Chapter 33
Niamh
The crisp air nipped at my skin as I rode the horse along the cliffside, squinting at the muddy ground and leading it along the trail of huge footprints that could only belong to one man.
There was no way I’d catch up to him on foot, so I’d had to steal a horse from the stables.
I didn’t really think Cillian would care, but I was worried if I asked him, he’d insist on going with me or he’d forbid me from going altogether.
“Stupid, stupid, crazy idiot,” I muttered, pulling my cloak tighter over my body to shield against the vicious wind, which I was no longer protected from out here in the open. One harsh blast might be enough to throw me right over the cliff’s edge and down to the foaming water below.
When I found Wolfe, I would wring his neck, and then I’d kiss him so hard he’d never want me to stop, and then I’d wring his neck again, just so he knew I meant business.
I looked out over the sea, stretching far into the distance, the sky blue horizon meeting its dark blue surface.
Towering waves crashed against the cliffside, and I shivered as another gust of wind pushed against me.
I’d never tracked anything in my life. The one time I’d wanted to go hunting with some of the boys in Bergenay, my parents had stressed all the dangers of what could happen: getting lost, bitten by an animal, kidnapped, accidentally injured by a stray arrow, or getting so cold my body shut down and I died.
By the time they’d finished rattling off all the things that could happen, I’d decided I would stay in the castle with Princess Ashami and crochet by her side instead.
I gulped, thinking about how it would just take one slip of my foot, one crumbling cliffside, and I could fall right to my death.
But then I remembered how Morton had slithered out of that library, all the way to Wolfe’s cabin.
He would’ve had to get up long before sunrise and travel so far for such a small bookwyrm.
He’d been incredibly brave, and I could be brave now too.
I could be brave in a lot of ways, because yes, I might die trekking after Wolfe, but I might not.
And that was the thought that propelled me forward.
I didn’t know how much of a lead Wolfe had on me, so I’d need to quicken my pace if I had any hope of catching up to him. I also didn’t know what would happen if I lost his tracks. I hadn’t really thought that far in advance, which seemed very silly right about now.
“You didn’t think this through, did you?” I shrieked and almost fell off the horse and over the side of the cliff.
Morton’s pink head poked out of the pocket of my cloak.
“What are you doing here?” I cried. “Who’s taking care of the library?”
“I closed it for the day,” he said. “I know it’s not ideal, but I couldn’t let you go alone. If you’re leaving, so am I. I knew you’d never agree, so I slipped into your cloak. Amazing what a tiny bookwyrm can do.”
“You’re a little wonder, you know that? Actually, I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know how to track Wolfe.”
“I figured,” Morton said. “Luckily, I’ve eaten many books about tracking.”
No matter how long I’d known him, that phrase never sounded normal.
I frowned at him. “Why did you wait so long to reveal yourself?”
He slithered out of my pocket and up to my shoulder. “I waited until you were far enough away that you wouldn’t send me back.”
I rolled my eyes. “Clever little bookwyrm. Well, you’re stuck with me now, and right after you got your key.”
“The key means I can return whenever I want.”
Unlike me. It had crossed my mind that Fairwitch Isle might not let me back in, but I would be okay either way. I thought about everything I’d learned from Wolfe, from myself, and I knew I could do this.
The footprints in the muddy cliffside came to an abrupt halt, and I pulled on the reins to stop the horse, looking expectantly at Morton.
“Now we must search for signs that the grass has been trampled. It looks like he’s strayed from the path and cut through the grass right here.” Morton’s tail pointed away from the cliffs. “Do you see that smashed patch?”
I squinted. “Not really, but I’m going to trust you and head in that direction.”
“Good plan,” Morton said.
I steered the horse to veer off the path, letting Morton guide me as he sat on my shoulder, noticing broken grass blades and places where Wolfe’s boot prints smashed the grass, things I’d never have noticed on my own.
If Morton hadn’t come along, I’d still be sitting at the top of the cliff, frowning down at the abrupt disappearance of boot prints, wondering what I was supposed to do next.
Morton gasped.
“What?” I asked, stopping the horse right next to a boulder. “What’s wrong?”
