Wayfarer's Keep (The Broken Lands, #3)

by T.A. White

“I’ve never been very good at thinking sideways. There was no point in it in my prior life.

The sharp planes of his face were chiseled with grooves he liked to tell Shea were there because of her antics.

“You know, when you first assigned me to her care, I thought you were punishing me for some unknown transgression,” Trenton told Fallon as he staggered upright, his face a mask of pain. “Little did I know you were giving me the most dangerous assignment in your army.”

Braden looked up at him. “Then how did you kill it?” Fallon’s sigh was long-suffering. Wilhelm and Trenton shared a small smile as they held in their laugh. “We let it try to eat one of us and used a spear to stab through the roof of its mouth.” Gawain guffawed as he looked between their group. “Let me guess which one of you came up with that.” Shea crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a cool smile. “It was a team effort.” “Sure, it was,” Gawain said.

“My love, if you wanted my attention, you only had to ask. There was no need to go out and kill the biggest thing you could find.”

“I had not expected such useless conversation from your people, Shea,” Van said, his voice laced with irritation. “An endless round of casting blame. They show little more backbone than a grub. We would have been better off eating on our own for the sake of our digestion.”

“When did you become such a mother hen?” Fallon asked in irritation. “Since you became warlord and people started trying to kill you,” Caden said waspishly.

“At least we know they’re not lacking in courage,” Fallon said, before setting off after Patrick. “They could do with a little less bravery and a little more sense, if you ask me,” Caden responded to Fallon’s back.

“You’re getting a bit slow from your easy assignment,” Gawain said, prodding the other man. Trenton slid a dark look his way. “You’ve seen the types of situations she gets herself into. Does this seem like a cushy assignment to you?” Gawain gave a small shrug, conceding Trenton’s point with a small smirk. Shea ignored the banter. She did not get herself into situations. She saw a problem and fixed it. Not her fault that things often avalanched from there.

“Battles are won or lost in the mind.

The only way to get to the top of a mountain was to take one step at a time. If you thought about the journey ahead of you while still standing at its base, you’d be defeated mentally long before you got anywhere near the summit.

“Piss and balls.” Darius leveraged himself to his feet. “I wish those two would just fuck already. This dance of theirs is giving everyone a headache.”

Children were strange beasts that were great in small doses, but she’d never felt motivated to spend any time with them.

“I’m not the one who always has trouble being quiet.”

She took it as her cue and trudged toward the horse. If this meant she didn’t have to walk anymore, she wasn’t going to look the gift horse with wings in the mouth or question its motives.