Chapter 2
Chapter 2
F ive tense minutes later, the door opens.
Thaden steps back into the room, pausing as the door closes behind him, an air of calm about him that I consider with misgiving.
Is he about to tell us we will go with Asha after all?
There’s a part of me that desperately needs to stay with her. Facing Milena Ironmeld will be a dangerous task for her. But again, I remind myself Asha is strong; she is prepared for Milena’s enmity, and the Vandawolf will fight at her side.
It’s Thaden who could truly hurt her.
By keeping him away from her, I’ve removed the greatest threat to her.
“Thaden?” Gallium prompts. “Is Asha okay?”
Thaden’s expression is troubled. “I sent Asha in Milena’s direction, but I also promised Asha I would do what she asks,” he says. “I’ll take you to my old village in Myrkur Fjall , where you will be safe from the fight between fae and humans.”
Myrkur Fjall is a human village that sits in the shadow of a mountain somewhere in the north. Supposedly. I only have Thaden’s description of the village and its location, none of which might be true.
Still, I’m intensely relieved at the confirmation that Asha is safe from him for now. Even if I can’t show it.
Then he continues. “But she agreed with me that I ought to find her as soon as I can. She needs me beside her in the fight against Milena.”
His gaze is distant, and the tension around his mouth is growing. I wish I could read his thoughts and make sense of the web he’s trying to weave right now.
My jaw clenches, but I try to hide my frustration.
I should have anticipated that he would try to join her again on his own—after all, I was the one who pushed her away, not him. What irks me the most is that he makes it sound as if he is all she needs.
If I weren’t pretending to hate Asha right now, I would make it clear to Thaden that Asha needs us at her side. She needs her family.
Together, our power would be unbeatable.
Which… now that I think about it… Thaden might very well be aware of that.
It could suit him to leave us in some village and pursue Asha on his own…
I find his gaze on me and I’m worried I haven’t controlled my expressions.
He shakes his head at me. “Why would you hurt her like that?”
The rebuke I was expecting. The response I prepared flows from my tongue. “Because she’s dangerous,” I say with all the conviction I can muster. “You may feel safe around her, but I don’t. My power isn’t like Gallium’s and it’s certainly not a match for Asha’s power. I’m a healer. I can’t fight. If the darkness overcomes her, she could kill me at a moment’s whim.”
Thaden’s expression softens. “You’re hurting, Tamra. You must feel like you lost your sister when you were finally reunited with her.”
I let my eyes fill with tears because now I have an excuse to shed them without betraying my true emotions. “I hate what this power has done to her,” I whisper, speaking the truth this time. “I hate all of it.”
He nods earnestly. “Of course you do.” His thumb brushes my cheeks, easing my tears away. “Nobody wants to feel powerless. But I promise you we will reach safety soon.”
With that, he turns to Gallium. “We need to move quickly if I’m to have any chance of doubling back and catching up with Asha. The journey to my old village will take three days each way, so my chances are already slim. I don’t have time to waste.”
I don’t want Thaden to reach Asha at all and I’m certain Gallium won’t, either.
I consider coming up with an excuse to delay our departure, but the reality is that there are threats here, too.
Asha made a deal with Queen Karasi to secure our safety: Asha would hunt and kill Milena Ironmeld, and in exchange, the Queen’s healers would save the Vandawolf’s life. Asha also bargained for our safety. We are free to move around the fae castle and encampment and to leave whenever we want.
But the fae made it clear that Blacksmiths have been their enemies ever since Malak himself assassinated their former Queen.
Now that Asha is leaving, I don’t doubt that Queen Karasi will have plans for us. For the last two days, she has been whispering poison in my ears about Asha—which Thaden is fully aware of, so at least he can assume my apparent hatred toward my sister was encouraged by the Fae Queen.
Gallium speaks up before I can interject. “The sooner we leave, the better,” he says. “The fae play games with each other. We can’t risk getting caught up in their trickery.”