He pointed his tail toward rock archways in the distance. “I read about those in a book! Those are the Godwitch Archways, where the godwitches gathered to do rituals and sacrifices. They sacrificed quite a few humans in their day right under those very arches.”
I shuddered at the thought of human sacrifice, glad I lived in this time period and not the one of the godwitches.
We certainly had our issues with the brotherhood and other power-hungry kingdoms, but I wouldn’t have been able to stomach living in a time when it was okay to sacrifice the weakest in society.
I stopped the horse, hopping off and walking up to the arches, running my fingers along the rough stone.
I’d have certainly been one of the chosen ones, everyone else perceiving me as weak.
Except Wolfe. If Wolfe were there, he’d see my strength—he’d make sure I saw my strength. He’d tell me to fight back.
“Well, what do we have here?” a voice asked, and I whirled to see two men and one woman behind me, all of them wearing maroon cloaks with white masks that I immediately recognized.
A cold fear shot through my veins. The Brotherhood of Magic.
The woman stepped forward, auburn curls tumbling down from her hood, streaked with grey. “I smell magic,” she said.
Morton slithered up my leg and to my shoulder.
“You can’t smell magic,” I said.
“Oh, but I can.” I heard the smile in her voice. “A new potion we just acquired that lets us scent out magical objects. This one smells like . . .” She sniffed the air. “I can’t quite place it yet.”
“Probably like rocks.” I wasn’t sure what rocks smelled like, but I couldn’t think of any magical objects other than the stones behind us.
“My companion and I were just talking about how these are the Godwitch Arches, where the witches regularly held their rituals. Maybe some of that magic from thousands of years ago has lingered.”
The two men looked at each other from behind the woman, both of them wrinkling their noses.
“No.” She smiled wide. “I don’t think that’s it. It smells like . . . books.” Her blue eyes flashed as she set them on Morton, and my entire body turned leaden.
“You can’t have him.” Morton slithered around my neck, his body trembling. “He doesn’t even do anything worth your time.” Bile rose in my throat at the thought of them taking Morton.
“Hey,” Morton whispered.
“Really?” The woman tapped her chin. “Because I thought I overheard a mention of him eating books and being able to know the entire contents of them. That sounds disgusting, but useful.”
“I really wish this entire conversation didn’t involve insulting my abilities,” Morton muttered.
“No,” I said, voice firm, even though my insides were quaking. I wasn’t some damsel in distress anymore, and I would fight back against these tyrants in my own way.
“Who’s going to stop us?” one of the men asked, his eyes behind the mask so large and protruding they reminded me of a bug’s.
“I am.” I stalked over to the horse and grabbed the shield hanging from its saddle, then opened my cloak to reveal a silver sword.
“You have a sword?” Morton asked in awe.
“Wolfe gave it to me. Just one of his older ones. He insisted I always carry it with me.”
“Do you know how to use it?” Morton whispered.
That part was debatable, but it didn’t matter. I would try. I raised my shield.
“Wait a minute.” Bug Eyes stepped forward. “I recognize you. That red hair. Your green eyes. You were at Bergenay.”
I stiffened, all the horrible memories flooding me. But this time, I didn’t try to push them back. I let them come, and I let myself feel every emotion that came with them, my heart breaking all over again.
The other man, pock marks dotting his neck and chin, pointed. “You were the princess’s servant.”
“Lady’s maid,” I corrected.
“You got away,” Pock Marks said. “We wondered where you’d disappeared to.”
I grabbed my sword, attempting to unsheathe it, but instead, I yanked it too hard and almost sliced my arm off. Holy godwitches, the shield and sword together weighed a ton.
The men laughed, and the woman flicked out her hand. “Dispose of her. And then take the bookwyrm.”
I held out my sword as the men approached, sweat gathering at the base of my neck, trickling down my back, Wolfe’s voice echoing in my head. You are brave.
He’d told me I didn’t have to be a great fighter, that bravery came in many forms, and that gave me an idea. “Morton,” I whispered. “I have an idea.”
I whipped around one of the tall stones, pressing my back to it so I was out of their sight.
“She’s trying to hide,” Pock Marks said.
