Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (best adventure books to read .TXT) 📗

for just under a month. I sleep a lot better at night knowing she can protect herself,” I said quietly. My gaze turned to the barn where we had left Lia and her parents. “She’s a good person. Better than me.” The conversation died as I stared off into the distance absentmindedly. When I became aware of the silence, I coughed awkwardly and turned back to Valandra. “Right, enough of that. I interrupted your report; please, continue.”

She held up a hand. “The information can wait. Our mission remains the same, regardless of how much we discuss it.” I raised an eyebrow at her, and she gestured her raised hand back towards the house. “You should enjoy your time here. I expect we will be gone for some time.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah. I’ll do that,” I said, surprised. “Thanks, Valandra.”

“Of course,” she nodded stoically. “I will return here when your equipment is ready. We will have plenty of time to discuss logistics and intelligence on the road to Attetsia.” She held out her hand. “Until then, Lux.”

I reached out and shook her hand. “Until then.” Though her hand was warm to the touch, her grip was solid as iron. With a final nod Valandra began her return trip to the city, leaving me alone by the roadside. The encounter had gone much better than I expected, but I still had a sense of puzzlement in the back of my mind that I couldn’t shake. I had never before encountered a person as difficult to read as Valandra, and our conversations never seemed to go as I imagined they would.

When I returned to the storage area behind the barn, I found Lia sprawled out on a cluster of crates, swinging her legs lazily over the side. Marten was seated beside her, still whispering questions into her ear to her clear annoyance. As I came into view, he hopped down from his seat and bounced his way over to me. “Lux! Why didn’t you tell me you were working with the King’s Shield? Is it true what they say about her? That she’s the greatest warrior in the kingdom?”

Lia rolled her head to face me with a tired expression. “He’s been like this the entire time you were gone.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think I’ll have any more details for you than Lia did. We’ve only just met her,” I apologized as a small grin curled up a corner of my mouth. “You seem awfully interested in her, Marten. What’s that all about?”

He looked at me with disbelief. “Of course I’m interested! Are you telling me you haven’t heard the stories about her? Anybody would be interested to meet her, she’s a legend!”

Lia picked up on my line of questioning. “I’m not so sure about that. Are you sure it isn’t because she’s a beautiful knight in shining armor? You certainly asked a lot of questions about her.”

Marten whipped around to face his daughter. “What are you talking about, Marlia? That’s not at all what I, er—what I mean is, I wasn’t thinking that at all!”

Hana suppressed a laugh as she snuck her way up behind her husband. In an instant, her face shifted from one of enjoyment to a mask of sadness. “She’s right, dear. You haven’t looked at me that way in years,” she said mournfully.

The color drained from Marten’s face as he slowly spun to face her. “Darling, no...that’s not how it is, you know that…” There was a great fear in his eyes as he took her hand and stroked it softly. “I love you more than anything in this world, I always...I was just so surprised to see her here at our house is all, that I—”

There was a loud bang as Lia fell back onto the crate she was perched on and roared with laughter, clenching her hands over her stomach. I did my best to maintain my composure, but couldn’t stop myself from snickering under my breath. Hana smiled apologetically and laughed. Marten spun between the three of us in a daze, coming to terms with what had happened.

He pointed a stubby finger at me. “You put them up to this, didn’t you? Don’t try to deny it, I can see it written all over your face!” His cheeks were flushed and his forehead was damp with nervous sweat, but he chuckled along with the rest of us in good humor. “I’ll get you back for this one, Lux.” Without waiting for a response, he stalked back towards the house, muttering under his breath as he went.

Hana followed after him, pausing beside me to put a hand on my arm. “It was long overdue for him to get a taste of his own medicine. Thank you.” We both laughed again as she jogged off to catch up with him, and they rounded the corner of the house together arm in arm.

I crossed the dirt patch and leaned back against Lia’s crates, looking up into the clear blue sky. The sun was just warm enough to fight off the autumn chill, and the air smelled crisp and clean as I took a deep relaxing breath. “So, how did I do?”

“You tell me,” Lia replied, wiggling her way to the edge of the crates. “I wasn’t listening. I don’t want you to feel like you don’t have your privacy, and it wasn’t my conversation to listen to. Not that I could have anyway, with the amount of questions I was dealing with back here.”

“I appreciate that. Thanks.” I looked at her and grinned. “I think it went well, all things considered. I apologized for how I acted yesterday, and Valandra accepted it. I’m pretty sure I even saw her smile, if only for a second.”

Lia giggled. “I’m glad you were able to work things out with her.”

“Me too. I feel...good. Content.” I searched for the right word. “Happy.” My elbow nudged at hers gently. “That’s mostly thanks to you, you know.”

She looked away and fidgeted with her hands in her