Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
Things shift after Turner and his group are gone.
Odessa is no longer required to escort me everywhere—though she does still walk with me often when she’s not doing other army-related things—and I’m free to wander as I please when we camp.
So, Blackheart was…protecting me? No, more like protecting his investment.
Of course he couldn’t risk Turner or his men getting carried away and killing me before Dorian could negotiate his ransom.
But no matter the reason, I’m grateful for it, and though it takes me a few days, I start to explore my newfound freedom.
Blackheart seems to be entirely certain that no one under his command would dare try to touch me or harm me in any way.
So, I guess I trust in his trust of his men—and women.
I’m pleased to find that Odessa isn’t the only woman in Blackheart’s army.
I know that Lyanna doesn’t allow women to fight in their ranks, only cook or clean or tend to the animals, which I think is horseshit.
I’ve learned that Odessa isn’t just a soldier, she’s a Captain, which apparently is extremely high-ranking, and while I would assume watching me would have been far beneath her duties, I realize again that perhaps it was because Blackheart was taking no chances on his investment.
He put one of his best warriors in charge of protecting me.
Makers, just how much coin is Tesni worth?
I’ve started walking to Cookie’s tent to fetch my own dinner instead of having Mia deliver it to me, but she’s taken to walking with me all the same and the girl has lost all traces of shyness around me since that night she had the nightmare.
I don’t know if Odessa shared with her the lie I told to save her sister punishment, or if the girl just decided on her own that perhaps there’s more to me than meets the eye, but either way, I’m happy that she’s taken a liking to me.
“What was it like living in a castle?” she asks, awe in her voice.
“I’ve been in the palace in Duskthorne, but living there is completely different.
I bet you had servants and a closet full of ball gowns and I heard that Lyanna has a…
” She scrunches her freckled nose and I fight a smile. “Maginery? Full of animals?”
“Menagerie,” I tell her with a smile and she snaps her fingers.
“That’s it! I knew it was something like that. Well, is it true? Did you have a menagerie?”
“Lyanna has a large menagerie, yes,” I tell her honestly, though of course I haven’t seen it myself in nearly fifteen years. I used to love spending time there though, would visit almost every single day. Her eyes light up.
“Did you have dragons?? I’ve always wanted to see one.
Dessa claims that she’s seen an ice dragon before, but I don’t believe her.
” She rolls her eyes, exasperated at the lies her sister apparently told her.
“She says it was once when she was about my age when they were playing up in the mountains and that she saw a pair of golden eyes staring at them from the next peak over. No one else did, so I think she’s just full of sh--” She stops herself, eyes going wide and cheeks turning pink as I quirk a brow.
“I think she’s making it up,” she amends quickly and I pull my lips in to hide my smile.
“Anyway, dragons have been gone from Duskthorne since way before I was born, but we used to have them. Yara says they’ll come back one day.
I hope she’s right,” she sighs. I don’t ask who Yara is, assuming one of her friends or a teacher perhaps.
“Can you imagine soaring through the skies like that?” she adds wistfully.
I don’t want to imagine it even for a second, the thought making me sick.
“No dragons I’m afraid, but we had lots of other amazing things.” I tell her all about my favorites as we walk until a yell draws our attention.
“Oye! Flame of Lyanna, how about a little help here?” a soldier with white-blonde hair calls from a fire pit not far away. To my surprise, he doesn’t sound mocking or cruel. He and a few others look to be trying to get the flames to catch but are having a hard time.
“I’m afraid your Commander won’t allow that,” I call back, relieved beyond measure that my supposed Gift is blocked.
“Oh, I think I could let your power off its leash for this,” that damned cool, velvety voice responds as Blackheart steps out from behind a nearby tent. Does he just follow me around and wait for opportune moments to step out of the shadows??
“Remember what I said about cooperation? Helping my men would go a long way with earning favor with Dorian.” There’s snow stuck in his beard and Mia giggles. To my surprise, the big man looks at her and grins before shaking his face like a dog, making Mia laugh even harder.
The blonde man whoops loudly, grinning. “Yes! Light it up, Red!” he calls.
He turns to one of the others and hits him on the shoulder.
