Assassin Queen Read Online Free Page A

morning be so calm when it marks the beginning of the end?
    He resisted the urge to growl as he started the fire. He could have used the flint and kindling that had been left for just such a purpose, but using his magic was easier. It also came with the added benefit of draining a bit of his energy. After being bottled up for the last six hours, his soul was burning with the need to cast.
    “You look like hell.”
    Kirin jumped and then whirled around on one heel to face Nathan. “You’re one to talk.”
    He’d been wrong. Nathan had stayed. Kirin had to bite the insides of his cheeks to keep from smiling. Maybe this dawn wouldn’t be the end as he’d originally thought. Maybe others had stayed as well.
    “You sound as if my face isn’t the one you long to see first thing in the morning.”
    Kirin put a pot of water on the hook over the fire so it would heat. “Not to mention the last thing I look upon before I go to sleep at night,” he teased in return.
    Nathan laughed. “Guessed that was the case.”
    “What made you stay?” He threw some dried meat and herbs into the water.
    “I may be ugly as the night is long, but I still have a brain between these two ears. I said you’d given me something to think on and you had.” He picked an apple out of the burlap sacks that held the fresh produce and took a bite before continuing. “I may not find a wife in this kingdom of Lilly’s, but I will always have a home.”
    “That’s the truth, my friend.” Lilly walked up to them with a smile on her face. But Kirin noticed the warmth of the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “Though I wouldn’t dare the fates where a mate is concerned. They’re a mischievous lot. They might find you one out of spite.”
    Nathan laughed so hard his entire chest shook with it. “Then they should consider this my official challenge. No woman would ever want to make an honest man of me. If one does exist, then I shall hang up my bow and till the soil for the rest of my days.”
    Lilly took a wine skin and pulled the cap off before lifting it in salute.
    “I, for one, hope to live long enough to see that day.” She took a long drink from the skin before handing it to Nathan. “Could you imagine him behind a team of oxen plowing new fields?”
    She looked over at Kirin, and he was comforted to see warmth dancing in her eyes. This time, when she smiled, it was a sincere expression.
    “I do believe I could.” Kirin took the skin from Nathan and then lifted it to his mouth. The strong wine warmed his throat as he took a long swallow.
    “Just wait until the fates see fit to have you married.”
    Kirin choked on Nathan’s words, and a fine spray of wine erupted from between his lips. The one comfort he found was that Lilly seemed just as startled as he. He coughed and sputtered for a few minutes as his mind spun.
    “The fates might have met their match in that endeavor if his reaction is anything to go by.”
    Lilly’s tone was dry. And when he’d managed to catch his breath, Kirin noted that her expression had gone cold again. Fickle woman. Nathan apparently deserved a wife but not him? Not that he particularly wanted one. But that she thought him undeserving of one irritated him.
    “I’m sorry if my reaction was a disappointment, but I have no desire to take a wife. I have no need for a proper woman in my life or in my bed.”
    She snorted. “You wish to be a rogue until the day you die?”
    “I wish to be an honest man. Honest with myself and with the women in my life.”
    “And you fear marriage would make a liar out of you?”
    “I’ve seen it happen enough to know it’s a possibility.”
    He took a step back as several other members of the group joined them. An hour ago he would’ve been happy others had elected to stay, but now he had been made too uncomfortable by the current topic to even notice. He needed some way to get her to change the subject.
    “But this conversation is moot. There is no fair lady