Sunday Snippet: The Talon of the Hawk by Jeffe Kennedy

 About the Book

The Talon of the Hawk  
Author:  Jeffe Kennedy
Publisher:   Kensington
Released:  May 26, 2015
Series:   The Twelve Kingdoms #3
Genre:  Fantasy Romance
Author contact links:   Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, Website
Purchase links:  Amazon, Barnes ‘N Noble
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Snippet

“You’re worried,” Harlan commented quietly to me after we’d ridden for a time, still unrested and fed only from our much-reduced provisions.

I gave him a sidelong glance. “Being worried would imply that I lack confidence in our forces. I am…thinking.”

He made a snorting sound. “Not much of a distinction. How’s the head?”

“Fine.”

“You’ve lost color. You need to rest.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

Harlan raised his brows at me. “Shall I cuddle you on my lap and sing you a baby-sparrow song?”

My turn to snort. “What in the Twelve is a ‘baby-sparrow song’?”

“Eh, not in the Twelve. I don’t know your word for it. A soothing tune, usually with a lot of silliness, that you sing to infants to make them sleep.”

“A lullaby, we call it.”

He nodded, once, filing that away. Truly his command of our Common Tongue was excellent. He showed flexibility in substituting phrases for words he couldn’t translate. An admirable skill. “Sing me one of your lullabies.”

I had to laugh. “Danu, no. You do not want to hear me sing. Unless we’re attacked by wolves—then it might serve to drive them off.”

“Perhaps sometime I’ll convince you to sing for me when we’re alone, then.”

“Not happening. And before you ask, I mean both that we’ll ever be alone and that I’ll ever sing.”

“I haven’t given up on persuading you.”

“Save your energy. We’ll need all of it before this is done. Everyone would do well to remember that,” I added, thinking sourly of Jepp’s bright-eyed interest in her man-mountain.

“It’s good for people to take joy in each other. Brandur is most taken with your Jepp. He commented that she’s unusually flexible and…inventive.”