Chapter 34 #2
“Your Majesty,” the youthful sentry said, turning to face me. “It’s best if you remain indoors. Do not concern yourself with the search. I suspect it will be over soon.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Alyric has enlisted Darwyn.”
I stared at him silently, my mind blank until he elaborated.
“Darwyn is our finest tracker. His ability to follow a scent trail is unmatched. He will find the source of the rot by nightfall.”
“The entire place reeks of the Forlorn, does it not?” I cried, waving my hands toward the smoke-filled streets.
“The blood of our enemies is splattered across every singed stone, every piece of debris. How exactly is he going to achieve anything in this filth?” My words felt like treason as they left my lips; I was no longer a queen, but an accomplice, casting a web of diversion to shield my family.
“He is not seeking the scent of their blood, My Queen,” the sentry replied with chilling calm. “He is seeking the human scents left upon the remains.”
“Scents? As in… more than one?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Yes, he’s fairly confident there are three or four culprits.”
“And how exactly do Alyric and Darwyn plan to investigate? I will not have my people subjected to further terror, nor will I permit them to be harassed in the name of this search.”
“I do not expect violence, Your Majesty. They’ve begun with those who haven’t taken refuge indoors and will then methodically move throughout the town.
Every citizen will be required to present their hands for Darwyn to scent.
Please, stay calm. Go back indoors and await Alyric’s return.
This will all be over soon.” He’d said this before; his hollow words seemed merely a placation.
I froze, the courage to inquire further vanishing into the cold morning air. I offered a stiff, silent nod of gratitude and retreated into the house to face the condemned.
When I returned, the transformation in them was total. They were shrunken, their shoulders hunched and postures bent like cornered animals surrendering to an inevitable trap.
“They are searching the entire area with a tracker,” I whispered, the words heavy with dread as I spoke them. “He knows how to follow a scent trail back to the source.”
My father gasped and cupped his palm across his mouth as if to stifle a scream.
“I do not know when they will reach this house. All I can do is pray Vastion returns before they find what they are looking for. Only he has the power to intervene now.”
Hours bled into one another while Alyric and Darwyn carried out their inquisition. We sat in a stifling silence, broken only by my father’s increasingly desperate suggestions. He entertained the ridiculous notion that if he and Ari bathed in strong lye or pungent oils, they might mask their scent.
“And when the tracker finds two men peculiarly reeking of the same chemicals, do you not think that will serve as a confession?” I snapped, my foot tapping a frantic rhythm against the floor.
I paced the small room, praying for Vastion’s swift return.
Not only to help my family escape their doomed fate, but also because nightfall was beginning to crest the tree lines in the distance.
Dusk ceding to the darkness. If my family’s egregious decisions really had caused the recent wave of attacks, then who was to say Vastion’s expedition was successful in eliminating them all?
Who was to say more weren’t already on the way?
Not to mention what could or would become of my husband.
I could not focus on that or I would lose what little control I had left over myself.
I could neither eat nor drink; my anxiety was a living thing, gnawing at my insides. I stepped onto the porch to ignite the lanterns, offering my guardian a pool of light he didn’t truly require.
“Have they found the culprits?” I asked, trying my best to keep my voice steady.
“One conspirator has been captured. The others remain at large,” he answered stoically.
Mes. It took everything in me not to shriek. I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced my breathing to slow. “Where have they taken him?”
The guard turned and looked at me suspiciously. “Him? I did not say the prisoner was male.”
“Oh, I only assumed,” I stammered, twisting my hands in my skirts. “I can’t imagine a woman having the stomach for such vile work.” I scrunched my nose, feigning disgust at the thought.
He nodded slowly, though his suspicions did not fade entirely.
“Alyric is having the prisoner interrogated in hopes of expediting the discovery of his accomplices.”
I huffed, looking around aimlessly, trying to think of anything to delay the inevitable.
“I should like to speak to Alyric. Efforts should be focused on extracting the hidden remains.” I paused, gauging his reaction. “It is dark now; we must prevent further attacks before the search for the guilty can resume.”
“We are managing the threat,” he replied. “Though the extraction would be swifter if Darwyn weren’t occupied with the hunt for the guilty.”
“I see,” I sighed. “I suppose even a gifted tracker cannot be in two places at once.”
“Do not worry, Your Majesty. There are only a few residences left to search.” His voice was cold, flat, and confident, as if he already knew the trail ended at my door.
I went back inside, the mood in the cottage cold and expectant. The news I carried was a blow to their already crumbling morale.
“They’ve captured Mes,” I whispered.
“You must do something!” my father screeched, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.
“They’re going to torture him,” Ari declared, his eyes darting to the window. “He’ll break. Maybe we should run?”
“Father can barely walk,” I reminded him. “And the gates are sealed. Besides, look out the window—night has fallen.” I watched the last traces of violet light vanish from the horizon.
“What do we do?” Father asked. I couldn’t bear to see his tormented face, haunted by the realization that a man he loved like a son was being broken for his own reckless idea.
“I don’t know. I don’t have the answers. Just let me think!”
I paced the narrow expanse of our hearth, feeling like a caged bird beating its wings against the bars. I tried to conjure Vastion’s voice, seeking his counsel, when a single phrase rang out in my mind. You are their queen.
I am their queen.
“I’ll be back,” I instructed, my voice suddenly cold and certain. “Lock the doors. Do not open for anyone but me.”