The lad’s eyes were wild. “It kill many! We shoot with arrow, but no work. We try dagger, but the beast—” He stopped, struggling for words, curling his fingers to show them, like claws. “Too strong. Too big. To fight is no use. No man can kill. We must go.”
Paxton could hardly make out the strongly accented rambling, but his insides tightened as the young man’s words became clear.
Samuel stepped up. “Was there any weakness shown by the beast? Anything you can tell us?”
He shook his head fast, waving his arms side to side. “No. No use. It never die. Never. We go home.” Wrenching himself from Paxton’s grasp, the lad ran from the Lochlan hunters to catch up to the other Torestan men, fleeing back to their mountain homes.There go a fifth of the hunters, Paxton thought darkly.
“It must have a weakness,” Samuel mumbled, shaking his head of matted curls. “Nobody’s discovered it yet, but every living thing can be destroyed somehow.”
Paxton nodded. He caught sight of Tiern’s pale face as hewatched the Torestan hunters hurrying away.
“Come,” Paxton said. “Let’s fill our stomachs and talk with the other men, then we’ll rest. Later we can scout the lands to try and find where the beast keeps during daylight.”
Tiern, appearing young and forlorn with his shoulders slumped, dragged himself down the path behind Paxton.
Raised voices issued from hunters inside the west commons as they approached. Paxton readied himself for the tense scene ahead—hungry, tired, proud, and alarmed was not a good combination.
The thirteen of them pushed their way into the large group surrounding one long table. Hunters from Zorfina with their loose clothing and head scarves came in behind the Lochlans, the last group to arrive. They began questioning what had happened. Voices lifted, everyone attempting to speak at once.
Castle guards had entered the west commons and spread out, eyeing their harried groups with caution. More guards lined themselves across the balcony.
“Enough!” Paxton shouted.
Lord Lief Alvi jumped on the table, muddied boots and all, causing all eighty men to shut up when he bellowed, “Quiet!”
Lief was most definitely the only Ascomannian Paxton could stomach.
“Here is what we know!” Lief began. “Four Torestan hunters were killed by the beast in the night, and one is indire condition. They were posted farthest north of royal lands in a spot where, until now, the beast had never been spotted. I think it’s safe to say we cannot predict where the beast will show. Nor should we underestimate it. Every account says that arrows cannot break its natural armor. Its brute strength can fling away any man who attempts to wrestle it. We need to overpower it with sheer numbers. Wear it down and overwhelm it with a nonstop onslaught.”
Paxton felt half his mouth lift in a grin as Lief unknowingly voiced the idea Paxton had raised to the men the prior day. He ignored the glare Volgan shot him.
“What say you?” Lief asked.
The vast majority nodded their heads.
“Very well,” the blond lord said. He hopped down and bent over the map. “Men of Lochlanach, if you’d be so kind as to point us to the areas where our numbers could be best concealed.”
Paxton, Tiern, Harrison, and Samuel stepped to his side, the rest of their men close behind them. They pointed out the heavily forested areas that edged waterways.
“Lord Alvi,” Volgan said gruffly, “do you think it’s wise to bunch all of our ranks so closely in one area of the kingdom? What if the beast is somewhere else?”
“The beast goes where there’s warm blood to be easily had,” Paxton answered for him. “It will find us.”
Paxton and Lief locked eyes as the lord nodded, anunderstanding and respect forming between the two men.
Volgan ran a hand over his scraggly dark blond hair and grunted.
Their discussion ended just as palace maids bustled onto the grass carrying covered platters. Tables were filled with fruits and pastries and steaming piles of eggs and sausages. Paxton was more concerned with sleep than food at that moment, but he needed to keep his strength. He walked to his spot at the end of the table. Before he sat he glanced up at the balcony and paused, his heart giving a sudden bang.
The princess, locked hand in hand with her lady cousin, were looking down upon them, appearing worried. Her hair was damp and freshly combed, heavy about her body. Both girls wore dresses that appeared simple, the princess in yellow and the lady in gray, but their fabric and stitching was far finer than anything a commoner wore. Shawls with pastel rainbow beading draped over their shoulders against the morning chill.
The princess’s eyes darted across the men’s faces until they landed on Paxton. The brightened relief that crossed her face was like a punch to his gut, followed by something pleasant and warm, a feeling that appealed to him on a deep, masculine level.
Seas be damned,Paxton thought with near amusement. Princess Aerity was glad to see him alive. She wore her emotions freely across her face, unguarded. She continued to surprise him, which he didn’t care for.
Her expression of relief was followed closely by dark shadows in her eyes at the sight of the empty seats. Her gaze moved along and halted once again. A small smile graced her lips. Paxton saw Harrison send a nod up to her, and something soured within him. Harrison said he and Princess Aerity were friends, but perhaps she fancied herself in love with him? Wouldn’t that be the rub for the poor princess?
A cool breeze blew through. The princess dropped her head, clutching her shawl against the chill. She turned and nodded at her cousin. Together, they left the men to break their fast.
