CHAPTER 24 TYCHO
TYCHO
By daybreak, the effects of the sleeping ether have worn off, so my head is finally clear.
It’s well and truly storming now, lightning flickering through the sky outside the hastily boarded windows of Jax’s small house.
My shoulder aches like the bolt is still buried in the joint, but I found my herbs and tinctures from Noah and dumped half of them into a cup of tea.
That was enough to take the edge off the pain— and it’s so effective that I wish I’d rationed some of it. I have no idea when I’ll get more.
I still haven’t seen anyone but Jax, and I can’t tell if the others are avoiding me, or if they’re simply sitting sentry to make sure scravers and Truthbringers aren’t coming after us.
Either way, there’s a part of me that’s glad.
I haven’t forgotten that Malin and Sephran were fighting instead of backing us up.
I haven’t forgotten the way Sephran’s fist cracked right into Jax’s throat.
Every time I think about that, my shoulders go tight and I start to wonder if I should go looking for trouble.
But I don’t. I’m in no shape to fight anyone at all.
Instead, I’m writing a new letter to Grey and Rhen, using one of Jax’s kohl pencils from the forge.
I’ve moved into the main part of the house to sit at the dusty kitchen table so he could finally get some sleep.
I have no idea if my first missive might’ve reached the king, but I’m more sure of Leo’s loyalty than a random army courier, so I’m more open about what we’ve discovered, though I still keep details sparse.
As I write, the sound of the pencil scratching along the parchment is drowned out by the rain rattling against the roof, and I inwardly cringe.
This weather will slow the Truthbringers, but it’ll make travel slow and difficult for Leo, too.
It’s not until I’m finally done and folding the letter that Malin appears in the doorway to the house, rapping his knuckles lightly on the frame. I glance at him, but say nothing.
He must take that as an invitation, because he steps across the threshold.
I might have been right about him sitting sentry, because his hair is threaded with rain, the leather of his armor glistening with water droplets.
Even in the shadows, his eyes are clearly heavy with exhaustion, and he’s got a pretty deep scrape across his jaw that someone stitched together with field sutures.
It’s an angry red, and I have no doubt it’ll leave a brutal scar.
I wonder if he got that in the fight with Sephran, or if he got hurt while we were trying to escape.
Not like it matters. We wouldn’t have been running like hell if they’d been doing their job instead of scuffling in the dirt.
I tell myself not to care. We’re down two horses thanks to their antics, which limits our options. And Malin might have a scar, but I can barely lift my arm.
His eyes skip down my form, lingering on the bandage at my shoulder. There’s still blood in my hair, but I haven’t had any desire to look in a mirror, so I wonder how bad I look. “Tycho,” he begins, his voice low. “Jax said you were—”
“Captain,” I say brusquely, cutting him off. “I’ve finished the letter for your recruit.”
He nearly snaps to attention when he hears my tone, but he must be tired, because he almost immediately deflates. “Come on,” he says with a sigh. “Please. Don’t . . . don’t do that.”
As soon as I hear that tired note in his voice, it tugs at me— because I remember feeling the exact same way during every single standoff with Grey.
If anything could steal some of my bitterness, it’s that.
“I’m sorry,” he adds. His mouth twists. “Really.”
And that.
I think of Jax telling me how long it took them to dig that spike out of my shoulder. I frown, then look away. “You lectured me about this, Mal.”
“I know.” He hesitates. “Trust me, I know. And I should’ve left it alone.
Seph just . . . he wouldn’t stop.” A flare of anger washes across his expression.
“If it wasn’t about you and Jax, it was about me and him.
The whole time we were trying to follow you through the tourney, he wouldn’t shut up.
Every ten seconds, another dig. And then we lost you in the crowd and we couldn’t find you anywhere. Then he started blaming me—”
“I get it.”
Malin scowls. “I shouldn’t have let it happen.”
I go to shrug, but I stop halfway through because it hurts so much. I do my best to swallow the pain, then say, “Well. I ended up punching the king when I was mad, so I’m not in any position to point fingers.”
His eyebrows go way up. “You never told me that.”
It’s my turn to grimace, because these are memories I’m not proud of. “Twice.”
A roguish spark lights in his eye, and he says, “Between you and me, he deserved it.”
Despite everything, that makes me smile. “Yeah. He did.” I hesitate, then finish folding the letter, which is awkward one- handed. “Where is Sephran now?”
