Chapter 16
Sixteen
VOx
In solidarity with the rest of the group, I had physically climbed the Vale Stairs beside them. Even though it would have been far easier to float everyone to the top, I would take the penance of the hard climb for the sins of my family.
I couldn’t look at Powell or the girl, Celis. The fear they showed when they saw me, the way their heartbeats skittered every time I used my power, the signs of torture on their skin—it all made me want to scream into the nothingness.
I hated Yaron, but not as much as I hated myself right now.
I’d known about those parties; everyone did.
There wasn’t a single person in the First Line or beyond who didn’t know that Yaron had been a sadistic son of a bitch, who tortured people for fun.
It was why the Heirs who came to events were usually the male Heirs; no one would take a chance that their female Heirs would catch the eye of Yaron Vylan.
No one had ever stopped him, though. Not the other Barons, nor the First Line. And never me. The guilt I would hold that I could have saved Powell and Celis their pain—as well as the countless victims before them—would haunt me for life.
Avalon looked over her shoulder at me, as if she could sense my darkening thoughts.
I gave her a reassuring look, though given the way her frown deepened, it was a bit of a failure.
We were almost to the top of the cliff face, and Iker still had the girl on his back.
He’d insisted on climbing with her the whole way, so as not to risk dropping her.
While I couldn’t use my power on Celis herself, I did wrap my air magic around Iker, giving him a bit of a boost as he climbed.
He hadn’t said anything about it, but I knew the feel of my magic was a bit confronting to the Second Line too. Maybe the two of them could bond over the evilness of the First Line.
“Vox,” Lierick said softly. “Stop.”
He couldn’t hear my thoughts, as I still wore the tal that protected me against the Second Line’s magic. I just raised a brow at him.
“I’m not in your head, your face is just unusually open right now. Your thoughts are just there, written right across your face.” I worked at getting my expression under control, and he shook his head. “Your brother’s actions aren’t your own,” he continued, and I sighed.
“I could have stopped him years ago, though. This”—I waved a hand at Celis and Powell—“would never have happened, if I had grown some balls.”
Lierick rolled his eyes. “Let’s consider you’re right. What would you have done? Walked onto that boat and stood against all those First Line reprobates yourself? Smothered Yaron in his sleep?”
I would have ended up in the dungeons of Fortaare, and we all knew it. But at least I would have done something, rather than sit back while innocents were being tortured for my brother’s pleasure.
“Yaron had a twin, did you know that?”
I could see the shock on Lierick’s face. That information had obviously never made it to Ozryn, and honestly, why would it? I doubted much of my own Line even remembered him. Shay had been a baby, and I had been little more than a toddler myself. Sometimes, I thought I must have imagined him.
“Dermat tried to stop him from pulling the wings off a bird. Yaron turned around and bludgeoned him in the head with a rock until he died. His own twin.” I cleared my throat.
“My father pretended like it never happened. He still had his Heir and his spare, and probably half a dozen other backup Heirs around Fortaare. But the lesson of never coming between Yaron and what he wanted was firmly burned inside all our minds, along with the fact that we were all replaceable to our father. All except Yaron.” I shook my head.
“If I wasn’t such a coward, I could have done something. ”
Lierick shrugged, pushing himself up a particularly high column. Avalon was struggling up the one in front of us, and I wrapped her in air magic and lifted her easily. She smiled down at me, and it was like sunshine after a year of darkness.
Sunshine I didn’t deserve to have on my face.
“You could have done something. You’re right.”
I looked at Lierick sharply. But he wasn’t done.
“You could have done something,” he repeated slowly.
“And you would have failed. Any action you could have taken before now would’ve been a temporary solution.
You would have saved one person, maybe two.
But now, you have the ability to save thousands.
The whole of Ebrus. Trust in the Goddess’s plan, Vox Vylan. ”
The Goddess had never done much for me in the first two decades of my life. So while Lierick could have his faith, and the Goddess could play with us like pawns, I would trust in myself.
The climb took most of the day. We were all tired by the time we reached the summit, and barely made camp before we all fell into an exhausted sleep. The following morning, we headed out toward Rewill, but our group was moving much slower.