“Not a great hiding spot. You know we can see where you went,” Bug Eyes said.
The woman spoke, voice singsong. “Come out, come out. We won’t hurt you if you give up the bookwyrm.”
“You’re going to have to run,” I whispered to Morton, then shook my head. “Or slither. The grass is tall. You’re small. You can get away and hide while I distract them.”
“But they’ll kill you.”
“Maybe,” I said. “But maybe not. Maybe I’ll be okay. Either way, I won’t let them take you.”
“We’re getting impatient,” the woman said. “Stop with the insipid games and get out here.”
Morton shook his head. “I can’t just leave you.”
“You can. I have no value to them. You’re the one they want.
They’ll use you in horrible ways, Morton.
Make you tell them things to help them spread their evil.
This isn’t just about you and me. It’s about the entire world.
” I took a deep breath. “I wish I hadn’t spent the last three years locked in a tower convinced that was the only way I could survive.
I wish I’d been brave enough to face my past and move forward.
I need to do this now. For me and for you. ”
Morton blinked a few times, and after a beat, he nodded. “Okay, I’ll go. But promise you’ll find me.”
“Always.”
Morton slithered down my body and into the grass, disappearing so that I wasn’t even sure what direction he’d gone in. I breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Okay, boys. She’s not going to play nice, so you’re going to have to go in and get her.”
I whirled around the rock, sword pointed at the men and the woman, shield held high. I couldn’t fight them, but I could delay them long enough that Morton would have a chance.
“If you want him”—I glanced at the pocket in my cloak—“you’ll have to get through me first.”
The woman rolled her eyes from behind her mask. “This is painful to watch.”
I dropped my sword on the ground. “Oops. So clumsy.” I fell to my knees, my shield wedging into the mud, attempting to grab the sword while the men laughed.
“Gonna have to go through me,” Bug Eyes mocked, and I tried to hide my smile.
I grasped the hilt of the sword and popped to my feet, yanking at the shield until it finally gave way. “There!” I cleared my throat and pointed it at them. “So who wants at me first?”
The men looked at each other, and Pock Marks stepped forward, holding out his sword. “Go easy on me,” he said, making Bug Eyes guffaw behind him.
The woman huffed. “Just get the damn wyrm. We have other places to go, and I heard Butcher is in the area. I want to meet him and show him our prize.”
I stilled. Butcher. The Butcher of the Brotherhood. That’s why they wanted Morton so badly. They wanted to run into the Butcher and impress him with their capture.
I braced my feet like Wolfe had taught me, planting them firmly in the ground and holding out my sword, which was becoming heavier by the second. Now I understood why Wolfe had wanted me to practice the same movements over and over, to build stamina and strength.
“Oh, wait.” Pock Marks stopped his pursuit as I spoke. “I’m not holding this right, am I?” I frowned at the sword. “Silly me.” I adjusted my grip while he tapped his foot. “There. Is that right?”
Bug Eyes threw up his arms, and the woman stepped forward. “Enough.” She grabbed the sword from Pock Marks and pointed it at my throat. The cold steel pricked the skin on my neck. “Give him over or I slit your throat.”
She might very well kill me, but I wouldn’t die without putting up a fight. I met her sword with mine and she easily swatted it away. It flew to the ground, just out of reach. I lifted my chin and fished into my pocket, turning it inside out.
All of them stared for a moment, blinking, before the woman’s mouth dropped open. “The bookwyrm is gone. You tricked us.”
Satisfaction filled me. She was angry. Angry was good because it meant Morton had a chance, that she didn’t actually think they could find him. “Good luck finding him. You better get started. The grass is tall, and before you know it, it’ll be nightfall.”
“You are going to regret this.” She surged forward with the sword, once again pressing the blade to my neck.
I’d always feared this moment. Ever since I was born, I was terrified of death, but now that it had found me, I felt at peace. I didn’t want to die, but I had no regrets, not when I’d saved my friend and stood up to the brotherhood, keeping them from growing stronger.
“Do your worst,” I said, realizing I did have one regret.
I wished I could see Wolfe, feel his lips against mine one more time. Hopefully he knew, and that was my final thought before she pushed the sword into my throat.