Chapter 30 #2
I didn’t look back, trusting that Ciaran would be behind me.
He might hate me, but his love for Seren made him a grudging yet unmistakable ally.
Maybe the best I could hope for under the circumstances.
If I had to give the Viori credit for anything, it was their loyalty—to their cause, their laws, and each other.
The crowd thickened, bodies jostling me from all sides. Each brush of a stranger’s hand felt like a threat, a whisper of danger. At last, I found the alleyway. Ciaran’s description had been apt—it ended at a tall stone wall, flanked by high buildings. Climbing the walls would require talent.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and I set a hand on my new sword, ready to draw.
A familiar scent reached me first.
“Thorne?” My voice was sharp, incredulous. “What the hell are you doing here?” Relief battled with dread. If Thorne had come, it could mean something in Lirien was terribly wrong.
He approached with a smirk, hands outstretched.
“I thought I’d never catch you alone.” The clothes he wore appeared to have been taken off the back of someone else—someone much smaller.
A hooded cloak hung around mid-shin, but it looked like Viori clothing.
Beneath it, the bulk of his ever-present bearskin confirmed he hadn’t abandoned his old gear.
“I told you to—”
A soft step sounded. Ciaran.
Fuck.
Thorne caught the direction of my glance, then sprang into action. As the two men crashed into each other, each of them attacking, I hurtled toward them. “Stop!” I grabbed each of them by the shoulders, trying to push them apart, but it was like trying to move two boulders.
Ciaran gave me a wild-eyed look, a dagger still at Thorne’s throat. “What are you doing?”
“You know this one?” Thorne growled at the same time, his own knife stopped perilously above Ciaran’s gut.
Both men stared at me, distrust of the other clear on their faces.
I could try to make up a story, but it would do nothing to foster any trust in Ciaran. Telling him Thorne was a friend was a risk—but necessary. Maybe even help Ciaran feel as though we were on an equal footing.
“Yes,” I said, releasing Thorne’s shoulder. “He’s my wife’s friend. He’s safe.”
Ciaran paled as Thorne lowered the knife. A flash of betrayal twitched at his lips as he looked from me to Thorne, dagger still dangerously positioned. “He’s a Lirien?”
“Well, I’m not a fucking Viori, if that’s what you’re asking,” Thorne grunted. He scowled at me. “Excuse me if I heard you wrong—your wife?”
“I told you it was a long story,” I hissed, crossing my arms.
Thorne knocked Ciaran’s dagger away with a shove of his shoulder, then winked. “You’re lucky we’re in a mountain, Vangar. Might’ve caught a few flies by now with that mouth hanging open.”
“His name is Ciaran,” I said, inspecting my fingers as a faint tingling sensation pricked my right hand, out of nowhere. “Ciaran, this is Thorne Ursidor.”
“H-how?” Ciaran’s face flushed darker as he straightened, anger blazing in his demeanor. “How the hell did you sneak in here? The gates to Emberstone are warded to detect any spies.”
“Aye, but apparently the sewers aren’t.” Thorne turned toward me. “We need to speak. Now.”
I held his gaze for the barest moment. What could be so important that he’d risked crawling into Emberstone like this?
“No.” Ciaran stepped back, shaking his head faintly. “No. I can’t be party to this. How many of you are there?” He gave me a pleading look. “I have to report you. Both of you. Our laws—”
“Your laws will cause Seren’s death, Ciaran.” I flicked a bored look at Thorne, masking my urgency. “My Viori wife. I saved her life from a vuk. The Viori would’ve executed me on sight, so she took an ancient oath that bonded us as spouses. Unfortunately, if one of us dies, so does the other.”
Ciaran’s eyes bulged as I spoke, as though realizing how much I trusted Thorne. That was dangerous information and Ciaran knew it.
“Solric’s balls.” Thorne let out a low whistle. “I knew you stunk of vuk.”
Rubbing his eyes, Ciaran grappled with the weight of what my trust had pulled him into.
He wasn’t just Seren’s friend blindly following her schemes—he was a traitor in his own right.
I tilted my head. “Not so easy to dispense with your swift, rigid justice, is it? Did you judge Seren too harshly, Ciaran?”
