Knight of the Goddess (Blood of a Fae, #4)

by Briar Boleyn

We had our bedrolls strapped to our back, our bows, and enough food to last us a few days.” “We would hunt and swim and fish,” Gawain added.

Why bring food to last for days if you’re hunting and fishing?

“We’d drink,” Draven said, carefully avoiding my eyes. “Copiously, I presume,” I said, elbowing him with a grin. “At times. Better to vomit into the grass than at one of my father’s parties. We learned our limits.” “Alongside some very pretty boys and girls,” Gawain said with a wink.

Now, that last sentence from Gawain would have made more sense if it had been after the one where Draven avoided her eyes. Makes more sense to avoid her eyes because they were out having sexy time with past flings in their youth than for simply getting drunk in their youth. 🙄🙄 The editing is for shit in this book…

“There were rumors after the battle,” Gawain said abruptly. “Amongst the Tintagel soldiers. They said many of their comrades’ bodies could not be found. While others had... strange markings. Teeth marks.” He shook his head.

And he waits til now to mention it? And calls it rumors after seeing what they saw in the village?

“We all know what happens to bodies lying out on a battlefield, Gawain,” Draven said quietly.

And so you too say something dumb after what you saw at the village, knowing damn well why there were teeth marks and why bodies were missing…

I looked over and, to my shock, saw that Gawain had taken the grail out of Draven’s saddlebag and removed the soft velvet cloth we’d wrapped around it.

Wow… something has happened… Or is happening…

Although, even if I had been able to see the diamonds and gold the others saw, I knew the chalice would never have been beautiful in my eyes. Not after what it had done to Kaye.

Well, obviously your opinion BEFORE that would be the one that mattered, not the current biased one… 🙄🙄

“Why do you think it was made in the first place?” Lancelet demanded. “They say the goddess Marzanna...” I snorted. “Do you really believe that?”

Again, this would be a great, well timed place to insert the lore about the three magical objects that haven’t been mentioned since book 1 or so, but the author foolishly cuts it off from being retold. I’m pretty sure they will now talk about things of lessor priority or importance now though… stupid.

“Rychel thought the old stories could have some truth to them,” I admitted. “But she also thought the grail could be used to heal as well as destroy. Or, at least to perhaps undo the evil it had been used for.”

Knowing this, and you didn’t try to wake Kaye by having him drink from it or anything? You clearly know it’s safe to drink from because both you and Draven have and Sephone and Asshole have done so as well.

I knew she was vastly overestimating the amount of sleep she’d gotten.

Exactly cuz it doesn’t take hours to make camp, especially with so many people to help.

The night before, I had stubbornly refused to shut my eyes... tossing and turning for hours, trying to stay awake until finally I had been unable to fight the weariness any longer and had fallen into a restless slumber.

Couple of problems here… 1. The night before? Wasn’t that the same night they left, the Guinevere had to save her? I don’t recall them resting since then, reaching Rheged by dawn, skirting battlefields and coming upon the village and then the village feast remnants. So what night before is this? 2. Knowing Guinevere has to be awake to shield you, why would you stubbornly waste her time fighting sleep and therefore decreasing the amount of time she has to sleep? It’s not like Guinevere sleeps while y’all are traveling! She’s wide awake too! Senseless. Not very well thought thru.

She had shielded me somehow. Sat in a state of vigilance and guarded me in some way I didn’t understand.

There’s not much you would understand anyway…

A strong hand was placed atop mine. “He’s not here, Morgan. I am.” I turned my head towards Draven’s dark one, feeling a multitude of emotions rush over me. Relief, gratitude, and over all of it, pure, intense, heartfelt love.

You should have been feeling like it was strange for him to know that you were dreaming about another man and then wonder how he knew…

He buried his mouth against mine, biting down gently on my bottom lip until I gasped.

Yes, gasp. So the stank breathe goes in instead of coming out… 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Dornum was the capital of Rheged, and Nerov its king. Long ago, a tale had been told to me of Draven’s role in placing Nerov on that throne.

See! I knew I remembered something about him being there before, but the author has conveniently left out Draven’s connection with Rheged every single time it came up about its rule or even going there! This writing could be so much better…

“Behind Dornum. In the Mountains of Mist as they’ve always been called.” Rheged was a rough land, famed for its huge, vaulted peaks and the icy glaciers and vast chasms that lay to its north, beyond the capital.

