Bones of the Empire Read Online Free PDF

floor for her to rest, where she could be behind Raeln and Turess. She appeared uncomfortable letting Yoska help her, but he insisted and would not back down. Estin had already overheard Dalania asking Raeln to make Yoska stop being “overly nice” to her, but Raeln was not intervening. He likely would not until Yoska overstepped some line that Estin did not fully understand. When that happened, Raeln would probably beat Yoska half to death.
    Shaking his head at the odd group he was a part of, Estin passed the canteen back to Feanne, who had not taken her eyes off him. He tried to avoid meeting her gaze, but the intense stare was impossible not to notice.
    “We will rest until you are able to travel again,” she told him, spreading some of their blankets on the floor. “I will keep first watch while you—”
    “Feanne, stop treating me like I’m crippled,” Estin told her, regretting it instantly as her expression hardened again. “I’m not as weak as you think I am. Please don’t coddle me.”
    With a quick snarl that was his only warning, Feanne slammed Estin down on his back and rolled onto his chest to pin him there. She held him firmly, and when he tried to push free, she dug her claws into his thick shirt, right over the tender skin that had only recently healed over his heart, where a Turessian had tried to tear open his chest. As her knee came down on his ribs, he felt the pads of her toes press against his stomach even through his thick clothing.
    “Do not tell me how to treat anyone from my pack,” she warned, her voice low and eyes narrowed. “The pack may be reduced to the two of us, but you swore to trust your life to me. If I say you are weak and need rest, you will rest. I will not have you dropping dead because of pride, Estin. You will rest and I will tell you when we walk again. I will stop coddling you when I do not think you need to be coddled and not a minute sooner. Am I understood?”
    Trying to cling to what little self-esteem he had left, Estin hissed back, “Feanne, stop. The two of us fighting won’t change anything. Get off of me.”
    Feanne’s paw shifted, and Estin felt her toe-claws press into his belly, poking through cloth and fur. He knew full well that she could disembowel him if she wanted to from that position. Deep down, he wanted to think she would never consider doing it, but when she brought up the pack…
    Looking away and forcing himself to relax, Estin surrendered, and after a second, Feanne eased her weight off of him, sliding into a squat beside him.
    “Get some sleep,” she told him, all anger already gone from her voice. That had always been her way, letting go of anger as swiftly as it arose. “Raeln and I will take the first watch. Yoska and Turess the second. You and Dalania are in the worst condition and will rest until we travel again.”
    Biting back the growl he wanted to let loose, Estin reluctantly nodded and settled down on his blankets. He looked over at Feanne, realizing she would not be joining him for hours, and then noticed Dalania’s beaming smile at Feanne. In that moment, he realized she had not been attacking him. She had been reexerting her role as the pack-leader that Dalania knew. It was a show of strength and control…though Estin knew there was truth backing it. Feanne might still gut him if he refused to rest.
    Soon Feanne and Raeln took up positions at the two entrances to the room, each sitting at the edge of the hall, Feanne with a glowing ball of magic beside her for light and Raeln likely depending on that same light source, though he kept his eyes closed as he rested. The group would be in good shape with those two watching and listening.
    Lying back, Estin tried to sleep, but the dark made it hard for him to keep his eyes closed. His people, whatever they were, were nocturnal, and the mines made him want to stay awake no matter how tired he was. Even forcing his eyes shut, he simply could not make sleep come. His mind raced