Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Ladon
I was the first to wake the next morning. Years of getting up early to train had made it a habit that was hard to break. I tried to stay still and rest a while longer since I knew we had a long day of travel ahead of us.
To my right, Emilie slept soundly, snuggled up in her sleeping roll.
Down towards my feet, my brother twitched like he was fighting off a nightmare.
I contemplated waking him, but then he smiled, and I figured it wasn’t too serious.
Jade was on his other side, stiff as a board and facing away from us.
It was possible she was awake and pretending to be asleep, like me.
I didn’t trust her. I’d heard the same noise as Emilie last night, and I was certain it was the sound of another person in the woods, watching us.
If it had been my brother, he would’ve shown himself and had it out right then and there.
But Jade…
What was she up to? Had she followed us out of malicious curiosity, or had she simply needed to use the bathroom too?
And how much had she seen, exactly? Emilie had to have been blocked by my body, but was it obvious that I was buried deep inside her?
My cock twitched at the thought, and I tried to think of something else. It was difficult, though. After staying away from her for so long, even the smallest, stolen intimate moment was hard to forget.
Who was I kidding? There was nothing forgettable about Emilie.
I looked back toward her, watching her curls dance in the light breeze.
Her chest rose and fell with each breath, and I desperately wanted to hug her close to my side.
It was my own fault I couldn’t do so this very second.
I should’ve had the courage to tell my brother everything before we began this journey.
If I told him now… Well, it could get very messy. As much as I hated to admit it, the matter would have to wait until we returned home.
Finally, Cyrus stirred. He sat up slowly, stretching his arms over his head. He cracked his neck before looking around our campsite. Jade and Emilie were still asleep, but he saw my open eyes and grinned. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” I said, yawning as if I’d also just woken up. “How did you sleep?”
“Like garbage,” he said with a wince. “These pads need more cushioning, if you ask me.”
I huffed a laugh. “Are you saying they’re unfit for a pampered king?”
“They’re unfit for a prisoner.”
I frowned. I knew he’d said it without thinking, but these sleeping arrangements were far better than what we had in Murvort. I’d take a clean, thin pad over the dirty mattress with a sheer blanket any day.
“Definitely,” I agreed. I slipped out from under my covers and stood up.
My muscles ached a little from our travels and the hard ground, but it was nothing I hadn’t dealt with before.
“Do you want to start a fire? I thought I heard some fowl chirping this morning. Might be nice to have some fresh protein for breakfast.”
He nodded while I fastened the belt around my waist and made sure my weapons were all accounted for. Not that I needed them. It’d be easier to hunt with my magic—setting up a trap to catch the small animals.
I set out, and it didn’t take long to come across a couple birds perched on a low-hanging branch. With some well-placed magic, I nudged them from their resting spot and into a container I made from the clay soil, leaving just enough space to reach in and snap their necks.
By the time I made it back to our campsite, a fire was burning and everything was packed. Everyone sat around the flames in silence, and when my brother noticed me, he gave me a pleading look.
“What did I miss?” I asked, dropping the dead birds next to the fire. They’d need to be plucked before we could cook them, and my stomach was growling already.
“Nothing,” Cyrus said. “You haven’t missed a thing.”
Emilie looked anxious, but Jade almost smiled. She glanced at me before grabbing one of the birds and starting to prepare it. She spoke in a hushed tone, but I still made out her words. “Can’t imagine why there would be such uncomfortable silence.”
Emilie shot me a look, but Cyrus stoked the fire without a sign that he’d heard or questioned what Jade had said.
Maybe he’d just chalked it up to his and Emilie’s dissolved engagement and Jade’s unapproachable persona.
Regardless, he seemed delighted that I had returned and chattered away while we prepared breakfast.
Once we finished eating, Cyrus put out the fire, and we ventured into the wild, tangled woods once again.
“It won’t be much longer before the trees begin to thin out,” Jade said after we pushed through the overgrowth for a few hours. Good thing, because I was tired of stomping over tall weeds and through thick bushes.
We came across a shallow stream with crystal-clear water running over an array of gray stones and refilled our canteens.
