Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“We won’t let it happen again, we’ll triple the reinforcements around you,” Father said fiercely, pulling Everest into a hug she didn’t seem all that eager to accept. But she melted after a couple of seconds.
When she had been snatched away by the Sky Witch, I’d thought it was the end for us. That the rotten bastards of air would kill her or keep her for themselves. Without the Void protecting us and with not nearly enough preparation in place for the battle, Father had finally called a retreat.
He’d cast a hundred foot wave that had held back the tide of our enemies and allowed us time to escape. That wave had crashed against the walls of Pomair, toppling buildings and spreading carnage where their air shields failed, but it wouldn’t have been enough to gain the upper hand again.
Despite our fears over losing the Void, Everest had turned up marching in from a mountainside, running to meet our retreat at the Pyros boundary and saving our asses once more when she cut a temporary hole in it to let us through.
She’d spewed a heroic story about fighting her way free of the Sky Witch but that infernal air-wielder had gotten away too.
Now in the wake of our failure, there was only one thing anyone could focus on. The Dragon.
The memory of that iron grey beast was still seared into my mind, jarring me into a new era of war.
I could still see the faces of the screaming Cascadians who had burned up in its almighty flames.
I’d felt the heat of that fire against my skin.
I’d thought it would claim me too, but somehow I’d managed to flee.
Where had that beast of legend come from? The Dragons were lost. So many rumours had been spun about their disappearance and now the fucking Skyforgers had seized one. How could it be?
Even with a Dragon shifter bolstering the ranks of our enemies, we should have been capable of winning the fight.
Father was growing sloppy, believing us unbeatable with the Void on our side, but there hadn’t been proper tactics laid to prepare for true battle.
And with Everest randomly Voiding sections of our own army as well as the enemy’s, it had been in fucking shambles even before she’d been torn from the battlefield.
Now we were holed up in a town in the north of Pyros, most of our army laying camp beyond this old tavern where Father’s inner circle had taken up residence. And the mood was decidedly shit.
“I don’t want to be guarded. Let me fight,” Everest grumbled, pulling out of Father’s arms. “If I lead from the front it will be easier for me to target who I use the Void on. I can keep it away from our army but only if–”
“Nonsense,” Father cut in. “You would be exposed at the front, a sitting duck to be shot and plucked. There’s no sense in it.
You must spend time on practising to wield the Void so that you can direct it more proficiently.
Now come, eat with me.” He slid an arm around her shoulders, leading her to the large fire that had been started in the hearth.
Agatha had cooked a stew and promptly filled two bowls for the two of them.
They sat, speaking in low tones and my jaw tightened.
I stalked over to them and when Agatha didn’t offer me a bowl, I snatched one for myself and dropped down onto the arm of the chair Father was reclined in.
“Back up.” He waved a hand at me. “Go sit over there or something.” He pointed at a dank corner where a repetitive drip from a leak in the roof had created a greenish puddle and I balked in horror.
“Oh, so I’m not invited to your private conversation?” I snipped.
Everest raised her eyes to me, seeming deep in thought, a taut line crossing her brow.
“No you’re not,” Father said and my heart twisted at his rejection.
“Fine, I’ll go over there and sit on my own then.”
“You do that,” Father muttered, turning away from me and casting a silencing shield around himself and Everest before continuing to speak with my half-sister.
Agatha let out a low guffaw and I shot her a glare, tossing my bowl of stew onto a side table with a clatter and prowling away again. I wouldn’t sit there and be dripped on like some toad forgotten in a hole.
Fucking rich that was. I’d been discarded like an old turnip that wasn’t good enough for eating.
I moved behind the bar at the back of the tavern, helping myself to a bottle of rum and pulling the cork out with my teeth, spitting it aggressively in the direction of Jacobin who was perched on a bar stool.
He sneered at me, resting his elbows on the surface and leaning closer. “No good having a tantrum, eh Ransom? Just because Daddy’s got a new favourite, you don’t need to throw your toys out of the bassinet.”
“Shut your mouth or I’ll ram my fist in it,” I warned.
He chuckled. “Nah, you wouldn’t cause a fight among Rake’s closest confidants. I reckon he might just sling you out with the rest of the inferior warriors if you did that. Without his favour shielding you, they’ll chew you up and spit you out, boy.”
