Omnixius
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DKP 9-8 A warriors heart
🕑 Added 2023-01-07 23:59:56 +0000 UTCAlayse led a reckless charge across the countryside, pushing man and animal to the breaking point. The discovery that the Doan were planning to step up their attacks and hit the village of Dullan that night sent chills down her spine. She had rushed back to her advancing army and collected enough women to form a strike force of a hundred strong. This force was pressed into her mad dash to rescue the seekers who might be face-to-face with the Doan. Now she stood in the saddle to get a better view of the town of Dullan as it burned to the ground.
“I should have known,” Alayse growled as her tension grew.
“You could not have anticipated they would start hitting multiple villages in the same night,” a lieutenant by the name of Chandra replied.
Alayse wanted to agree with her, but she knew the truth. Once the Doan began finding empty farms and villages, it only made sense they would accelerate their efforts.
“We should have realized they would split up and begin raiding villages more rapidly,” Alayse said. “They assumed he would be chasing them and wanted to drive the refugees into his path.”
“It is a sound strategy,” Chandra agreed. “It has delayed the bulk of our army and forced us to risk a dangerous night run. But this has to be proof that Gersius was right. The Doan are playing are trying to lure him east. There is no other reason to drive this far except to keep him occupied by chasing after them.”
Alayse thought back to the dispatch that explained Gersius's motivations and his plan to move west. It seemed more than likely that he was right, and these raids were just meant to distract him. Moreover, by turning the north into a mass of refugees, his army would have been slow to chase after the Doan, who kept moving east just ahead of him. Unfortunately for them, Alayse was already in the east heading west, so she was ideally situated to intercept this annoyance.
“Should we wait for the rest of our forces to catch up?” Chandra asked.
“We can't wait for them,” Alayse said as she studied the town. “The fires haven't consumed the houses yet, meaning this happened recently. If we go after them now, we might catch them.”
“This is likely to be a much larger force than the last one,” Chandra argued. “We may be solidly outnumbered.”
Alayse knew that would likely be the case, but she also knew that Jessivel had been coming to this very town. If he was still alive, he was probably with the Doan, being taken back as a captive. She wasn't sure why this upset her so much, as Jessivel had been a source of frustration since meeting him. Still, not only had he risked himself to save her from the dragon in Calathen, but he recommended her for leadership. In the past few weeks of knowing him, she had met a man with a drive and purpose she had seen in few others. In many ways, he was a kindred spirit, a man of duty, honor, and commitment to his principles. She had come to feel a certain respect for him, and knowing he might be in danger sent her stomach twisting.
“Commander?” Chandra said as she looked at Alayse with a funny expression. “Are you well? Your light is full of emotional pain.”
Alayse snapped back into focus as she realized the others were likely studying her aura and wondering what was going on in her head.
“Never mind that,” Alayse said quickly. “Move in and spread out. We need evidence that the seekers were here when this attack occurred. I don't intend to chase after the Doan if Jessivel; I mean, the seekers were gone before the Doan attacked.”
She heard snickers as the women moved out and prayed none of them could see the redness of her face. She spurred her horse forward, heading down the hill in a proper line in case the Doan were still there. As they reached the outskirts of the town, they broke into smaller groups, moving around the perimeter while others went into the streets. Some buildings had partial roofs, the fire still spreading across the thatch. Alayse knew that these fires were less than half an hour old and that if she ran after the Doan now, she might catch them.
Her women began to search, and it was only a matter of minutes before the first evidence was found. A seeker lay slain in a back garden, his sword and shield missing. Several of their horses were found dead in the fields behind the town, indicating they might have tried to defend it.
“So they were here,” Chandra said as she pulled her horse alongside Alayse. “What are your orders?”
“Form up,” Alayse commanded. “We are going after them.”
“But commander, they are using women of our order to hide their trail,” the woman argued.
Alayse didn't need to be reminded of that, but she also knew the Doan would leave a trail for a few miles and then cover it up. It was possible they hadn't yet started to hide their tracks and could be caught if she was swift.
She quickly assembled her women and went down the obvious trail left by the passing raiders. Judging by the size of the path, the force wasn't too big, perhaps fifty to a hundred strong. There were hoof prints in the mix, indicating they had captured some of Jessivel's horses. She was grateful they had found so few bodies as it might mean the Doan had taken captives. However, as they advanced, she began to notice something odd. The horse prints were deep, with material thrown out, indicating they were traveling at speed. A few minutes down the path, they made another discovery of seven dead Doan and one fallen seeker. A quick check of the fallen seeker showed his body was still warm, the blood not yet dry. His death must have happened less than an hour ago, which meant the fight might still be raging.
