Chapter 18 – Vale
VALE
Rynni handed another potion to Caelo. “Drink this.”
That had to have been the fifth glass he’d downed in an hour. Was it a bad sign?
Darkness approached, and we’d been planning our exit from Vitvik all day, packing up items we’d need for the ride north.
For Rynni, that meant packing the most precious items in her life.
But now I was of a split mind about what to do.
Should we leave so that no one discovered Neve or stay here so that Caelo could continue to rest and recover?
“Do you think we should stay another night?” I nodded to my best friend.
Neve’s eyebrows shot up, but Rynni answered before my mate interrogated my line of thought.
“The wounds are sealed, but are not healed,” Rynni said. “Sir Caelo went through a lot. Princess Neve too, however, I think they can both handle the journey if we go slowly.”
“I feel well enough,” Neve said. “You were injured too, Vale.”
“Minor injuries.” I’d dealt with much worse than I’d endured, but despite fighting side by side for many turns, I’d never seen Caelo so beat up.
And Neve had lost an astounding amount of blood.
During the ride to Vitvik, her face had been so pale, I’d worried the Fates would cut her life thread at any moment.
“If we go slow, the knight can ride,” Rynni repeated. “Which I’d rather do. I ran many errands today that I’m sure garnered notice from my neighbors—not to mention last night.”
She’d gone to another healer’s establishment and one of Lord Riis’s brothels for us.
“Those errands might draw attention to my leaving, our leaving, and I’d rather not others notice me in the company of a Falk princess.”
If only Caelo could glamour us.
But that was out of the question. Caelo might be well enough to walk and ride, but he was magically depleted.
It would take days of rest and eating and more healing arts from Rynni before Caelo should push himself.
When we left Vitvik, it would be with thick hoods covering our faces as our only disguises.
“If you’re a dragon, why can’t we fly out of here and ride on your back?” Anna asked.
I cringed when Rynni stiffened. Anna likely did not know that Rynni would see the question as rude.
“I can shift and can carry you all,” Rynni said, her tone sour.
“But I cannot breathe fire well or have any other means of defending myself besides my teeth and claws, which I’d rather not use because that would mean close combat.
I’ve spent my turns healing, and fighting is not a strength of mine.
Considering who would be riding on my back, and the attention a dragon would draw in this kingdom, I believe this course of action to be unwise.
That is, unless one of you is an illusionist and could mask me from those on the ground? ”
“None of us,” I replied. “Not to mention that with you flying, we would be less able to defend or fight from her back. Overall, I agree with Rynni.”
“I’m still learning.” Anna held up her hands.
“I’d tell you if I couldn’t make it on horseback,” Caelo repeated, clearly irritated. “We’re not that far from Riis Tower.”
Normally, I’d say we could cut close to the lake and ride the horses hard, completing such a journey in two days, but with his injuries and a new fall of snow, it was sure to be a three-or four-day ride.
“Very well,” I said, content to drop the subject. “I—”
A knock came. Rynni froze, her face paling as she stared at the door. “Who could that be?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Anna replied and stood. “I’ll get it. My face isn’t the one plastered on all the wanted posters.”
“No!” Rynni rushed forward. “Why would I have a human in here? All of you need to hide.”
I took Neve’s hand and the four of us retreated behind a thick curtain, into the back room of the cottage—Rynni’s private quarters.
The door to the cottage creaked open.
“Hello?” Rynni said. She sounded unsure, as if she didn’t recognize the person at her door.
“Hello. We’re here looking for friends.”
I jolted, and met first Neve’s gaze, then Caelo’s.
“Luccan?” I whispered. “It can’t be.”
“Who are you?” Rynni asked.
“My name is Luccan Riis,” the reply came like a balm to an injury. “I believe you may have been the one to send a raven from a certain someone to my family’s home in the midlands?”
It was a relief to hear my friend’s voice—the words of my blood brother, though he did not know that yet—but why in all the nine kingdoms was he here?
In the letter, I’d stated we were soon to make our way north.
I’d not mentioned Vitvik, but I supposed they could have guessed where the letter had been sent from by the brothel’s raven.
No matter the reason for them coming, Luccan being here was risky. I wasn’t sure I liked it.
“What was that person’s name?” Rynni snapped, not giving away that she had sent a note on my behalf.
“Are you always this inhospitable?” another voice asked.
“Thantrel!” Neve scoffed. “Anna, peek and make sure it’s them.”
Though I found it difficult to believe that this was an elaborate ruse, much was on the line, and these were the oddest of circumstances. My mate was right to be prudent. We pulled open the door slightly, enough for Anna to peek out. She chuckled.
“Oh, it’s them!” Anna stepped into the healer’s working portion of the cottage.
“What are you doing!” Rynni sputtered.
“They’re friends,” Anna explained. “Let them in before Thantrel attracts too much attention with all his gold eyeliner and blazing red hair and just being him.”
“Too late,” Arie’s voice made me smile.
“No such thing as too much attention,” Thantrel retorted as playfully as Anna had jabbed him. Rynni rolled her eyes but opened the door wider for them to shuffle inside.
We continued to wait in the back, lest someone in the street was walking by and could see into the healer’s quarters, until my brothers filed in, their flaming red hair a mess from the wind.
However, when Clemencia came into view, followed by Duran, my eyebrows pulled together.
