Chapter Thirty-Two #2
“Hurry.” Shadach kept Kesra and Aoife close as they made their way through the blackness, avoiding the sounds of soldiers and staying as quiet as they could. Aoife stumbled and Shadach held her up, even as his own strength was failing him. They had to get out. They had to get somewhere safe.
But where was safe?
When the Shadows thinned and the sounds of the soldiers grew faint, Shadach allowed himself to breathe a little.
When they could no longer hear the soldiers at all, he allowed himself to breathe a lot.
The crimson starlight that had only moments ago been full of life and mystery now scratched at his skin, mocking his hope.
“There,” Aoife said. “That cave.”
Shadach looked to where she pointed, but his vision was too blurry, the blood running down his side too warm. He nodded, following Aoife and a half-asleep Kesra into a cave mostly covered by brush. How had Aoife even seen it?
“Are you all right?” Shadach asked her, the world swimming around him.
“I’m fine,” her voice was shaking, “but you’re not.”
With a humourless laugh, Shadach steadied himself against the hard cave wall. “I don’t know what you mean. I’ve never felt better.”
“Shadach.” Aoife put her hand on his shoulder. “What can I do? Kesra needs help, and so do you.”
Shadach glanced out the covered mouth of the cave. There might have been a way to get help. There might have been someone nearby who could save them. But he didn’t even know where they were. And the blood. There was too much blood. He couldn’t see. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t feel.
Shadach collapsed.
~*~
The world hurt.
When Shadach woke, that was the first thought that came to mind: everything hurt. But then he remembered Aoife and Kesra and Hallus’ betrayal and despite his body feeling weighed down by a boulder, Shadach sat up. The floor was hard. Stone. He was sheltered. A cave?
“Shadach,” he heard. And then she was in his arms. Aoife. Shadach held her close, breathing in the faint scent of lavender on her skin.
“I was so scared.” Her soft cheeks had the tear stains to prove it. “I thought I was going to lose you, you lost so much blood.”
He kissed one cheek and then the other. “I can’t be gotten rid of so easily.” He paused. Why hadn’t he been gotten rid of so easily? He felt for the wound on his side and found stitches. Neat and clean, as if done by a professional. Aoife was many things, but she was no doctor. And what about—
“Kesra,” he said. “What happened to Kesra?”
Aoife motioned behind her. Kesra lay on the floor, sleeping, colour in her cheeks and bandages on her body. Kneeling over her was a thin Halcin man. His clothes were simple, his eyes sharp. It was then Shadach noticed another unfamiliar Halcin seeming to stand guard at the mouth of the cave.
“Who are you?” Shadach’s tone was neither cruel nor friendly.
“I’m the one who saved your life,” said the one kneeling over Kesra. “That’s the one making sure soldiers don’t find us and murder us all.”
The Halcin at the cave entrance nodded with a bright smile. The gesture seemed genuine.
“I remembered the area from when we first hid in that cave, hiding from Aristen,” Aoife said, her eyes flashing lusty at the memory.
“That’s when I remembered what you’d said about a Halcin enclave nearby.
” Aoife paused. With a soft smile, she said, “I can’t believe I actually recognised where we were.
Maybe I have the God to thank for that.”
“He must truly be watching over us,” Shadach said.
But in his own mind, he told himself Aoife’s story was impossible.
Shadach had only mentioned the enclave in passing, and even then, he’d only vaguely pointed in the direction of it.
Shadach looked at the Halcin. He looked at Aoife.
None of her words had created Shadows. And yet, she didn’t have a scratch on her.
Which, on the one hand, was a relief. On the other hand, hadn’t he heard her scream?
If adept fighters like Shadach and Kesra had been seriously wounded, how had Aoife not been?
Unease gnawed at Shadach’s stomach. Something wasn’t right. Hallus betraying them. Them escaping only to be saved by two mysterious Halcin. Aoife getting away without a single wound. Something was wrong.
Very wrong, indeed.
~*~
“We’re nearly there,” Kesra said. Her breathing was laboured as they walked through the forest, but she did her best to hide it.
Her wounds hadn’t had enough time to heal before they’d had to keep moving.
Aristen’s inauguration was fast approaching and Shadach refused to find out if Aristen planned to make good on his threat against the Halcin.
Shadach’s side still burned, but the pain was tolerable.
The vertigo was getting less and less even as the unease inside him grew and grew the closer they got to the Emperor’s City.
He had been caught out by Hallus’ betrayal and he could not let that happen again.
He would not. The unease turned to a sick that made his head swim as he thought of Aoife.
He had been mistaken that she had been unscathed by the attack.
She had been injured, but her wounds compared to his and Kesra’s had been insignificant.
A few scratches and bruises, nothing more.
