How The Warrior Fell (Falling Warriors series Book 1) (39 page)

The soft whistle of a knife being thrown sounded right before it embedded itself between Hiinex’s eyes.

The door shut silently as Hiinex’s body went slack and hung limply with death.

Once again, the air was still.

“H
OW LONG HAS
he been like this?” Xavier asked, glaring at the sight in front of him with barely concealed fury.

“The kid, Hassef, found him this morning,” Tristan answered.

Hiinex hung there, his dead weight suspended by the ropes that cut into his wrists. A massive puddle of blood was at his feet, the blade square between his eyes now only trickling a small amount of blood from the wound.

“Why am I just now being notified?” Xavier demanded, whirling around to face Tristan. His scowl deepened when Tristan smirked at him with ridicule.

“We didn’t want to interrupt yours and Leawyn’s uh, 
late night activities.” 
Xavier’s hands bunched into fists, not appreciating the challenging look in Tristan’s eyes. “The whole village heard her screaming. My, my how she’s changed.”

Tristan looked up unflinchingly when Xavier took the step needed to be toe to toe with his shorter and less muscular brother.

“It’s good the village heard my wife screaming her pleasure; it means I did exactly what she 
wanted 
me to do.” Tristan’s smug smirk quickly fell, his eyes spitting fire. Xavier grinned condescendingly at him. “Does that bother you, brother?” Xavier asked. His voice was light, but the unmistakable threat lingered in the tone. “That Leawyn begged me for
my
cock?” Xavier stepped even closer to Tristan, who was steadily becoming angrier.

“Because she did. She begged me to put my cock into her, to make her scream. For me to take her over, and over again, until she couldn’t take it anymore. Because she knows she is 
mine
.”

Tristan grunted when Xavier, quick as a cobra striking, gripped the back of his younger brother’s neck so his thumb pressed firmly behind Tristan’s earlobe. “And if you 
ever
 pull what you did to her again, I’ll kill you myself. Do you understand me?” When Tristan started to slump against Xavier, a sure sign he was close to fainting, Xavier continued to press against the pressure point behind his ear. Just before he passed out, Xavier let go and pushed Tristan away from him so he sprawled on his back in the dirt.

“Clean this up. And send Hassef to me,” Xavier ordered, disgusted. He made a point to step over Tristan on his way out of the hut, and slammed the door close.

The birds where singing when Leawyn woke, and the first thing she noticed was how unbelievably tired she was.

Her bones felt heavy, as if a great weight were inside them and holding her down. Her head felt as if she were underwater, and it was difficult opening her eyes.

She was also sore in the most intimate of places.

Even half awake, Leawyn flushed at the memory of last night. Of how many ways Xavier took her. Of him bringing her multiple releases . . . the way he spoke to her. Of how he spanked her . . . how she liked it.

Leawyn shifted, the memory causing the wetness Xavier was so fascinated with to gather between her thighs.

The sound of the door opening quietly snapped her out of her musing and turned her attention to whoever came in.

She saw Namoriee’s long brown hair as she closed the door gently. When she turned around and saw Leawyn looking at her, the girl gasped in surprise, but quickly looked down to her feet.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were awake,” Namoriee said quietly, walking past Leawyn toward the trunk of clothes. Leawyn frowned, confused at Namoriee’s behavior. Though Namoriee was, at times, still shy and timid around Leawyn (and everyone else), she was usually a bit more relaxed, and Leawyn thought they had built a solid enough friendship that made Namoriee comfortable around her.

Today showed differently.

“Namoriee? Are you all right?” Leawyn asked softly, pushing herself into a sitting position, keeping the animal skins pressed against her naked chest. It was a bit silly, seeing how Namoriee had seen her fully naked, but it was the principle of it all.

Namoriee’s shoulders tensed for a brief second before they relaxed. “Y-y-yes, Lady C-C-Chief. I’m f-fine.”

Leawyn’s eyes narrowed further. Namoriee’s stutter was another thing that had relaxed. The stutter only became worse when Namoriee was nervous or . . . lying.

“I-I have some other w-w-work to do today, Lady C-C-Chief. I will come b-b-back with your lunch. Here is your d-dress,” Namoriee managed to stutter out quickly, setting the dress down on top of the truck and hurrying her way back to the door.

Leawyn halted her escape before she could open it.

“Namoriee, come here,” Leawyn said sternly, her voice booking no room for argument.

Namoriee’s shoulders tensed again, but didn’t make a move toward Leawyn. “P-please, Lady Chief,” Namoriee whispered, her voice trembling.

“Now,” Leawyn ordered.

Namoriee’s shoulders slumped in resignation, slowly turning around and making her way to Leawyn with her head down until she stood before her at the foot of the bed. Leawyn studied Namoriee, taking in her posture and the fact she has yet to look up to meet Leawyn’s eyes. “Look at me, Namoriee, please.”

Namoriee sighed, hesitating for the briefest of moments before she bravely lifted her head and met Leawyn’s blue eyes.

Leawyn gasped in horror, reaching out and grabbing Namoriee’s arms and pulling her close to her, taking hold of her chin and pulling it to the side. “Namoriee, what happened to you?” Leawyn asked in alarm.

Namoriee’s left side was completely swollen and bruised a ghastly black and blue. The bruising expanded from her cheekbone all the way up to her temple. Her eye in particular was extremely bruised, with a ring of dark red underneath.

Namoriee jerked her chin out of Leawyn’s hand, looking down self-consciously.

“It’s nothing, Lady C-Chief,” Namoriee mumbled, going to stand from the bed. But Leawyn’s tight grasp of her arms forced her back down.

