Magnus the Vast (Dokiri Brides # 4) - Denali Day Page 0,1
Dokiri.
A sense of calm overtook Magnus as Nadine stood and turned toward the Mushar. Excitement lit her eyes, and her full lips parted. “It worked.”
Magnus swallowed down his doubts. It had. And it would. He just had to have faith. He’d come this far. He’d do whatever it took to get the Eye into the heart of the mountain. He’d take it to those Soul Thief raksas and he’d tear each of them apart until he found his friend. And then? Arvid would live.
People were chattering around him, and the Ebronians’ words were growing more heated. Magnus straightened. He’d let his mind drift, but he was centered now. He had a plan. A plan it seemed the little hellcat had a problem with. What was it she objected to, exactly?
Hollen regarded the Mushar. “Your generals have agreed to send a company with us, yes? To help us fight beneath ground.”
It was the other reason the Dokiri had come to Ebron: allies who knew how to fight on the ground. Magnus, like his kin, was made for the sky. His true power resided in mastery of his wyvern mount, an advantage he couldn’t take with him under the mountain.
The Mushar tilted his head, a glint of amusement in his eyes. “Indeed.”
Nadine followed with a smug grin on her lovely face. “Who do you think will lead that company, savage?”
Magnus’s heart sped up. His brothers were looking at one another like they’d each swallowed a nest of wild hornets. Not Magnus.
Magnus smiled, his eyes fixed on the wondrous woman before him. The feel of destiny nettled at him, and he recalled the moment he’d first seen her outside the gates of Lapour. She’d been all fire and bloodlust. A woman like he’d never seen, and one he’d not been able to forget. Not that he’d tried.
The Mushar spoke next. “With respect, young sky-rider, I don’t defer in military wisdom to foreigners who haven’t the slightest notion of our methods.”
Magnus coughed to hide the snort of laughter building in the back of his throat. For all the Mushar’s boasts about being well informed, it was clear these Ebronians knew almost nothing about their Dokiri allies. Erik, his second oldest brother, ran an elbow into his side in warning.
Hollen drew in a sharp breath. “It’s not your wisdom or judgment I question, Mushar. In truth, I don’t question you at all. It’s only that . . . ”
Nadine scoffed. “If being led by a woman offends you, savage, I suggest you open your small mind before it gets crushed.”
The Ebronian had no idea. Hollen was a diplomat at heart, and worse, he was desperate. He was chieftain to a clan of refugees whose only hope of returning to their mountain home rested in making this alliance work. He wouldn’t balk at something so trivial as taking orders from a woman. None of them would.
Hollen blinked, his mouth widening. “It’s just the . . . we . . . our gods have laws about women on our mountain. And . . . well . . . ”
Va glanshi, Hollen.
At once, Magnus knew what he had to do. He slapped a hand down on Hollen’s shoulder. Nadine narrowed her eyes on him, and he brazenly let his own gaze wander up and down the glorious length of her. He grinned. “Don’t worry, brother. I’ll explain.”
1
Marriage of Inconvenience
“Keep walking if you want to live, savage.” Nadine shoved an open palm into the back of the massive barbarian ahead of her.
He went on through the sun-filled temple, but turned his head enough for Nadine to catch the quirk of his brow. His expression spoke clearer than his deep voice could have: You’re not big enough to take me, woman.
Nadine glared at him. She pointed forward. “Move.”
The brute chuckled and picked up his pace. The glory of the temple loomed over them like an armored titan. High alabaster walls, inlaid with copper, held the glass ceiling that let the sun burn down. The white marble floors gleamed, sending the desert’s afternoon rays back out into the endless blue sky. Nadine would have melted from the heat were it not for the towering arches in the outer walls that let in an arid breeze from every direction. A wave of dry sand spread across the floor, getting into her sandals.
Nadine directed the barbarian toward one of those arches, to the shadowy alcove of its opening. She glanced around the