I couldn’t believe Avalon had walked from Rewill to Boellium at the beginning of the year, with nothing but the clothes on her back and a pack of food.
She hobbled beside me now, and I wrapped her hand in mine. “I love you, Avalon Halhed.”
Her brows raised, but she smiled at me so sweetly that I couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss her. “I love you too, Vox. So much.”
The road toward Rewill was heavily treed on both sides, the perfect place for an ambush. My father would know about Yaron by now, and I was on edge. Hayle must have agreed, because he’d sent both hounds out to scout ahead.
He fell back to where we were walking, leaning over to kiss Avalon too. “How’re your thighs?” he crooned, and she groaned.
“On fire.”
He smirked. “I’ll wrap them around my ears later and make you feel all better.”
Her cheeks pink, she chuckled softly. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Hayle’s feet suddenly stopped, and he tilted his head. Then he looked over at Avalon. “Well, we might have to rain check that, because your brother is coming. Braxus says he’s less than five minutes out.”
Avalon’s face lit up. She loved her brothers—that much had been obvious at the tournament. And they adored her in return. However, they’d stood by and let her be kicked around like a dog for most of her life, so I was reserving judgment.
Iker put down the girl, and we rested as we waited for Avalon’s brother. Soon enough, Kian Halhed appeared on the back of a large bay stallion. He had two horses behind him, and I heard Avalon’s sigh of relief.
The Heir to the Ninth Line’s eyes ran over our ragtag group, snagging on the bedraggled-looking Powell and Celis. Then he found Avalon, and his whole face softened. He climbed off his horse, dropping its reins, and came over to grab his sister up in his arms. “I’ve been worried about you.”
She hugged her brother back. “I’m fine, Ki,” she murmured, and he looked over the top of her head straight at me. He obviously didn’t trust me still—not that I could blame him. In a way, he was right. I was a danger to her, to them all, with my father’s assassins on our trail at all times.
I had just enough of the Vylan selfishness to not give them up, though.
Avalon stepped away from her brother. “Thank you for coming.”
Kian shrugged. “When a raven turns up, eats half your steak, and gives you a vague note, what else is there to do?”
She peered behind him. “Where’s Bach?”
“Still at the manor. Father is out west hunting, so he had to sit with the property manager this morning to go over the books.” They both chuckled, an inside joke born of love and familiarity bouncing between them.
“I bet he loved being left behind,” she said softly.
“It’s good for him.” Kian looked at the two unknown faces in our group. “Though I was a little surprised when your missive turned up?”
The joy slowly leeched from Avalon’s face. “I need a favor.”
She explained about Powell, giving a brief explanation of his rescue. I watched Kian Halhed’s jaw tense at the mention of Yaron’s Solstice Party. It really was an atrocity that had gone unchecked by all of Ebrus. Everyone had known and done nothing, until now.
She sucked in a deep breath. “We need to stash them somewhere until they’re forgotten. It shouldn’t be too long. Somewhere comfortable. They’ll need to see a healer too. I’ve done what I can, but I don’t have all the right medicines to stave off infection.”
Kian’s face was soft as he looked at the younger pair. “I know a place. It isn’t fancy, but it’s so forgotten, I doubt Father would even know it’s there.”
Raising her hands to stop his words, Avalon shook her head. “Don’t tell me. Don’t tell us. The less we know about their location, the better.” The just in case hung in the air.
Kian Halhed’s face turned to stone at her words, because we all knew what she meant.
Just in case we were captured. Tortured.
He sucked in a harsh breath. “Okay.” He kissed the top of Avalon’s head, then clucked his tongue, his stallion immediately shuffling forward.
“It’s a day’s ride from here. I’ll make sure they’re okay and head back to Rewill.
I shouldn’t be more than a day or two behind your group.
” He looked over at Powell. “Do you ride?”
Powell hesitated. “Not well.”
Kian gave him a soft smile. “That’s okay.
Glory’s a sweet girl. She’ll do all the work.
” Hayle helped boost a tired and emaciated Powell onto a little gray mare.
Kian then turned to Celis. “If it is okay with you, you can ride with me.” We all watched her stiffen, and Kian’s expression darkened.