“A battle sight, here?” Chandra asked as the women paused to consider what they were seeing.
“Perhaps some of their comrades escaped and attempted a rescue here?” a woman suggested.
“But where are their bodies?” Chandra asked as she looked around. “Surely the rescue failed, and the Doan must have killed them.”
“There was no rescue because they weren't captured,” Alayse said as she began to understand what she was seeing. The Doan were on foot, but the horses had been at a run. Jessivel wasn't beaten; he was chasing them. This group must have been left behind to delay them and buy the others more time to escape. What didn’t make sense was why so few Doan were left behind. Was this perhaps a scouting party caught unaware?
“Advance, at a gallop,” Alayse commanded and took the lead, pushing tired animals that were already tired. The group began to make a thundering noise as a hundred horses churned up the ground in pursuit of the missing men. This time the trail didn't die out as the Doan were clearly in too much of a hurry to cover it. They found a second battle site where nearly two dozen Doan lay dead, as did three more of the seekers. In addition, they found regions of fresh growth where vines had been used to tangle men, indicating that slaves of Ulustrah had been present.
“They have captive sisters among them,” Chandra said as she pointed out the walls of growth.
“We must assume they have many of such captives,” Alayse growled as it turned her stomach. The women of Ulustrah were a blessing to the land, yet they had been sold into captivity. Just thinking about it made her desire to catch those responsible as Jessivel was focused on. In many ways, he was trying to get justice for the women of Ulustrah by running down those responsible for this chaos.
They came over a hill to find the path ahead was dense scrub and thickets of trees, making it impossible to see very far ahead. It was already dark, and charging into such terrain was asking for an ambush, but this is where the trail led.
“Slow the place and form a column,” Alayse ordered as she took the lead. She set the pace and followed the trail into the brush to find more signs of battle. There were no bodies, but the field showed more fresh growth used to block the way and funnel horses into choke points. Jessivel appeared not to have taken the bait, choosing to go wide around barriers and attempting to encircle the Doan from behind. Trees had been damaged in what she could only assume had been weaves cast by Doan warriors. In one area, a charred line still glowed with embers from a fire. The number of Doan tracks increased significantly here, indicating there was a group here waiting.
“They had reinforcements,” Alayse noted as they took a moment to scour the scene. “A group was waiting here and helped cover the other’s retreat.”
“The seekers seem to have split into two groups and tried to encircle them,” Chandra suggested as she considered the tracks. “But the Doan moved away at running speed.”
“How could they outrun the horses?” a woman asked. “Jessivel and his men are all mounted. If the initial conflict took place in the town, how did the Doan get this far without being run down?”
Alayse took a moment to try and figure that out but couldn't come up with an answer. The Doan had managed to run for several miles on foot ahead of Jessivel's horses. They had used tactics to slow Jessivel down, but even so, it seemed unlikely they could have gotten this far. She began to worry for Jessivel, and the knots in her stomach grew tighter.
“Something more is going on here,” Alayse said as she turned her horse about. “This is more proof the Doan are not just a rabble of warriors. They are using clever tactics and new concepts as they close their noose around the empire.”
“Enslaving our women to use as weapons against us is diabolic,” Chandra said with great displeasure.
It was a sentiment shared by the others as Alayse ordered them to press on and find the missing seekers. They followed the trail for another twenty minutes when they noticed flashes of light in the distance.
“What is that?” a woman asked as they approached in a column.
“Orange light,” Alayse said as she understood it. “Hammers of Astikar!”
“Look!” another woman said and pointed as a streak of orange light flew into the air. It struck something above, and every heart froze to realize what it was.
“A dragon!” Chandra cried.
Alayse felt her blood chill at the sight of a dark shape flying off. It was larger than Lilly but nowhere near close to Sarah, which did little to ease Alayse's worry. The color was impossible to determine the color in the dark sky, but she had a suspicion.