And… Draven was so close to the high fae king while in Rheged a few years ago but noticed nothing amiss.

“Appeared from nowhere. Towering over all of the others with a summit that one can see even over the clouds of mist.”

Didn’t Morgan have a vision or something like that that was like this is being described recently?

Behind me, Gawain gave a chuckle. “I’ve never heard of such a thing, my good man. Mountains usually stay where they are.”

But you’ve heard of fae summoning storms and shit? Why does the author have the fae who know of Gorlois saying dumb shit?

already. When we reach the mountains, the terrain will turn rocky and treacherous. We may have to leave the horses.” I nodded. “The exmoors should be fine.” Even now, Nightclaw and Sunstrike traveled with us, staying close but keeping out of sight.

When the hell did the exmoors get there? The author be leaving out all kinds of important ish! I remember her saying she would not put them in harms way again or something like that and leaving them behind when her and Draven were sneaking out of King Mark’s castle…

They said his hip was very bad. An infection in the bone.

How in the hell did he get an infection in his hip injury that damn fast and a healer was called right away? Ridiculous writing.

Two blades were strapped to her back, the hilts wrapped in worn leather. The woman had a warrior’s build. Broad shoulders, a muscular physique. Her well-formed arms were crossed over her chest as she looked at me.

Is this Odessa!?! I can’t remember what she looks like so the attribute descriptions do nothing for me, but the warrior build, etc…

Two blades were strapped to her back, the hilts wrapped in worn leather. The woman had a warrior’s build. Broad shoulders, a muscular physique. Her well-formed arms were crossed over her chest as she looked at me.

Is this Odessa!?! I can’t remember what she looks like so the attribute descriptions do nothing for me, but the warrior build, etc…

I had just enough time to drag Excalibur along. Strapping the leather belt it hung from around my waist,

You literally have fire in your damn hands!

just as the tent beside us erupted in a thunderous explosion of fur and canvas.

Oh snap. Hawl’s pissed off…

Whereas the bandits had numbers. There were at least twenty or more scurrying around the camp and forest edges that I could see. I prayed no more were waiting deeper in the forest.

Twenty bandits, author? Seriously? Why did that make sense to you to write?

I could not use flames, that much was clear. The horses were too near, as were Lancelet, Guinevere, and Hawl. I could not risk them.

Always a damn excuse for her not to be able to use her power. Why does she even have it? Author could have skipped given it to her at all…

I sidestepped the woman’s thrust easily, feeling the rush of air as her weapon narrowly missed.

You keep sidestepping, but your husband is behind you so it doesn’t make sense that he hasn’t been struck by one of those blades that are meant for you…

Ducking smoothly, Draven lifted his left hand and almost lazily let a band of shadow extend, yanking the slingshot from the man’s hand and tossing it aside before wrapping it around the bandit’s neck and twisting. Shouts came up from around us. Other bandits had noticed what Draven had done.

So why didn’t Draven just use his shadows to subdue them all in the first place?

I slowed my pace slightly as I watched the owl’s descent, swift and purposeful, body of gold and brown slicing through the air with divine grace.

Why would you slow? Like you can’t help the owl out or still get to and protect Guinevere! You said there might be more bandits in the same tree line she’s running towards.. the owl can only fight one at a time.

Draven brushed past me, striding up to where the man kneeled, quivering. With a thrust of his dagger, the bandit was left lifeless in the dirt.

Which SHE should have done instead of just watching. She’s so useless. If I was Lancelet I would curse her butt out for slowing down to watch instead of still pursuing and trying to get to Guinevere…

It clattered to the ground as the man looked up at me, enraged, and drew a needlelike dagger from his belt. The man was quick. Quicker than the others had been. The blade darted forward like a viper seeking vulnerable flesh.

Because you’re useless. You go to attack someone and aren’t ready for a counterattack… 🙄🙄

“I was fine. I had him.”

Yeah, right.

“Gawain,” I called sharply. “Give it back.” He looked towards me, a scowl disfiguring his normally pleasant face, and I blinked in surprise.

This is the second time that damn cup has called to Gawain and her dumbass (and Draven) haven’t realized something is up with that.

Without thinking, I reached upwards and caught the cup. Instantly, a pain went through me. I dropped the chalice as if it were a hot coal and gasped. “What is it?” Draven appeared at my shoulder. “Fuck.”

