4. Four
Four
“We must detain her,” Lucan snarled.
He tried to hoist Bryn up onto her feet, but her legs gave out and she fell forward onto her hands and knees. The faint knobs of her spine peeked through her threadbare shirt, her cheeks hollow.
“She’s not well,” Nova argued, sliding off the bed and crouching beside Bryn. “Here, help me get her up.”
Lucan scoffed. “This is ridiculous.” He looked to Nox, no doubt expecting to find agreement.
Nox considered for a brief moment before instructing Lucan to retrieve the stool that lay overturned in the doorway to the bathing chamber. Lucan reluctantly obeyed, slamming the seat down on the floor next to Bryn’s crumpled form.
Nova and her uncle each took an arm and lifted Bryn onto the stool.
Lucan threw open the doors of the wardrobe, rummaging through the contents and yanking the sash off a silk robe.
He crouched down and tossed his weapon on the floor with a clatter, then hastily gathered Bryn’s hands and pulled them behind her back.
“This isn’t necessary,” Nova protested as he bound Bryn’s wrists and tied them securely to the chair legs. Bryn’s head hung limply in front of her, looking as though a light breeze might topple her.
“Nova,” Lucan chided, his voice tinged with incredulous laughter. “She was trying to kill you. She said so herself.” He gestured wildly at Bryn before raking a hand through his hair.
“Well, she hardly seems capable of it now,” Nova reasoned, though it was mildly touching to see Lucan so concerned for her welfare.
Nox stood before Lucan, laying his hands on the commander’s shoulders. “Calm yourself.”
Lucan’s posture relaxed a degree, eased by Nox’s influence.
“Secure the perimeter of the room if it will make you feel better.”
Lucan jumped at the suggestion, rushing at once to the glass doors and onto the terrace.
“Now that he’s occupied, let’s see what can be done for her,” Nox whispered, lifting Bryn’s chin with one hand and dabbing gently at the blood on her upper lip with a silk handkerchief in the other.
Nova gathered Bryn’s hair and tucked it out of the way to tend to her shoulder. The blade had gone cleanly through the muscle. Though Bryn appeared to be Fae and would likely heal on her own, the wound might take longer to heal in her weakened condition.
Lucan burst back through the terrace doors, shutting them with a bang and closing the latch. He sidled up behind Nova, agitation radiating off of him.
“Do you always sleep with the doors open?” he asked.
“I never considered it might be dangerous,” she replied, annoyed. “There’s a shield around the Estate, for gods’ sakes.”
“In my defense,” Nox chimed in, “it never occurred to me to shield against shifters. After all, there’s a shifter within a few paces of me most hours of the day.”
Nova placed her hands on Bryn’s shoulder and called upon what little healing ability she had, a golden glow gathering in her palms. When she removed her hands moments later, only a shallow wound remained.
Nova breezed into the bathing chamber and ran a hand towel under the tap.
When she returned, Nox sat at the edge of the bed, and Lucan leaned against the wardrobe, his sword back in its sheath but his hand still resting on the hilt.
Bryn sat with her head tilted back, her face lifted toward the ceiling.
Nova pressed the warm cloth to her forehead, and Bryn’s eyes shot open, blinking rapidly as she took in her surroundings.
After a moment, the tension in her body eased, if only a little.
Her hazel eyes sat over high cheekbones, her nose and chin pointy and pixielike.
Nova wiped away the remnants of blood Nox had been unable to remove from Bryn’s face, then cleaned her shoulder.
Having tended Bryn as best she could while the female remained tied to a chair, Nova sat beside Nox on the edge of the bed. She tried to speak, but her words caught in her throat. Her hand went to her neck, tender after Bryn’s attack.
“What can you tell us about yourself?” Nox cut in, placing a reassuring hand on Nova’s knee. “Where are you from?”
“I come from Maedwen,” Bryn replied after a moment of thought. “I was a huntress. Before Omen captured me along with my entire clan.”
“What do you mean captured?” Lucan interjected from his spot behind her.
“When Omen attacks,” Bryn began, brow creased as if in deep concentration, “those who aren’t killed outright by his dark beasts are taken prisoner. He enchants them, and they become part of his army.”
“What sort of enchantment?” Nova asked.
“It muddles your mind and dulls your senses,” Bryn murmured. “You forget who you are. Where you come from. You’re no longer concerned with eating or sleeping. You barely exist.” Bryn’s voice grew hoarse, and she swallowed hard. Nova imagined she’d not eaten or slept properly in quite some time.