“You unredeemable son of a whore—”
Thorne raised a fist, nostrils flaring. “Who in Solric’s name—”
“It’s all right.” I didn’t think Thorne would give me away so easily, but I still needed to be careful. “Until me, Ciaran had probably never met anyone from outside the forest. Meeting two of us is probably overwhelming.”
“We’re not fucking unicorns,” Thorne grumbled, lowering his hand. Then he gave me another impatient look. “But we really need to talk.”
I gave Ciaran a hard stare. “What’ll it be, Ciaran? I throw us both at your mercy. Can my friend speak to me, or do you need to summon more of your kind? Maybe some guards? They can’t be far, this close to the keep.”
“You never were going to join the Viori, were you? You’re just a spy,” Ciaran said bitterly. Maybe, despite his better judgment, he’d hoped he was wrong about me.
His loyalty to Seren made all the difference here. Somehow, I knew he hadn’t been the one to tell the tribe about Giulia. His love for Seren was too deep.
I stepped closer, meeting his glare. “I didn’t choose this, Ciaran.
You think I want to be here? I was dragged into this forest, bound to a woman I didn’t know, and thrown into your war.
But yes, I need to go back. I have a kingdom to protect—a kingdom that will burn if I don’t warn them about what’s coming.
Just like you would do anything for Seren, I’ll do whatever it takes for my people.
That doesn’t make me a spy. It makes me a man with responsibilities—same as you. ”
Ciaran’s shoulders squared. “And Seren?” he asked tersely. “What about her? What happens to her?”
“She’s trying to find a way to break the bond. She knows I’m not staying. If you don’t believe me, ask her.”
He flinched and his throat bobbed. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered, unable to meet my eyes. “You have five minutes. I’ll be around the corner, keeping watch. If something goes wrong or someone comes over to investigate, I wash my hands of you both.”
Then he looked at Thorne. “You can’t stay in Emberstone. You may have gotten past the wards but they’ll catch you eventually. Every Viori wears a rune on their wrist—the only exception to that is him”—he nodded toward me—“and he’s been given special permission from Lord Haldron.”
“How does one acquire this rune?” Thorne asked with a scowl.
“By being born Viori or claiming refuge here the first day of the Harvest Moon,” Ciaran said angrily. “Don’t even try forging it. It takes the incantation of a skilled priestess, and any attempt at a fake will be caught.”
“Suppose I don’t give a fuck about the rune? I doubt they go around checking that closely. And suppose you keep looking the other way?” Thorne growled to Ciaran.
“The first day of the Harvest Moon is tomorrow, Ciaran. Can’t he claim refuge here then, even by your rules?”
Ciaran shifted his weight back. “This is madness.” He jerked away and left us, desperate to flee.
“So, you’re married now, huh?” Thorne asked, coming up beside me. He stank, and now that I knew what he’d crawled through, it made sense.
“It’s complicated,” I said with a smirk.
“Complicated? You’re tied to the woman for life. Though, you skipped the messy part where she decides whether she likes you or not. Seems simple to me.”
I barked a laugh, the familiarity of his wit welcome amid the dark shadows of the alley. “You’re welcome to try it if you think it’s so easy.”
“Pass. I’d rather keep my freedom … and my sanity.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Considering the way you smell—and look—you’d be lucky if a woman got within twenty feet of you.”
Thorne tossed back the hood of his ill-fitting cloak. “You know, I didn’t crawl through sewers just to be insulted.”
“No, you crawled through sewers because you’re an idiot. I told you to stay away.”
Thorne shrugged. “Fair point. But I expected a little gratitude. Maybe a drink. Definitely not the side-eye from your Viori ‘friends.’”
“Ciaran is safe enough. He’s in love with my wife—he won’t risk her by turning either of us in.
” I turned back to Thorne. “But he’s right.
You can’t stay in Emberstone. If you’re found, it might put extra scrutiny on me.
Now, what in the hell did you risk so much for and crawl through shit to tell me? ”
Thorne’s expression darkened. “They’re calling for a coronation—within days.
Maybe sooner. There’s chaos in Suomelin, with the king’s council arguing about the line of succession.
If your nephew Ivar takes the crown, they’ll use him as a puppet to cement their power.
