Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
T wo days.
Two days until the test that would determine if Thea and her friends were worthy of the Thezmarrian warrior title.
Thea used the pandemonium that had broken out across the hall to slip away from her table.
Standing on the outskirts of the chaos, she scanned the sea of shieldbearers and fortress staff for Cal and Kipp.
They should have all been together for the news, and they needed to be together now, to process it, to come up with some sort of plan of attack.
Kipp would no doubt have a strategy. They had to be ready.
They would leave no man – or woman – behind.
So where are they?
Then it hit her: they had thought the same thing and had snuck away to meet her. Relief surging through her, Thea ducked from the hall, glad to escape the chaos. She made for the dormitories, imagining Kipp and Cal waiting to dissect the news with her.
Together they had taken on the most demanding training programs in the midrealms, they had faced down the cruelty of Vernich the Bloodletter and they had braced their shields against the attack of a rheguld reaper , a master – a king – of shadow wraiths … A trial would be easy, wouldn’t it?
Thea burst into the dormitories, her pep talk at the ready, determination gleaming in her eyes —
The room was empty.
There was no sign of Cal or Kipp.
Rubbing the back of her neck, Thea paced.
Had she misjudged things? She checked the other rooms – also empty.
Was there a place she’d forgotten about?
Perhaps the armoury? She hadn’t considered it initially because in the middle of winter, the armoury was freezing.
But if they weren’t here… She snatched up her thicker fur cloak and made for the door, a roiling sensation churning her stomach.
Dismissing the feeling as nerves for the impending trial, Thea hurried along the corridor, her sense of urgency growing with every step. But upon hearing voices around the next corner, she slowed to a halt just before the bend.
‘ — idea of a sick prank, apparently…’ It was Torj, his voice lowered. ‘But with what we’ve seen lately… We need to get them back. They’re our responsibility.’
‘We never asked for that responsibility,’ came Hawthorne’s harsh response.
Thea steadied herself against the cold stone wall, her heart racing as she crept forward.
‘It comes with the territory,’ Torj snapped back. ‘We are protectors of the midrealms, all of the midrealms , including Thezmarr. We cannot just leave —’
‘Have the offenders go find them.’
‘They’re denying all involvement.’
Thea’s skin was crawling, blood rushing to her ears as suspicion took hold. There was only one bastard that came to mind.
‘Of course they are. Throw them to Vernich. He’ll beat it out of them.’
‘You and I don’t work like that, Wilder. And Vernich has his favourites.’
‘You know nothing of how I work, Torj, besides that I work alone. And this is why. You cannot trust anyone. Nor can you rely on anyone.’
Torj’s next words were quieter, so much so that Thea had to creep even closer to the corner of the corridor to hear them.
When she did, she wished she hadn’t.
‘It’s Callahan Whitlock and Kristopher Snowden…’ Torj said.
Thea’s knees buckled, her hand flying to her chest that suddenly felt too tight.
A heavy silence followed and Thea dug her fingertips into the wall, desperate to latch onto something that would keep her upright.
At last, Hawthorne spoke. ‘How do you know?’
‘Someone reported it. One of the younger shieldbearers broke the code. He said it was going too far, that it went beyond the usual shieldbearer hazing.’
‘And yet he couldn’t say where they’ve been taken?’
‘No. The others sensed his hesitation. They knocked him out cold. I only found him in the stables just now.’
Hawthorne swore viciously.
‘It sounds bad,’ Torj said. ‘But I haven’t the faintest idea where to start.’
Thea swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped around the corner, coming face to face with both Warswords. ‘I do.’
Hawthorne swore again, pinching the bridge of his nose and pacing a few steps away, but Torj turned to her.
‘Do you have something to do with this?’
‘You think I would ever hurt Cal and Kipp?’ The words flew out of her mouth in anger before she realised who she was speaking to.
But Torj was shaking his head. ‘No, no, I don’t… But you know where they are?’
As she’d been eavesdropping, Seb Barlowe’s face kept flashing before her.
He was the main offender for everything, and he had apparent immunity because of his uncle’s relationship with the Guild Master.
She had hardly seen him since their return, chalking it up to a silent truce between them.
After all, she had saved his life from the reaper, some na?ve part of her had thought he was exercising some humility.
But she should have known that humility was not, and would never be, in Seb Barlowe’s nature.