“You were right,” Cyrus said, pointing to the opposite side with a pleasant smile. “I can already see through the trees over there. Patches of light and clearings. I can’t wait.”
“We could cross here.” Emilie pointed to a section of the stream where three stones rose high enough out of the water that their tops were dry.
She headed there first, and I quickly followed. Once we landed on the other side, we started for the tree line, but Jade suddenly yelled, “Stop!”
I drew my sword without a moment’s hesitation.
The panic in her voice was a warning, and if she had given it a second sooner, I would’ve been able to block the arrow that sped toward me. But she hadn’t.
It slammed into my shoulder even as I attempted to dodge.
Before I could attempt to fight back, Emilie had flung a dagger in the direction of the archer. I had no idea if it struck the target because my attention was stolen by a second arrow flying from a different direction.
“Behind you,” I shouted.
She spun just in time and hurled another dagger into the woods.
Jade and Cyrus crossed the river, taking up arms and readying for a fight.
Our assailants hid in the trees, giving them the advantage.
Jade charged ahead, disappearing behind a tree.
There was a grunt, and then it sounded as though a body hit the ground.
When she reappeared, two more attackers were running away from her.
They tried to cross the river back in the direction we’d come from, but I thrust out my hand and a burst of magic threw up a wall of clay blocking their escape.
The first person ran into it, smacking his head so hard that he collapsed to the ground. The second man skidded to a halt and spun only to find that they were surrounded.
I scanned the tree line, but there didn’t appear to be any other movement.
“Don’t kill me.” The man’s voice shook. Bold request from a man who’d tried to do just that to us.
I approached him, keeping one hand on my shoulder where an arrow still protruded from my body. Someone would have to pull it out for me, but that could wait for a few minutes. “Who are you?”
“I’m no one. I’m just a merchant.” His eyes bounced around, never stopping on one of us for more than a few seconds. Like he was trying to discern the most sympathetic of us to latch onto but realizing he was out of luck.
“A merchant?” Jade repeated, pressing her sword to his throat. “I doubt it.”
“I am. I swear!”
“What is it you sell?”
The man gulped, and the tip of Jade’s sword made a small nick in his skin.
“What do you sell?” she asked again, more forcefully this time.
“P… please…”
“Answer the question or I will take my time flaying the skin from your body.”
Tears welled in his eyes, and his hands were shaking as he raised them in surrender. “All right. All right. I… I sell entertainment.”
“What does that mean?” Emilie asked, frowning.
Piercing the man with her gaze, Jade asked, “Do you know who I am?”
He attempted to nod, forgetting about the sword at his neck and wincing when it punctured his skin again. “You’re Jade Holden, sister of Jesse Holden.”
“That’s right. Now why would a bunch of armed vagrants be pursuing me and even trying to assassinate me?”
“N-No, it wasn’t like that. I’m a good person. I didn’t choose to be part of this. I… I had to. They wouldn’t let me out of it.”
They? Who was he referring to?
“You are not a good person,” Jade said, sliding the tip of her sword along his jaw.
He froze, only his eyes moving as he tracked her sword’s path.
“You are a spineless coward. After all, only a pathetic lackey would be stupid enough to think they’d be better off under Reyna’s rule than my brother’s. ”
Jade’s silver blade flashed in the light, and the man’s head fell to the ground.
“What the hell?” Cyrus shouted. “How are we going to know who sent them?”
Jade cleaned her sword and sheathed it. “I already know who sent them. Reyna did.”
“You can’t know that for certain,” I said. “How could she possibly have any followers left at this point? I was under the impression that most of Murvort was in poverty while she held the throne. Why would they fight for her?”
Jade sighed. “You are right; most people are barely surviving. But she had her circle, and within that circle of wealthy individuals, there’s an entire network of merchants just like this guy.
” She gave his head a little kick, and it rolled toward the stream.
“My brother made their business illegal, so of course they’d want Reyna back.
They are easy targets to become hired arms or bounty hunters.
I have no doubt Reyna or one of her devotees sent them. ”
“He said he sold ‘entertainment,’” Emilie said. “What did he mean by that?”
With a look of pity, Jade responded, “Bodies. He sold bodies.”