Here, it should be explained that she caught the cup with her bloody hand, which is why she said “without thinking” I’m assuming. The author leaves so much crap out that needs to be explained right then and there I’m guessing because she thinks it adds to the intrigue and is mysterious… but it’s not. It’s an incomplete thought, scene etc. Ridiculous.

Draven sat beside me. With practiced care, he wound a strip of linen around my hand, his touch firm but gentle.

So we still not gone talk about the elephant in the forest of Gawain’s fixation on the grail…

Probably too far away to come back in time.”

And also too dangerous to leave the injured Sunstrike alone… so close to your father’s lair.

“You fought well tonight, Gawain,” I said softly, feeling the need to somehow reassure him.

That’s not what you need to reassure him about. The man knows he fought well. He wouldn’t be who he is if he didn’t. 🙄🙄

“It’s a powerful object. Hard to describe the pull it can have,” I said, even while I knew I had never felt that same pull.

And that’s all we’re going to say about that? This wasn’t the first time. And NO ONE else is messing with the grail, at all. So they should be suspicious of this. Not saying Gawain is bad, just saying that something is going on here and they need to figure it out.

“Do you think they came for it? Specifically for the grail, I mean?” Gawain queried.

See? Now he seems a little protective over it a bit. Like he might turn into Gollum and it becomes his precious.

Then, crouching by the tent flap, he gave me a meaningful look and darted his eyes towards Lancelet before slipping inside.

And what’s the meaning of the look? Are we just jumping again with zero clues as to what the characters are referring to? No hints, look, conversations prior to this so we can follow along?

“My throat is on fire. What I wouldn’t give for a tankard of ale from The Bear and Mermaid right now.”

It’s called “The Empress’s Exmoor” now… ridiculous ass name… 🙄🙄 Why didn’t they just call it Nightclaw? Would have been more fitting for a bar… open at night and selling ale and mead.

“Perhaps more liquid courage is just what you need,” I said, holding the flask out towards her again with a meaningful look.

Oh, so that’s the game. Send Lancelet in to keep Guinevere company after her scare… wow, Draven.

“So perhaps she doesn’t have to.” I was hesitant as to how far to go, how blatant to be.

I don’t even like this setup, but it would have been better if she she “Perhaps she shouldn’t be after what happened here tonight.” At least that would have came off as being protective and caring instead of the way this feels…

I sighed. “We’re always going to have just been attacked by something or other, Lancelet.

Again, she should have put it in a way that sounded like going in for comfort and security. It currently sounds like, “go get some ass because it ain’t gone get no better than this.”

stared at her. “Do you really believe that?” “Of course. Don’t you?” I thought about it carefully for a moment. “No. I don’t. At least, I think there’s a real chance that... that your feelings are not at all one-sided.”

Guinevere has given nothing away that remotely says she likes Lancelet like that. Author is stretching it. Now we do know Guinevere prefers woman from her POV back when she was retelling how she was told to marry Arthur by her father and sent there but that doesn’t mean she’s interested in her in that way. Lancelet is always moving to where Guinevere is, Guinevere has never moved to Lancelet.. the author should have put a few such instances in, for one thing, if she wants to make that more believable…

“Is that what you think?” I shook my head. “I see something different. But even if I didn’t... you love her. I know you do.

She has never denied that! She even just said it’s one-sided! So what does that have to do with the price of tea in China!

“Think of what she went through tonight. I know if that had happened to me, I might want arms around me. Even if they were simply the arms of a friend.”

Should have led with that… 🙄🙄

For how long, I wondered, had Rheged been little more than a puppet state? Ruled from behind the throne, quite literally, by the Black Mountain and Gorlois le Fay.

Again, shouldn’t Draven know SOMETHING about this since he helped to kill one monarch to place another on the throne? Was the previous monarch under the influence like Arthur was? What about the one that replace him, how was his demeanor? Draven should know these answers, but the author conveniently keeps writing as though Draven has never been to Rheged and knows absolutely nothing about the land… ridiculous.

Was this the closest thing to a holiday she might ever have? I pursed my lips together.

Holiday…

“By the Three, Draven,” I said with delight. “Are you actually blushing?” “Fae don’t blush.” His jaw clenched tightly.

🤣🤣🤣

My heart flip-flopped. He’d slicked his black hair back that morning. Now his horns were more noticeable, black and sharp and alluring.

If he’d slicked his hair back that morning, why is she acting like she’s just now noticing it and it’s only now having an effect but… I don’t know how to explain the incorrectness of this…