Chapter Twenty-Five #2
“Gunnald thought no one would notice until they changed guards in the morning,” Andros said. “So if they didn’t discover you missing, and your friend didn’t report it, they may have only just found out. We’ve got a good head start.”
“Good,” Theos said. It was as if the words were coming from very far away, maybe way back in the valley.
Maybe from that entry hall at the Elkat castle, where his Sacrati comrades had been butchered.
He squinted at Andros, and the expression on his friend’s face told him he wasn’t the only one who knew their next step.
“You’ll do it,” he said. “You’ll take care of it.
” Andros nodded. That was enough, so Theos tried to focus on Finnvid’s face and say, “Go home. Be safe.”
But Finnvid didn’t seem to be listening to him, or just wasn’t obeying.
Typical. Theos tried to push the boy, to show him which way he was supposed to be going.
Somehow he lost his balance and swayed, and then stumbled.
He felt a quick stab of pain from his thigh, reached for it, and managed to miss his own body with his hand. Was he dissolving?
“Catch him,” he heard Andros say, and he tried to turn, tried to grab at the Elkati before he got away: Why was Andros telling him to do that? Had Finnvid betrayed them again so soon?
Then the world spun a little and Theos was staring at something impossibly bright and dazzlingly blue. He could hear voices, maybe, and that was nice. He wasn’t alone. And he wasn’t cold. He felt his eyes drifting shut and didn’t fight to keep them open.
***
“I may be able to control them if they catch up to us,” Finnvid said.
“Maybe. I can’t guarantee it.” If the men were sent by his brother, they’d probably be manageable; if his mother was involved, with her paranoia about Finnvid’s state of mind, the soldiers might have been told to ignore his orders.
They wouldn’t hurt him, but they’d kill the Sacrati, or else be killed trying.
Finnvid didn’t like to think about either outcome.
Andros nodded and looked doubtfully at the man sprawled at their feet.
Finnvid had done the best he could with his healing, but Theos’s trousers were dark with blood, and there couldn’t have been much extra in his body to start with.
It probably hadn’t helped that Finnvid had been shaking, almost crying, the entire time.
To be with Theos again, to feel the beginnings of forgiveness, and then to see him collapse?
It was too much, and Finnvid had been hardly any use until Andros had grabbed him by the hair and held his head still while scrubbing his face with a rough hand and icy snow.
Finnvid had managed to regain at least some control after that treatment. He was glad Andros was still in charge.
The Sacrati said, “We’ll rest here, where we have a view of the trail. We can decide what to do about pursuers when we actually see them coming.”
“Did you kill the guards?” Finnvid had been fretting about it since they’d left the castle, and he needed to know for sure.
Andros shook his head. “Gunnald wouldn’t let me. He stayed out of sight so there’d be no need, and I just tied them up.” A quick look before he added, “You Elkati really should work on your training.”
Finnvid snorted, and sank down in the snow beside Theos.
They were nestled against a cliff that sheltered them from the wind, and he’d grabbed his warmest clothes before he left the castle, so he wasn’t cold, although his hands were still thawing after being bared to help Theos, and from being washed in the snow.
Finnvid stared at the reddened ground and said, “If we’re followed, they’ll think we fought a battle here. ”
Andros looked around, apparently quite comfortable with the gore. “Maybe,” he agreed. Then he turned back to Finnvid. “I’ve got questions. And we don’t want to move him until we have to, so . . . it’s time to answer them.”
Andros’s expression was Sacrati-fierce, and Finnvid braced himself.
Sure enough, the first question was hissed through angry teeth.
“What happened?” Andros clearly had to work to bring himself back under control before adding, “Who knew what, and when? What’s the situation now?
Why couldn’t you help Theos in the castle?
” He paused as if thinking, then caught and held Finnvid’s gaze.
“Don’t try to tell me you didn’t want to help him. We’re not going to play that game.”
“I wanted to help,” Finnvid whispered. But how to explain the fine balance he’d been trying to maintain, especially to someone like Andros, someone strong enough to just power through any obstacles?