“Wedge formation. I want twelve women on guard!” Alayse shouted, sending her column into action. She knew time was now precious as the priests had to be hard-pressed with both the Doan and a dragon to deal with. Her formation would put most of her soldiers into three solid lines shaped like an arrow. Twelve women would form a circle behind it, focusing all their efforts on shielding the formation from the dragon. Alayse gave the formation a few moments to form, then kicked her horse into a gallop. More hammers went skyward as flashes of light came over the hills, followed by a gout of fire that turned the night sky into daylight.
“A red,” Chandra cried as they hurried across the landscape, having to break formation whenever trees or rocks got in the way. The lines always reformed with well-practiced discipline as the women warriors were drawn from veterans. Alayse prayed it would make the difference when the battle was engaged, and people started dying.
“Guards watch the skies,” Alayse commanded as they crested a hill to see absolute chaos. What appeared to be thirty seekers were heavily engaged with a superior number of the Doan. The battle was taking place in a burning field, indicating the dragon had attacked several times already. Dozens of bodies lay about, most of which appeared to be seekers, indicating this had been an ambush. Alayse trembled as her eyes searched the scene for the man who led them but couldn't see well in the dark. All she could make out of the seeker's line was that they were formed into a tight box, fighting in all directions. Whenever the Doan gave them room, the seekers moved and kept close, always pressing in one direction or another.
“What are they doing?” Chandra asked as they headed down the hillside.
“He is keeping the Doan as close as he can, so the dragon can't dive on them without risking hitting its allies,” Alayse explained. She realized they could turn the tide of this battle, but only if they handled the attack well. The bulk of the Doan were trying to break Jessivel's formation with brute force, but a strong contingent was in the rear using weaves. Red bolts of magic were streaking through the air, forcing the men of Astikar to rely on shields or die.
“Chandra, take seven with you and chain wipe the weavers. The rest of you stay in formation; we're going to charge the main body!” Alayse commanded as she drew her sword. She moved forward under cover of the night as men screamed in rage and the throws of death. It was obvious the seekers were not going to win this fight, but that outcome was about to change. She waited until they were so close the Doan wouldn't have time to react, then with a voice full of pride, she announced their presence.
“For the empire!” Alayse shouted and pointed her sword as the line suddenly charged. Doan warriors heard the cry and looked up as a wall of charging women closed on them. Chandra took her seven and divided them into pairs ridding fifty paces apart. As they closed on the lines of weavers, they used their blessing to summon the chains of binding. Normally the blessing was used to restrain a target, but here they exploited the chain itself. One rider would chain the other of its pair, stretching a long chain between them as they charged. They aimed to pass around the group as the weavers packed up in a ball for defense, doing exactly what Chandra wanted. The green chains swept over them like a scythe, throwing the weavers down like felled grain. Those that tried to get up were caught by the next chain, then the next, the poor Doan being battered and dragged across the landscape. When all four pairs had swept them, they turned about and charged into the mass, sweeping them a second time. More than half the Doan were too dazed to resist, and those that did were battered a second time.
Alayse closed the gap, her horses illuminated by the fires as the Doan tried to reform their lines to meet the new threat. Vines and plants came up to topple riders as Alayse realized there were enslaved women of Ulustrah being used against them. However, it was too little to stop the doom sweeping down on the Doan, and a moment later, horses and men collided. They had created a long pointed spike with the women inside using green shields to protect those on the sides. It blasted through the Doan’s lines, swords slashing in all directions as horses threw men to the ground. Her women trampled many in their first pass, and those left were too scattered to offer an effective defense. Her second attack was a wide line three deep as the mass of Doan began to spread out.
The second charge was just as effective, but this time they broke the charge to wade into melee, fighting from horseback to bring the Doan warriors down. To Alayse's relief, the seekers surged out of their formation, tearing into the Doan. Alayse caught a glimpse of a man with long dark hair barking orders as he wielded a sword.
“Stay together, don’t spread out!” Alayse commanded as she turned her horse about in a circle. She spotted six people standing on a hillside nearby, all of them women. “Chandra!” Alayse shouted over the noise, barely getting the woman's attention. “Our captured women are there!” she said and pointed. “Take them back!”
Chandra saluted and took her seven to charge the hill. The six Doan realized what was happening and quickly stabbed three of their number before turning to run. Alayse was incensed that the Doan would murder them rather than let them be recaptured, but her anger was quickly redirected when the night sky lit up like the sun.