“Watch this. I’ve heard it’s amazing to see in person.
Flames out of nothing just like that.” He tries to snap his fingers but frowns when he can’t because of his thick gloves.
I fight a smile and try to ignore the way Blackheart is watching me so intently, as if this is a test and…
he wants me to pass? I’m not sure why, really.
Maybe he hopes that if I cooperate, as he says, Dorian will decide having a fire wielder in his army will outweigh the hefty ransom he could get.
A tiny part of me wonders if he would be just as happy with an ice wielder, if maybe I could tell Blackheart the truth of it now and stop this whole ruse.
Of course, I wouldn’t actually stay and fight with him.
..so, no, I need to keep being Tess for now.
“I…” I glance between the group and Blackheart, and he quirks a dark brow in challenge, and damn if part of me wants to accept it, to create frozen flames ten feet high just to shock them all and prove my worth, to show that I’m just as powerful and competent as my sister that I.
..matter. Makers, I’m pathetic. I lift my chin.
“Didn’t you hear? I don’t work for free. ”
I stride off to groans from the blonde man and his friends.
I couldn’t truly help them anyway, but I still feel awful for having to act like…
well, Tesni. I hate all of this so much.
I just want to find a way to escape and go the fuck home.
My chances of doing that are better now that I’m not under constant supervision by Odessa, but leaving while we’re still in The Perilous is a horrible idea.
I’d be no better off than Turner and his men—who did not make it far, from what the scouts sent after them reported back according to Odessa.
So, no. My best chance to flee will be once we reach Tithmoore.
Perhaps I can convince someone to hide me, or possibly make it to the coast and find a ship to take me back to Helios.
I have Tesni’s jewels I can trade. Shockingly, Blackheart didn’t take them though they’re worth a fortune.
Mia catches up to me quickly.
“Why didn’t you want to help them?” she asks, sounding disappointed.
“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly, suddenly exhausted by of all of this. “I’m not a very nice person I’m afraid.”
“I don’t believe that.”
I turn to look at her. “Really?”
She eyes me seriously, that studying look on her face.
“I think you’re nice but pretend not to be for some reason.
” I can’t say much to that, so I just give her a sad smile and keep walking towards the tent she shares with her sister.
Odessa is out beside one of the communal fire pits with several other soldiers, laughing and drinking what looks to be some kind of ale, and playing quills.
She smiles widely when we approach and reaches for her sister immediately.
She wraps Mia in a hug and kisses the top of her head in a very motherly way that makes my heart clench and my throat feel tight.
It’s the kind of thing Cece would do. Makers I hope she and Math are ok, that Tesni wouldn’t think to go after them as insurance for my cooperation or anything of the sort.
I wonder if I could send a letter…No, probably not.
And it might put them in even more danger if I involve them at all.
I have to assume that they’re safe and happy in Helios and that the war doesn’t find its way there before I can get back to them and figure out a way to keep us all safe.
Giving up the tavern feels like giving up a part of my heart, but we could all leave, we could go to Sol or one of the other islands until all of this war business blows over.
I suppose that part of Tesni’s plan wasn’t so terrible actually.
I’m about to turn away and go back to my own tent when an idea occurs to me. I turn back and jerk my chin towards Odessa.
“What do I have to do to get a few pairs of trousers?” I can use the tunics from Tesni’s trunk that were meant to be paired with various skirts, but I would do just about anything for some fucking pants.
Odessa quirks a brow. “You’ve never struck me as the pants type, princess.” I don’t mind when she calls me that so much anymore. It’s shifted subtly from an insult to an almost affectionate nickname.
“All of this mucking about in the wilderness is ruining all of my dresses,” I say, gesturing angrily towards the hem of my skirt, which is in fact caked with mud and snow. That’s a plausible enough reason. Odessa nods to herself, seeming to agree.
“You can trade for some once we reach Tithmoore, I suppose…”
“How about we play for a pair?” I suggest, nodding toward the board painted with different color rings hanging on a post a few yards away.
“You know how to play quills?” one of the men asks skeptically. Tristan, I believe his name is. I shrug and Odessa’s lips curl up at the corners.