That roguish spark in his eye darkens just a bit. “As soon as it started pouring, I made him take the sentry post. Do you still intend to send Leo back to Ironrose?”
I nod. “The king needs to know. As soon as possible.” I glance at the doorway. The rain is so heavy that it’s a wall of gray just past the overhang. “If the Truthbringers left last night, they’re already ahead of him.”
“Yeah, but they were injured, too. And it’ll take time to move that many people.
” He gestures. “Give me a slip of that parchment. I’ll give him orders to swap out for a new mount in each city.
” Without waiting for an answer, he drops into the chair across from me and picks up the kohl pencil I was using.
The slice across his jaw looks even worse up close. “Jax didn’t tell me you were injured,” I say as he writes.
“I don’t even know what got me,” he says without looking up. “It might’ve been a bolt like yours.”
If so, that was a near miss. An inch lower, and it would’ve gone right through his throat. No magesmith would’ve been able to fix that.
In my silence, he looks up. “If you’re sending Leo back alone, what are we doing?”
It’s a good question— and despite thinking about it for the last hour, I don’t have a good answer.
My primary goal in sending Leo is a matter of speed.
That leaves four of us— and only two horses.
Briarlock is a tiny town, but we’re miles away from the center of it.
Even if we could find more horses— questionable at best— I can’t decide if it would be more prudent to ride on to the Crystal Palace, or if we should turn back and follow Leo.
As usual, I’m torn between two countries.
Then again, maybe it doesn’t matter. It hurts to sit in a chair. If I set off on horseback, this shoulder won’t handle it well. And in a fight, I’d be worthless.
I have no idea what we’d find at the Crystal Palace, anyway.
Xovaar sensed my magic last night. Could he find me again?
And what if the Truthbringers are taking their weapons to go after the king— while the scravers are coming after me?
Would I be leading them right back to the queen?
Right when the king isn’t there to help protect her?
“So the plan is crystal clear, huh?” says Malin.
I run a hand across my face. I’m sure I look as exhausted as he does. “The king is usually the one with the plans. I just follow orders.”
I think of Grey sitting in Rhen’s strategy room, the way his gaze finally cleared and he really looked at me. Be safe.
I wish he were here to give orders right now.
Across from me, Malin looks like he wishes the same thing.
Outside, lightning flickers in the window. A few moments later, thunder cracks hard, and we both jump. Almost immediately, a man gives a sharp shout of alarm.
Malin smirks. “I guess that one scared Seph.”
Good, I think. But then there’s another shout, followed by a higher-pitched voice crying out in dismay.
Followed by the screech of a scraver.
Malin and I scrape out of our chairs at the same time. I’m immediately hit by a wave of dizziness, but Mal is already out the door. I stumble out behind him, realizing too late that I have no weapons and no armor, and I will be absolutely useless in a scraver fight.
But we don’t find Xovaar and the other Truthbringers in the lane, we find Lord Alek driving a carriage. Callyn is on the seat beside him. Overhead, a scraver screeches again, and I’m shocked to recognize Igaa, Nakiis’s frequent companion. The rain has turned ice cold, stinging my cheeks.
Sephran stands alone, a nocked arrow drawn taut on his bow, blocking them from going farther. “You will not pass !” he’s shouting in the downpour.
I have no idea what any of them are doing here, but a small, dark part of my heart finds one brief moment to hope Alek keeps driving that carriage right over Sephran.
No, not really.
Well, maybe a little.
I might not even need to wish for that, because Igaa changes course in the air, and she seems ready to dive through the sky to tackle him. Sephran is already shifting to shoot her, so I shout, “Igaa! No!”
She banks midair, but Sephran shoots anyway. For a moment, I think we’ll have a repeat of the night when Malin shot Nakiis, but the arrow barely misses. Igaa sails past him to land in front of me, skidding a little in the mud.
“Tycho,” she says. “We have found you.”
I can’t tell if I’m still dazed or if this is really happening. I shiver in the rain, which feels like sleet as it hits my skin. “Were you looking?”
“Yes,” she says. “I have brought Nakiis. He needs your help.”
I can barely process that, because behind her, Sephran is already nocking another arrow.
“Hold!” I snap at him. “Igaa is not my enemy.” But then I glance past him to see Alek and Callyn climbing down from the carriage.
The rain continues to pour down, soaking all of us.
I have no idea what to make of any of this.