Just this evening, we witnessed the game they played with one of their own: a fae woman named Dusana attacked Asha out in the mountains. The attack happened after the Queen had given Asha amnesty. Instead of punishing Dusana when she returned to the castle, the Queen invited her to dinner, gave her a beautiful dress to wear, and had her beaten in this very dining room when Dusana didn’t see it coming.
If it weren’t for the fae who cleaned up, there would still be blood on the floor.
But, oh, how it must be stabbing Gallium’s pride to continue subduing his strength. To play to Thaden’s intentions and allow him to take the lead when Gallium’s true power is…
Breathtaking.
Gallium hasn’t shown Asha even a tenth of what he can do.
I sometimes wonder if he has even shown me .
“Thank you,” Thaden says to Gallium, giving him a quick nod, and then he casts me a quick look. I read the assessment in his eyes. He’s analyzing me so closely that I can hardly breathe.
“The sooner I leave my past behind, the better,” I say, my shoulders slumping as if I were defeated.
Some of the sharpness in Thaden’s expression fades. “Then we’re agreed. Let’s move.”
Half an hour later, we’ve navigated the castle’s vast corridors and managed to evade any inquisitive fae on the way back to our rooms.
Gallium and I have our own separate rooms side by side, but mine adjoins Thaden’s with an interconnecting door between his room and mine.
The Queen, it seems, thought that Thaden and I might appreciate that. She seemed disappointed when it became clear that the door between our rooms remained closed at all times.
Thaden himself made a show of pulling a piece of furniture across the door on my side, blocking it from being opened from his side. It was right after the Queen had shown us to our rooms, and she’d watched him do it with pursed lips.
After which, he murmured to her, “With respect, Queen Karasi, don’t make assumptions.”
Only moments after that, a swarm of fae staff confiscated the packs we’d brought with us and all the supplies within them. They called it ‘tidying up,’ although it was clear that they didn’t want us to have what we would need to easily leave this place and venture back out into the dangerous wilderness beyond these walls.
Gallium was not deterred.
He located the fae’s armory and has been gradually raiding it—not for weapons, but for supplies.
While the Queen was obsessing over me, constantly dragging me to her side and seemingly determined to poison me against my sister, Gallium was able to slip away multiple times.
Twice, he was worried he might have been spotted by the Queen’s Champion—the fae woman called Elowynn of the Dawn . But if she did see him taking supplies, she didn’t try to stop him.
Gallium also managed to hide packs in the forest to the west of the castle. He left them where Asha and the Vandawolf could find them. I’m certain he gave the Vandawolf directions to the packs during dinner.
Now, I step quickly into my room and head straight for the bed, kneeling and reaching under the overly soft mattress for the objects hidden beneath it.
I pull out from under the mattress a pair of long pants, a long-sleeved tunic, and a pair of high boots that will be far more practical than the dresses and slippers Karasi gave me to wear.
The clothing is a mottled brown color. When Gallium first brought it back to our rooms to hide it, I was surprised to see the color and texture of the weave. The fae wear sleek armor that’s form-fitting. They would never wear items as simple and drab as these.
At the time, Gallium was grim. “Taken from dead humans,” he said. “The fae use this clothing when they send spies into human territory. I heard them talking about it.”
As much as my own feelings toward humans are complex because of their hatred of me, I would die to protect the two humans who raised Gallium and me.
Kedric and Maybelle treated us like their own children. They put themselves in terrible danger when they took us in. They raised us with kindness and empathy and more love than I’d ever thought I could receive from people who were supposed to be our enemies.
Leaving them behind in the Cursed City was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.
Slipping into the bathroom, I change quickly, unstrapping my hammer and medallions before I dress in the human clothing.
Then I head straight for the little table on the far side of the bed, farthest from either door.
While the fae may have confiscated our old belongings, what they wouldn’t touch were our toolboxes.
They’re clearly afraid of our tools, as they should be.
I now face the dilemma of deciding whether or not I should continue carrying my hammer close to my body.
