Warrior Beautiful by Wendy Knight Page A

shut up.
    “I know. I can see that you were healed by unicorn magic.” He had an accent. Not quite British, but beautiful.
    “No. Not if these are unicorns.” Scout shook her head. “The one I saw was small. Pretty. Peaceful…”
    He chuckled. “These,” he swept his hand behind him, “are our warriors. Our Irwarros. Not all unicorns look like them.” He looked back at her, smile dying as worry crinkled at the corner of his eyes. “Can I see your back? We might be able to fix it here, if it isn’t too bad. We don’t have a Leerha with us.”
    “My—my back?” she squeaked. “Leerha?”
    His lips quirked. “That’s where you’re hurt, right? And Leerha, our healers.”
    “ She ’ s a bright one, ” the female voice said. The sleek, dark one in the back shook her head violently.
    “Do they ever talk aloud?” Scout asked, scowling at the insult.
    “No. Only the innocent can see them. Or the desperate who almost believe, apparently.” He frowned, “But only the truly innocent should be able to hear them. And you, Scout, are not truly innocent.”
    Scout’s face burned. “I’m a virgin…”
    The man threw his head back and laughed. “That has nothing to do with true innocence. True innocence is wonder, hope, acceptance, believing .”
    Certain she was going to die of embarrassment any second, Scout mumbled, “Oh.”
    “No offense, but you have a lot of bitterness in your heart. And very little hope. That explains Ashra’s surprise that you can hear her.”
    Scout wanted to argue, but it was true and she knew it. “Ashra?”
    “The sarcastic one in the back. She’s usually glaring, but it’s hard to tell under her armor. And I’m Iros, by the way.” His lips quirked. The darker, sleeker of the unicorns tossed her head again and stomped a sharp hoof in annoyance.
    “Can I see? If it isn’t too horrible, Havik can probably fix it.” He had very kind eyes and his accent…
    Scout blinked several times, trying to pull her head out of the clouds. “The name Havik doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”
    He chuckled again as Scout leaned forward, yelping as pain shot up her spine. Gingerly, he pulled her shirt up in the back, and Scout clutched the front tightly, blushing as her stomach was exposed. “This is pretty bad, missy. Havik can help, but we need a Leerha for this.” The gigantic unicorn snorted angrily and the man held up a hand, laughing. “Sorry. It’s true, she’s messed herself up beyond your power.”
    Scout had been so lost in her own pain that she didn’t hear the footsteps through the forest until Trey emerged across the trees from them. “What the—? Who are you? Get away from her!”
    Iros dropped her shirt back into place and stood slowly. He was roughly the same size as Trey, but all in black, he looked much more frightening. “I’m Iros. I’m here to help.”
    “Scout? Are you okay? I heard screaming.” Trey looked past Iros to Scout, searching her face.
    “Yeah. I’m fine. Trey…” He didn’t see them. If he did, he wouldn’t be standing there calmly, within kicking distance of Ashra’s powerful hooves. “Trey, he rides the unicorns.”
    Trey blinked at her. She’d expected derision, or at the very least, pity. But he looked around him, eyeing the trees like he expected unicorns to pop out of the branches. “You can’t see them.” She said it as a statement. The disappointment that came with it was a complete surprise.
    “They’re here? Now?” He stepped menacingly toward Iros. “Did they do this to you?”
    “No. I did this to me. I tripped and fell.”
    “ Graceful, that one. ” Ashra whispered. Trey’s head jerked up and he looked toward the sound. Scout frowned. She was positive it could only be heard in her mind, fuzzy though it was.
    “You heard that?” Iros pointed in Ashra’s direction.
    Trey’s eyebrows drew together. “Yeah I heard that.” He rubbed his forehead.
    Iros looked at Havik, raising an eyebrow before he turned