Clemencia made sense. Luccan adored her, and if there was danger—which I sensed there was—he would not leave her behind. But what was Duran doing here?
The door closed, and we stepped into the business portion of the cottage.
“Clem!” Neve ran to her once lady-in-waiting.
Clemencia curtseyed, but my mate pulled her up and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re safe!”
“And I you, Princess Neve. I mean . . . Neve.”
Luccan’s face loosened as he took the rest of us in. “Thank the dead gods you’re still here.” He lifted a finger and gestured to my face, still healing from the orc claws. “What happened to you?”
“We came across a violent band of orcs,” I said, and moved on to what I was more interested in. “I take it that, since you’re here, there are posters in Avaldenn about Neve, and you’ve come to warn us?”
“Posters here too,” Luccan replied. “Everywhere if what the king says is true.” He swallowed. “King Magnus announced her as an enemy to the Crown.”
“Called her the Slave Queen,” Thantrel said as he leaned against the wall. “You stole Lord Roar’s slaves?”
“You have no idea,” my mate replied. “Roar didn’t just have slaves at his castle. He was using humans in his mines as free labor. Also selling some to the Vampire Kingdom!”
“What!” Arie’s eyes went wide. “I can’t believe the king overlooked that in making him an advisor.”
I stiffened, as did Neve.
“Did you say that the king made Roar an advisor?” Neve spoke slowly.
“When he returned to court with news of you, I expect,” Arie replied. “Roar is also betrothed to Saga now, which the princess did not look happy about.”
A cold fire spread through me at the idea of my sister marrying my enemy—a faerie who tried to kill my mate, Caelo, and me—but that fire doused when Neve whacked me on the shoulder.
“I had a feeling! Stars, Vale, you should have gone to the bottom of that stupid shaft!”
“I don’t see how he survived,” I murmured. “It was far too deep to survive the fall.”
“That’s why I’m sure that he had to have shifted into something that saved him,” Neve replied.
I took her hand. I’d failed her, but really, did it matter how Roar survived? He had and now danger came for my mate sooner than we’d hoped. “I’m sorry, my love. I failed you.”
She let out a long breath and the tension that bunched up around her shoulders loosened.
“No, you didn’t. The king would have found out anyway—whether from me claiming my name or .
. . apparently, this crazy scenario. I’d have preferred to have the timing on my side, and maybe get a leg up on him, but this is our reality.
” She looked at Luccan. “Fill us in on everything that’s happened at court. ”
He pointed to the area where we’d accumulated our supplies. “I will, but were you leaving tonight?”
“As soon as we could,” I answered. “We planned on returning to Riis Tower.”
“Not now, you’re not,” Luccan said. “We’ve left court without permission and traveled via gateway, first to the Tower to get Clemencia, and then to the brothel Father owns in Vitvik.”
Right. I’d forgotten that Luccan connected all the Riis properties via gateways. Somehow, I hadn’t imagined that meant each of the many taverns and brothels, too, but it was an intelligent move. Useful too.
“I’m sure that our timing will lead the king to suspect us of siding with you, with Neve,” Luccan added, “so we’re not returning to Avaldenn and none of our holdings will be safe to stay in for long. Save for maybe the castle.”
House Skau’s old stronghold in the east. Even then, that castle was not as formidable as others belonging to the other seven great houses. If the king suspected Neve of being there, an army could easily infiltrate the city of Bitra.
“We know where we can go, though,” Arie interrupted.
“We weren’t the only ones to leave the capital.
Houses Balik, Armenil, and Virtoris left too.
We plan on seeking refuge with House Balik—they’re far from Avaldenn, heavily fortified, and with Neve’s connection to House Armenil, they’re likely to be sympathetic. I say we go there.”
Yes, the castle of the southlands. It abutted the Ice Tooth Range, which was filled with all sorts of creatures, including frost giants. Due to constant threats, House Balik’s home was the most secure castle in the realm. If we were to be safe anywhere, it would be there.
“House Armenil?” Neve asked. “How am I connected to them by anything other than being a friend to Marit?”
Her face fell on her friend’s name. Marit Armenil had attended our wedding, and the king had punished her for her loyalty to Neve.
“Revna Skau’s mother was an Armenil, so you are a cousin to that family” Arie answered. “And House Armenil and House Balik have blood ties too. They’ve always been loyal to one another, those great houses of north and south.”
“If their entire house has left Avaldenn, Sian and Filip will be in Myrr too,” I added. “Allies indeed.”
Rynni cleared her throat, commanding the attention of the room.
“Not that I’m not thrilled that four strange males and a female have arrived unannounced at my home, but with all that’s transpired, I think we should get a move on.
If you have horses and a place in mind to go, any additional tale can be told just as well on the road, can it not? ”
“We can go when the rest of you are ready,” Arie said. “In the meantime, we can help pack. Our horses are waiting outside.”
Rynni scowled.
“In the back,” Arie added. “Thanks to a map our father gave us, we knew we’d find you in this city, but it’s not so accurate that it pinpoints homes.
We had to ask where the messenger who sent the note to Riis Tower lived.
They pointed us in this direction. We figured that, if our friends were still here, discretion would be necessary. ”
“At least someone besides me has some sense.”
The dragon-fae healer was right. We were putting her at risk, and in truth, I’d feel far more secure behind castle walls than in a small cottage. Now that the king knew the truth of my mate, I was sure he’d come for her. And when he did, he’d be merciless.