How The Warrior Fell (Falling Warriors series Book 1) (14 page)

“Killix! I swear, if you don’t get out of my way, I’m going to use you for horse meat!” Leawyn huffed when all Killix did was pull his lips up over his teeth and continue to stand in the way of her mare and saddle she held in her hands.

Deydrey snorted, pinning her ears back at Killix. It was like she huffed and glared at the stubborn stallion the same way Leawyn did.

When his tiny wife attempted to push the giant stallion out of the way again, the horse turned his neck and nipped her fingers.

“Ow!” Leawyn exclaimed, dropping the saddle as she clutched her fingers. “You bit me!”

Killix let out a long whinny, his sides shaking with the sound.

“Are you 
laughing 
at me?”

Leawyn scowled at Killix, who threw his head upwards before snapping it back down several times. Xavier let out a whistle then, and Killix instantly stopped, ears flicking up as he turned his head to look behind Leawyn. She rotated her body to watch Killix trot off.

Xavier lifted his hand and patted Killix’s strong neck, leaning over to stare at Leawyn. He couldn’t help himself, and grinned ever so slightly.

“Have you been there the whole time?” Leawyn exclaimed in annoyance.

Her ire seemed to grow when Xavier felt his smirk widen.

Leawyn glared at them both (especially Killix) and picked the saddle off the ground and threw it over Deydrey, who was now free to stand in front of Leawyn.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered angrily under her breath. Deydrey snorted, agreeing with her.

“I heard that Killix had a crush on your mare, but I didn’t believe it until now.”

“Yes, well,” Leawyn threw the reins around Deydrey’s neck, “he’s been unbelievingly annoying with the whole thing. It’s unattractive, quite frankly.” She climbed up onto Deydrey’s back. “So you can just forget it!” Leawyn gave them both another dirty glare before she kicked her heels and Deydrey took off.

Xavier and Killix watched both their respective females trot off.

“I think you made her angry,” Xavier said wryly, glancing over at Killix when he turned his head to look at him.

“If she’s anything like Leawyn, I’m afraid you have your work cut out for you.”

Killix stared at Xavier a bit longer before he again turned his attention to Deydrey, snorting dismissively.

“If you say so,” Xavier chuckled, shaking his head.

He pushed himself away from leaning against Killix and lifted himself onto the saddle. He didn’t even need to urge Killix to go before he was making his way all too eagerly to the company of men waiting to move out.

Or more specifically, Deydrey.

They rode just as hard as they had before.

Once again Leawyn was determined to prove her worth and show that she and Deydrey could handle such a hard ride. But it was difficult.

Well, for Leawyn it was.

There was a sense of urgency in the way Xavier had the men riding, almost as if he was eager to return home. Leawyn looked over in front of her, watching Xavier closely. She still didn’t agree in leaving so early with Xavier still recovering, but she had to admit he seemed to be doing fine.

Still . . .

Leawyn might not be battle trained, in fact, she knew next to nothing about war, but she couldn’t help feel something bad was coming. Like everything was about to change—and not in a good way.

Leawyn shivered, shaking off her ominous thoughts and instead focused on riding Deydrey safely through the snow.

Good thing too, because she almost ran right into the back of Tyronian’s horse as they came to a sudden stop.

Tyronian turned in his saddle, raising his brow at her. Leawyn shot him a sheepish look.

“Sorry,” she mouthed.

Tyronian grinned, shook his head, and turned his attention back to the front where Xavier and Tristan were stopped.

Leawyn nudged Deydrey so she was positioned beside him and his horse.

“What’s going on?” Leawyn asked curiously, straining her neck to see over the men in front of her.

“The lake is frozen,” Tyronian frowned.

She snapped her head to look over at Tyronian.

“Lake? I don’t remember a lake on our way here.”

“Aye,” Tyronian nodded, still staring in front of him. He watched Tristan and Xavier, who looked to be in a heated discussion.

“We went around it before.”

“I don’t get it,” Leawyn said in confusion. “If we went it around it before, why can’t we now?”

Tyronian shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to wait and find out,” he told her. She could tell there was something he was keeping from her, but she didn’t press him further.

So, they waited.

“Do you have a plan?”