Green shields formed a dome as the dragon dived on the fray, its fires spreading over the protective barrier. Some horses panicked in the sudden burst of fire and light, dumping riders or veering off in fright. Alayse struggled to keep control of her own mount as the horse was terrified of the attacking dragon. Hammers of Astikar flew into the air to chase the beast off as she lost control and fell to the ground.
“Stupid, poorly trained horses!” Alayse grumbled as she got up and ran for the fight. A Doan man got in her way, but a quick shield bash followed by a thrust left his throat torn open. A second man came at her with a long spear, but a rider knocked him to the ground. Alayse took advantage of the moment of weakness and dispatched him before charging into the larger mass. Three other fallen women joined her side, and together they fought through the fray until they reached the priests of Astikar.
“Jessivel!” Alayse shouted as she finally reached him to see he was battered and bruised.
“How in the name of the divines did you get here so fast?” he asked as the whole group ducked under the dragon as it flew low overhead.
“Your welcome,” Alayse spat as she joined his lines to help win the battle.
“That wasn't an answer!” he shouted and looked skyward. “We are growing weak. We can't maintain this many blessings for much longer.”
“My riders have broken their lines,” Alayse reminded him. “Let them clean up the Doan. You and your men focus on the dragon.”
Jessivel nodded and looked up as the dragon wielded around. Alayse was shocked when Jessivel ordered his men into a formation she had never seen used before. Half of them formed a line that twisted in a tight circle around Jessivel. Each man in this line put his hands on the shoulders of the man before him and began to sing in the deep chanting tone common to Astikar. The other half formed a circle around them, calling on the shields of Astikar and creating a nearly impenetrable wall to protect their brothers.
“What are they doing?” a woman asked as all three paused to watch as red sparks of what looked like lightning crackled down the line, collecting on Jessivel. His eyes went red as he glowed with power beyond the ability of any one man to manifest.
Alayse realized they were channeling their combined power to one man, using the strange linking power of Astikar. The woman of Ulustrah could do something similar by standing in precise places and singing the same song, but they never produced anything like this. That power became a swirling haze about the man who led the seekers as he turned his eyes skyward.
The dragon came down, smoke and fire trailing out of its open maw. The beast saw the dense pack of men in the open and went right for them, heading straight for Jessivel.
Doan attacked the shield wall, but spears and shields held the line as Jessivel held out an empty hand. Orange light began to gather, forming a hammer of pure divine power. It started orange but quickly began to glow with a brilliant red luminescence. Jessivel held back his hand as the dragon came in, the light becoming almost blinding. His arm snapped, and the hammer raced through the sky like a thunderbolt striking the dragon directly in the face as it exploded in a blaze of red and white rays.
“By the goddess,” Alayse gasped as a dark form tumbled out of the air. Its momentum carried it over the group to crash into the Doan on the other side. The dragon’s body rolled through their lines like an avalanche doing even more damage. It finally came to a halt and lay still except for a single wing that twitched in the last vestiges of life.
The Doan lost all interest in the fight when the dragon fell and quickly ran for their lives. Their final formation had been broken, and they no longer had the support of their weavers. The battle became a rout as riders ran down fleeing men and women to ensure this chaos was over.
Alayse barked hurried commands, then turned back to see three priests of Astikar kneeling over a fallen Jessivel. Red smoke drifted from his skin as he lay motionless except for a lock of hair blowing in the wind. She felt her heart jump to see him lying there and feared he had channeled so much power it had burnt him out.
“Out of my way!” Alayse yelled as she burst into the group and fell at his side. His aura was still there, and he had a few cuts and bruises, but otherwise, he looked fine.
“You had better not die on me!” Alayse shouted as she put a hand on him to begin healing.
“You don’t need to heal him. It’s common for a man to overtax like this,” one of the priests said. “He is suffering from overuse of divine power but should be fine in a few hours.”
Alayse began the healing anyway and quickly discovered the man was right. All of Jessivels injuries were minor, and he was simply sleeping off the shock of wielding so much power.
“What were you fools doing out here in the first place?” she demanded after finally letting the blessing go. “What made you chase after the Doan?”
“The high priest of the order of Youthan is among them,” the man replied. “We discovered a small number of them in the village and attacked, but they used strange magic to quickly escape. Jessivel gave chase, but we could not gain ground no matter how hard we pushed our horses. He refused to give up even when we started to run into ambushes and finally encountered them waiting with the dragon.”
“So he risked his entire force to bring back one man?” Alayse growled. “If he was awake, I would knock him out!”
