Chapter 28 Odessa
Twenty-Eight
Odessa
“So you’re the Guardian.” Jodhi was in his usual place at our campfire, across from mine. And even though he spoke to Ransom, he stared at me.
His hands were clasped on his stomach, legs stretched long with his ankles crossed. He was the epitome of relaxed and carefree, despite today’s bariwolf attack.
Did he ever get tired of putting up this cavalier front?
“He’s the Guardian and the crown prince, Jodhi,” Thora said, running her sharpening stone over the blade of her ax. “The Turans do love their secrets and political games.”
Ransom scoffed. “The Mavins know a thing or two about secrets and games, don’t they, Vale? Or do you prefer to go by Thora these days?”
Her stone slipped off the blade’s edge as her eyes blazed. “Call me that name again, Guardian, and we’ll see just how good you are in a fight.”
Jodhi’s laugh was low and menacing.
“How, exactly, do you two know each other?” I asked.
“We don’t.” Ransom and Thora spoke in unison.
“Okay,” I drawled.
Another item to discuss with Ransom when we finally had a moment alone.
Evie hummed as she slept tucked under one of his strong arms. She was practically stuck to his side, and since their reunion, she’d refused to let him out of her sight.
I’d claimed his other arm and held Faze on my lap, sleeping in a ball as I stroked the orange scales on his spine.
If I never set foot in the skeleton forest again, I’d die a happy woman.
While Evie and I had ridden on Aurinda, Ransom had chosen to walk. We’d reached the edge of that cursed place at dusk, and I’d never been so happy to see green grass in my life.
We’d made camp against a cluster of boulders, the rocks large enough to provide a bit of shelter from the wind that blew inland from the Genesis coast. We were closer to the sea than we’d been in weeks, and the hint of salt in the air gave me hope.
It wasn’t Quentis, but we were getting close.
Close to the safety of my father’s castle. Close to a shelter for the migration. Close to healers and alchemists who could help me find a cure for Lyssa.
Thora set down her ax and stared up at the stars, whispering something I couldn’t quite hear. Then she stood, walking past the fire and into the night.
A moment later, Jodhi did the same.
“It’s customary for some in Genesis to bury their dead at night,” Ransom said. “They believe that under the light of the twin moons, the Six can see a soul more clearly to place them in the correct shade.”
“For Mathias’s sake, I hope that’s true.” I leaned my head against Ransom’s shoulder and sighed.
“Jodhi is in love with you.”
I scoffed. “No, he is not. Everything about me irritates him.”
“Trust me. It’s a ruse. He is infatuated with you. I should know. We share the same affliction.”
There was no way Jodhi had feelings for me, but even if Ransom was right, it didn’t matter. My heart belonged to my Guardian.
“How do you know Thora?” I asked.
“I know of her. Or I should say, I know of her as Vale. But we’ve never met in person. She is Cathlin’s niece.”
My jaw dropped as I sat up straight. “What?”
That explained the white hair.
“Cathlin’s family died in the last migration, but her brother’s wife survived.
The woman was pregnant at the time, and shortly after her husband was killed, she went to Genesis.
Cathlin stayed in loose contact with the woman, exchanging letters from time to time.
When Cathlin learned that Vale was part of the Mavins, she asked my mother if she could pay Vale’s debt for her freedom. ”
“And your mother said no?” That didn’t sound like Luella.
“She agreed. No questions asked. It was Vale who refused.” Ransom frowned.
“She insisted on paying the debt herself, vowing to take nothing from Turah. That was years ago. I don’t know the specifics.
I don’t think Cathlin does, either. But Mother asked me, if I ever crossed blades with the Mavins, to show mercy to a woman with snow-white hair. ”
“Has Cathlin ever met her?”
“No, I don’t believe so.”
I turned and stared toward the darkness. What had Thora done to become indebted to Salem and earn so many stars tattooed on her face? I hoped that the entry in Luella’s journal would someday come true, for Thora’s sake.
And for Cathlin’s. And that maybe, someday, the librarian would get to meet her niece.
I sank into Ransom’s side, my gaze shifting to the flames. As much as I wanted to fall asleep, this was our moment alone.
“What happened in Ellder? With the crux? I saw it carry you away and…” My throat closed, unable to finish.
“It’s dead.” He inhaled like there was more to say. But then he closed his mouth and looked to the fire, his eyes swirling between green and silver.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He lifted one of my curls off my shoulder and twisted it around his finger.
What wasn’t he telling me? Did the scout have Lyssa? Had it killed someone else I loved?
He dropped the curl and rested his chin on my head.
“I think she planned to carry me high enough and drop me. I drove my sword through her heart instead. She took the brunt of the impact as we fell, but I was thrown hard enough that I didn’t wake up until dawn.
By the time I got to Treow, it was empty.
My father and his remaining troops rode through.
Nearly everyone left to follow him to Allesaria, but Mariette was still there.
When she told me you never made it, I knew something had gone wrong. ”
“Brother Dime was waiting in the dungeon with Freya.” I took a deep breath, then told him about that night. From the fight with Banner to Zavier’s death to finding the priest in the hidden passage out of Ellder.
