How The Warrior Fell (Falling Warriors series Book 1) by Nicole René Page A

doing fine.
    Still . . .
    Leawyn might not be battle trained, in fact, she knew next to nothing about war, but she couldn’t help feel something bad was coming. Like everything was about to change—and not in a good way.
    Leawyn shivered, shaking off her ominous thoughts and instead focused on riding Deydrey safely through the snow.
    Good thing too, because she almost ran right into the back of Tyronian’s horse as they came to a sudden stop.
    Tyronian turned in his saddle, raising his brow at her. Leawyn shot him a sheepish look.
    “Sorry,” she mouthed.
    Tyronian grinned, shook his head, and turned his attention back to the front where Xavier and Tristan were stopped.
    Leawyn nudged Deydrey so she was positioned beside him and his horse.
    “What’s going on?” Leawyn asked curiously, straining her neck to see over the men in front of her.
    “The lake is frozen,” Tyronian frowned.
    She snapped her head to look over at Tyronian.
    “Lake? I don’t remember a lake on our way here.”
    “Aye,” Tyronian nodded, still staring in front of him. He watched Tristan and Xavier, who looked to be in a heated discussion.
    “We went around it before.”
    “I don’t get it,” Leawyn said in confusion. “If we went it around it before, why can’t we now?”
    Tyronian shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to wait and find out,” he told her. She could tell there was something he was keeping from her, but she didn’t press him further.
    So, they waited.

    “Do you have a plan?”
    Xavier held in his sigh and gave the frozen water in front of him a brooding glare from his kneeled position.
    “We cross,” Xavier said, standing to his full height.
    “You cannot be serious?” Tristan asked incredulously, staring at him like he was mad.
    Xavier gave a slight nod, and Tristan looked to the lake. He heard his brother’s jaw ticking.
    “The lake is not frozen all the way,” Tristan said. “There is no chance it will hold all our weight without cracking.”
    “It’s the only way. We’ll spread out; have the men dismount when they cross.”
    “Xavier,” Tristan said quietly. “We cannot cross; we will fall to our doom if we do. We should go back the way we came.”
    “That road is too dangerous now.” Xavier shook his head adamantly. “They’ll expect us to go the safer route. We would be walking right into an ambush,” Xavier told Tristan, his voice also low.
    “The ice will crack under our weight, and we’ll all be killed. I know it, and so do you.”
    “We will all die if we go back the way we came!” Xavier stepped up to his brother, his glare heavy with authority. “We cross the lake. Now ready the men,” he hissed before he brushed by Tristan and stalked away to find his wife.

    As more time passed, Tyronian seemed to grow more and more restless, which in turn made Leawyn nervous.
    Finally, after what seemed like days, Tyronian stood straighter when Xavier approached him with a solemn look on his face.
    “We cross the lake.”
    Noticing the tension, Leawyn looked between Tyronian and her husband.
    Tyronian quickly hurried to Xavier, ducking his head as he whispered hurried words with him.
    She watched with growing anxiety as Xavier and Tyronian argued, Xavier shaking his head every so often and saying clipped words in response. Her husband said something to Tyronian with finality, which caused Tyronian to shake his head and stalk off.
    Leawyn gave Xavier a questioning look when he stopped in front of her.
    “You will have to lead Deydrey across the lake on foot; the less weight, the better,” Xavier ordered her in a clipped tone.
    “Xavier, what’s going on?” Leawyn questioned softly, her brows drawing together in worry. “Why not just go the way we came?”
    Xavier’s lips firmed, staring down at her solemnly. “Those roads are out of the question.”
    “Why?”
    Scowling down at her, he snapped, “We cross the lake. End of discussion. Now get ready to move out and meet me at the front.” He