Chapter 2 #2
The next morning, we continued riding. As the landscape changed, so did the people. The closer we drew to Loroc, the more military presence crowded the roads. Wolfkin with steel at their hips marched in pairs. Wolves ran alongside them, silent and watchful.
At the first checkpoint, armed guards stepped forward but halted when they saw Godric. They bowed their heads deeply and let us pass without question.
Town after town grew heavier. Dirtier. Clothing torn. Faces tired. Shops half empty.
It was nothing like the ruin of the Dregs, but it was worse than anything I’d seen in Hildreth. Hildreth now felt like some untouched pocket of sunlight in a country that had long forgotten hope.
Godric had me keep Valkaryn covered with my cloak the entire time.
Whatever we were moving toward, it seemed to grow darker with every mile.
By sunset of our second day, we reached Loroc.
Loroc wasn’t really a town. It was a military encampment disguised as a town. Wolves and armored wolfkin filled the streets. Barracks rose on both sides. There were no children, no market stalls, no laughter, only sharpened steel and quiet eyes.
Every few steps, wolfkin bowed their heads respectfully to Godric. He walked with purpose, shoulders back, jaw tight. If I had not spent days with him already, I would have been terrified.
We tied Star outside and stepped into a sprawling camp of gray tents. A large fire burned in the center, lighting the faces of armed wolfkin sitting on logs. Their weapons never left their sides.
As we moved deeper, a man with a shaved head stood and saluted Godric.
“Commander. Good to see you back.” His gaze slid to me. “Is this the alpha’s special informant?” His nostrils flared, as if my scent told him something he didn’t like.
‘Hold his gaze. Square your shoulders,’ Val said.
I lifted my chin and did as Val asked.
Special informant?
“Yes,” Godric said. “This is Lady Brynn. Where is Kaelric?”
The man sniffed again, slow and suspicious. “What would our alpha want with a human informant?”
‘I never liked Rennik,’ Val muttered. ‘Show him that you carry me.’
Godric had told me not to reveal that I was Kaelric’s mate to his people. He had said nothing about hiding Valkaryn.
I nudged my cloak aside, just enough that the light caught Valkaryn’s carved hilt.
Rennik’s gaze went to the blade, and he inhaled sharply, bowing his head deeper.
“Wolfkin honor,” he murmured.
Godric shot me a sharp glare and tugged lightly at my arm, steering me away.
“Was that necessary?” he muttered under his breath.
I grinned. “Val told me to. Are you saying I should ignore your sister’s advice?”
His expression faltered, and guilt prickled at me.
“I am joking,” I whispered.
He waved it off as he guided us toward the largest tent near the southern edge of camp.
“It’s not that,” he said. “It’s that you keep calling her Val. Did she ask you to?”
I shook my head. “No. I just started doing it. She doesn’t seem to mind.” She’d tell me if she did, I knew that much.
Something softened in his face. “Our father called her that. A pet name. Valkaryn never let any of us use it. Only him.”
My heart pulled tight. I had been using her special nickname for months without knowing.
‘If I did not like you using it, I would have said so,’ she told me.
Warmth spread beneath my ribs.
Before I could reply, Godric stopped at a large tent’s opening. A familiar voice drifted out, low and steady.
Kaelric.
My knees nearly buckled.
I had forgotten how simply hearing him could undo me.
“Alpha?” Godric called.
“Come in,” Kaelric answered. His tone was calm, controlled. “You’re dismissed,” he added to someone inside.
A female soldier brushed past us, papers tucked under her arm, barely glancing our way.
Godric stepped inside first. I followed, keeping him between me and Kaelric like a shield. My palms dampened.
Creator help me.
Three months had passed.
Three months of silence.
Three months of wondering.
Kaelric had become every good memory and every painful one all at once.
“Any trouble on the road?” Kaelric asked.
“No, sir,” Godric replied.
“Alright. Thank you, Uncle.”
