Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
brEYLA
W e had been riding all day after departing my grandparents’ estate, much to their disappointment. We had to promise to visit and bring Mother next time to get my grandmother to release us from the death grip she called a hug.
We closely followed the path we believed Julian would have taken. The rain had washed away any traces of a potential trail he would have left. Unfortunately, he had been trained well and probably hadn’t left much to go off despite the rain. I had also instructed him to avoid major cities and establishments when possible, something I was now regretting.
There had been a few inns and taverns that he might have stopped at, but when we stopped to ask the tavern owner if he remembered seeing Julian, he had no memory of seeing a soldier matching his description within the last week.
“It seems Julian did exactly as I commanded, stopping nowhere he could be recognized, and I’ve never been more displeased at him for following orders.” I sigh, the frustration seeping through me.
Aurelius rides close to my left side and has remained quiet for most of our journey. When he speaks, it’s not what I expect. “Keep your eyes forward, General. We’re being followed. They’ve been on us since we stopped at the last tavern.”
I stiffen but follow his instructions. “Do you have any idea who it might be?” I keep my voice barely above a whisper. What I don’t ask is how he managed to sense it when I hadn’t noticed anything. That thought was more unsettling than being followed.
“No, they haven’t come close enough for me to get a look at their attire.”
“How many?”
“Just one.”
“Plan?”
“I don’t know what they want, but I don’t think they mean us harm. I don’t sense any ill intention on them.”
“The trees are getting thicker up ahead. I could wrap us in shadows and ambush them as they pass through.”
“That’ll do. When they’re close enough, I should be able to render their limbs motionless so we can question them.”
I nod in acknowledgment of our plan. We ride another ten minutes until the trees start to thicken. Once the horses pass through a particularly shady patch, I wrap my shadows around the both of us, allowing us to blend into the natural shade of the trees.
We wait for another ten minutes until our tail appears. It’s not at all what I expect to see when a mousy young female peaks her head around the grouping of trees. I’m sure she’s looking for us since it probably seemed as if we disappeared into the shadows in front of her.
I take a moment to observe her before either of us move. She has chestnut hair and deep blue eyes. Her body is tall and willowy, limbs thin and dainty. It’s what I imagine my mother would look like if she were severely underfed. The girl has slight curves, but it’s hard to find them with the lack of meat on her bones. Still, there’s a brightness in her eyes; a determination.
I give Aurelius a nod to signal it’s time to enact our plan. He holds up his hand, twisting his fingers in a motion to freeze her in place. At the same time, I release the shadows keeping us hidden.
“Hello, little mouse,” I say, greeting her with a smile. If she’s scared, she doesn’t show it.
Aurelius has left her control of her neck and head, so she can turn it to look us in the eyes. She twists her head around, examining her frozen body.
“Hmm. How intriguing,” she hums before turning her gaze back to us. “Hello, Princess and Lord Aurelius.”
“So, you do know who we are,” I reply, confirming she knows who she’s been following. “But care to share who you are and why you’re following us?”
“The name is Nameah Galvin. I’m following you because I overheard you in Mo’s tavern, and I have something I think you’ll want to see.”
This piques my interest—she had heard us asking about Julian. It would be our first real lead, and I couldn’t let it pass.
Aurelius seems less convinced. “Why should we trust you? You could have approached us at the tavern, yet you followed us all the way out here instead.”
“I’m not from that town. My family lives about a half day's ride to the south, but I come into town for supplies and trading when necessary. I don’t trust everyone in town, and I have a feeling you don’t want news spreading about what I’m about to show you.”
My hackles rise at her words, something in my gut telling me to believe her. I look to Aurelius for confirmation that she’s being truthful, and he nods .
“Very well, Nameah. I believe you. Lead the way.” I nod to Aurelius so he’ll release the hold he has on her body.
He relaxes his hand, and movement returns to her previously frozen limbs. She wiggles her fingers and stares at them in awe.
“What an interesting Gift. I’ve never seen one quite like it, though I’ve never seen much of any Gifts with how far away from most people we live.” Nameah rambles on, and I’m unsure if she’s speaking to us or herself. “I’ve heard tales of your power, General. Of course, I’ve encountered the occasional shadow wielder, but none nearly as strong as what you’re rumored to be.”
I chuckle lightly. “Are you trying to flatter us, Nameah?”
“No!” she exclaims a bit too quickly, then reconsiders. “Well, maybe a bit. I have always wanted to join the Rimorian army, so I figured it best to get in your good graces.”
That bit of information surprises me, but I keep my face neutral. I decide to question her as we ride. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-one, Your Grace.”
“If you want to get on my good side, don’t call me that,” I say with an exaggerated eye roll that has Aurelius snickering behind me.
