Chapter 23
The guard doesn’t move a muscle as I approach. “Hi,” I call out, trying to put him at ease. “I’m Harper.” Having learned my lesson, I address my question very respectfully. “I am looking for His Royal Highness.” I think I manage to say the words without showing how I feel about him.
“He’s unavailable right now.”
I take a breath. Apparently, they’re all only capable of one answer. I take a deep breath. All right, here goes. “Okay. Thanks.” I start towards the doors in the middle of the wall.
He lifts his chin. “What are you doing?”
“Just going to find Rauk.”
“You can’t go out there,” he says, stepping forward.
“Are you going to stop me?” I ask him.
He glances at the guard next to him, and I take that opportunity to stride past him. Another guard grabs my arm, and I yank it away. “Don’t touch me.”
“You can’t go outside the wall,” he says, lifting his hands into the air and making a show of not touching me.
“What are you going to do if I do? Are you going to shoot me?” I ask with a nod to the bow he’s currently holding at his side.
He looks at the guard that I first approached. “No.”
“Okay then.” I walk past them towards the huge door. “Do you mind opening that for me then?”
“No.” Two more guards walk over and join us, and I see my chances at getting out of here are getting slimmer. And now, I want to know what is going on. “What is Rauk doing that nobody will let me know?”
“Unless you guys are going to shoot me, I’m going out there. So, I suggest you move out of my way.”
One of them who hasn’t spoken yet steps forward. “We can’t let you go out there.”
Frustration burns through me. “Why not?”
They look at each other, and I’m so frustrated. “Just tell me.”
“His orders,” one of them says quietly.
“Wait, Rauk’s orders?” I stare at them incredulously. “Are you kidding me? This is Rauk’s doing?” I shake my head, furious. “Move out of my way.”
“We’re not going to do that,” one of them says.
“Just let me go out there; I’ll tell him it was my idea,” I argue.
“He will literally have our heads if we let you out there,” another says.
Let’s go, Redara suddenly says in my mind. We'll go over the wall.
I turn around and race back to where she’s standing. If she wants to go over, then we’ll go before anybody else, including Nox, talks us out of it. I climb up her leg and am seated on her back seconds later. Go!
I hear the men shouting, but she takes a few running steps and lifts into the air.
Nox snorts his displeasure, but we’re already climbing.
I bend over and blow a kiss to the guards on the ground.
The guards on the wall don’t do anything as we fly over, but I tense anyway.
I don’t think they would shoot us down, but I don’t really know because I know nothing about this place!
Nox cuts us off again, forcing Redara to land.
We land a few dozen yards from the wall, and Nox lands next to us, shaking the ground as he does.
I don’t bother reaching out to her because I can tell she’s in a heated debate with Nox.
I look back over my shoulder and see the doors in the wall starting to open.
“That’s not good,” I mutter to myself. I pat Redara’s neck before I dismount. I think they’re going to come after me or something. I’m going forward. You go back with Nox; you can’t get through this forest of trees anyway.
I start jogging forward, doing a mental check of the weapons on my person. I have a dagger in my boot, and my slim knife in the band of my pants.
Where are you going to go? Redara asks as she gets as close to the trees as she can.
I’m going to find Rauk and figure out what in the world is going on. I wanted to find him just to talk, but now I’m going to find him just to see what he’s up to because all of this is ridiculous and way too heavy-handed.
Just make sure he’s alive maybe when you’re done with him. Not sure Nox will let you get away with murdering his bonded.
I huff out a laugh. No promises.
I don’t like this, she sends to me.
Noted.
I step into the trees and glance over my shoulder and see that she and Nox are just outside the trees.
Hopefully, they will deter the guards from coming after me.
I jog forward, hoping I’m going the direction Rauk went.
I look for footprints of any kind, but it’s impossible to tell in the ice and snow.
I hear footsteps behind me and turn to see one of the guards from the wall.
I slow to a walk. “I’m not going to go back with you. ”
“Yeah, I figured that. That’s why I’m here. I'll get you to where he is safely.” I don’t fail to notice how he puts emphasis on the word safely.
“Well, thank you.”
We walk in silence for a little while, and I don’t try to break it. I honestly have no idea what to say to this guy. Glancing at the guy next to me, I have to ask. “Do you have a spirit dragon?”