“Well, that explains why it was so difficult to pick up your trail. He must have disguised it somehow,” Ransom said. “Probably to hide you from my father.”
Or the High Priest.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him about Brother Skore and the waterfall, but the Voster’s warning about Ransom’s loyalty and how my father’s life was in danger made me pause.
Later. We could talk about that later.
“How did you find us?” I asked.
“It took a while. I figured you’d go to Quentis with Evie.
I went to Perris first, assuming you’d sail the Krisenth.
But not a single dockmaster had any recollection of seeing a woman with golden eyes and wild red hair traveling with a little girl.
So I rode east, and when I got to the Harrow River, I questioned every ferryman I could find. You made an impression on one.”
My nostrils flared. “He was a pig.”
“Then you’ll be happy to know I broke his arm.”
“Good.” The asshole ferryman had probably made a lewd comment.
“He told me you crossed paths in Northern Ozarth, near Norcrest. But he said you were alone, that he never saw a Voster.”
“Brother Dime met up with another priest. His name was Brother Skore. Dime left not long after that, and Skore led us along the Axmar Mountains. We were chased by some bariwolves”—made a stop at a waterfall—“then he left us near Norcrest. He told me to find a female warrior. I assumed he meant Thora and he knew the Mavins were in Ozarth.”
“He left you? Alone? With Evie? And only your sword?” Ransom’s entire body tensed. “This Brother Skore had better not cross my path.”
“If it’s any solace, I was glad to see him go.”
“Doesn’t matter. He shouldn’t have left you.”
No. But it was in the past. And with any luck, I’d never see Brother Skore again.
It didn’t take long for us to put the rest of our journeys together, both of us weaving through Ozarth and Laine. He’d passed a merchant on her way to Emrist who told him that a woman with curly red hair, riding with a little girl, was traveling with the Mavins.
If not for Thora’s breakneck pace, he would have caught up long before the skeleton forest.
“I’ve never ridden so hard as I did after I saw the bariwolf tracks. I don’t know what would have happened if I’d been a day later.” He closed his eyes. “An hour.”
“But you weren’t.” Thank Arabella. I believed the Goddess of Love had gifted Ransom and Aurinda divine speed so he could be there in time to save my life.
I couldn’t imagine what it would have done to him if he’d found us dead. He’d already lost too much.
“I’m so sorry about your mother. And Zavier.”
He glanced down at Evie, swallowing hard. “Healer Geezala found him. She heard your whistle. I don’t know if he survived, but when I left, he was still alive.”
“W-what?” I gasped so loud it woke Faze. He was alive? Zavier might still be alive? My hand trembled as I brought it to my mouth. “Oh, gods.”
“I asked Cathlin to send word to Quentis. It should be waiting when we arrive.”
“Don’t tell Evie. Not until we know.”
“Agreed. Does she know about Mother?”
I nodded. “She asked if Luella was in the shades. I told her yes, but that was the extent of it.”
He stroked her small hand with his thumb. “Someday, when she’s older, I’ll tell her the rest. She should know a mother, even if it’s only a memory.”
It was more than I had of my own.
“I want to go home.” I wound a hand around his waist, snuggling closer.
Not to Quentis, but Turah.
I wanted to hide away in a treehouse in Treow with Ransom for months, ignoring the chaos that seemed to be gathering like thunderclouds over our heads.
“Tomorrow, we’ll ride to the coast and find a fishing village. We’ll hire someone to sail us to Roslo.”
“Will we make it before the migration?”
“We’ll make it.”
“Ranse, no one we met on the road coming here had heard of the crux scout. No one seems to be panicked. The Mavins didn’t believe me when I told them. Why hasn’t news traveled faster? Why aren’t people finding shelter? They need to be warned. Your father wouldn’t keep this a secret, would he?”
“No. Thora was right about Turans. We have our fair share of secrets. But this isn’t one he’d keep. When we get to Quentis, I’ll find out if there have been other scouts.”
“Lyssa is spreading across Calandra. The migration is months and months earlier than the scholars predicted. It’s never been during a winter before.
People won’t have stored enough food or found a place to hide.
It feels like the realm is on the brink of collapse, and we’re trapped in the middle of a firestorm. What do we do?”
“Stay together.” He brought his hand to my face, cupping my jaw and tilting it up as he stared down into my eyes. “No matter what. Stay together.”
Ransom captured my mouth, his lips a soft press against my own.
I parted for him instantly, our tongues tangling as the embers from the fire floated into the night.
“Hope I’m not interrupting.” Jodhi’s voice cut the kiss short as he strode into the circle, plopping down on his blanket and brushing the dirt from his pants. “Thora didn’t want company.”
He stretched out his legs and resumed his relaxed posture, crossing his arms behind his head. “Lovely night, isn’t it?”
Ransom growled.
I sighed, relaxing into his side, grateful that tonight, I’d get to sleep on his chest.
Stay together.
If only the realm weren’t trying to tear us apart.