She nods enthusiastically, and I continue my questions. “Do you possess any powers?”
“I do. I can bend light. I’m not the strongest, but I can do this.” She demonstrates her Gift, her hand raising and disappearing before my eyes. Her power seems to work similarly to my shadows, but with light; she’s bending the particles around her body in such a way that she appears invisible. It’s quite impressive, but rather useless in the dark.
“How far does your ability extend?”
“I can manipulate my entire body, but I can’t do anything beyond that.” There’s potential she could make for a decent spy with some training .
“Can you create light?”
She shakes her head. “No, sadly I cannot. I’ve tried, but it seems I’m not strong enough.”
“Your strength is not defined by your power, little mouse. It’s quite the opposite, actually.”
She quirks a brow at me. “How so?”
“Everyone is born with certain talents, but skill is developed. Those with raw power, but no discipline to learn control over that power are wild and useless. Most of the time, they’re dangerous. Therefore, they are actually the weakest because I can do nothing with them. Those born with less natural ‘talent,’ but the discipline to learn control and grow their powers are far more useful. Our Gifts are like our muscles; the more we exercise and train them, the stronger they grow.”
“I had never thought of it like that, but I guess that makes sense. So, are you saying I could grow my abilities beyond what they are now?” There’s a hint of excitement in her question.
“I think it’s possible. Whether or not you do is dependent entirely on you.”
She nods in understanding, and I continue my questions. “Can you fight? Have you been trained?”
“I have two older brothers, so I’ve spent my fair share of time wrestling and sparring with them. I wouldn’t say I’ve been trained formally, but I can hold my own.”
A few moments pass in silence as I consider her potential. She’d be starting later than most soldiers and she’s severely underfed, so the training would take everything from her until she started gaining muscle. It wouldn’t be easy, but she seems eager.
“I’ll consider it, but only after I see what you have to show us and once I’ve had a chance to evaluate your abilities myself. I won’t lie to you; it will be difficult. You’d be starting at a disadvantage, but I’m not one to deny anyone a chance. ”
Nameah nods enthusiastically. “I understand! That’s good enough for me. I won’t let you down, General.”
We ride for another hour before Nameah announces, “We’re almost there. It’s in the clearing just beyond this group of trees.” Her face is serious and sullen.
A nervous energy consumes me as we make it through the trees to the clearing beyond. What we see has a sob fighting to break free and bile racing up my throat. I dismount Luna in a hurry and fall to my knees as I empty the contents of my stomach on the ground.
Aurelius is behind me, rubbing soothing circles on my back. “It’s okay, Princess. I’ve got you,” he whispers for my ears only.
After another minute, I find the strength to look up and fully take in the site before me. On a wooden cross hangs the headless body of my second. His arms are stretched out to the side, nails driven through his wrists to keep his body in place.
The stench hits me as soon as I take a step closer. Close to a week has passed since his head was sent to me in a box—and there’s no telling exactly when he was killed—so the process of decay has fully begun. The putrid smell of rotting flesh invades my nostrils and has me gagging. If I had anything left in my stomach, it would surely be coming back up. My eyes water from the smell at first, but quickly shift to actual tears streaming freely down my cheeks.
Up close, I can see his body more clearly. It doesn’t appear that he has any other significant injuries, which leads me to believe he wasn’t tortured. I pray to any gods that will listen that it meant he had a swift death. If he wasn’t tortured, it means they weren’t looking to get any information from him.
So, then why was he murdered at all? Was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Did he see something he wasn’t supposed to?
I turn to Aurelius. “Who would do this?” It’s all I can manage to get out .
“I don’t know, Princess. But we’ll figure it out.” He pulls me into his warmth and places a soft kiss on the top of my head.
“I’m glad Jade isn’t here to see this,” I whisper.
“No one saw who did it, in case you’re wondering. He was just here one morning. My family lives close enough that we would have heard something if there was a fight, but there was nothing.”
“Why didn’t anyone try to take him down?” I feel anger rise in me that they would leave his body like this. The wildlife has already started picking at his corpse; they should have done something.
“We did,” she sighs. “There’s some kind of shield around his body that wouldn’t let anyone pass through. It didn’t protect him from the elements or animals, but no person could reach him.”
I hadn’t heard of any shields like that before. “I don’t understand,” I say, furrowing my brows.
She walks up to his body and reaches a hand toward him. Before she can touch him, her hand just stops. It’s as if there’s an invisible barrier that she can’t pass through. “I don’t understand either, but we all experienced the same thing when we tried.
I reach out a hand to see if I get the same resistance. My hand passes through whatever barrier is there and meets his body. As soon as I make contact, a burning sensation races up my fingertips, causing me to jerk back and cry out in pain.
