Chapter 26
Gabriel’s knack for changing the subject, like he didn’t just ask me for a blood sacrifice in the name of some demented deity, was astounding. But I relented and quietly moved along in the name of safety. Being sent to the atoner for punishment sounded far more devastating.
We found the metal worker near a crowded tavern. Gabriel excitedly pointed to it as we walked past. “Many of my soldiers just got off shift, so I bet there are quite a few of them in there having an ale before heading home to their families.”
Gabriel’s face lit up as we approached a bladesmith. “Ah! Johneck! I have come to see what craftsmanship you have brought to the city today!”
Johneck, an old gruff daemonite, was quenching a blade that sizzled in cold water, steam rising around him. He lifted the blade out, inspecting his work. Gabriel pointed to Johneck to ensure I was watching.
“Your Highness,” he grunted out in acknowledgement, barely looking at Gabriel.
Gabriel was oblivious to Johneck’s indifference to his presence, watching him work in fascination and childlike glee. This was not of interest to me at all, but I could tell Gabriel was content just watching Johneck make his weapons and browsing those he had for sale.
“You see, Aurora?” Gabriel pointed at the unfinished sword in Johneck’s hand. “His next step is to inlay the hilt with gold along the pattern he created.”
He ignored Gabriel and continued to work. Gold pieces of jewelry lay near Johneck’s reach. Gabriel waved his hand toward the table. “He buys the jewelry to melt down for this purpose.”
Johneck hummed in agreement. I feigned interest, and Gabriel guided me forward to the table of gold pieces along with a crucible to melt them.
The heat from the fire was intense. My face became dewy, and the loose hair at the nape of my neck stuck to my skin.
I was about to take a step back to cool off when my eyes landed on a thick gold ring.
My breath hitched, and I swiped it off the table, holding it up at eye level.
The ring was heavy and had a crest on the top of it of a stag with a leaf between its horns.
My family’s crest.
My father’s ring.
The air was pulled from my lungs.
Gabriel’s wide smile disappeared. “Aurora? What’s wrong?”
I thrust the ring in Gabriel’s face. “This,” I turned to Johneck. “Where did you get this ring? Tell me!” I yelled.
Johneck blinked and looked between Gabriel and me. “My lady, I buy jewelry second-hand. I don’t recall the name of who sold it to me, but he said he acquired it and needed money to settle his gambling debt,” Johneck shrugged.
My breathing picked up, and my knees wobbled. The sounds around me became increasingly loud and distorted.
“Aurora? Tell me what’s wrong.” Gabriel wrapped an arm around me, his lapis blue eyes searching mine.
The words flew out of me rapidly. “This was my father’s ring, and now it is in Tironaill! My father was one of the many people who have disappeared in increasing numbers over the years. Humans are being brought into Tironaill!”
Gabriel shook his head. “Aurora, that isn’t possible.”
I gestured to myself angrily. My voice rose. “I’m here, standing in front of you. I am a human who crossed the threshing wall with another human. Please don’t manipulate me into thinking I am crazy.”
Johneck retreated to the darker part of his mercantile, away from bearing witness to me berating the brother of the king.
“Aurora, keep your voice down.” His eyes darted around the crowd, seraphs glancing in our direction.
My voice lowered. “There have been rumors swirling about humans being heard and seen, have there not?”
“Where in the world did you hear that nonsense?” Gabriel’s eyes flashed.
Shit. Don’t let him know.
I blinked, searching for the right lie. “I…heard chatter while walking through the market a few days ago but thought nothing of it. I assumed it was about Cora and me. Until now.”
“I have heard no such thing. Are you sure this is your father’s ring?” he asked.
I withdrew from his hold. “Gabriel, I would know this ring anywhere. My father wore it every single day of my life, never taking it off.”
Gabriel pulled me into a hug. “Alright. I will send my soldiers to investigate. I can’t imagine why humans would be brought here, but if they are, then the militia is surely behind it. I will question the captives we have about it as well.”
I took a deep, cleansing breath. “Thank you. I am sorry for raising my voice, but if humans are being held captive somewhere, we must free them. My father is a lot of things, but he doesn’t deserve imprisonment.”
“Your reaction was a bit hysterical, but I understand.”
I swallowed the little flame that wanted to make a retort and grasped my father’s ring in my hand. “I have to take this.”
Gabriel nodded and pulled out his coin purse. “Of course. Johneck, I will pay you double what you paid for this ring.”