At dinner, I needed to conceal it because otherwise, it would appear that I was threatening the fae. Much like attending a dinner with a dagger on my belt.
But now…
I quickly reconsider if I could continue concealing it so I could keep it close.
As far as Thaden knows, I wouldn’t be able to do much with it. My Blacksmith power is unique. Unlike all other Blacksmiths, I can’t transform metal. I can’t create weapons or change a medallion’s shape.
I can only use my power to heal others. By placing a medallion onto my right palm, I can create a conduit between my power and a person I need to heal. Or a plant I need to change.
Now, I consider if I can slip my hammer and medallions under my cloak…
But the way my hammer makes my skin luminous will be obvious out in the darkness of the mountains. A layer of material between the metal and my skin isn’t enough to stop my skin, hair, and eyes from glowing with power.
We need to be stealthy. I can’t be a beacon in the dark.
I return my hammer to my toolbox, promising myself I won’t be powerless for long.
The cold night air hits my cheeks as I step from the stifling corridor and into the wilderness that lies outside the castle.
Gallium steps out ahead of me while Thaden is at my back.
The trees are sparse enough that I can see high into the vast night sky and out across the land. The castle has been hewn into the side of a mountain, and we now stand on a ridge to the side of it.
To our left is an enormous plain across which there are tiny dots of flames from a thousand campfires.
An army of fae warriors camps down there.
Immediately in front of us and to our right is a forest that must stretch across the mountain on either side of the castle.
In the west—the direction we’re currently facing—the sky is lit up with lightning, but it isn’t because of a storm.
The fae ride creatures called thunderbirds, whose wings can make a cracking sound like thunder and whose bodies light up with magic that appears like lightning in the sky. The thunderbirds can also dull their magic until they disappear into the night sky, becoming nearly imperceptible.
Their lightning now is a warning to the humans who live in the west to stay clear of the fae camp.
As I step out into the night, I’m unsettled by the fact that none of the fae intercepted us on our way out of the castle, let alone here at the exit. Granted, we were careful to creep through the maze of corridors and halls without drawing attention, but it felt too easy.
Gallium seems to think so, too, quietly voicing the same question that I have. “Where are the guards?”
Thaden shakes his head, the bronze scales that extend up the right side of his neck catching the moonlight. “I agree. That was too simple.” Then he inhales audibly, his head tilted as he points. “Asha and the Vandawolf came this way. Maybe she threatened the guards to stay out of her way.”
I don’t question Thaden’s ability to track my sister with his dragon’s senses.
If I were to touch my tools, I could sense another Blacksmith—provided they’re also using their tools.
But without our tools, we may as well be human. Unless I reach for my hammer, I won’t know where Asha is.
I give a huff. The exhalation helps me calm myself while my instincts continue prickling. “Of course she would use threats to make her path easier.”
Gallium presses his hand to my shoulder. “Well, if there’s one good thing to come of it, our path should be easier.” Then he turns to Thaden to ask, “Which way did they go?”
“West,” Thaden says.
“Good. That’s where I hid the packs,” Gallium replies. “We should collect whatever packs they didn’t take with them.”
Thaden nods before he gestures in the other direction. “To get to Myrkur Fjall , we will need to head east—the opposite direction to Asha—and then south. But it shouldn’t take us long to double back after we collect the packs.”
He hurries in the direction Gallium pointed, and I follow closely, but my brow has creased. “I thought you said your village was in the north?”
“It was,” he replies, throwing a soft smile back across his shoulder. “When we were in the south, it was north.” He points past the encampment. “But from here, it’s to the east and then south.”
A worry settles at the base of my stomach, and it isn’t because of Thaden Kane.
The land in the east is dangerous.
A shudder passes through me as I glance back in that direction.
Even from here, I can see the dark clouds that obscure the sky in the east. I can almost smell the scent of blood that I’m certain will fill the air there…
Thaden Kane promised to take us to safety, but I’m certain it will be a lie.
He will take us into danger.