“This is not 
nothing
, Namoriee,” Leawyn growled out angrily, her eyes stern when she nudged Namoriee’s chin up to make her meet Leawyn’s eyes again. “Who did this to you? Did—” Leawyn hesitated uncertainly. “Did Tyronian do this to you?”

“No!” Namoriee glared at Leawyn, jerking her face away and pushing herself off the bed and away from Leawyn. “Of course not! Tyronian would never hurt me! How can you even ask me that?”

Leawyn hid her surprise at how quickly Namoriee admitted that and placed her hands out in front of her in a soothing motion, seeing how upset Namoriee was. Another surprise. “Of course not, Namoriee. I just wanted to—”

“You wanted to make sure Tyronian isn’t like your husband? Well he’s 
not. 
He would never hit me, even if I were to deserve it. Unlike Chief Xavier, Tyronian is 
good
.”

Leawyn snapped her mouth closed with an audible snap. Namoriee, seeming to realize how insulting she sounded, covered her mouth in shock.

“Lady Chief, I-I’m sorry, I-I didn’t me to . . .” she trailed off, shame compressing her face when Leawyn waved her off, looking down.

“It’s okay, Namoriee,” Leawyn said softly, her voice tinged with hurt.

“Leawyn . . .” Namoriee stopped, at a loss for words. Leawyn took a moment to gather herself before looking up at Namoriee and giving her a small smile, motioning her to sit back down on the bed with her, which Namoriee did, her face still sullen with her guilt.

“A long time ago,” Leawyn began, “someone told me not to be quick to judge my husband. That there were many things I didn’t know about him.”

Leawyn swiped a loose tendril away from Namoriee’s face and tucked it gently behind her ear. “What they said was true. There are many things I don’t know, or like, about my husband. Then again, there are flashes of the man deep inside I know I’m lucky to get a glimpse of. Of the man I think even he is scared of because of how good he can be.” Leawyn looked away from Namoriee, her gaze wistful as she gazed out the window. “Those flashes give me hope that perhaps . . . we can learn to treat each other kindly. That maybe one day . . . I will not look to the morrow with a deep painful longing of a different life.”

Leawyn stared out the window for a moment more. “Tyronian said that to me.” She smiled at Namoriee gently. “You’re right, he is good. You’ll be lucky to have him, as I have no doubt that soon you will be my cousin as well.”

Namoriee shook her head, looking down at her hands she wrung together nervously. “I will not. I don’t deserve him,” Namoriee whispered, her voice a mixture of sadness, pain, and resignation.

Leawyn frowned, her brows knitting together in confusion. “Why would you say such a thing? I’ve seen the way he looks at you, my friend. It’s the same way Xavier looks at me. He’s but a wolf dying to devour his prey,” Leawyn teased Namoriee, who immediately looked even more uncomfortable.

“He does not. Even if what you say is true, I will not be married to him. I don’t 
want 
to be married.”

Leawyn pressed her lips together, not wanting to upset Namoriee even further, as Leawyn was fully aware that if Tyronian decided to make Namoriee his, he would see it so whether she wanted it or not. But Leawyn didn’t tell her this, and instead chose to let Namoriee live in her naiveté a bit longer and get back to the task at hand. Which was to find out who raised a hand to her sweet handmaiden?

“Who hit you, Namoriee? You must tell me.” When Namoriee looked to protest, Leawyn straightened her spine and stared at Namoriee with steel in her eyes.

“As your lady chief, I command it.”

Namoriee sucked in a sharp breath, staring at Leawyn in shock. This was the first time Leawyn had ever used her title against her. To command her as the slave she was.

Leawyn fought desperately with herself to stay strong. She didn’t like the look Namoriee was giving her, but she reminded herself she was doing this for Namoriee’s own good, as it was the only way Leawyn would get the answers she sought.

“It was—”

The hut door flew open, banging against the wall with great force. Both Leawyn and Namoriee jumped, startled. Namoriee paled as she watched Tyronian march up to her, a murderous expression on his face. She jumped up from Leawyn’s bed and hastily backed up, lifting a shaky hand, trying to halt Tyronian’s advances. Her back met the wall at the same moment his chest met her palm.

Tyronian moved fast as lightning, lifting Namoriee up in his arms effortlessly and bringing her close to his face even as she struggled.

“You will show me who did this to you, and you will do it now,” Tyronian growled down furiously in Namoriee’s face. Leawyn, sensing this situation was rapidly becoming dangerous, grabbed her robe and hastily threw it on.

“Tyronian . . .” Leawyn warned, now standing to the side of him and looking between him and Namoriee nervously.

“This does not concern you, cousin,” Tyronian snapped, not sparing Leawyn a glance and keeping his cold blue eyes on Namoriee’s.

Namoriee looked over Tyronian’s shoulder to meet Leawyn’s stare before a shake brought her eyes quickly back to Tyronian’s.

“Show me, and after, we’ll have talk about why I had to hear about your attack from a fellow warrior and was not notified by you personally.”

Namoriee glared up at him mutinously. “What happens to me is not your concern,” she said strongly, and Leawyn had to hold in her groan at the words.

That was, in all probability, 
not 
the best thing to say to him. Judging by the sudden feral stillness that surrounded Tyronian, Leawyn was right.

“You are 
mine, 
Namoriee,” Tyronian said with a voice soft with menace. “
Everything 
that happens to you is my concern.”

Namoriee’s eyes matched Leawyn’s wide-eyed ones, but before they both could really say anything, Tyronian swung Namoriee around in his arms and stalked back to the door. Leawyn followed them with her eyes, turning her body as Tyronian passed her. He was not even remotely phased by Namoriee’s struggles to free herself.

“Where are you taking her?” Leawyn asked, befuddled. Tyronian paused only long enough to switch Namoriee’s weight so he could pull open the hut door.