30. Penny
Penny
The militia moved into Forstford as if they owned it. It was a swift and successful takeover, aided largely by the absence of residents to protest.
They claimed the abandoned tavern for themselves, herding Ben, Rosie, me, and the last stragglers into a corner while they turned the place into an outpost. Not that we were ignored—far from it. We were interrogated, one by one, and then interrogated again.
I didn’t take kindly to the suspicion. The moment they started insinuating I was lying about having sent the message that brought them here, I lit into them, demanding to know what right they had to barge in here and treat us like criminals.
I might’ve raised my voice. I might’ve thrashed when one of them laid a hand on me.
And when another sneered that my protest looked a lot like guilt, I might’ve lunged.
That was enough to get me trussed up hand and foot and left to sit, chewing on the kerchief they’d stuffed in my mouth and glaring daggers at any soldier foolish enough to look my way.
Ben smoothed things over as best he could. He was a town elder, after all, and what authority remained in Forstford clung to him. But the commanding officer—a stately woman with blunt brown hair and a blunter manner—made it clear that no one would be overruling her.
They were talking even now, and Ben was doing his best to advocate for us. He gestured toward me as if to emphasize his point, repeating what I had already made clear.
“We were warned,” he said. “A messenger came, telling us there would be an attack. That we should evacuate.”
The ward commander leaned on her sword hilt, the picture of impatience. “And this attack?” she asked, sounding bored. “Is it imminent?”
My answer came muffled through the gag, the words slurred into nonsense. Still, I tried to tell her, yet again, that the Bone Men had been sabotaged and scattered. Violette and Klaus had fled the moment soldiers appeared on the horizon. Forstford was safe.
But while I should have been celebrating, I felt more wretched by the moment. What good was saving Kit’s home if he would never set foot in it again?
“Quiet, you!” the commander snapped, cutting off my garbled insistence.
I snorted and gave a violent squirm, the ropes chafing my wrists while my legs stretched stiff before me. Rosie glanced my way, wide-eyed, but there was no pity in her expression, only fear.
Ben managed a bit of sympathy. “Really, you can let the boy speak for himself.” He motioned to me again. “What he told you was the truth.”
“Claims without evidence,” the commander said, flicking her hand through the air. “Just strangers stirring panic. Likely planning to loot the town in your absence. Rob the unwitting citizens of everything they hold dear.”
That did it.
My skin went hot, and I wriggled and twisted, dipping my chin until I could wedge the kerchief between my teeth and tongue. It tasted sour and smelled the same as I pushed it far enough out that words could squeeze past.
“And call you here to observe it?” I spat. “You think we wanted to be caught? That doesn’t make sense, and you know it.”
The commander’s eyes narrowed, dark and unreadable. “No, it does not. None of this does. We arrive to a vacant town, an empty threat, and troublemakers flooding the streets with knives. What did you intend to use the weapons for?”
I turned my head aside and rubbed my shoulder over the gag, fighting to keep it from sliding back into place. “I intended to make a point. And to take back what belongs to me.”
“What’s that?” she asked coolly.
The question lanced through me, dragging me back to the sight of Kit being led into the trees. He hadn’t looked back, but I had—burning the sight of him into my memory. It might have been the last time I’d ever see him, and that knowledge haunted me.
I dropped my gaze and muttered, “Doesn’t matter. It’s too late now.”
Silence followed, broken when the front door banged open and a line of soldiers tramped inside. Their boots struck the floorboards with the kind of rhythm that made my pulse quicken.
The commander stirred to their arrival, abandoning us to greet them with a questioning look.
One of my claims they had believed, at least enough to act, was about the Bone Men’s camp outside of town. It was the only proof I had, and I gave it reluctantly.
I hadn’t wanted to hand Kit or Isla over to these people, but I was desperate now. Foolish as I’d ever been, and hopeful they would show mercy that Merrick would not.
“There was something,” the man in front confirmed. “Signs of a fire, very fresh. Someone was definitely camped there until very recently.”
I sighed relief, having worried they wouldn’t find the spot I described. I’d offered to show them the way, but they dismissed me with some grumbling about being led into an ambush and went out on their own.
The commander nodded, then glanced back. Her eyes caught on mine.
She closed the distance between us and crouched in front of me. I forced myself not to shrink from her glare, holding myself rigid instead, every nerve taut with defiance.
