Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Iwoke up in my assigned tent, number four, right next to Godric’s.
The canvas walls still held the faint chill of night, and distant movement stirred outside, wolves most likely changing guard or preparing for drills. My body was stiff from poor sleep, fractured dreams, and restlessness. The smell of cooked eggs pulled me upright.
Godric’s voice came from outside my tent: “Can I come in?”
“Yes,” I called, and sat up.
He set a tray on a small wooden crate. A plate filled with eggs, potatoes, and sweet bread.
“You will eat alone,” he said softly, and I nodded.
He left then, leaving me with lukewarm potatoes, eggs, and too many thoughts.
Eat alone? Why? Wouldn’t want anyone to know I was Kaelric’s mate.
The secrecy felt like a chain tightening around my ribs.
I thought about my argument with Kaelric last night, about how he said he forgot how beautiful I was and how heavy that felt now.
Whatever.
After eating, I dressed quickly and stepped outside, feeling the crisp morning cut through the fabric. A shield of armor settled over my heart, something I was forcing there. Kaelric had too much power to hurt me. I had to fix that. I needed to become dead inside where he was concerned.
‘I don’t recommend that,’ Val said.
I almost snapped back that she didn’t know anything about such a thing, but I stopped. She’d fallen for Kaelric’s father when she was still human. She knew exactly what it was like to care for someone who you could never really have.
So I ignored the comment, set my jaw, and went with Godric to an open practice field. The ground was trampled into dirt from years of sword work. Rows of wolfkin drilled in tidy lines while others lounged at the edges, sharpening blades or talking quietly.
Kaelric and I had never even gotten to finish our conversation last night because emotions were running high, but I didn’t care. He could come to me if he needed my help. Right now, Kaelric was dead to me. He had an unforgiving heart, and I was over him.
At least, that was the lie I was determined to believe.
When we reached the field, Godric pulled his sword and kept it loosely at his side.
“So, Brynn, how would you like a lesson from the greatest swordsman to ever walk Fenmyr?” He tapped his chest, indicating it was he, and bowed lightly to me.
I grinned, unable to help it.
‘Last time I checked, I was the greatest swordswoman in Fenmyr,’ Valkaryn responded, smug and bright in my mind.
“Val says she’s the greatest.” I unsheathed her, and Godric’s mouth twisted into a smile.
“Oh, it’s been a decade. I’m not sure she still holds that title.” His tone was playful, and I felt Val’s power surge through my arm.
‘Let’s show him,’ she said, energy crackling under my skin.
I lunged forward.
Godric moved instantly, as if expecting it.
Our swords met with a sharp clack that rang across the training yard.
Sparks jumped at the impact, scattering across the dirt like startled fireflies.
Two wolfkin who had been sparring nearby paused, then shouted encouragement.
Their calls drew more eyes until a loose ring of soldiers gathered around us, curious.
Godric spun his blade with practiced ease, testing me with fast, sweeping arcs meant to drive me back. But Valkaryn guided my body, swift and sure, as I countered each strike with light-footed pivots that refused to give him ground.
“You’ve improved,” he called over the clang of metal.
‘Or maybe he’s just gotten slow,’ Val shot back, sly as smoke.
I echoed her comment, darting in close enough to make him grunt and pivot sharply to avoid losing ground. The crowd whooped at the exchange, their excitement rising.
Metal rang again and again, fast enough to melt into rhythm.
Godric feigned high, then swept low toward my legs.
I vaulted over the strike, landing lightly in the dirt and knocking his sword downward before he could reset.
He recovered fast, bringing his blade up in a heavy arc.
I lifted my sword, bracing against the force, my muscles trembling under the weight.
‘Press him now,’ Valkaryn urged, her voice like a spark.
I obeyed.
Driving forward in a sharp flurry, I forced Godric back step by step. He parried, blocked, twisted his sword, his shoulders rolling with effort, but momentum was mine. A final sharp twist of my wrist hooked Valkaryn under his wrist guard and sent his sword spinning from his grip and into the grass.
The crowd erupted into cheers, wild and proud.
Before Godric could reach for his weapon, I stepped in and pressed Valkaryn’s cool edge lightly to his throat.
“Lesson over,” I said, my grin matching his earlier one.
Godric threw back his head and laughed, not offended at all. “Seems the title still belongs to you after all.”
More cheers thundered from the onlookers. For once, I didn’t fight the smile tugging at my lips. Heat rose in my cheeks, but not from embarrassment. It actually felt like pride.