Uncle. I swallowed. I kept forgetting they were family.
Godric turned toward me, resting a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“If you need anything, I am in tent number three.”
I nodded, grateful. Then, he slipped out.
Leaving me alone with Kaelric.
I stared at the dirt floor, not daring to meet his eyes. My heart hammered. I heard him move; footsteps came toward me.
“You look healthy. Like you have been eating well.”
I laughed, surprising myself. But when I finally looked up, the laughter caught in my throat. His gaze wasn’t locked on mine. He was staring at Valkaryn, pain etched across his face, sharp enough to slice.
“Obsessed with food,” I teased, trying to ease the tension.
“Obsessed with your food,” he muttered.
Heat crawled up my neck.
“Why am I here?”
His gaze lifted. Our eyes met. Everything stopped.
“I forgot how beautiful you were,” he said softly.
My heart twisted. That wasn’t fair.
“I didn’t forget anything.”
He flinched and stepped back, as if distance could protect him.
“I called you here because I need to speak with my mother.”
There it was. The truth. He needed Valkaryn, not me.
‘He wants you, too,’ Val whispered. ‘He just feels rejected by me. He wants us both.’
‘Don’t defend him.’
“She is listening,” I said flatly as I crossed my arms.
I came all this way to be a mouthpiece.
Kaelric glanced at two wooden chairs and gestured.
“Will you sit? I need to explain everything so you understand what is happening.”
Why would he care what I understood?
I rolled my eyes and moved to the fur-covered chair, hoping it was his. I sat, annoyed.
He walked to the tent flap and accepted two plates from a wolfkin outside. The scent hit me instantly. My mouth watered.
Honey-glazed chicken.
Warm rosemary bread.
Mashed potatoes with herbs.
After two days of dried fruit and nuts, the sight was nearly holy.
Kaelric offered me a plate. I considered refusing, but after everything between us, there was nothing left to prove.
I took it quietly.
“Good food for a military camp.”
Kaelric chuckled. “I had it made specially for you and me.”
That was unexpectedly sweet, and only made everything more confusing.
“Food obsessed,” I murmured again.
He gave a small smile.
My heart stumbled.
I lifted the rosemary bread and paused deliberately. His eyes tracked every movement, gold flickering at their edges. He couldn’t eat until I did, and I loved the power I held over him. Something I hadn’t been able to do in the past three months.
“You are terrible,” he murmured.
“Just a little,” I replied, then took a bite.
He tore into his own food then, satisfied.
“I have gained weight. My pants had to be let out. Does that make you happy?”
“Extremely.”
I laughed. He was ridiculous. “Tell me your story, Kaelric. I will tell you what your mother says.”
He swallowed and nodded. “Do not tell Elia. Not yet. I need a plan before she knows.”
A cold feeling crept up my spine. “Elia? Is she in danger?”
“No,” he said quickly. “But her mother and father were believed to have been killed shortly after Harrow, the Savage King, seized Lunaria.”
My brows pulled together.
“Believed to have been?”
He nodded. “Remember the letter on the train? The one from someone who could not mind-speak?”
I nodded slowly, the memory coming back.
“I have had someone working inside Harrow’s territory for years. She was finally able to get into the castle as a maid.”
I leaned forward. Val’s presence pressed close, too.
“And…?”
Kaelric exhaled.
“Three nights ago, she told me Elia’s mother was seen alive, in the castle.”
Hope burst inside me.
But Kaelric’s face remained hard. “She is a prisoner. One of many concubines Harrow keeps.”
My stomach dropped. “No.”
‘That monster.’ Val pulsed purple heat against my hip.
I rested a hand over her hilt, steadying her. ‘Is she your sister?’ The family tree was starting to confuse me.
‘Yes.’
‘Then we will free her. I swear it.’
If someone took one of my sisters, I would tear the world apart to get them back.
I stood abruptly and set my plate down.