A deafening boom shuddered around us, and I was thrown backwards onto the ground in an instant.
My ears rang after my vision cleared, my head throbbing from smacking into the cobblestone street.
Warmth spread across the back of my head and down my neck.
Screams and shouts swirled around me in a symphony of chaos.
“AURORA!” Gabriel lifted me off the ground, and I swayed, clutching onto his tunic to steady myself. His strong arms wrapped around me as he watched the mayhem unfold. Seraphs ran around us, fleeing for their lives.
I put my hand on the back of my aching head, the feel of warm liquid wetting my hair. “What’s happening?” My legs wobbled, and my hand was covered in crimson. The head wound made my stomach turn, and bile rose in my throat.
With the smell of smoke and burnt wood thick in the air, Gabriel pulled back from me, looking me up and down. “Militia. They bombed the tavern. Rory, I need to go help check for survivors.”
Tears welled in my eyes, and I swayed. He walked me toward the rubble of a building, my feet dragging and stumbling on the uneven road.
Gabriel sat me down against the wheel of a street cart, discarded by its merchant in the rush to flee from the danger.
The thunderous noise of horse hooves approached, mixing with the screams and shouts.
Out of the smoke of the street, members of the King’s Guard barreled through, all dismounting and running toward the rubble.
Gabriel took off running toward the approaching soldiers, leaving me to tend to my head wound. The haze of the smoke billowed around soldiers and guards flocking to the scene.
The ring. It must have flown out of my hand when the explosion knocked me backwards. I needed to find that ring. I crawled to where the blacksmith operated, now empty of Johneck and his weapons, knees catching on the ridiculous fabric of my dress.
“Rory!” I looked up to see Rosalyn racing toward me. “Oh, my word, are you alright?” She helped me stand and paused at the blood running down my neck. Her hand covered the back of my head, and a white light emitted from it, easing the pain down to a dull throb, stopping the bleeding.
“Thank you,” I sighed.
She looked around the street. “Where’s Darragh?”
“I don’t know. Gabriel brought me here. He ran to help find the injured or anyone trapped.”
Her eyes narrowed and flicked to the rubble of the tavern. “And he left you injured?”
I didn’t have time or want to think about Gabriel. “Rosalyn, I have to find a ring. I dropped it when the tavern was bombed.”
“A ring?”
“Yes. It’s important. It’s a gold ring with a crest of a stag and a leaf,” I said as I looked all over the ground in vain.
Rosalyn put her arms under mine, supporting me. “Leave it. We should get out of here in case another bomb goes off!”
I shook my head. “I have to have that ring. It’s my father’s.”
Ros blinked, searching my face. “Alright,” she said, placating me. “Let me look for it. In the meantime, I want you to sit over here where I can keep an eye on you. You are wobbling terribly, and I can't have you hitting your head again.”
Horse hooves thundered toward us.
Astorath stopped in front of Ros and me, Darragh dismounting and pulling me into his arms in a fluid motion. His eyes ran up and down me, checking for injuries. The moment he locked in on the blood matting in my hair, he drew in a sharp breath, and his eyebrows rose.
Ros stepped to the side of me. “I already healed her. That commander left her to bleed on her own so he could race in to play hero.” Darragh’s arms were tight around me, and he checked my head again, running a gentle hand over the back of my loosened hair.
Ros scoffed. “I know how to heal her! I’m fine, too, by the way. Thanks for your concern, Darragh.”
Darragh shot Ros a scathing look. “Gabriel told me you were over here and ordered me to take you back to the castle. He didn’t tell me you were injured,” he growled out.
“I’m alright. Ros helped me, fulfilling her friend obligation for the year.” I tried to joke to lessen his tension, but my voice was weak.
Rosalyn’s voice turned sarcastic. “I see he didn’t want to be upstaged by you and sent you away. Typical.”
Darragh ignored her and ran his hand once more down the back of my head before briefly cupping the back of my neck. “Come on. I will get you on top of Astorath and back to the castle to a healer.”
I placed a hand on his chest. “No! I have to find my father’s ring.”
Darragh tipped his head.
I sighed. “I can’t explain right now, but I found my father’s ring.”
Rosalyn and Darragh’s eyes met for a moment before turning their attention back to me. “I’ll look for it. I promise, Rory.” Ros grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Let Darragh take you back to the castle. To safety. I’ll send it to you when I find it.”
