Rise of the Faire-Amanti (The Ascendant Series Book 3) by Raine Thomas Page A

stopped and blinked up at him with guileless blue eyes highlighted by long, curling lashes.
    “The stew’s ready,” Lore announced. Kyr realized she had dipped a spoon into the broth and sipped it. “Would ya bring over one bowl at a time for servin’, Kaya?”
    “Sure,” Kyr said, picking up the bowl closest to her. Her gaze remained on Ty, though. She barely heard when Lore began filling the bowl and explaining who sat where at the table.
    “I’m here,” the little girl declared, spreading her arms wide to punctuate her announcement.
    Ty’s eyebrows lifted. “So you are,” he replied soberly.
    “Careful with this one, Kaya,” Lore said, once again catching Kyr’s attention. “‘Tis mine, and truth be told, I’ve been eatin’ enough for three this pregnancy.”
    Kyr shared another smile with the pretty woman, who rubbed a hand over her round belly before turning back to the stew pot. An unexpected twinge of envy struck her as she set the stew in the proper place on the table and gathered up the next bowl. This family had relatively little, and yet they had everything Kyr had ever wished for. How nice it must be to have so few worries and so much love.
    And that’s what we’re fighting to preserve , Ty gently reminded her.
    I know , Kyr thought, shrugging off the unwelcome feelings. Her lips curved as she noticed the little girl’s arms lift towards Ty.
    “Up!” she declared. When Ty just looked at her in confusion, she added, “Uppy! Up!”
    Kyr sensed Ty’s reluctance as he obediently bent down to pick the toddler up. He held her awkwardly at arm’s length, seemingly unsure what to do with her. The child wasn’t bothered by his obvious inexperience, though. She wriggled in his grasp and used her arms and legs to climb along his body until she was plastered against his side with her small arms around his neck. Out of instinct, Ty brought one arm up to support her bottom and used the other hand to brace her back.
    “Oh,” Lore said, spotting her daughter for the first time. “That’d be little Rose. Thanks for catchin’ her, Tavin. Yen-Ki knows she’d usually be over here under our skirts, tryin’ to get hot stew dropped on her head.”
    “No problem,” Ty replied.
    Kyr stifled a laugh as she handed another bowl to Lore. Ty’s mild sense of panic wasn’t lost on her. He felt as though he might break the little girl, even if her grip was as tight as the seal of a space cruiser’s windshield. As Kyr placed the full bowl back on the table, she noticed Rose pulling at Ty’s sleeve.
    “Pretty,” Rose cooed when she revealed the scrolling pattern on Ty’s forearm.
    Distress shot through Kyr. Those markings would identify Ty to anyone who saw them. They were the brand of the Dem-Shyr , imposed on Ty when the Guardians gave him his abilities.
    Reacting much more calmly than Kyr, Ty carefully adjusted his sleeve to once again cover the markings. Please don’t tell anyone , he thought to the child.
    Through Ty’s thoughts, Kyr heard Rose’s simple reply of, ‘ kay . Kyr’s shoulders relaxed and she focused on putting the last of the stew on the table. Xander, Ivyn, and Fyrn piled out of the back of the cottage a minute later, and they were soon all gathered around the table enjoying their meal.
    Ivyn and Fyrn were full of questions for Kyr and Ty. Their parents tried to stifle them, but Kyr and Ty knew they were curious, too.
    “We’ve been travelin’ for some time,” Kyr explained between bites of the delicious stew. Lore had added some freshly baked bread to the meal, and Kyr was struggling not to reach for a third piece to fill the seemingly bottomless void in her belly. “Surely you’ve heard the news from the palace by now.”
    “Oh, I have!” Ivyn affirmed around a mouthful of stew.
    “No talkin’ with a full mouth,” Lore censured, but her attention was more on Kyr. “We know of the Ascendant’s passin’, of course.”
    Ivyn swallowed his stew. “She didn’t just