He knew without asking what she’d been through.
“I promise you—you’re safe with me. Both of you. ”
The girl was so fragile, and yet still strong.
Like glass that had been tempered until it was bulletproof.
She climbed up into the saddle, and I realized she was no stranger to horses.
I wouldn’t have thought she’d have the strength to handle Kian’s big stallion, but she was obviously comfortable with it.
Kian mounted up behind her, his arms careful not to touch her more than necessary.
“Head to Rewill. Father is away, so you can stay in your childhood bedroom. Bach will be happy to see you.” Avalon nodded with a smile, and we watched them go.
We’d fulfilled our promise to Moran Ingmire; we were finally getting somewhere.
We looked at the horse left behind. She was another old gray, and Avalon eyed her with something between longing and trepidation.
Hayle laughed, picking her up and sliding her onto the horse’s back. “Your brother is a good horseman. When you said that you didn’t ride, I thought that perhaps horses weren’t popular up here in the north.”
Shrugging, Avalon patted the horse’s neck. “No, horses are an invaluable resource around here. I was just never allowed to learn to ride. My father didn’t believe vermin should be allowed to ride such valuable assets.” She smiled softly. “The stablehands let me groom them sometimes, though.”
I was suddenly very sad that Roman Halhed was away from home. He was due his reckoning.
We remained alert as we walked the well-worn path back to Rewill.
In all that time, we didn’t see a single other soul, but the cold wind wrapped around us like a frozen kiss.
Avalon shivered, and I climbed on the back of the horse behind her, heating my body as I wrapped it around her.
She nearly purred with happiness, leaning back into me.
As I kissed her throat, she sighed softly.
Without Powell and Celis, Hayle ran with the hounds, and I used my magic to aid Lierick and Iker until we were all moving at a fast enough pace that we halved the time it should’ve taken to get to Rewill.
As the town walls came into view, shadowed by the sun kissing the horizon, I could feel the tension in Avalon increase, like she was building her own walls to protect her from the memories within.
By the time we made it to the gates, she had almost entirely shut down her emotions.
She slid from the horse, though she kept her chin high.
She looked fierce in the torchlight, but I knew her well enough now to see the trepidation in the way she chewed the inside of her cheek.
Lierick moved closer. “Okay?”
She shook her head. “Just conflicted. This place is my home, and something in me feels settled to be back in the shadow of the mountains. But these people, my own people, turned a blind eye to what my father did for years. They always looked at me with suspicion, like they believed I was capable of the things my father said, despite the fact that I was just a baby.” She shook her head.
“I guess I realized that I have a birthplace, but I don’t really have a home.
” She huffed. “As I said, just conflicted.”
If anyone understood that feeling, it was me. “You have a home. It’s here, with us. We are yours, and you’re ours.” She looked over at me, her eyes soft.
I slid from the horse and stood beside its shoulder, its reins loosely in my hand, blocking me from sight as the gates opened. Suddenly, I saw Lierick’s expression freeze. Go, he mouthed as the gates opened to reveal a large contingent of soldiers.
I hesitated until Alucius nipped my fingers, dragging me off to the side to hide behind the gate in the shadows.
A boy, who couldn’t be much older than Avalon, was mouthing something at her, and I saw her shoulders stiffen.
“Avalon Halhed, your father wishes to see you,” an older soldier with a pointed gray beard announced.
She crossed her arms across her chest. “Well, I don’t wish to see him, Edgar.”
The man’s face twisted cruelly. “I don’t believe the choice is yours, Rat.”
Hayle growled low. “Speak to her like that once more, and I’ll remove your poisoned tongue from behind those blackened teeth.”
The guard bowed. “Of course. The Heir to the Third Line is welcomed with honor in Rewill, as is your retinue. We have world-class kennels to store your… pets.” He looked past Hayle at Lierick and Iker, and Braxus raised his lip to snarl at the guard.
Avalon rolled her eyes, her hand a steadying presence on Hayle’s forearm. “Fine, Edgar. Let’s get this shit done. I’m tired.”
She purposefully didn’t look back at me, and Alucius rumbled her discontent. I was in agreement with the hound. This was bad.
Very bad.