Instead, he had seen her actions as a form of humiliation, a questioning of his own warrior prowess…
and had been biding his time ever since.
His words echoed in her mind now: ‘A series of caves in the black mountains that flood every winter with the storms. Lightning isn’t supposed to strike the same place twice, but those caves…
Lightning strikes there every season, in exactly the same place…
There are dozens of skeletons up there… It's where the Thezmarrian warriors tied up the whores they no longer wanted.’
And that was exactly the sort of location he’d take any captives; a place he deemed an embarrassment, a place of death for lowly women and whores, not men. For whatever reason, Seb had been unable to get to her, so he had gone for the next best thing.
That bastard , she cursed. I should have let the reaper have him, I should have let him die . If her friends were hurt, that would be the fate that awaited him.
‘Althea?’ Torj prompted.
‘It’s a guess,’ she admitted. ‘But I think Seb took them to the caves in the black mountains, the ones that flood every —’
‘Winter storm,’ Hawthorne finished for her. He was already moving, Torj right alongside him.
Thea darted after them.
‘Gods,’ Torj muttered as they ran towards the stables. ‘It was me who gave them the fucking idea.’ He shook his head. ‘There’s two trails up to the caves. They could have taken either.’
Hawthorne nodded. ‘We split up. I’ll take the northern path, you take the southern and we meet at the caves.’
‘I’ll tell the Guild Master —’
‘No time,’ Hawthorne snapped. ‘Plus, the king is here. We don’t want him involved.’
Thea’s blood went cold as she chased after them.
When she had first met Kipp, she had thought he would be her downfall, but it was she who would be the end of him if she didn’t get to those caves.
It was hard to run with the world suddenly closing in around her, as every moment where she had antagonised Seb flashed before her eyes.
This was her fault. Her friends could die because of her.
And she could not, would not , allow that to happen.
She charged into the stables, close on the heels of the Warswords, only to be wrenched from the ground and slammed into the wall.
‘What in the name of all the gods do you think you’re doing?’ Hawthorne snarled, the front of her shirt curled in his fist.
Thea threw herself into action, disengaging his grip on her and shoving him back.
He looked almost surprised.
‘I’m going with you,’ Thea said fiercely.
‘Not a chance, Alchemist.’
But Thea was done with listening, was done with men underestimating her and telling her what to do. She squared up and took a step towards the Warsword, nothing but fire in her eyes. ‘Try and stop me.’
‘Hawthorne?’ Torj peered out from one of the stalls, his brows raising in surprise at the sight of her. ‘What are you doing here, Althea?’
‘I’m getting my friends back.’
Fury blazed in Hawthorne’s silver eyes. ‘I’m not letting some reckless shieldbearer accompany me to the Black fucking Mountains —’
Thea whirled to face him, fury of her own crackling in her veins.
‘You told me to find friends in this fortress, to get myself a team,’ she snarled.
‘And I did that. Cal and Kipp are it. They’re the people I trust more than anyone in this godsforsaken place.
And I’m going to get them back, with or without you. ’
‘Alchemist…’ Hawthorne warned, his voice low.
‘My name is Thea ,’ she interjected angrily, ‘whether or not you have the balls to say it. And answer me this: haven’t you ever wanted to protect someone?’ she argued. ‘Would you deny me that?’
Torj watched on, his horse forgotten. ‘I’d wager he’s trying to protect someone right now…’ he murmured.
But Thea ignored the Bear Slayer and focused solely on the Warsword whose path seemed entwined with her own.
His expression darkened for a moment, a muscle flickering in his jaw.
Thea held her breath as the Warsword closed the last few inches of space between them.
He leaned in, closer and closer to her —
The slide of steel sounded.
He drew a sword from the rack on the wall behind her and pressed it into her hands.
‘You tell no one what happens here,’ he said quietly.
‘No one,’ she agreed, her fingers curling around the hilt.
Torj cleared his throat loudly as he mounted his horse. ‘Right. Now that’s settled…’
Thea and Hawthorne sprung apart.
The golden-haired warrior eyed them warily as he strapped his war hammer across his back. ‘I’ll meet you at the caves.’ And with that, he nudged his stallion towards the gates and left them to it.
Together, Warsword and shieldbearer saddled their horses in silence, strapped on their weapons, and rode quietly into the night.