight, his face framed by lank hair the color of dried blood. No recognition stirred in Blaine’s mind, and his worry rose. He turned his attention to the other man. The second was tall and lean, and while he was still shy of twenty seasons by several years, his body had been toned and hardened by war. Muddy brown hair fell across one cheek, but even so, Blaine felt his throat tighten at the surge of recognition. “That’s Carr,” he said, his voice tight.
    Geir lifted the first man in his arms as if the soldier were a child. “I’ll take this one out where the others are, and I’ll lift the compulsion on your brother. Give him a moment or two to rouse. And be careful if you cut his bonds: he may wake fighting.”
    “One more thing we have in common,” Blaine murmured, thinking of how many times Piran and Dawe had complained back in Edgeland that Blaine often woke from dark dreams thrashing and struggling.
    Geir disappeared among the trees and Blaine was glad for the privacy, though now that the reunion awaited, he found himself at a total loss for words. With a sigh, Blaine knelt next to Carr, who was beginning to stir. Drawing his knife, he cut the bonds on Carr’s wrists and ankles, took Carr’s sword and the long knife that hung from his belt, then stood back. He sheathed his knife but stood ready for an attack should Carr suddenly launch himself at his ‘captor.’
    Carr struggled awake as the
talishte
’s compulsion cleared from his head. His eyes blinked and he stood up quickly, defensive and reaching for his missing weapons.
    “You’re safe,” Blaine said quietly.
    Carr’s eyes were wild with fear and rage. But as he fixed on Blaine’s features, Carr sat back down with a thud and the blood drained from his face. “Oh gods above, I’m dead, aren’t I?”
    “You’re not dead.”
    “Blaine? You can’t be Blaine. My brother’s dead, gone to Velant. People don’t come back from Velant.”
    “I did.”
    Carr reached again for his weapons, and this time he met Blaine’s gaze with suspicion. “Why take my blades, brother?” There was no mistaking the skepticism and mistrust in the last word, and Blaine winced.
    “I’ve awakened a time or two fighting my way out of nightmares. My mates objected to getting slugged for no fault of their own,” Blaine said with a shrug. “Your weapons are here for you.”
    “Why did you come back?” Now that he was fully awake, Carr studied his brother with a dark glare.
    “Long story better told when we’re somewhere else,” Blaine replied. He toed the weapons closer to Carr and stepped back. “Niklas will want to know you’re safe.”
    “Does he know about you?” Carr moved for his weapons without taking his eyes off Blaine, still alert for deception.
    “He knows. And before you ask, the
talishte
who captured you are on our side. They meant no harm. They thought Niklas had captured my friends and me.”
    Carr snatched his weapons and moved backward, out of reach. “‘Our side’? I don’t know whose side you’re on yet.”
    “There isn’t time —”
    Carr’s expression twisted with anger. “I was on patrol and got attacked by a pack of bloodsuckers. Now I wake up and my