By the time you get back, it’ll be too late to stop them. ”
The words drove the air from my lungs. I couldn’t let that happen. Not after everything we’d lost.
I wanted—needed—to ask about my sisters-in-law, their children, Malin, but I couldn’t. It hurt to breathe.
“You need to get back now, Rykr. As it is, it will take days just to reach Cairn Hold.”
I closed my eyes, letting Thorne’s words sink in.
“There’s another claim,” I said, my voice low. “And he’s not just some petty usurper. He’s here, in Emberstone. Magnus’s younger brother—Haldron Warrick. Or just Haldron, as they call him now.”
Thorne’s thick brows furrowed.
“He orchestrated the massacre of my family,” I continued. “And now he’s planning something far worse. If he takes Lirien’s throne, it won’t just be our people who’ll suffer. It’ll be war.”
“Godsdamn motherswiver.”
I grimaced. “Exactly.”
“Then you have to get the hell out of here. We’ll find a way. I can shift into my bear form and drag you through the border if necessary—even the Viori aren’t likely to get between a hungry bear and his dinner.”
The thought of leaving Seren burned like a brand against my chest. If I left her now, I wouldn’t just be betraying her. I’d be proving every doubt she had about me true. But if I stayed … the throne would slip farther out of reach. And Lirien would fall to Haldron’s schemes.
“I can’t. I can’t abandon Seren. Not yet. First, we have to go through a trial that might kill us both. If I leave beforehand, they won’t hesitate to execute her.”
He gave me a skeptical look. “Don’t tell me a fine piece of ass is—”
“She’s my wife,” I said gruffly, a strange, protective feeling curling around me like a spell.
Stunned, Thorne bowed his head.
Where had that come from?
The bond wasn’t just a chain, it was a mirror.
Through it, I felt her strength, her doubts, her quiet pain.
And she felt mine. Soon there was no hiding from her, no pretense.
Maybe that’s what terrified me most. She’d see the truth of me, stripped bare, and realize I wasn’t the man she thought she’d saved.
Who knew what she’d do then? What her honor would demand of her?
Focusing on Thorne, I gritted out, “I already told you; our lives are tied together. I can’t leave a liability like that behind. If they kill her, I’ll die too.” Better to let him think that I was being strategic rather than sentimental.
“Yeah, that makes sense.”
“While I’m here, I also need to gather some more information on Haldron and his plans—what we’re facing. I’m certain he’s planning to march on Lirien soon.” Come to think about it, it made sense that Seren’s tribe had suddenly been called to the training fields.
The tribe had been preparing for war.
Thorne straightened to attention. “What are my orders?”
A deep ache went through me. Dalric, Thorne, and I used to tease each other about who would end up commanding the others. Now Dalric was gone, and Thorne was ready to take orders without question.
“If you can get out again, send a raven to Warlord Ellison in Cairn Hold … if you can. Or go there yourself. He needs to know about Haldron and the threat he’s posing.”
“I’m not leaving this time, Rykr. What’s this about a deadly trial?”
“The Skorn—a battle to the death with their best warriors. Tomorrow night.”
Thorne’s eyes gleamed with confidence. “A battle with Viori? You should be fine. And I’ll be here to help you escape as soon as it’s over.”
“Maybe. Seren says there will be other obstacles. And it’s not just me who has to fight. She does, too.”
Thorne grunted. “You’re right, that bond is a liability. A serious one.” He nodded slowly. “Like I said, I’m staying. You may not think you need me here, but I think you do. But you should know, someone helped me find my way into Emberstone. A man I met in the forest.”
What? A chill went through me. “And you trusted him? Who is he?”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. But he’s no friend of the Viori, that much is certain. And, like your woman, he didn’t kill me either.”
“A Lirien?” I searched Thorne’s face. He wasn’t gullible or easily trusting, but after the last few weeks, I had the right to be cautious.
“More of an outlaw. He thinks his daughter is here in Emberstone and he’s come to rescue her. An ally, for now … but you’re not going to like it when I tell you his name—”
My breath hitched. Without a shadow of doubt, I knew who Thorne had met in the forest.
“—Brogan Ragnall.”