Cyrion by Abigail Borders Page B

name?” Karin picked twigs off Saul’s hair. “She has a small bump on her head, but she seems fine. Only tired. Like you two little cubs.”
    Arti smiled and tweaked her son’s cheek.
    “Mum…” Jon frowned and twisted away from Arti in protest.
    The cyrion again. Geoff put his emptied bowl on the trampled summer grass. No sense wasting time on her. We all know how this must end. I need to redirect this. “Time is short. Ask your questions now.”
    Saul glared at them with accusation. “If you could fight so well, why did you let the goblins take you? How did you even learn to fight?”
    “Yeah.” Jon hurried to set down his still half-full bowl. “And how come the inn didn’t burn? Also, why did Anya say our weapons are magic? And you said The Slayer can do other things. Things like what?”
    Geoff studied Saul, keeping his face impassive and trying hard to fight the bitter disappointment welling inside. A foolish boy, asking foolish questions.
    “We’re going to have to tell them at some point.” Karin tousled Saul’s sun-lit blond hair. “I can hear Naeem bellowing for a report already. Plus, our cover’s completely blown.”
    “But make them work for it.” Arti leaned back on her elbows and stretched out her legs, amused expectation on her face. “Make this fun, Geoff. Give them something to start with, and see how far they can go.”
    Geoff spotted the twinkle of pride in Arti’s coffee-brown eyes as she watched Jon. He glanced at Saul with a twinge of doubt. Perhaps I expect too much of him, too fast? He cleared his throat. “Tell me lads, have you ever heard of the Watchers?”
    “Anya asked us if you were Watchers.” Saul paused for a moment, studying the grumps’ faces. “You are, aren’t you?” He turned to his mother. “Mum, what are Watchers?”
    Geoff bit his lip and stifled the urge to sigh. Karin had asked him to be easier on Saul, and he could never deny his wife anything. “This is as far as you can go?” Geoff kept his voice flat and the expression on his face inscrutable.
    “You said your cover is blown.” Jon nodded at Karin. “Which must mean regular people don’t realize you’re Watchers. And you said someone’s going to be bellowing for a report? Which means there are others. Superiors?”
    “Go on,” Logan said. “Try using those deductions to answer your own questions.”
    “This must be why you can fight so well,” Saul said. “But why did you let the goblins take you?”
    Geoff glanced at his squad. They kept silent, expectant expressions wreathed on their faces.
    Saul’s eyes widened in horrified realization. “You didn’t want to risk the others. Or you wanted to find out where they’d take you, and figure out what their plans were. We messed up your plan, didn’t we? I’m sorry.”
    “No, lad,” Logan said, his voice somber. “I think we found out what they wanted. As things turned out, we couldn’t keep most of the civilians safe anyway.” Regret crossed Logan’s face as he turned to the row of freshly made graves, which lined one side of the campsite.
    “Oh,” Saul said. “So that’s why you made us do all those crazy things.”
    Karin smiled and straightened Saul’s collar. “What crazy things?”
    “Like dropping us down the well,” Saul said, his eyebrow arched.
    Arti snorted. “Dropped? We let you use the ladder.”
    “And left us in the middle of the forest.” Jon’s voice rose with accusation.
    Logan flapped his hand in dismissal. “Hardly right in the middle. You were within a day’s hike of the Outpost.”
    “But we took two days to even get to the campsite,” Saul said.
    Geoff shot an amused look at Logan. “We took the scenic route.”
    “It took us three days to find our way back,” Jon said.
    “You took an even more scenic route?” Logan arched his eyebrows.
    “All the magic we’ve encountered,” Jon said. “The wards on the Inn and on our weapons. You were responsible, weren’t you?” He paused and