Nova sent Lucan to fetch a cup of water from the bathing chamber. The commander chuckled ruefully under his breath but did as she bid him. Nova took the cup from his hands and held it to Bryn’s lips, gently tipping it so she could drink before continuing.
“I was treated better than most,” Bryn went on. “Omen took a liking to me. My shifted form is a raven, and he has a fondness for such birds.”
Nova recalled the rustling of wings that had awoken her. “I thought you were a messenger owl,” she said.
“Sometimes he’d give me bread or a scrap of meat. Otherwise, the Enchanted survive on what they can catch. Insects. Mice.”
The reason for Bryn’s slender frame and filthy feet grew clearer. Who knew how many years—perhaps decades—she’d been trapped under Omen’s enchantment.
“Excuse us for a moment.” Nova gestured toward the entry, and Nox and Lucan joined her by the door. “I’d like to release her and see that she’s cared for,” she whispered.
“You must be joking,” Lucan scoffed. “She’s an assassin. She admitted as much. We saw her trying to kill you.”
“Perhaps she was an assassin, but she was also a prisoner. She’s weak and hungry. I’d like to care for her, and then we can see what information she might have for us.”
“I don’t trust her,” Lucan stated, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.
“You didn’t trust me when I first arrived here. I could have been an assassin for all you knew.”
Lucan’s amber eyes glinted, and he opened his mouth to speak.
Nova held up a finger to silence him. “Don’t.”
Nox stifled a laugh, attempting to disguise it as a cough, and Nova turned to her uncle.
“What do you say?” she asked, eyes pleading. “You can shield her room, post guards at the door—whatever you think is necessary. But I wish to help her.”
Nox looked at Lucan and back to Nova, considering both arguments for a beat. Finally, he looked at Bryn, slumped on the stool and struggling to keep her head up, her hands bound tightly behind her back.
“Let’s get her washed and fed,” he sighed, holding his hands out in front of him, already prepared for Lucan’s objections. “Stand outside her door yourself if you want, Lucan. We’ll put her in a chamber without a terrace.”
Nova wrapped her uncle in a quick embrace, then hurried back to Bryn, gingerly untying the knots in the silk sash securing her wrists.
“We’re going to take care of you. You’ll be safe here.”
Bryn nodded sleepily as Nova slowly stood, bearing Bryn’s weight. Lucan blocked their way as they approached the door.
“I’ll be watching you,” he cautioned Bryn. “Don’t even think of trying to escape.”
“I could have shifted and slipped my restraints at any time,” she murmured. “I have no intention of escaping.”
With that, Nova led Bryn through the door, following a servant to a vacant chamber and leaving Nox with the task of putting Lucan’s mind at ease.
Bryn’s room was smaller than Nova’s and sparsely furnished, but it had a comfortable bed and a large soaking tub. Isla was summoned to help Bryn bathe and dress, and Nova returned to her own chamber to dress herself, certain she wouldn’t be able to sleep after all the excitement.
After splashing a handful of cold water on her face, she caught her reflection in the mirror.
She leaned close to the glass and widened her eyes.
The whites were blighted with small red dots.
Reaching up slowly, she prodded the mottled purple bruises blooming on her neck.
Breaking the mirror’s hold on her, Nova cleared her throat softly, feeling a lump there as she swallowed.
Dressed in her training uniform, Nova descended the stairs and made her way to the library, where she found Nox and Lucan seated together on the sofa before the fireplace.
“Where is she?” Lucan asked, making to rise from his seat.
“Isla told me she ate and fell asleep right away,” Nova said, sinking into the sofa. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she slept for a week straight.”
“How are you?” Nox asked, his dark eyes narrowed.
Nova realized she was absentmindedly touching her collar.
“I’m fine. Truly.” She dropped her hand into her lap and relaxed in her seat. “By tomorrow it will be as if this never happened,” she reminded him.
Nox pursed his lips in response.
“How did the two of you know to come to my rescue?” she asked, eager to shift their attention.
“A servant in your wing heard the struggle and came to my chamber,” Nox explained.
Nova eyed the males. Lucan’s arm lay draped protectively behind Nox’s shoulders. Her uncle still wore his sleeping attire. Sections of his long white hair had come free from the cord tying his hair back. Lucan wore only breeches and a loose, untucked shirt. Both were barefoot.
My heroes, she thought, biting back a smile.
“What happened?” She could recall nothing but the suffocating feeling of her own desperation and the white mist clouding her vision.
“We opened the door and found her on top of you, strangling you,” Lucan recounted, his tone curt. “You grabbed her shoulders, and the entire room filled with a bright light. Had to cover my eyes. I thought you were going to blind me.”