“Get me inside this castle. I will free her by morning.”
Kaelric rubbed a hand over his face, exhausted. “Sit, Brynn. That’s not possible yet.”
“The hell it’s not. I have the King Killer. Point me to this king, and I will bring you his head.”
I unsheathed Valkaryn, the metal singing, as Valkaryn’s purple glow ignited the entire tent.
Kaelric stared up at me with something like awe.
“I love your loyalty.”
The words hit me like a blow. I sat again, heart twisting. “Then help me get your aunt back.”
His expression hardened. “Tell my mother the king has Mind Render.”
I frowned. Mind Render? What was that?
‘Oh no,’ Val whispered. ‘How did he get it?’
‘What is Mind Render?’ I asked.
‘It’s a weapon from the Arcane Trials a couple of hundred years ago. It’s second in power to the power I hold. But its power is not of the Creator, it’s of the darkness.’
Fantastic.
“How did he get it?” I repeated aloud.
“Likely killed its wielder and proved himself enough to bond with it. I don’t know.”
Second only to Valkaryn. That was something.
“Alright. Not great news, but Val says Mind Render is second to her. So I can defeat him.” I nodded confidently.
Kaelric peered at the blade in my hand. “My grandfather called her Val.” There was a softness in his tone, like with all the stress of war that he had going on right now, he really just wanted his mother.
“I heard from Godric.” My tone softened, too.
‘I love your confidence, Brynn. It’s a strong quality, but unfortunately, your human vessel weakens my power against someone like Harrow. Especially if he’s wielding Mind Render.’
My face fell.
“What did she say?” Kaelric asked. He could read me too well.
“My being human seems to be a problem for everyone. You, her.”
His face looked haunted, and suddenly he stood so that we were only inches apart. “Brynn, I…” Pain crossed his face so sharply that I scanned his body to look for an open wound. “Your humanness isn’t a problem for me.”
“You said it was. You said we could never be fully together because of the curse.”
He nodded, slowly. “That’s true. We can’t be.
But I’d have still worshipped the ground you walked on, made sure your belly was full every night before you went to bed.
” He stepped closer so that my stomach was touching his.
“I’d have lived my whole life in love with you, without ever really being fully intimate, if you hadn’t betrayed me so deeply. ”
His face contorted in pain. I sucked in a breath, feeling a physical blow in my chest.
‘Tell him it was me. Blame me!’ Val said.
He already knew. He knew it had been her plan. But I had agreed. I had risked everything.
“I told you she was the one thing I needed,” he said. “I knew your human body would not carry her full strength. I knew you would not survive a fight against Harrow. And still you betrayed me.” He stepped back, shaking his head.
The words struck hard.
I gripped Valkaryn’s hilt and shoved her back into the scabbard, lifting my chin, blinking away the sting in my eyes.
“I am sorry your fragile male pride cannot handle the truth, that you were not worthy to wield her. I am sorry your mother chose me and not you. I am sorry I risked everything for you and your people.” My voice rose.
“I gave up the chance to give my entire family magic. For you. A mistake I regret.”
He flinched.
“You need to grow up!” I spat, spun, and stormed out of the tent.
A few guards stared but did nothing.
How dare he blame me for his mother’s choice.
‘That last part was a little harsh, no?’ Val asked quietly.
‘No,’ I growled.
She went silent.
I found tent three and waited outside it.
“Godric?”
“Come in, Brynn,” he answered.
The moment I stepped inside, I unraveled. Tears spilled down my face, hot and fast, and I hated it. I was embarrassed to be crying like some weak woman in front of the commander of Kaelric’s army. Someone who had seen real war.
“Do you want to talk or be alone?” he asked calmly.
The question was perfect.
“Alone,” I whispered.
He nodded once, stood, and slipped outside without another word.
Right then, he was my favorite person.
‘Crying does not make you weak, Brynn. It makes you someone who cares.’
Val’s voice stayed with me long into the night.