How had she escaped with so little? Then there was her behaviour before the attack.
Had she known the attack was coming? Was that why she had said she was “worried about the future?” Don’t be absurd, Shadach told himself.
This was Aoife. His Aoife. What exactly did he think she was capable of?
“Maybe we should rest before the home stretch?” Aoife walked beside Shadach, twigs and dried leaves snapping beneath her feet. “You both look exhausted.”
“You don’t look so spry yourself,” Kesra snapped.
“I didn’t mean that offensively, but—”
“Didn’t you?”
“Aoife’s right,” Shadach said. “We’ll need to be alert.”
Aoife gave Shadach a small smile of thanks as Kesra cursed quietly.
Despite her protests, Kesra fell asleep the moment she lay down.
Aoife fell asleep with her head in Shadach’s lap as Shadach took the first watch, sitting with his back against a tree and peering into the darkness.
Twisting a lock of Aoife’s hair around his finger, he tried to relax.
Of course Aoife wouldn’t betray him. They’d been through too much.
And yet, he’d thought Hallus wouldn’t betray him.
Of course, Hallus was selfish, self-serving.
Merciless. But he hated Selats more than he hated Shadach.
Shadach had thought Hallus would, at the very least, not betray him to a Selat.
But he had been wrong. What if he was wrong about Aoife, too?
Shadach shook his head. No. She wouldn’t betray him.
I certainly hope you’re right.
Shadach closed his eyes. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn’t afford to be wrong. He was too close to succeeding and he had come too far to let his future rely on trust. Of course he wasn’t wrong about Aoife. Still.
Wouldn’t he be remiss to not make certain?
Shadach glanced at Aoife as if she might have heard his traitorous thoughts.
She stayed sound asleep. It wouldn’t be hard.
All he had to do was read her Shadows. All he had to do was reassure himself she was all she said she was.
In fact, he would have been remiss not to put his mind at ease.
A little invasion of privacy be damned, this was the fate of the Kingdom they were talking about.
Taking a deep breath to focus, Shadach reached out.
With his thoughts, he reached into the night, into the darkness, and called forth the truths Aoife had hidden.
More Shadows than he would have thought answered the summons.
Taking another deep breath to calm his nerves, Shadach read the first Shadow.
A silly lie Aoife had told when they’d first met, when she’d been pretending she wasn’t an artist. He read another Shadow.
The same thing. Another Shadow. The same again.
Shadach began to relax. See? His suspicions of Aoife were all in his head.
A Shadow slunk by his face, wispy with a centre blacker than black.
It laughed at him in high, shrieking tones and Shadach swore he saw it grow little teeth and smile.
The nerves crept back in, his heart skipping as he reached into the Shadow.
The images were jumbled. Unclear at first. Shadach had never read a Shadow so disjointed. But then he made out an image.
Hallus.
Rage set Shadach’s heart pounding in his ears. Another figure became clear.
Aoife.
Rage turned to fear. No, not fear. Dread.
“We can offer up Shadach to Aristen,” Hallus had said. “He’ll give us a fortune, and then we’ll be richer than the God.”
Shadach’s heart fell to his stomach as he waited for Aoife’s answer, his body ready to tear itself apart. He waited, praying Aoife had refused. But then the word came out. He heard it as loud as thunder.
“Yes.” Shadach couldn’t breathe. “That’s what I want to do. Stab Shadach in the back and run away with you.”
Shadach jerked away from the Shadow as if he’d been burned by fire. It floated to the tree tops. He slipped out from under Aoife, stumbling to his feet. He wanted to run. But he was the lookout. He paced instead, his heart ricocheting off his lungs.
Aoife had deceived him.
Was that why her wounds had been so minimal? Had the soldiers been instructed to make sure she was safe? Then why would she save you? Maybe there were more plans in the works. Other deceptions. Worse manipulations.
The world spun and stuttered in Shadach’s vision.
He punched his fist into an innocent tree.
He’d known better. He’d known better than to trust. To think he would not be used and betrayed.
Aoife was using him to get rich. Selling him out for greed.
For lust. Maybe even love. The thought of Aoife and Hallus together made Shadach want to vomit.
He moved to wake her. To demand an explanation.
To make her confess. He paused. What good would that do?
Or, rather, what good would that do right now?
Despite everything, she was still the God’s Messenger.
It was still her and her alone that could counteract Aristen’s claims. She might have shattered him into a thousand pieces, but he still needed her to save his people.
He needed this woman that had made him feel love and passion unlike any he’d ever known.
He needed this woman who was set to betray him at any moment.
Shadach rested his forearm against a tree, pressing his forehead into his arm. He didn’t know how to manage this yet. He didn’t know when to confront her or what her next plans were, but one thing was certain.
He would not let her fool him again.