Chapter 26 #2
“The soldiers …” Gloria swallows. “They took everything. We were simple people, really. My husband was a farmer. His younger brother, too. But the soldiers burned it all to the ground.” She closes her eyes, and I can see how much effort it takes for her to hold herself together.
I’m sure it’s not for our sake, but for the children’s.
“It was the third time since we’ve been married.” She shrugs hopelessly. “So, we thought we’d have a better chance living further south, away from the conflict. Away from the encroaching border.”
“Away from Annwyn?” Tristan asks, a hint of judgment in his voice.
I shoot him a glare. Who is he to judge a woman for doing what’s best for her family’s survival?
He notices my gaze and holds up his hands in surrender.
“Where are you going?” Hunter leans forward, a concerned look in his eyes.
“We’d planned to find a farming village where my husband and brother-in-law could start over again. Find some fields no one wants to work.” She sighs. “Now? We’ll stay anywhere that will have us.”
Somewhere out in the distance, wolves howl.
The children’s eyes grow wide and they huddle closer to their mother. The twins begin to cry.
“Hush.” Gloria runs her fingers through their hair. “These kind people will protect us.” Her eyes are pleading as she looks to Hunter, easily the biggest and most soft-hearted of our group.
“We’ll do our best tonight,” I say. “But in the morning, we’ll be travelling back the way you came.”
Gloria looks horrified. “No, you can’t! It’s certain death, I swear it.”
Tristan nods. “It is.” He sniffs. “For some.”
She narrows her eyes at him. “There are corpse wolves near the ruins at Ellyll.”
Trisan shrugs. “There are corpse wolves everywhere now.”
“At least travel east or west for a day, to give yourself a better chance.”
“It would be a waste of time.”
She stares at him for a long moment before she turns her attention back to her children, clearly leaving us to whatever fate she thinks we’re walking straight into.
Long after the children have fallen asleep by the fire, the wind howls alongside the wolves, their music intertwined. I’m not always sure which is which, making my dreams a confusing, wild mess. But when a creature snarls, just out of sight, I jump up in alarm.
“Don’t worry, Red. I won’t let them hurt you.”
I turn to find Tristan whittling a stick, flicking the shavings into the fire. Flames crackle, illuminating the twisted hawthorn branches behind him. Their shadows dance and reach for us, like spirits trapped beyond the veil.
“Was that a corpse wolf?” I whisper. My voice pitches high, betraying my terror.
He nods, nonplussed.
My heart races in my chest. “I was attacked by one, once.”
Tristan raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t quit his whittling. “And you lived to tell the tale? Impressive.”
His eyes flicker to Hunter, where he snores gently. His breath rises in tiny clouds with each exhale.
“Tristan,” I whisper, trying not to wake the others.
His gray eyes meet mine. They glisten in the firelight, full of secrets.
“When we get to the border, you will tell me what happened to my grandmother, won’t you? You’re not just dragging us along for your own benefit?”
His eyes don’t flicker away from mine, not even for an instant. “Red, I promise you, once I’m in Annwyn, I will tell you what I know.”
Maybe I do believe in the Wolf code of honor, because I trust him. When I finally fall back into a fitful sleep, we’re serenaded by a crackling fire and corpse wolves singing to the moon.
Just before dawn, I wake with a start. It takes me a moment to realize why. The fire has burned to little more than embers, and an early morning mist creeps along the ground. A pair of feet in ragged shoes stands inches from my head.
Above me, Gloria and Marten Jr. hold their hands out in offensive stances. Black mist swirls between their palms.
“Give us what remains of your food,” Gloria says in a rough whisper. “And we’ll go peacefully.”
Marten Jr. follows suit. “We have shadow magic, and we will hurt you, if we must.” His voice trembles, but he stands firm.
Nearby, Hunter startles awake. When he sees we’re being robbed, he looks deeply disappointed.
I scan the darkness for the twins and spot them huddled together by a tree. They’re holding onto the bridles of our two horses. Marigold’s ears twitch as she watches to see what I’ll do.
On the other side of the fire pit, Tristan sits up with an irritated grunt.
“We already knew you’d rob us blind, kid.
Just take the saddlebag and be on your way.
” He tuts. “Honestly, I figured you’d sneak away hours ago.
” His eyes flicker to the twins with our horses a short distance away.
“But you’d better leave those horses. We have a long journey ahead of us.
” He lifts a lazy hand, holding a sparking ball of blackness that makes their flimsy shadows look like child’s play.
Marten Jr’s eyes grow wide. His own shadow power dissipates in an instant.
Gloria grabs her son to her chest. “You’re a Wolf. You should have told us.”
“Why?” Tristan asks, curious. “So you could rob us a different way?”
“Please don’t hurt us,” Marten Jr. says. His voice cracks.
Tristan sighs, rolling his eyes. “Just go already.” He kicks the saddlebag toward them. Marten Jr. scrambles for it, then backs away slowly.
Gloria shoots Hunter an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I have to take care of my children.” She lets out a stifled sob.
At the sound, Hunter looks physically pained. “I know.” He briefly glances my way. From the look in his eyes, I know what’s coming. Damn Hunter and his overlarge heart.
“Take the horses,” he says. “You need them more than we do.”
“What?!” Tristan gasps behind us.
Hunter shoots him a look. “I won’t have a family of four dying in Korrigan Forest if I can help it.”
Tristan groans and flops back on the ground. “Damn knights and their damn guilt complexes …”
Hunter turns back to Gloria. “And if you come across an abandoned village to the south, stay far away from it.”
She nods, then runs back to the twins. She lifts them onto Marigold’s back, then helps Marten Jr. climb onto Honor before swinging up behind him.
Marigold gives us one mournful look but doesn’t protest. She’s noble that way.
She’ll take good care of those children.
The family gallops into the forest without a backward glance, the sky lightening around them in a soft, daybreak-blue haze.
Tristan grunts, lying back down on the ground. “Well, I guess we’re in for a long walk. And that’s the last of the food.”
Hunter stares into the forest for a long moment before responding. “We’ll have to put that famed Wolf hunting prowess to good use then.” There’s a challenge in his voice that makes Tristan chuckle.
“I thought you’d never ask.”