Her jaw ticked before she reached out, hooked her fingers over the edge of the gag, and tugged it down. The spit-slick cloth raked over my skin, catching on stubble, before it hung in a damp loop around my throat.
“Tell me again,” she said, voice low, face unreadable. “How did you come here?”
“I was brought.” My head tipped toward Rosie.
“My friend and I, and two others—they shoved us into a cart and drove us across the province in the name of one of the Bone Men’s Oaths of initiation.
They’ve bastardized the old rites, turned them into something ugly.
Just a pretext for havoc and ruin. We meant to stop them, but we…
” The word failed lodged in my throat, something I couldn’t admit.
I swallowed it down and tried a different tack.
“I sent a message ahead to Ben and Forstford. To spare them. Or help them spare themselves.”
“From a fire,” the commander said flatly.
A shiver rippled through me. “Yes.”
“But there is no fire.”
“No. Because you got here in time.” I lifted my chin and met her eyes with what strength I had left.
Because we didn’t fail. Not at everything.
A long pause passed before I realized that she was still listening. Listening in a way she hadn’t before, chin tilted, eyes narrowed but not dismissive. For the first time, I had her ear, and I wasn’t about to waste it.
“You know they’re building something,” I said quickly, straining against my bonds.
“With the bones. It won’t be much longer now.
If they succeed, what comes will be worse than fire.
They want to ruin everything—every town they can touch.
But if you went there, you could stop them.
Do more than we managed. You could finish it. ”
Her eyes flicked over me, then she asked, “Go where?”
“To Ashpoint,” I replied. “That’s what the Bone Men call their encampment. It’s a town, too. A home for so many people, and not everyone there is—” I swallowed hard and then glanced at Rosie, who looked on, scared and stiff. “We aren’t all bad. If you really want to help, that’s where it’s needed.”
The commander’s expression stayed stony as she turned her head toward Ben.
“You believe him?”
“I do,” Ben said simply. “And they’ve taken one of our own. We’d like him back.”
Her gaze cut back to me. “How far from here is it?”
I thought of the endless cart ride that had brought me here, how the wheels had rattled over every rock and rut.
“A few days,” I said. “I could take you, but we should leave now. Tonight. If we can catch up with the others on the road, we can make sure that no warning reaches Ashpoint before we do.” My legs twitched with the urge to rise, but the rope bit my ankles.
So instead, I fixed the commander with a pointed look, then dipped my chin toward the bindings in mute suggestion.
She didn’t take it. Instead, her gaze swept the tavern, where her soldiers leaned against the walls and tables.
“We aren’t prepared for that long of a journey,” she said at last. “We’d need supplies. And rest.”
“There’s ample supplies here,” Ben offered. “And you’re welcome to them.”
“Thank you.” She nodded at him. “It will still take time, though. Several hours, I’d say. And we’ll need to send for reinforcements, or gather them along the way.”
It was well into the night by now. Hours would lead to morning, and while the commander and her troops dallied, I knew for fact that Violette and Klaus would not.
The soldiers found the camp abandoned, which meant they were already on the road, heading back to Ashpoint.
There would be untold miles between us by dawn.
My heart sank even as my temper flared. “You want to wait till tomorrow?” I asked.
“We could be on the road before the afternoon,” the commander replied.
“That’s not—” My voice cracked, and the rest escaped in a murmur, “soon enough.”
She leaned over me, tall and rigid, her shadow swallowing the weak light of the fire. “We can’t jump to respond to every cry of distress from every corner of the province without preparation. We’d fail before we ever started.”
“You’ll fail if we don’t start now,” I snapped, my wrists twisting against the ropes.
The commander’s mouth pressed a tight line. Her gaze didn’t waver, and I felt the weight of it driving me lower.
Finally, she inclined her head. “In the morning—when we are adequately prepared—you can take us there. I must admit I’m intrigued at the prospect. If you are, in fact, a Bone Man, you’re the first I've met who would so willingly betray them.”
“Willingly. Gladly. Urgently,” I shot back, hoping she could hear my insistence.
Rather than reply, she turned to where Ben stood by. “Mister Fischer? About those supplies you mentioned.”
He stirred at her summons, then joined her as they turned away, leaving me bound and sulking. It was shaping up to be a miserable night.