Chapter 26: First Blood, Part 5

He tensed at the sound of something coming through the trees behind them, fumbled for the dagger that was hopefully still in his left boot. Relief flooded him as he felt it, and he shrugged Mahzan off, ignoring his irritated grumbling—

And stopped short when he saw Binhadi and Cemal walking toward them like a matched set of gloomy thunderclouds. As the pair reached them, Binhadi said, "Thankfully, you did leave a very obvious trail to follow—not that you deserve to be found, for being so reckless and stupid."

"I missed your dulcet voice and loving words, my lord," Mahzan replied. "Here I was beginning to fear that never again would they grace my ears."

The unexpected words made Sule laugh, though he bit it off immediately as the movement jarred his arm and caused the pain to flare up before Mahzan could control it.

Binhadi ignored them as he knelt and examined Sule's arm. "You need a healer."