Arrows Of Change (Book 1) by Honor Raconteur Page B

place was kept so clean. Quite a feat to manage with all the chaos
outside.
    Ash led them confidently across the courtyard and to a door
that was thick as a man’s arm, carved elaborately with a family crest. Edvard’s
family crest, belike. When they went through, the inside was filled with more
polished flagstone, flowers in vases on every surface, and arched ceilings
overhead. It felt like walking into a mountain cathedral, it did. The air felt
slightly cooler in here, damper, as if the sun could not warm the inside of
this house in spite of all the windows.
    Riana seemed to find it pretty, judging from that look on
her face. He could only see all the places a good assassin could hide. Worse,
the place was near impossible to sneak through. Every footstep he made rang
like a dull bell.
    They went directly up a flight of stairs without pausing,
then down a short hallway and to the last door, this one a thinner version of
the one downstairs. Ash pushed it open, saying as he did, “You’re welcome to
wait here for a moment. I’ll have someone send some food up. There’s a room
just through there,” he raised a hand to point, “if you want to wash up and
change.”
    After three days on the road with no soap to wash with,
Broden admitted a chance to scrub up and change clothes would be a fine thing.
    “Be back in a few moments,” Ash promised before scooting
past them and heading back downstairs.
    This room did not look like the rest of the place. It felt
more homey and welcoming. There were worn-in chairs near a fireplace, soft rugs
on the floor, and even a whole bookshelf full of books, which was a rare sight.
Broden felt more relaxed here than anywhere else in Estole.
    “Daughter?” he asked with a cock of the head toward the
inner door.
    “Oh, if ye be offering, I will take it.” With a wink, she
slipped through the door and shut it behind her. Only a split second later, he
heard a moan of bliss and her voice floating through the wood, “Da, there be
hot water in here!”
    He chuckled. “The man be a wizard, dearheart, what did ye
expect? For him to wash in cold?”
    She ignored him, too wound-up in hot water, soap, and
privacy. Shaking his head and chuckling, he doffed his pack, bow, quiver, and
coat off to the side before sitting in a chair near the fireplace. Little more
than embers glowed in the hearth, but it felt good to sit on something padded.
    He enjoyed the silence and privacy after having three days
of neither. Ah, it be a fine thing for a man to have space with his own
thoughts for a spell. If he had a tankard to balance on his knee and a fire
going, it would be even better.
    So, that had been the new king, eh? He struck Broden as a
good sort, like Tennon—a man that would be a decent neighbor and friend. He was
not arrogant or self-important, but seemed kind, as Ash had described him. Of
course, Broden had sort of expected him to be. A man that could inspire
thousands of people to rebel against Iysh would have to be likeable.
    The patter of light footsteps came from the other side of
the door. Broden’s ear cocked in that direction and he frowned. That was not
Ash returning. It could be the twin, or it could be someone else altogether.
Not one to be caught unawares, he got to his feet. Taking up quiver and bow, he
nocked an arrow and stood waiting as the door flung open.
    A pretty blonde woman around the age of his Riana took a
step inside the room before she abruptly halted, blue eyes flaring wide. She
dropped into a fighter’s stance—with glowing hands. This must be Ash’s twin.
The resemblance between the two was uncanny.
    “Who are you?” she demanded, voice light and smooth even
though she clearly meant to sound threatening.
    “Broden Ravenscroft, I be. Be I speaking to Ashlynn
Fallbright?”
    “You are,” she answered, suspicions not eased a whit.
    “Ah, that be fine, then.” He lowered the bow and restored
the arrow to the quiver. “Yer brother brought us here, me daughter and