“What the fuck was that?” I hiss out, shaking my hand. Aurelius grabs it tenderly, turning it over and looking for signs of injury. There’s nothing there, and the burning has receded to a slight tingling sensation.
“Is your hand okay?” Nameah asks. “I swear that didn’t happen to any of us that tried before.”
“It’s like it was meant for only you. Like it was waiting for you to touch his body,” Aurelius muses. “I wonder...” His voice trails off as he reaches his hand out toward Julian’s body.
Like mine, his hand passes through the invisible barrier, allowing him to touch Julian. As soon as he makes contact, he grunts and pulls his hand back just as I had done with mine.
“There’s something there,” Nameah says. I find where her eyes are pinned and notice a piece of parchment nailed to his chest, right above where his heart would be.
“That wasn’t there before...” My voice trails off as I reach for the note. Careful not to make contact with his body again, I rip the parchment free.
Written in elegant script are the words:
The Crimson Prince and Queen of Shadows will fall.
“What the—” My words are cut short by the whistling of an arrow as it flies by inches from my face.
“Get down, Princess. We’re under attack!” Aurelius roars as he draws his sword.
I roll my eyes. “I’m the fucking general, this is just another Thursday.” I pull my own sword, dragging Nameah behind me. She’s untrained, and I refuse to have her blood on my hands.
Four males surround us, seeming to have appeared out of thin air. There’s no way they would have escaped the notice of both Aurelius and I, so they must have been cloaked somehow. They’re all dressed in leathers identical to each other, red cloaks pinned to their shoulders, and all armed to the teeth. All four males tower over us, even exceeding Aurelius's height by a few inches. I stare down the one who shot the arrow at me, studying his features.
His red hood is pulled high over his head to hide his hair and obscure his features. His eyes are a shade of red I’ve never seen before. It’s unnatural and unsettling. I can’t make out anything else on his face as a black cloth covers the bottom half.
The group remains silent as they continue circling and closing in on us.
“What do you want?” I demand, using the voice that always has my soldiers falling into line.
“You are attacking the General and Princess of Rimor and the Royal Emissary. I suggest you carefully consider your next move. You wouldn’t want a war on your hands.” Aurelius speaks in a way that would make lesser males quake.
Still, our assailants say nothing, but I hear a few muffled snickers. These males have no fear.
The one I was studying finally speaks, his voice low and smooth like liquid velvet wrapping around my senses. “War is coming for you whether anyone wants it or not,” he says pointedly before finally attacking.
He swings his sword straight for me, and I raise my own to meet his at the last possible second. He’s fast. They’re all incredibly fast. Aurelius and I work to fend them off, keeping our backs together and Nameah between us.
Except she’s not between us anymore. From my peripherals I catch sight of her engaging one of the males not currently attacking Aurelius and me. She has a dagger in her hand, and while she has very little range, she can at least stand a fighting chance if he chooses to attack.
My attention snaps back to the two males charging me. I meet the first, fending off his blow and pushing him back, then swing right as the second thrusts his blade at me. I narrowly miss his attack and manage to make one of my own, my sword slicing through the air where he stood just a moment ago.
These males are skilled, obviously highly trained, and clearly just toying with us. If they wanted to kill us, they’d be trying harder.
Aurelius grunts from somewhere close by, his sword clashing with the male currently attacking him.
When it’s clear I’m not taking any ground against my assailants, I change tactics. Instead of thrusting my sword at him, I wait until he charges me. I twist out of his path, then use my shadows to create a blindfold around his eyes. I have a feeling it won’t hold for long, so I take my shot while I can, slamming my heel into the center of his back. He stumbles into his companion and lets out a startled grunt.
They clearly didn’t expect that move, and they’re unhappy about being outmaneuvered.
I hear Nameah struggling against her attacker, but she’s doing better than I expected. She’s still alive, which is more than I could have hoped for at this point. I cast shadows in her direction, doing what I can to lend her the strength of my Gifts without leaving myself vulnerable.
A realization dawns when my shadows reach her, and the next second, she disappears. There we go, little mouse. That’s thinking on your feet.
I turn my focus back to my fight, my attackers having fully recovered from my last trick. The warrior on the right raises his sword and steps toward me, but then freezes. His eyes drop down, and I follow their path to see the tip of a blade sticking out the front of his chest just below his heart.
The warrior on my left bellows in rage, swinging his sword wide and thrashing at the enemy he can’t see. His sword makes contact, and I hear Nameah’s pained gasp, followed by the flickering form of her body coming back into view.
The remaining three warriors halt their attack and retreat from us. They lay hands on their fallen comrade as their forms start to waver and disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Just before they disappear completely, I hear, “The prince sends his regards.”