“Yes.”
“Could it defend you if something happened to you?”
“Yes.”
“Would it hurt whatever came after you?”
“My spirit dragon would tear to shreds anything that threatened me.”
I turn to look at him. “Okay then.” I ask my next question without looking at him. “Could it take down a guivre?”
He stops walking and looks over at me. “What did you say?”
I face him as well. “I asked if it could take down a guivre.”
His eyes narrow. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why would you ask that?” he demands.
I’m not exactly sure why he’s responding this way. “I was just curious.”
His eyes stay on my face another moment and then he turns away and starts walking again. I keep pace with him. He doesn't say anything, and my mind keeps turning our conversation over and over in my head. “What do you know about guivres?” he finally asks in a quiet voice.
“They’re terrifying creatures that are difficult to kill.” I don’t say anything about how they’re attacking and getting worse or about the war that I want Rauk and his people to fight in. We walk in silence for a while, and I wonder just how far away Rauk is and what he could possibly be doing.
It’s not for a long while that the guard finally speaks again. “I don’t know why you’re asking about guivres, but as powerful as spirit dragons are,” he pauses. “I don’t know that they could take down a guivre.”
His words settle over me. That’s the second time someone has told me they don’t think a spirit dragon could defeat a guivre. “What about several spirit dragons?” I ask.
“Do you have an unhealthy obsession with guivres or something?”
“Sure. Go with me on this. If you had two or maybe three spirit dragons, could they take down a guivre?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
We walk in silence after that, and a sort of despair settles over me.
If the spirit dragons can’t fight, then we’re doomed.
The whole point of me coming here is lost. I’m so lost in thought, I don’t notice when the guard next to me stops walking.
He puts a hand on my arm, stilling me. When I turn to him in confusion, he puts a hand to his lips.
Before I can even grab my knife at my waist, somebody gets the jump on me.
There’s suddenly an arm around my neck and a knife at my throat.
I go still. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
I take note of the slight accent. It’s unfamiliar to anything I’ve heard before.
He turns slowly, keeping me moving with him.
I grimace when I see the guard I was with is unconscious on the ground.
Hopefully, he’s not dead. My stomach tightens, and I will myself not to think about the fact that he might be dead because of me.
I push those thoughts away and focus on getting free.
I know I can call to Redara if it comes to that, but I’m not going to put her in harm’s way if I don’t have to.
I also don’t know if she could get to me in here easily.
I guess it’s all on me then. “Who are you and what do you want?”
“Ooo feisty thing, aren’t you?”
“You won’t be quite so happy when I bury my dagger in your heart,” I threaten.
The sound of laughter rings out around me, and my stomach knots.
There’s more than one. I wiggle my fingers towards my knife.
If I can just get it free, I could do some serious damage with it.
The knife at my throat pricks me, and I suck in a breath but stay quiet.
I won’t give him the satisfaction of making a sound.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve; I’ll give you that.
For a girl that’s all alone now, you’re pretty brave. ”
“How do you know I’m alone?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer my question. “Now, the question begs to be asked. Why are you out here alone with this guard, and who are you? Are you a Northerner?” I hesitate a moment, unsure how to respond.
There’s a hand in my hair suddenly, and my head is yanked back.
“Answer me. Are you one of them? One of those Northerners?”
“No,” I manage to get out. I don’t even know who the Northerners are, not that I’m going to admit that right now. I’m not really sure which is the right side to be on.
“She is,” another man says from not too far away. Suddenly, he’s in front of me. I stare up at the new guy. “You’re going to tell us exactly who you are, Sweetheart, and what you’re doing out here.”
I laugh at him and shake my head, ignoring the piercing of that stupid blade at my neck.
“Aw, did you just call me Sweetheart?” In a swift move, I grab my knife with my hand I finally worked free and place the tip of it over the thigh of the guy that’s holding me captive.
“I suggest you don’t call me Sweetheart again, and I think it’s high time you let me go.
It’s your choice, but if you don’t, let’s just say things aren’t going to go very well for this guy.
” I quickly do a head count. Four. Four to one.
My odds aren’t great, but I’ve dealt with worse.