Kingdom of Ash

lift him. He might as well have been a
boulder, might as well have been as
immovable as the keep itself.
“Lorcan,” she begged, voice breaking. “We
have to get you out of here.”
His legs shifted, drawing an agonized
groan. She had never heard him so much as
whimper. Had never seen him unable to rise.
“Get up,” she said. “Get up.”
Lorcan’s hands gripped her waist, and
Elide couldn’t stop her cry of pain at the
weight he placed on her, the bones in her foot
and ankle grinding together. His legs not even
kneeling beneath him, he paused.
“Do it,” she begged him. “Get up.”
But his dark eyes shifted to the horse.
Farasha approached, steps unsteady over
the corpses. She did not so much as flinch as
Lorcan grasped the bottom straps of the
saddle, his other hand on Elide’s shoulder, and