Gilded Serpent by Danielle Jensen (top 10 novels txt) 📕

All he wanted was her.

“Stop!” He screamed the word, and Seahawk shied violently, nearly unseating him. Then she set to bucking, nostrils flaring, eyes rolling to reveal the whites.

Cursing, Killian slid off the side, letting her go where she willed as he stumbled off the road. Reaching the crest of a hill, he fell to his knees and stared at the rising sun, the brilliance making tears run down his cheeks.

Tell me what to do, he silently whispered. Tell me how to make this right.

But as always, the gods were silent. They’d given him all that he should need to be a champion for Mudamora and they’d give nothing else.

He remained kneeling on the sodden ground until the sun was well into the sky, forcing his mind toward honor and duty. And only when his path was clear to him did Killian rise and catch his horse, trotting swiftly back toward camp.

 59LYDIA

“You’ll be all right,” she said, smoothing the hair back out of the soldier’s eyes, giving him a comforting smile. “A few days of rest and you’ll be back on your feet.”

“Thank you, Marked One,” he whispered, catching her hand. “They say Hegeria gave your horse wings to reach us when you did.”

“Call me Lydia,” she said for what felt like the hundredth time. “And no wings, only a streak of recklessness that I pray won’t rear its head again anytime soon.”

Smiling, she extracted her hand from his grip and moved on to the next patient, who’d been struck with several arrows, the bleeding having been checked but much of the damage remaining.

Exhaustion hung over her like a pall, but it was better to be here, doing some good, than weeping into a pillow. Sleep was an impossibility.

Goose bumps rose to her skin, and a heartbeat later, Killian said from behind her, “We need to talk.”

He’d found a shirt somewhere, but it was untucked and the sleeves rolled up to bare his forearms.

She opened her mouth to argue that she was in the middle of something, but the expression on his face had her instead gesturing to one of the women who helped tend the wounded. “I’ll be back shortly.”

Killian led her through the maze of buildings making up the camp, then out a side gate, where she found Sonia and Finn waiting. The former smiled at the sight of her, stepping forward to hug Lydia tightly. “It’s good to see you, friend.”

“And you.”

But there was no time for further conversation, Killian having continued onward toward the shadow of the bluff, a grim-faced Finn following on his heels. Only when they were well away from the camp did he stop. “Tell them what you told me.”

Lydia swiftly explained, avoiding Killian’s gaze as she did, the coldness of his expression making her feel sick.

“Malahi tried to fix the blight,” he said when she finished explaining her belief that a tender might be able to reverse the path of the blight. “She couldn’t do it.”

“That doesn’t mean it can’t be done,” Lydia said. “Blight poisoning can’t be cured by a healer in the manner we’d use to repair damage from injury or sickness. I had to draw the blight out. Like a poison.” Into myself. “If I explained it to her, it might be that Malahi could do the same for the land.”

Everyone was silent, then Finn spoke for the first time. “We need to get Malahi back.”

“Not we,” Killian answered. “Me. You three will go to Serlania to join Dareena.”

“You can’t go alone!” Sonia snapped. “This is the sort of cursed foolishness that always gets you in trouble, Killian.”

“The area around the wall is rife with blight, and you and Finn are liable to be infected.” He crossed his arms. “As it is, you’ll only slow me down.”

The last he directed at Lydia and she couldn’t help flinching. But she hadn’t come this far to abandon her cause over hurtful words. “I’m coming. The blight won’t make me sick. And as it is, I understand it better than anyone.”

“No. I don’t want you along.”

There was so much anger in his eyes. And it was her own doing. If she’d only told him straightaway why she was here, none of this would’ve come to pass. But instead, she’d only thought of herself. “If they’ve hurt her, you’ll need me. If you get hurt yourself, you’ll need me.”

“I’ll manage.” Turning to Finn and Sonia, he said, “The last thing we need is word that I’m going after Malahi to reach the ears of the blighters and them warning Rufina. So instead, I’m going to lie and say that those of the Royal Army here with us are ordered to march to Serlania. You three will march with them under the pretense that I intend to follow. By the time Rufina figures out that I’m not with you, I’ll have a good head start.”

Whether the deception would work or not, Lydia wasn’t certain. The Corrupter was a god, and therefore should be able to see all, and yet that hadn’t seemed the case when she and Dareena had been trying to flee the city.

She opened her mouth at the same time as Finn, but Killian cut both of them off with, “Retrieving Malahi or any of the tenders is a shot in the dark, Finn. They could already be dead, so it’s foolish to risk any lives unnecessarily when High Lady Falorn needs everything Mudamora has to fight the blighter army. You wanted a chance to fight? Well, here it is.”

“I’m your squire. I’m supposed to stay with you.”

Lydia’s heart broke at Finn’s tone, the pieces fracturing further when she saw Killian wasn’t immune, his expression softening. “You are my squire. Which is why I need you to join Dareena and fight for her in my stead.”

Finn’s jaw worked back and forth, but he nodded.

Killian gripped his shoulder. “Meet me back at camp. I’ve something to give you before I go.”

Seeming