The Treason Blade (Battle for Alsaar Book 1) by Jenny Rebecca Keech Page A

island.”
    That brought
up an interesting question. Ishar paused a moment and then spoke softly, “And
where do you come from? Eira calls you Raanan warriors, but I have never heard
of such a place.”
    A silence
around Traevyn, Gavin, and Glyndwr grew and their faces appeared so solemn that
for a moment Ishar feared she had overstepped her bounds.
    It was
Traevyn who answered. “It is a place that no longer exists,” he stated quietly.
    His words
puzzled her and Ishar frowned at their cryptic meaning. “I do not understand.”
    Glyndwr kneed
his horse past her and entered the wood. “It is not something we speak of,” he
said tightly.
    Gavin kept
his pace to hers. “Forgive him,” he said with sad smile, “Memories are powerful
things.” It was all he said before following Glyndwr.
    Ishar glanced
at Traevyn but he only shook his head and motioned her forward.
    They moved
deeper into the woods and silence reigned. The hunt had begun. The horses were
left soon after they entered. They worked their way on foot through the deeper,
more difficult terrain where the deer felt most safe and were less mindful.
Throughout the hunt, no matter how focused Ishar was on the pursuit, a part of
her mind flickered back to the men’s comments and she wondered even more what
had driven Varyk and his men to Alsaar.
    It was late morning when Traevyn signaled an end to
the hunt. They had each brought down a deer and Gavin and Traevyn had slipped
several rabbits into pouches that hung from their saddles, caught inbetween
kills. Ishar had heard more than one of them remark about the possibility of a
rabbit stew before the day was out. Glyndwr and Traevyn had brought down the
first two kills rather quickly, finding the does near a small creek seeking
water. Ishar had followed with her kill of a fresh young buck standing proud
underneath a hill of overhanging trees. Gavin had been last but had made the
finest kill: a large buck with horns that spoke of many years upon his head. As
each one made a kill, they backed off to provide support to the others who had
not. They had sighted several more deer on their way out but Traevyn had
cautioned about being too greedy, to say nothing of the extra weight it would
be on the horses.
    By the time
they fetched their horses and settled the carcasses across their rumps, the sun
was nearly high in the sky.
    Gavin glanced
up. “Do you think we can talk Jaya into making for us a stew of rabbit
tonight?”
    “Give her a
haunch of your deer and I am sure she will glad to,” Glyndwr said with a wry
grin.
    Gavin
shrugged. “I had intended to give the deer to the holding so it matters not
where a haunch might disappear. Eira’s table or Jaya’s? Either way I will get fed. Besides, with the four children, Jaya and Ber have
use of the meat.”
    Ishar
blinked. “Ber has four children?”
    Glyndwr
laughed. “Yes.” He studied her. “You seem surprised.”
    “It is just
that if any of you might have children, I would not have chosen Ber,” Ishar
spoke thoughtfully, before adding, “he seems the wildest among you.”
    Now it was
Gavin who laughed. “No, we are all wild. Ber is just so full of life he cannot
contain himself. It overflows from him. This is why he says what he thinks, and
why he is the only one to have children.” Gavin pointed to himself and Glyndwr
and Traevyn. “We are all too focused on this war to think of anything else.” He
reached behind and grabbed a flask of water, taking a deep swig. “I think I
will wait until after this season of the Tourna is over before I bring a child
into this world. Ber is more the kind to say, bring life while you have life.
He is too alive not to have children.” Gavin nodded, his mouth firm as he spoke, “but if I had found someone like Jaya, perhaps I
would think more like he does.”
    “Yes, but
unfortunately the village girls turn Gavin’s head but only a little,” Glyndwr
added wryly.
    Gavin made a
mock swing at Glyndwr’s head. Ishar