Rangers of Linwood (The Five Kingdoms Book 1) by LeAnn Anderson Page A

Tesni? I must speak to her right away.”
    Arya blinked. “Tesni is…. Tesni is in Enid’s tent.”
    “Again?” Ryder asked. “How has she managed to injure herself, this time?”
    “She did not injure herself,” Arya said. “Well, she reinjured her ankle after sneaking onto the ropes course, but that is a different matter, entirely.”
    “Then she is ill?” Ryder asked.
    “Very, but not naturally,” Arya said. “Enid and I suspect that she is under a dark curse, most likely of Agrona’s doing.”
    Ryder stopped short. “A curse?” he asked. “Well, surely we will find a way to break it. Perhaps Fiona will know something? Surely she must have had some access to Agrona’s spell books.”
    “What happened in town?’ Arya asked. “You came back seeming as if you had just heard the most wonderful news in the world.”
    “I was summoned to Cliona’s side,” Ryder started. “Now, don’t look so unhappy,” he added, seeing the jealousy flash in Arya’s eyes.
    “What did your former lover want?” Arya asked. “Could she not find anyone else for a quick tumble in the hay?”
    “Arya, Cliona has died,” Ryder said, his tone clipped. “I was summoned to her death bed for something that she had to tell me.”
    Arya winced, suddenly regretting the insult she had thrown towards the other woman. She had been very jealous when she had learned that Ryder and Cliona were suddenly together, had rejoiced when he stopped going to her rival three weeks later. That was in the past now, though, and Arya muttered an apology.
    “It’s alright,” Ryder said. “You couldn’t have known. However, what she told me amazed me. Arya, Cliona begged me to find her child, who has been missing for years, and to take the child in. I fully intend to do so.”
    “And just how are we supposed to identify this child?” Arya asked.
    “I have already identified her,” Ryder said. “I have also identified her father, and it is her father’s wish that the girl become a Ranger. It is also the wish of the woman that her father would make her step-mother.”
    Arya snorted. “How callous a father the poor girl has, to have no interest, and to choose his new bride-to-be over his daughter, to push her away and send her to us as if we are the boarding academy that so many of the wealthy send their children to in order to keep them out of sight and out of mind.”
    Ryder sighed. There was no denying it. Arya could certainly be dense at times. “Arya, my love, this is not about keeping his daughter out of sight and out of mind. It is about family tradition, for the father and would-be step-mother are both Rangers, right here in this very camp.”
    “Don’t tell me,” Arya said. “You’re the girl’s father?”
    “Aye, and I would gladly make you her mother, if you would agree to it.”
    “If she will consent, then so will I,” Arya said. “I don’t believe your daughter should suffer to have me as a step-mother if she and I cannot get along.”
    “You already get along with her, Ayra,” Ryder said. “My daughter is Tesni.”
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 9
     
    Arya stood there in amazement. Despite her dislike for Cliona, born of jealousy, she had known the other woman well enough to know her features. Now the bow-mistress compared those features and Ryder’s to Tesni’s. Now that she thought about it, the girl’s features were a perfect blend of those of her parents. Thinking harder, she remembered when Tesni had shown her the contents of her locket, and she realized that the faces of the couple were, indeed, those of Cliona and Ryder.
    “Come on in to Enid’s tent,” she said at last. “Perhaps you can figure out what kind of curse Agrona placed on her, and maybe even the cure.”
    Ryder followed Arya into the healer’s tent and knelt down next to the cot on which Tesni was lying. He brushed stray hair from her face. “You will come back to us, Tesni. We will figure out this curse and the cure before it’s too