“His primary orders from the empire are to find the traitors,” the man reminded her. “Lord Seeker Jessivel believed the priest of Youthan would likely believe we would wait for reinforcements. So he decided to press recklessly ahead and try to overtake them.”
“Of course he did,” Alayse snapped as she considered the strange faith of Youthan. It was a faith based on luck and chance, where those who boldly took risks were often rewarded. However, the practitioners had a knack for divination, able to ask a question or think of an idea, and with the toss of a coin, they often had insight into the answer. So it stood to reason that if you wanted to capture him, you had to do the unexpected and take risks, or he would always be one step ahead.
She quickly took command of both groups and set about restoring order. Their injured were healed and removed from the carnage as bodies were picked for letters, dispatches, or anything useful. Alayse was disgusted to learn that one of the three prisoners hadn't survived, the stab to her heart killing her instantly. The other two captives had been recovered, but one of them was in a terrible state. She had been forced to marry a Doan man and was having trouble accepting that she was free. The other was traumatized but able to speak, so Alayse gave instructions to care for them while they waited for Jessivel to recover. It took four hours, but eventually, his head turned, and weary eyes opened to be met by Alayse's angry scowl.
“You are an idiot!” Alayse barked to greet his return to the waking world.
“I missed you too,” Jessivel groaned as he sat up and looked around the dim tent he was being sheltered in. “I take it we won?”
“No thanks to your suicide attack,” Alayse barked. “Where are the rest of your men?”
Jessivel put a hand to his head as if his thoughts were labored and explained how he had divided his force into four groups. He couldn't be sure which town the prey had run to, so he intended to sweep them all and run the man down. He was surprised to find the Doan in Dullan, but after carefully scouting, he also discovered his prey was there as well. They charged the town from the east and took them into a brief conflict, but the Doan were not interested in fighting. Instead, they fled on foot at a speed his horses couldn't match, tanking the priest of Youthan with them.
“What do you mean they outran your horses?” Alayse asked as she failed to accept what he was saying.
“I can't explain it,” Jessivel replied. “But I have to tell you that they have women of Ulustrah among them.”
“We are aware of that,” Alayse replied, explaining her battle where she rescued two women. She informed him of the two they recovered in his battle and suggested they ask one of them for more information. Jessivel agreed, and Alayse sent for the more coherent of the two women. A few minutes later, she was presented to the pair and introduced herself as Nadine.
Jessivel asked most of the questions, learning how she was traded to the Doan and used mostly as labor. At first, she didn't seem to have much useful information, but Jessivel was slow and gentle with his questioning, even offering her a glass of wine to drink and soothe her nerves. She eventually told them the Doan had a small camp in the mountains with maybe twenty more who acted mostly as scouts. Alayse wanted to know how many women were in bondage, but Nadine could only hazard a guess at about a thousand. However, she warned that there were women willingly working with the Doan and lending their power to the effort. They were organized into a small group called the daughters of the sun and had originally been doing most of the concealing work.
“I wonder why they call themselves the daughters of the sun?” Jessivel mused.
“It has something to do with the dragons,” the woman replied. “They are directly managed by a high priestess of our order who is rumored to report to a dragon.”
“Why would any of our order aid the Doan?” Alayse asked. “And why are they using slaves to do this kind of work when they have volunteers?”
“I can't be sure,” Nadia said as she looked tired. “But we believe the goddess has finally withdrawn her power from them. Something happened not too long ago, and they could no longer work blessings. The Doan then pressed us to fill their role.”
“What happened to the fallen women then?” Alayse asked.
The woman looked away, explaining how most of them were claimed as wives.
“Serves them right,” Alayse growled.
“This has to be Gersius's doing,” Jessivel remarked, reminding Alayse of the seals and how Ulustrah's had been stolen. Gersius recovered it to save Sarah, and in doing so, some strange things were noticed.
Alayse did recall the terrifying report of what happened when Gersius led a desperate attack directly into a trap to save Sarah. It was the very battle where he embraced Astikar while still a priest of Balisha. If she recalled, there were women of Ulustrah present at this battle, using blessings to stop him. However, he found the rings bound to some strange alter of dragon make. His soldiers swore that when he removed the rings, the women of Ulustrah aiding the Doan suddenly lost their power.
“They must have been forcing the goddesses to grant her power somehow,” Alayse pondered. “Something to do with the dragon altar and the seal.”
