Chapter 21
Kiera
“Kiera?” Ruru mumbled, stirring in my arms.
His dark brown hair had grown past his ears and over his eyes. He felt thinner than I remembered. His cheekbones sharper. Gods, how did he make it all the way here by himself?
“I’m here, Ruru. You made it,” I said soothingly.
He grunted and fell unconscious.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked Nikella, my voice cracking.
She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead and cheeks. “He’s exhausted. Underfed. No fever, but I’ll need to check him for injuries. Foolish boy,” she muttered affectionately under her breath.
We cradled Ruru between us and settled him back onto his horse, who was surprisingly calm after all his prancing around.
“I’ll walk with him,” Nikella said. “Run ahead and get blankets, food, and water.”
I was already sprinting by the time she finished speaking. Questions raced through my mind faster than my feet.
How did he find us? What happened after we left Aquinon? Did he know the fates of Everett and Delysia?
I burst into camp, drawing the eyes of everyone I raced past. I skidded to a halt before the main bonfire. Aiden, Maz, his sisters, and a dozen others stared at me. Most of them reached for a blade.
But I locked eyes with Aiden. “Ruru. He’s here.”
Aiden’s eyes widened, and Maz dropped the piece of bread he was holding.
I took a deep breath. “He’s unconscious and—”
Aiden rushed back the way I’d come. Maz shouted and charged after him.
“I—I need blankets. Food. Water.”
“Is this the boy from Aquinon Maz told us about?” Yarina said.
I nodded.
Without another word, she spooned soup into a bowl while Sigrid grabbed a whole loaf of bread.
“Water and mead,” Frieda commanded a young boy from her chair.
Jek appeared at my side with an armful of blankets.
By the time Ruru’s small procession arrived, we had everything laid out for him by the fire.
Aiden eased Ruru off the horse and carried him to the nest of blankets I’d made. Maz followed close behind, wiping his eyes. Nikella unbuckled the horse’s saddlebags and handed the reins over to a young girl with quiet instructions.
Aiden laid Ruru next to me. We removed his mud-caked cloak and boots. I frowned at his thin clothes. They were better suited to the sun and warm storms of Aquinon. Not the snowy forests of Dagriel.
I hung back while Nikella examined him.
Please, please—
“He’s fine,” Nikella announced. “A few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.”
Several sighs, including mine, echoed around the group.
Nikella looked at me. “Get him to eat and drink, then let him rest.”
I nodded vigorously. I would do as she said, but Ruru had answers I needed.
Nikella left, and Jek followed her.
Aiden propped Ruru up on a pile of furs. Yarina handed me the warm soup, and I nudged a spoonful between Ruru’s chapped lips.
It took a moment, but then he sipped it. Slowly, he chewed a few of the meat chunks and soft vegetables.
His eyes opened. He looked startled until he saw Maz, Aiden, and me among the others. Aiden gave him a tight smile and squeezed his narrow shoulder.
Ruru stared at me. “I thought you were dead. When I didn’t hear from you . . . When Aiden sailed away . . . I thought—”
“I was on the ship, too.” I set down the soup and gently hugged him. “I wish I could’ve gone back for you.”
Ruru threw his arms around my neck. “I’m just glad you’re alive.”
I let out a muffled laugh. “Does that mean you forgive me?”
“Of course I forgive you, Kiera. You’re my friend.”
I scrunched my eyes shut and soaked that in. Forgiveness. Friendship. Two rays of light in the darkness that had chased me since that dreadful night.
Someone cleared their throat, and we broke apart.
“I can’t believe I made it,” Ruru said hoarsely, looking at everyone gathered around him.
Maz beamed and reached around Aiden to slap Ruru on the back. “You did, little brother. You’re a gods-damned warrior to make it here all by yourself.”
Ruru smiled a little, and the sight made my eyes prickle again.
“Eat more,” I said gruffly, shoving another spoonful at his mouth.
