Chapter 40 #2
The smell of food hit Corinne’s nose, and it was only then that she realized how hungry she was.
She and Aryel joined the others at the table as Petyr placed bowls of stew before them.
She dug into the hearty broth and bread like a woman starved.
Aryel slid his over to her while the others talked quietly, and Corinne looked at him, perplexed.
“You should eat,” she murmured.
“I can’t,” he said, shaking his head. “Not right now.”
Corinne understood the feeling. “At least try the stew. You need to keep your strength up.”
Aryel huffed softly through his nose, a little smile tugging his lips upward. “Always looking out for me.”
“Yes,” Corinne said simply, taking another bite of her bread. “And that’s a promise.”
That got a small laugh out of him, and it brought a little warmth back to her heart. Corinne caught Danai looking at her a moment later, a wry smile on their face, and her cheeks flushed.
A sharp rap on the door startled all of them, Corinne ready to draw both swords at her hips.
“It’s Toro!” a voice called, and Danai leapt up from the table.
“Atta,” they said, hurrying for the door.
Councilor Toro stepped inside quickly, greeting Isa and Petyr with a nod while wrapping an arm around Danai.
“I’m sorry to barge in like this,” he said, breathless.
His robes were dirtied on the hem, his hair haphazard.
“I guessed you all might come here.” His eyes landed on Corinne and Aryel.
“You both need to get out of Vytanos as soon as possible. The Lightguards are launching a search of every inch of the city at first light.”
Corinne felt the blood drain from her face. Leave the city, and go where? She couldn’t return to the monastery, and Lightguards were stationed in every village in Ashera.
“I’m going with them, Atta,” Danai said.
Councilor Toro smiled sadly. “I thought you might say that.” He reached inside his robes and extracted a rolled-up bit of parchment, carrying it to the table. He smoothed it out, looking to each of them. “I can show you a route out of Ashera.”
Silence fell over the room. Out of Ashera.
“Are we to just leave the nation to the Lightguards?” Aryel asked, his voice hard.
“For now, you’re to stay alive,” Toro said. “We’ll do our best to keep everyone safe, Prince Aryel. But we need time to plan.”
Aryel paled but nodded.
“Those villages in the northeast,” Toro continued. “They never received that aid, so I’m sure they hold little love for the Lightguards by now. It will be safer to travel through there to reach the Boundary, specifically just beyond Balae.”
“The Boundary?” Nik asked. “Are you saying we breach it? How is that even possible?”
Toro’s eyes flicked to Corinne now. “Corinne can create an opening.”
Corinne stared at him. He wanted her to break through the Boundary and send them to the Shadowlands?
“I’ve outlined everything here,” he said, handing Corinne another folded bit of parchment. “I have connections with a light mage in the Shadowlands, in a city called Ohrai.”
“There are Lightguards in the Shadowlands?” Corinne asked.
She wasn’t sure how much more she could take. Had every part of her life up until this point been a farce?
“They don’t call themselves Lightguards there, but yes,” Toro said. “I’ve been trying to discover more about them for quite some time, but for now, all I know is you can trust this one. Her name is Rasi. I’ve sent word for her to expect you.”
“What about Nightrenders?” Corinne asked. “Will they not attack us there?”
“Rasi has not told me much about them yet,” Toro said. “If I’ve learned anything since beginning my correspondence with her, it’s that the Shadowlands are not entirely what we’ve been led to expect.”
“And you’re certain we can trust Rasi?” Iliana asked.
Toro nodded. “She was my wife’s dearest friend when they were children.”
Selana’s friend from her story, that night on the Mykotas’s roof. She’d defected.
A Lightguard defector in the Shadowlands.
Corinne’s head swam.
Danai and the others talked plans for travel while Corinne tried to let everything she’d just heard sink in.
Hands trembling, she opened the parchment Danai’s father had given her, quickly reading over the instructions.
She read the same sentence five times before giving up on truly grasping it right now.
“…If you leave before dawn, you can reach Balae by nightfall,” Toro said.
“Many Lightguards have been recalled from their stations for this attack, so it’s my hope you can avoid them.
Even so, as long as none of them spot and recognize Corinne, it’s unlikely any of them would know what the rest of you look like. ”
A mix of shame and hatred washed over Corinne, ousting the confusion and uncertainty for a moment. Any Lightguard who saw her was almost certain to recognize her. She was the top trainee of her class, the most talented mage they’d seen in twenty years at the monastery.
Oh, how she wanted to crawl out of her own skin and shed the disgust she felt toward herself. How proud she’d been, how hopeful in her place amongst them. Now, that notoriety was a danger to her and those she cared about.
But she couldn’t let them go without her. She couldn’t let the Lightguards hurt any of them again.
Corinne would make them pay. They’d lied to and manipulated her for the past fifteen years, and they’d hurt and tried to kill Aryel.
The Lightguards had been the opposite of what she’d always trusted, committing acts of violence and selfishness she could scarcely comprehend. And she’d devoted her life to them.
“I’m sorry,” she said, and every eye in the room turned to her, their conversation stopping abruptly. Her face contorted as a deep ache settled in her chest. “I’m so sorry.”
“Corinne,” Toro said, smiling sadly at her as Aryel took her hand from the table, lacing his fingers through hers. “You don’t need to apologize to anyone here. The Lightguards hurt you too.”
Nik stepped around the table to sit on Corinne’s other side, patting her shoulder.
“Why don’t you all try to get some rest?” Toro said as Danai rolled up the map and placed it in a pack they’d found. “You have a few hours before the Lightguards begin their search.”
“I think we ought to leave now,” Iliana said. “Before they have more time to shore up defenses. I’m sure they already have their own guards stationed at the city gates.”
“I’m sure they do, but it won’t make much of a difference whether we leave now or in a few hours,” Danai said. “We should take advantage of the opportunity to rest. Especially Corinne. We don’t have a chance of escaping without her magic.”
As they all looked to her, Corinne took a steadying breath.
“A bit of rest,” she agreed. “And then we get out of Vytanos.”
The Calais house was silent and dark as they all tried to get a few hours of sleep.
Corinne was on the couch at everyone’s insistence, but she found herself unable to find sleep despite not being on the floor.
Danai and Nik were curled up beneath the window on the large rug of the living area, and Iliana was in one of the back bedrooms with her siblings.
Aryel was on the floor in front of the couch.
A quiet, shaky breath from beneath her sent a pang through her heart.
Corinne reached downward, her hand finding Aryel’s shoulder, then his chest as it shook with silent sobs.
He gripped her fingers and sat up, facing her with tear-stained cheeks, and Corinne pulled him toward her in a silent invitation.
He climbed onto the couch, twining his legs with hers and wrapping his arms around her. She brushed the tears from his cheeks with her thumbs and pressed her lips to his forehead, her heart breaking as he tightened his hold and shook with another quiet sob.
She wished desperately that she could tell him it was okay, but the best she could do was hold him close and whisper, “I’m here. I’ve got you.”
She didn’t know how long they remained like that in the dark, but she drew soothing circles on his back until his shaking subsided and his breathing evened out. She said a prayer to Helaera for his safety before closing her eyes as sleep finally took her.