Xavier held in his sigh and gave the frozen water in front of him a brooding glare from his kneeled position.

“We cross,” Xavier said, standing to his full height.

“You cannot be serious?” Tristan asked incredulously, staring at him like he was mad.

Xavier gave a slight nod, and Tristan looked to the lake. He heard his brother’s jaw ticking.

“The lake is not frozen all the way,” Tristan said. “There is no chance it will hold all our weight without cracking.”

“It’s the only way. We’ll spread out; have the men dismount when they cross.”

“Xavier,” Tristan said quietly. “We cannot cross; we will fall to our doom if we do. We should go back the way we came.”

“That road is too dangerous now.” Xavier shook his head adamantly. “They’ll expect us to go the safer route. We would be walking right into an ambush,” Xavier told Tristan, his voice also low.

“The ice will crack under our weight, and we’ll all be killed. I know it, and so do you.”

“We will all die if we go back the way we came!” Xavier stepped up to his brother, his glare heavy with authority. “We cross the lake. Now ready the men,” he hissed before he brushed by Tristan and stalked away to find his wife.

As more time passed, Tyronian seemed to grow more and more restless, which in turn made Leawyn nervous.

Finally, after what seemed like days, Tyronian stood straighter when Xavier approached him with a solemn look on his face.

“We cross the lake.”

Noticing the tension, Leawyn looked between Tyronian and her husband.

Tyronian quickly hurried to Xavier, ducking his head as he whispered hurried words with him.

She watched with growing anxiety as Xavier and Tyronian argued, Xavier shaking his head every so often and saying clipped words in response. Her husband said something to Tyronian with finality, which caused Tyronian to shake his head and stalk off.

Leawyn gave Xavier a questioning look when he stopped in front of her.

“You will have to lead Deydrey across the lake on foot; the less weight, the better,” Xavier ordered her in a clipped tone.

“Xavier, what’s going on?” Leawyn questioned softly, her brows drawing together in worry. “Why not just go the way we came?”

Xavier’s lips firmed, staring down at her solemnly. “Those roads are out of the question.”

“Why?”

Scowling down at her, he snapped, “We cross the lake. End of discussion. Now get ready to move out and meet me at the front.” He turned his back on her then and returned to where Tristan and Tyronian were waiting for him, barking out orders as he walked by the rest of his men.

Well. Alright, then.

Leawyn sighed. Grabbing ahold of Deydrey’s reins, she silently led her horse to the front.

This was a very, very bad idea,
Leawyn thought to herself, staring down at the frozen water in apprehension.

She had to stop and hold her breath frequently whenever the ice groaned under her weight.

The men were all scattered about, each one of them doing the exact same thing Leawyn was. This lake was not nearly frozen enough for them to be walking on, and she couldn’t understand why Xavier would order them to attempt to cross it. Though, she knew by now there was no use trying to ask questions or change his mind.

He was stubborn as a mule and didn’t listen to anyone.

The ice gave another loud groan. Leawyn immediately stopped.

“We should go back!”

She couldn’t help but agree with whoever had called that out.

“Keep moving and spread out more,” Xavier ordered. No one said anything more, and instead followed their chief’s orders.

“Nice and steady, Deydrey. Attagirl,” Leawyn murmured soothingly to her restless mare.

They all went at a slow pace, avoiding the areas that seemed weaker than the others. Some men were already across on stronger ice and waiting for them.

Leawyn took a step forward slowly, keeping her eyes on the ground at all times. She stopped, her heart going to her throat as the ice groaned disapprovingly and a small break appeared.

She stared down at the crack in mounting horror as it spread, the sound of the ice splitting loud in her ears.

Oh, Goddess, no.

She only had a second to scream out Xavier’s name before the ice under her feet collapsed and she plummeted into the deathly cold ice water.

X
AVIER KNEW HIS
men, brother, and cousin did not agree with his choice of crossing the ice, but it was the only way.

He couldn’t risk the chance of the only safe road being ambushed. If it were just his men with him, he might have considered it, having faith in their fighting capabilities. But it wasn’t just him and his men. He had Leawyn to consider, and he refused to take the chance she would be caught in the crossfire and hurt.