I slammed my fist down on the bar in front of him, my knuckles whiting as I fought the urge to punch him. He flinched a little at the strike, telling me he knew I could take him if I wanted to.
“I possess plenty of Father’s favour.”
“Strike me then. Test it and see, Ransom Rake.” He smiled, revealing that he’d lost a couple of teeth in the battle with the Skyforgers, his gums reddened in their absence.
My fingers flexed, the urge to give in to his goading consuming me for a second, but I cursed as I snatched my hand away instead.
His smile grew, his eyes a taunt that said he saw the cracks in me. Because the fact was, what he’d uttered was likely true and I couldn’t bear to swallow the bitter pill of it. Father’s warriors had once respected me, but they were growing less and less courteous by the day.
I huffed out a breath then took a long swig of rum, the heat of the alcohol burning through some of the rioting rage in my chest.
A creak sounded above me and my gaze slid to the ceiling in suspicion just as Agatha started playing a piano in the corner. Jacobin turned to watch her, clapping along while a few more of Father’s cronies started up an out-of-tune song, all of them drunk on ale already.
No one seemed to have noticed the creaking sound besides me and while their attention lay on their celebrations, I slipped out from behind the bar and through a door that led to the stairwell.
I started the climb, my hand closing on the hilt of my sword at my hip as I crept higher, my pulse warring beneath my flesh.
I should have alerted Father and the others but something held my tongue as I climbed.
Perhaps I was in the mood to prove myself.
Or maybe sheer stubbornness at their dismissal made me less inclined to speak up.
I certainly didn’t want to be ridiculed for jumping at bumps in the night.
At the top of the stairs I pushed the door wide and stepped into a large bedroom with low beams on the ceiling.
A carved wardrobe stood opposite the wooden bed and my eyes were drawn to it, narrowing on the engraving of a ram on the door.
I remained still, holding my breath and listening for several beats until I heard a shuffle of feet from within the wardrobe followed by a hissed whisper.
“Ow, Casey, you’re on my toes.”
“Quiet.”
“I am being quiet. It’s you that–”
“Shhhh.”
Three voices, all female.
My gut dropped as they fell silent again, contemplating my options. Walk away. Do nothing. Pretend I never heard them. Or unveil them, drag them downstairs and hand them to my father.
Or maybe…
My throat thickened as I made my decision, striding across the room and pulling the wardrobe open. The first made to scream and I slapped a hand to her mouth. The second came at me, aiming a punch to my head, but I grabbed the hilt of my sword in warning and she backed up.
“Quiet,” I growled in a soft voice, releasing my sword and taking my palm from the girl’s mouth. They were a little younger than me, eighteen or nineteen perhaps. The fact that they hadn’t cast magic was telling enough. They weren’t Awakened.
All of them were blonde, sisters clearly from their similar features. They wore the garb of the Flamebringers, but it was obvious what they were anyway.
“They’ll find you if you stay here,” I whispered, feeling like a traitor to my land. But I had to deal with this problem fast. Father would likely use this room tonight and there was no chance he wouldn’t discover them hiding here.
“’They’? Aren’t you ‘they’?” one of them hissed, her eyes frantic with fear.
“Yes…but I…well I don’t kill innocents.” I raised my chin. “Others will though. So get to the window. Climb out and head north from here. Don’t use the main streets and avoid anywhere around the town hall. The whole of the Cascadian army are here.”
Their faces paled. “Mother told us not to leave,” the shorter of the three squeaked. “She said she would go for supplies, but it’s been three days–”
“She’s not coming back, Meredith,” the one with the blue eyes said darkly and Meredith’s eyes glittered.
“She will, Gail,” Meredith squeaked back but Gail shook her head solemnly. “Won’t she Casey?” She looked to her other sister who appeared to be the middle child, her hair cropped short while the others wore it long.
“I don’t know,” Casey rasped.
“Where is everyone else?” I asked, my curiosity sharp. They were young, maybe na?ve enough to tell me. “It seems like the whole of Pyros has vanished.”
“I don’t know. But Mother wouldn’t leave the tavern, she said rogues would take it,” Gail muttered. “It seems she was right.”
I nodded stiffly. “Come.” I offered my hand to the smallest one, Meredith, and she hesitantly placed her palm in mine, letting me guide her out of the wardrobe.
“You shouldn’t touch him,” Gail growled.