“The dragons do seem to know far more of the ancient magic than we do,” Jessivel agreed.
Alayse paced as she pondered the information, wondering how such power had been enslaved to their will. If they were right and the rings were the key, then they could strip the enemy of all their priests just by recovering the rest. Jessivel went on to ask the woman if she could lead them to the Doan camp. Jessivel wanted to attack it before first light so they wouldn't have time to move it.
Alayse listened to his plan as something began to bother her. She couldn’t put her finger on it until she remembered why they were here in the first place.
“Wait,” Alayse interjected. “You said the Doan outran your horses.”
“They ran at a terrible speed,” Jessivel replied. “There was a white mist about their feet and left in their wake as they ran into the night.”
“We need to know how they are doing that,” Alayse said. “With speed like that, they could outmaneuver any army.”
“It is a blessing of the dragons,” Nadia interjected. “The dragons deliver them holy water that they drink. As far as I know, it only works at night for some reason and only lasts an hour or two. It is some blend of the weave of weightlessness and a blessing of haste from Youthan.”
“How did they combine a blessing with a weave?” Alayse balked.
“The Doan have been accomplishing much recently,” Jessivel replied as he rubbed his chin. “At least it has a very limited use, but you're right; it gives them a huge advantage.” He paused and looked to Nadia, asking again what she knew about the main army.
“They have a massive army in the mountains,” the woman explained. “We set off from it five weeks ago to make our way east.”
“Can you tell us where this army is?” Jessivel asked, but the woman could only shake her head. She didn't know the mountains or the surrounding lands, and any location she gave would be a guess at best. However, she was fairly certain it was much farther west, close to the keeps that guarded the border. She had overheard the Doan talking about a plan to sweep the keeps from behind and open the door for their brothers in the plains. It was all waiting for word that Gersius had taken the bait, but she wasn't sure what the bait was.
“You were,” Jessivel said and explained the ploy to lure Gersius east. They noticed how tired the woman looked and sent her back to sleep so they could ponder over what they had learned.
“We need to go after them,” Jessivel said after a moment. “We cannot allow the leader of Youthan to escape.”
Alayse understood the conviction in his voice, but something about this situation bothered her. If the Doan had a means of advancing so quickly, why hadn't they used it before? She assumed they would probably use it heavily once the breach was made, sweeping through the empire like a flood. Maybe they wanted to keep it secret until it could be used someplace specific, somewhere where it would strike a fatal blow.
“Gersius!” Alayse gasped and turned on Jessivel. “We must leave as soon as possible and ride hard to the west.”
“But the priest?” Jessivel argued.
“Is a distraction!” Alayse snapped as it started to make sense. “They must know Gersius is going west, so they changed their tactics. This trap was for you, and they used him as bait.”
“But if they know Gersius is going west, why keep going east?” Jessivel asked.
“Just to eliminate you and maybe destabilize the northern empire,” Alayse countered. “Can’t you see, Nadia said the main army is still in the west. Gersius is heading right for them.”
“So he can deal with them,” Jessivel replied as if he still didn't understand; then he paused and started to put it together. “But if they used this speed to descend from the mountains and cross a great distance they might take him by surprise.”
“Exactly,” Alayse said. “We are the only ones who know the Doan can do this. Gersius may be intentionally trying to draw them out, but he has no idea how much land they can cross. I bet he is relying on his scouts for early warning, but they will be overrun in moments.”
“Leaving his army exposed,” Jessivel agreed. “They will strike at night when the blessing is effective, and a large portion of Gersius's army is resting.”
“We have to ride,” Alayse pressed. “You must send men to gather your other groups and turn everything west. We have to catch Gersius before he is ambushed, or the war is lost.”
Jessivel nodded and went to leave to give the orders, but Alayse couldn't hold it in anymore. She grabbed his arm and waited for him to turn before stepping in and planting a kiss on his lips.
“Don't you ever get yourself in a situation like that again,” she snapped when the kiss parted. “I may not be there the next time.”
“Hmm,” Jessivel said as he stepped back. “Perhaps we can talk about this more when we have a chance.”
Alayse blushed but nodded as he left the tent, thankful that none of her sisters were here to see her light. She couldn't believe the thoughts that were going through her head, but somehow Jessivel had stirred her fire. She prayed Thayle wouldn't find out or she would never hear the end of it.