I nodded. “Please don’t tell anyone.”
Ros inclined her head. “You got it. Ring. Secret. I like jewelry and withholding information. Perfect task for me.”
I gave her a weak smile as Darragh boosted me up onto Astorath and mounted behind me.
The ridiculous pink dress, now splattered in my blood, spilled around us.
My body relaxed against his, the back of my head resting on his chest, and he wrapped one arm around my waist to secure me against him.
“I’m sorry for the contact,” he rumbled against my ear, “but you are not steady. Astorath would be upset if you fell off him.”
“I would hate to disappoint Astorath,” I weakly quipped. I glanced down at a small braid left in his mane from my previous time spent atop the massive horse.
We took off in the opposite direction of the destruction, the smells and sounds weakening. As I caught sight of the castle, Darragh veered Astorath off toward the edge of the city. It was quiet, and barely a seraph was around.
We stopped in the same copse of trees he brought me to after our last trip to the library. After he helped me off the horse and walked me a short distance into the trees, he stopped and stared at me.
“This doesn’t seem like the castle,” I joked.
His eyes were soft and scanned my body. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
I blew out a breath. “Yes. I’m just a bit jumpy after the bombing and finding my father’s ring.”
“Tell me about the ring.”
I launched into every detail about what happened at the blacksmith and finding my father’s ring with our family crest.
“Did you tell Gabriel where you heard the initial rumors?” Darragh asked, his eyebrows raised.
“No! I lied and said I heard it in passing from some seraphs in the market and that I thought they were talking about Cora and me initially.”
“Thank you,” he responded. “So, it’s true then. Humans are being trafficked into Tironaill from Edenalee.”
“You believe me?”
Darragh’s dark brows pulled together. “Why wouldn’t I believe you?”
“Gabriel didn’t believe me that it was my father’s ring. He called my reaction hysterical.”
He shook his head. “Gabriel wants to believe in things that only align with his preconceived beliefs and thoughts. Everything else is labeled hysterics and blasphemy.”
I leaned against a tree, my head still aching. Darragh’s large hand wrapped around my upper arm for support. “Yes, I got the blasphemy lecture today, too.”
He stiffened. “In what way?”
I told him about the old woman in the market, what she said, and how I told Gabriel my theory on why angheals could not produce younglings.
“Rory, you must tread lightly with those conversations. Not with me, but with any angheal. It’s best to never bring it up to Gabriel again.”
“I won’t. I learned my lesson.” I paused. “Gabriel wants me to give blood to Themis to atone for what I said.” My eyes hardened. “I think I gave enough blood today in the market. If Themis wants my blood, he will have to scrape his offering off the street.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. Gabriel will be busy playing the hero for hours and will forget all about it.”
I looked up to his rich eyes. “I hope so, and in the meantime, I pray to Clotha that Ros can find my father’s ring. I can’t believe he has been here this whole time.”
“How long has it been since he went missing?”
I swallowed. “Eleven years this past spring.”
Darragh shook his head, eyebrows raised. “I am so sorry.”
I blinked away the tears forming behind my eyes. “What do we do now that I have proof humans are being brought here?”
“I will speak with Gabriel about it and see if I can devise a team to go search the west valley for anything strange.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. The energy was steadily draining out of my body.
“In the meantime, the militia is ramping up its onslaught of chaos and destruction. I will never tell you what to do, but I would suggest sticking around the castle if you can for a while.”
“Alright. By the way, thank you for saving me again. You have a knack for it.” I stared up into his chestnut eyes.
Darragh slowly slid his warm, calloused palm into mine, both coated with my dried blood. He wet his lips. “And you have a knack for attracting danger. What a pair we make.”
Indeed. What a pair.
My thoughts became scattered, and my legs heavy from standing. I shook my head to try to clear the forming haze, but it got the better of me. I started to tremble as I came down from the rush of adrenaline and the loss of blood.
Darragh put an arm around my waist to keep me upright. “It’s time to take you to the castle and have you checked by the healers.”
“I’m alright. We have more to talk about. I have to tell you about the book I saw. The dots are connecting,” I protested weakly. My vision blurred, and I sank into him.
“Tomorrow. You are pale, and your pupils are dilated. You’re worrying me.”
I barely realized he got me back atop Astorath and raced me back to the castle. My vision darkened around the edges the entire time.
If I were going to black out, Tironaill’s most dangerous seraph was the safest place for me to be.