Then he remembered how Andros had been caught in the middle of the mess back in Windthorn, forbidden to share what he knew with Theos even as he watched his friend struggle to figure things out.
Andros of all people knew that things could be complicated.
He must know that sometimes the best path to a destination wasn’t a straight one.
So Finnvid stood up and told his story, such as it was, Andros interjecting with an occasional question, and when it was done, Andros nodded his understanding of the facts.
But there was still no hint of whether Finnvid’s explanations had been acceptable when the Sacrati asked, “So what are you planning to do now?”
Finnvid swallowed. “I’m not sure. My first plan was just to get to you and deliver the letter.
To prove my people weren’t your enemy. Or at least, not your worst enemy.
” Well, his first plan had been to see Theos.
There had been no logic behind his pursuit, no motivation other than a selfish, desperate hunger to see the man still alive.
But Andros didn’t need to hear all that.
“And was there a second plan?” Andros asked.
“There’s been about fifty, all racing through my head, none making any real sense.”
“So you’ll stick to the first one. You’ve delivered the letter. Now you’ll turn around and go home.” It wasn’t quite a question, not quite an order.
And Finnvid wasn’t sure how to respond. “I can.” There would be consequences for his actions.
He supposed he could say he’d been kidnapped while trying to prevent the escape, but he wasn’t sure anyone would accept that story.
There were too many guards at the castle, and he’d had lots of opportunities to call them to his aid.
Still, he was the king’s brother, and the queen mother believed him to be mentally unstable.
He hadn’t actually aided in the escape itself, and the letter wasn’t common knowledge, so the family wouldn’t have to explain how it had disappeared.
If he went back, he would be watched even more closely, treated like an unstable invalid, but he wouldn’t be punished too harshly. He could return.
“You might need me. For Theos. I’m not sure I can keep them from coming after you, even if I go home.
I don’t really have anything new to tell them, and they weren’t persuaded to free Theos before.
If you have to move him by yourself, you’ll have to carry or drag him, and both ways seem likely to reopen the wound.
If I stay, we could try to rig a stretcher.
Also, you may need my healing skills, such as they are.
And when you get to Windthorn, I might be useful, too.
I could present the letter and explain its authenticity firsthand.
I could formally apologize for Elkat’s role in the killings. ”
“Oh, a formal apology? After the slaughter of a band of Sacrati? You think an apology will make us forget?”
“No! I don’t expect you to forget.” Finnvid could have stayed at home in his safe, comfortable bed, but instead he’d been punched in the face, bound, and forced to drag himself through the snow for hours in the dark.
He’d had enough. “Don’t forget anything.
You need to remember! Remember who started all this.
Remember who sent the suggestion that the Elkati do what they did.
Remember that Elkat was a peaceful valley for generations before your Torian violence swept over us and caught us up in its current.
I’m ashamed of what happened to the Sacrati, but my brother did it because he was told to by the leader of the Torian military. That’s what I can say.”
There was movement near Finnvid’s feet. “Didn’t sound much like an apology.” Theos’s voice was low, but clearer than it had been before he passed out.
Finnvid schooled himself to speak more calmly before he replied, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. And you’re right, I need to work on my wording.”
Theos snorted, then coughed weakly. Finnvid crouched next to him and offered his water flask. “Drink. And if you can eat something, that would be good. I didn’t see any signs of infection or other problems, so I think we’re mostly just dealing with blood loss.”
“Which you should have told us about,” Andros scolded.
Theos busied himself with lifting his head to the flask.
Finnvid felt a wave of affection for both of them.
Theos, strong and brash, hiding from Andros’s disapproval.
And Andros, kind and sweet, unafraid to poke at his grumpy friend when needed.
If Finnvid was going to travel into the winter mountains again, he couldn’t have chosen better company.
Well, unless he could have chosen a fit and healthy Theos instead of the injured version they were currently dealing with.
“I think I should come with you,” Finnvid said.
“Do your people use dogs?” Andros asked. He saw Finnvid’s blank expression and added, “To track with. Dogs?”
“To track people?” Finnvid shook his head. He’d read of such things, but never seen an animal trained that way. “Our hunting dogs chase the scent they find, not the one we give them.”