Free How The Warrior Fell (Falling Warriors series Book 1) by Nicole René Page B

head into the tent to say hello and watch over Leawyn and Xavier.
    Leawyn shook her head in amusement at the memory, giving Killix a hard pat on his muscled neck before pulling her hand away. Killix turned his attention to Deydrey, nipping her side and causing her to kick her hind leg and whip her head around to nip him back. (Though she was a bit more aggressive with the “nip.”)
    If Leawyn didn’t know any better, she swore she saw Killix smirk.
    Great. My husband’s horse has a crush on my horse.
    Leawyn rolled her eyes, stepping away from them in case things got more aggressive and not just playful.
    Leawyn shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. She looked up at the sky. It had gotten increasingly colder, the ice surrounding the grass in the morning suggesting winter was fast approaching, and with it, snow.
    Leawyn jumped when something smooth and warm was draped over her shoulders. Tristan moved out from behind her and stood by her side.
    “Thank you,” Leawyn said softly, pulling the wool cloak closer to her body. He nodded in response and turned his attention to watch the horses.
    They stood together in silence, watching Killix and Deydrey interact before the silence was broken by Tristan’s husky chuckle.
    Leawyn titled her head to look over at Tristan. “What?” she asked, smiling.
    Tristan nodded at the two horses. “Looks like Killix has a crush.”
    Leawyn looked over at Killix and Deydrey again. She watched as Killix came behind Deydrey and grabbed her long tail and pulled back, jumping away and throwing his head when Deydrey responded by pinning her ears back and turning to bite him.
    Leawyn laughed when Killix just trotted to Deydrey’s side and blew on her ears.
    “It seems you’re right,” Leawyn agreed, smiling at the stallion’s antics. “Let’s hope for Deydrey’s sake Killix isn’t like his master in the ways of wooing women,” she added dryly.
    Tristan gave a short laugh. “Yes, I hope so too. But from the looks of things, he is very much like him.”
    “Poor Deydrey.”
    Tristan smirked again, turning his attention away from the two horses and over to Leawyn instead.
    “You should go back to the tent. It’s supposed to snow tonight.”
    Though he said it casually, Leawyn knew it was an order. She nodded, too tired to argue, and turned around, making her way back to the tent.

    Leawyn was close to crying in frustration. It had been almost two and a half weeks, and Xavier’s health showed almost no signs of improvement. It was a miracle he survived this long.
    And with reasons unknown to her, that scared her.
    Leawyn scowled to herself, wiping Xavier’s shoulder a bit harsher than needed.What did she care if he died? If he died, Tristan would take command over the tribe and she would be free of her bonds tying her to Xavier.She would be free again.She should be happy, hopeful even, begging the Gods and Goddesses to take his life.
    Yet, she was not.
    It was extremely confusing, and it pissed her off.
    Leawyn summed it up to her being a nice person. She’d always been too kind for her own good, according to Brees.
    She pulled her hand away and dipped the now warm cloth back into the cool water that was mixed with healing leaves. She reached over and touched the cloth to his arrow wound, gently swiping it around the infected area, making sure to dip it back into the clean water to wash it away before repeating the process.
    She was leaning over to soak the rag with the healing water again when her wrist was snatched up by a heated hand. The grip was tight, but not as tight as it used to be.
    Leawyn gasped, her heart leaping to her throat as she stared down into the dark, glazed eyes of her husband.
    “Xavier . . . ?” she asked, her voice shaky.
    Xavier remained silent, staring at her with feverish eyes. She wasn’t sure if he even saw her, or if he was sucked up in the hallucinations of fever.
    His eyes shifted to the rag Leawyn still held in her hand. Slowly, he looked