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HE knew she wasn’t enjoying herself, and he could not blame her. No one liked to think about the war that was coming. That he was exposing her to it sickened him. He wished there was a place that was one hundred percent completely safe for her. If there was, he’d have her there in an instant.
Miranda looked up at him and shot him an uncertain smile. It went straight through his gut. He burned for her.
And he half feared she was going to make him wait forever.
After the session was over, Miranda asked if they could wait around. It surprised him, until she told him about her friends, the leaders of the House of Woald.
“They were sort of my de facto house, I guess. I made sure to stay on the streets at the same time they were out. And when I went down to the river, I made sure it was their allotted time and area I hunted rocks in. No one else would let me hunt on their banks, even though I never fished. Iahanna told me I could as long as I liked, said I could fish there too, if I wanted. And I’d catch their guards following me around sometimes, when it would be late out. It was a little less scary, knowing I wasn’t completely alone out there.”
“We can wait for your friend. I would like to thank her myself.”
“Not to mention we fought off the Incubi gang together. That was kind of a big deal.”
Aodhan, Dalric, and Havrich had stepped close enough to hear her words at that. Aodhan frowned. “What is this gang?”
“You’re serious?” Miranda gawked at his brother. “You don’t know?”
“Miranda?”
“In Center Thrun City, there’s this demon guy. And he sends out patrols, I guess, looking for women some times. Anyway, we were all at the same shop in the center market. It had been windy, and half the shop displays were knocked over. The guy who runs the place had to run home to get more supplies. He didn’t want to leave his daughter, but Iahanna promised to stay with her. He was gone like five minutes when these things showed up. There were only three and I think they were drunk on something. Or we wouldn’t have stood I chance. I mean, Iahanna’s cousin is blind. She couldn’t even see to fight. They almost got her and the shopkeeper’s daughter. But Iahanna had a sword. And after a while she surrounded us with this weird bubble of blue light until they were gone. But it really zapped her to do it. They couldn’t really get to us after that. She looks like she’s ill today.”
There was real worry in her tone for the other woman and he wondered at it. Then he remembered what the shopkeeper had said. “They offered you lodging?”
“Yes. But the houses they have—they have too many people living there already. I would not be a burden.”
It sounded to him like the Woald needed just as much help as Miranda had. Yet they had tried to help her. Protected her.
He looked at his brothers and saw the same conclusion on their faces.
“I will speak with the Equan of the Woald shortly,” Havrich said. “Dalric is securing a chamber for us to use privately. Miranda, if you will wait here and your Rajni agrees, I’ll escort the Woalds to you after we complete our business. I suspect our father will be angry. I will not leave two young females alone with him.”