Rainbow Book Reviews
The three men who became mated because they developed feelings for each other in ‘Dark Journey’ are back in this sequel, and this time they are not facing an external threat, but a test of their inner demons and commitment to each other. Cax is already a Mercenary, but Hark is an ex-lord with an addiction issue and his ex-servant, Alisander, lacks self-confidence as a warrior. Both Hark and Alisander will have to pass the Mercenary Guild’s test if they want to join Cax, and if they don’t make it Cax will have to leave the Guild…. As you can see, the stakes are high. Cax has not exactly made things easy for himself (or anyone else) by picking two mates. The Guild generally frown upon a Mercenary having even one mate (since they are a potential “distraction” to the job), but two? They have to have a secret meeting to come up with a way to see if Hark and Alisander are worthy and whether Cax can deal with being pulled two ways. The test setup is quite ingenious, and the suspense as to whether the three guys will make it is high. Each individual challenge is aimed at the test subject’s weakness, or what might become a weakness in real life as they accept missions from the Guild. It was also good to see these three men interact now that they are mated, and to watch them find out what their new life might be like. If you like sword-carrying heroes whose abilities are tested in an unusual way, if you are interested in strong men who are learning to interact in various ways, and if you’re looking for a slightly suspenseful read set in the alternate realm of a fictional province, then you might like this short story.
