The sun was high and scorching, washing the valley in a gold so bright it made my eyes water. After the suffocating, ash-filled darkness of my dream, the warmth felt like a physical rescue.
I walked slightly ahead of the guys, the empty basket swinging at my side. I looked back at them—Noah with Phina using his ears as steering handles, Damar with a smugly content Lyra lying in his hooked arm, and Fenric with Raiden.
They looked less like the kind of warriors I had seen the previous night, and more like a very over-qualified daycare center.
"So," I said, skipping a step to turn and face them while walking backward. "Royal inspection. Am I supposed to look stern and disapproving, or do I just nod and look pretty while you do all the talking?"