An incredulous sound caught in Nova’s throat. “You think the light came from me?”
“Oh, I know it did,” Lucan insisted.
“Is that a Solar ability?” Nova looked at Nox, her brow knitted, certain he must have the answer.
Her Lunar and Solar heritage meant it was possible she could have several abilities, but she’d never heard of Solar blood producing such a light. She bit the inside of her cheek, frustrated by how little she knew herself and what she was capable of even after so many moons had passed.
“I don’t believe so,” Nox murmured. He stroked his chin with slender fingers as his gaze passed over the bookshelves stretching all the way to the glass ceiling above.
His hand fell to rest atop his knee a moment later, and he shook his head as if suddenly remembering Lucan and Nova were in the room.
“You’re planning to train today?” Nox asked, eyeing Nova’s sword propped against the edge of the sofa.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Her tone left no room for discussion.
“Well, then. I’ll leave you to it.” Standing, Nox crossed to his study tucked away in the corner of the library but paused halfway, turning back to face her. “Meet me here when drills are through.”
As her uncle’s footsteps faded, Nova stared at Lucan, who sat slouched on the far end of the sofa, his knees jutting out in front of him.
“What?” he demanded, squirming ever so slightly under her scrutinizing gaze.
“You’re underdressed, Commander.”
Lucan rose from his seat and stomped toward the library door. “Meet me in the entryway in a quarter of an hour,” he ordered before stalking out of the room.
Lucan’s foul mood lasted for the duration of their drills.
He pushed Nova harder than he ever had before and scolded her for every misstep, however small.
It was challenging, but she held her own.
Achy and sweating by the end of their session, she guzzled cool water from a flask as she rushed back to the Estate alone, noting that the pain in her throat had already lessened considerably.
After a welcome bath, she dressed herself in a simple silk gown with loose straps that hung off her shoulders, the fabric a purple so dark it was nearly black. She exited her chamber and made her way to Bryn’s room, her low-heeled boots clacking on the stone floor as she went.
Bryn sat at the vanity with her back to the door when Nova entered.
She spun at the sound of the latch, her expression sheepish when she met Nova’s eyes.
Bryn already looked much improved. Her straight, brown hair was clean, falling halfway down her back, and a healthy glow had returned to her cheeks.
She had dressed in a pair of black breeches and a fitted blouse.
“You’re looking better,” Nova remarked, noting the tray of empty dishes resting on the bed.
“I’m feeling better,” Bryn replied, smoothing a hand over her hair. She threw a glance over her shoulder to the mirror behind her. “I’m embarrassed to say I’ve been looking at myself.”
A smile crept across her face and she reached up, laying her fingers over her lips.
“How strange it feels to smile again after so long. Does it look odd?” she asked, again meeting Nova’s eye.
“No. It’s lovely.” Nova took the chair from behind the writing desk and carried it to the vanity, situating herself beside Bryn. “Are you comfortable here?”
“It’s so quiet.” Bryn glanced around, searching the corners of the room.
“Normally, your father’s voice is in my mind.
Giving orders. Harvesting information.” She pressed her fingertips to her forehead.
“Sometimes he takes control of my sight to see through my eyes. But now, that connection is broken. I hear nothing but my own thoughts.”
“I’m very pleased to hear that.” Nova said, straightening her spine at the mention of her father’s abilities.
“Your friend is suspicious of me, but I am no longer a threat. I swear it.”
Nova scanned Bryn’s hazel eyes. She had pitied Bryn in her weakened state. With the female seemingly regaining her strength rapidly, Nova knew it was prudent to remain on guard.
“You freed me. I’m in your debt, and I vow to serve you until that debt is repaid. A life for a life.”
Bryn leaned forward, and Nova’s right hand went instinctively to the dagger sheathed at her hip.
Bryn paused briefly, taking note of the weapon before lifting Nova’s left hand and brushing a chaste kiss against her knuckles.
When Bryn pulled away, a delicate silver band shaped into a leafy vine remained on Nova’s middle finger.
“To seal my vow,” Bryn explained, releasing Nova from her gentle hold and clasping her hands together in her lap.
“Oh, of course.” Nova stood from her seat. “I’m headed to the library to meet with my uncle, Nox. Would you like to come?”
“If you think it’s all right. Don’t want to upset the growly one.”
“Don’t worry about Lucan. Not long ago, he thought I was a credible threat to Silvergard. He’ll come around.”
Nova motioned for Bryn to follow, and together, they made their way downstairs.