Arrows of Promise (Kingmakers Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

might be a rich prize, but we’re too costly
to take on.”
    Broden would not bet on that last part. Desperate men did
alarmingly stupid things on a regular basis, and the bandits he had fought
against were known for their glaring lack of common sense. It might take weeks
and more than a dozen failed attempts before they even paused to reconsider
their decision. “Lass, we best step up the training for yer new guardsmen.”
    “Looks like we’ll need them sooner rather than later,” she
admitted. “Edvard, I’m just reporting tonight, as I think Ash has things well
in hand over there, but we do need to talk about this at length tomorrow and
see if we can’t come up with a counter plan.”
    Edvard bobbed his head in a tired motion. “Noted. Go back to
bed, both of you. Wait, were any of the bandits still alive?”
    “Three, Ash said.”
    “Send them over here. I want them interrogated before we
execute them. More information is vital at this point.”
    “I’ll see to it,” she promised. Standing, she led the way
out the door and closed it gently behind her before whispering to Broden, “You
don’t think they’ll stop easily, do you?”
    “No, lass.” Broden stared sightlessly down the hallway,
remembering a time that he thought he would be able to forget and never think
of again. “No, I do no’. We be seeing more of them. Mark me on that.”

    Things went apace over the next few days. They did have some
injuries, as men grew tired and made careless mistakes, but Ash was always
called for, and in between some old-fashioned poultices and his magic, people
were able to heal up well enough.
    Ashlynn had found three men, all of them fresh out of
training, to help stand as watchmen while everyone else worked. Riana took them
under her wing and showed them the best trees to hide in so that they had an
excellent vantage point but were out of sight themselves. Her time with bandits
had shown her that they didn’t look up nearly as often as they should, and she
didn’t want one of these young guardsmen on the ground where they could be
surrounded, and be easily hurt. Better to stay up. She gave each of them a
hunting horn as well, the horns having their own distinct sound, so that they
could tell her instantly if trouble was coming and which direction she needed
to head towards.
    Her father came over the morning after the attack and worked
out a plan with the settlement of where to go if there was an attack and who
should be fighting where. With the horns in place, they ran a drill in the
middle of the day, once a day, to keep things fresh in their heads and to make
sure that everyone knew instantly what the horns meant.
    They went four days without seeing even a bandit’s shadow.
Riana did not think that they were safe yet just because of those four days of
quiet. Actually, she expected the trouble to start any day now. The bandits had
four days to go back to Cloud’s Rest, report in, and then have them travel
toward the settlement. If they were making good time, that was. Really, it took
most people three days to make that trip, but a determined group could do it in
two.
    She guarded Ash with strict attention as he went about that
night putting the ward up. He was halfway around the camp before he stopped
dead and studied her. “Is there a reason why you’re so on edge tonight?”
    “Trouble most likely will strike tonight or on the morrow,”
she said frankly.
    The mage light floating above their heads was bright enough that
she could see his face clearly. But she couldn’t read the expression there.
“The bandits before knew you?”
    It was the first time he had asked that question. Riana had
hoped he wouldn’t. Sighing, she admitted, “Aye. If our old village had trouble,
they called on me and Da to fix it. Or fight it. We crossed paths with every
gang up there more than once.”
    “Explain to me exactly how many gangs are up there and why they’re up there. I mean, there’s not much in those