When the soldiers drifted away, Godric retrieved his sword. There was a twinkle in his eye as he sheathed it.
“You planned that?” I asked quietly. It seemed like he’d enjoyed having a crowd.
He shrugged, expression innocent but too satisfied.
“I don’t want anyone questioning why you are here. Thinking you are weak.”
He really did take his job of protecting me seriously, and an invisible knot inside me loosened.
Something also nagged at me. “Wait a second. You didn’t let me win, right?”
‘No way, we beat him fair and square,’ Val protested.
But Godric’s faint smile made me wonder anyway.
Before I could press him, a few soldiers rushed out of a nearby tent, their movements urgent as they made their way to us. They saluted Godric.
“We have new word on Songbird,” one said, eyeing me briefly.
Godric nodded, shoulders going tense. “What is it?”
The soldier hesitated, looking between us. When Godric didn’t send me away, and I made no move to leave, the wolfkin swallowed hard.
“Songbird is healthy, but secure. Too secure for extraction.”
My breath caught. The coded language made my skin prickle.
Godric frowned. “How healthy?”
“Mildly, sir. Songbird is… compliant.”
Compliant? The word dropped like a stone. Godric’s expression darkened, fury flashing behind his eyes before he forced it down.
“Thank you.” He dismissed them, and they jogged away.
“Who is Songbird?” I asked, certain it referred to a person.
“Elia’s mother. Val’s and my sister.”
My heart pinched. I stepped closer, grip tightening on Valkaryn’s handle.
“How can we help?”
I might be mad at Kaelric, but for Elia and her mother, I would become a weapon and stop at nothing until she was free.
Godric gave me a sad smile. “That kind of courage reminds me of Valkaryn.”
He squeezed my shoulders gently. “So long as Harrow wields Mind Render, there is nothing we can do.”
I frowned. “Why not?”
“She hasn’t told you yet?” He nodded toward the sword at my hip. “What Mind Render does?”
‘What does wielding Mind Render do?’ I asked Val.
Silence stretched for a beat.
‘Last I heard, it gives the wielder the ability to push thoughts.’
I frowned. ‘Push thoughts?’
‘You know how Kaelric has an alpha power that allows him to control others against their will?’
I remembered. Hard to forget after watching him subdue the Watchers on the train.
‘Please don’t tell me this guy can do that, too.’
‘Well, it’s similar. He can push a thought to someone to do something, and they do it.’
Chills ran up my spine. ‘Well, it must take a toll on him. All magic has a cost.’
‘Yes, but this man is very smart. All he has to do is push a thought that someone should be loyal to him. Obedient. Then they would do anything he asked without question.’
Oh crap.
I looked up at Godric. “He’s got control of people’s minds?”
Godric nodded. “And his army is ten times bigger than ours. After Kaelric’s father died, a lot of people loyal to his father fled the city. They became farmers and started families. Now our army is small.”
I frowned. ‘Well, is every person in the city loyal to this imposter? Every single one? That would take a lot of power.’
Godric nodded. ‘It would. Power he has, being part Elite, from the house of Solvaris.’
Nausea twisted in my gut. “No way.”
I knew he was part Elite. I didn’t know he was from the House of Solvaris.
Godric’s jaw tightened. “Corvessa had a powerful sister. This is her son. Corvessa disowned the sister after she lay with a wolfkin and had a child.”
Shock tore through me. “I thought wolfkin couldn’t have children with humans.”
Godric nodded. “They can’t. But an Elite isn’t fully human, are they?
Not with magic running through their veins.
Still, the pairing is not without repercussions.
Catalina Solvaris lay one night with her wolfkin lover.
By morning, he was dead, but the baby inside her grew.
He has both wolfkin and powerful Elite magic. ”
“So he can push a thought to an entire city and not be too weak,” I guessed.
“Yes. They say every Sunday he makes his rounds through the city, thanking people for their loyalty and reinforcing their obedience.”
Yikes. This went deeper than I expected. What Kaelric said last night was making more sense.
“Your woman on the inside… what if this imposter king gets to them?”
Godric exhaled heavily. “It may only be a matter of time. We’ve told her to avoid contact with the king at all costs.
She seems to have some resistance to his magic, able to break away at times and do what she wants.
At those times, she will write us a letter or follow an instruction we’ve given her, but then she will go weeks where she is under his spell.
We aren’t sure if he needs to touch you, or if listening to his voice is enough, or eye contact. We don’t know how the magic works.”
My stomach tightened, and I chewed a fingernail, pacing
“What if I could get in there? Avoid the king, break out Elia’s mom?”