His brown eyes crinkled at me, but he gulped the soup down. He licked his lips. “I’ll take the bowl, if you don’t mind.”
I smiled and handed it over. He devoured it while we watched. Sigrid tore off chunks of bread for him, which he took with a nod of thanks. She was much more welcoming to him than she had been with me. But then again, Ruru wasn’t a traitor.
“Gods, that’s good,” he groaned between mouthfuls. The light was coming back to his eyes, but the shadows beneath them remained. He glanced between Yarina and Sigrid. “Are you Maz’s sisters? I’ve heard so many stories.”
They both nodded and introduced themselves.
Ruru frowned. “Where’s the third sister you mentioned, Maz?”
A shadow fell over Maz’s face, and he swallowed hard. He opened his mouth, but the words wouldn’t emerge.
Sigrid answered for him. “Davka died in battle.”
“Oh, I’m sorry . . . What battle?”
“Later,” I murmured in his ear.
He nodded. “Is my horse all right?”
“He’s taken care of,” Aiden said.
Maz seized on the new topic with enthusiasm, his grin a little too bright. “When did you learn to ride?”
“On that horse.” Ruru took the water I gave him and downed it in a few gulps. “I think my ass is shaped like his back by now.”
A chuckle rippled through the group.
I waited for the laughter to die, twisting my hands in my lap. “Ruru, before you left Aquinon, did you hear anything of my brother and sister?”
Ruru’s grin softened. “I saw them.”
I blinked, not sure I heard him right. “You saw them? They’re alive? Where? Are they safe?” Each question tumbled over the next like water over sharp rocks.
Ruru grimaced. “They’re alive and unharmed, as far as I could tell. But they were with Renwell in the prison square.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Not as prisoners,” Ruru said quickly. “But as part of his coronation.”
My face crumpled, and I buried it in my hands.
They’re alive. They’re alive. They’re alive.
That one simple truth echoed through my mind, roaring louder and louder. It drowned out the incessant worry.
But then other fears appeared, stacking on my shoulders like stones.
How long would he keep them alive? What was he doing with them? By going with Aiden to Calimber, I could be condemning them.
But they’d been alive and well this whole time. Nikella had been right. Renwell had dangled my brother’s and sister’s fates to get me to follow him home, like raw meat in front of a dog.
Gods damn that man to the deep, dark, wandering hell. I hope I get to send him there one day.
Someone wrapped an arm around me. I lowered my hands to see Yarina half-hugging me, tears in her blue eyes. But I knew those tears weren’t for me.
“You’ll see them again soon, I’m sure,” she whispered.
She would never get her sister back, but I still had a chance to save Everett and Delysia. If Renwell was keeping them alive to lure me home, then I needed to make sure I had more than my knives when I faced him again.
I returned Yarina’s half-hug, then clasped Ruru’s hand. His thumbless grip was so familiar and comforting. “Thank you for telling me. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
He squeezed my hand. “I do know. I would’ve given anything for someone to tell me of Daire’s fate.”
Shadow-Wolves had taken his older brother years ago, before Ruru resorted to stealing food and Aiden had helped him evade capture.
I met Aiden’s eyes over Ruru’s head. They blazed with a fierce emotion I couldn’t name. Deeper than happiness. More grim than worry.
“Start from the beginning, Ruru,” Aiden said quietly. “What happened after we left?”
Everyone sat in a crescent around Ruru, ready for a story.
“After you sailed away, I hid out for a few days, hoping for news,” Ruru began. “I never stayed in one place very long, but when nobody came after me, I figured I was safe.”
“What has Renwell done to the city?” I interrupted. Sigrid shot me a glare. Interrupting stories was tantamount to a crime around a Dag fire.
“He’s got it locked up pretty tight,” Ruru said. “Curfews and such. Shadow-Wolves prowling at all times of the day. It’s awful.” He glanced at Aiden. “I went to check on Melaena using the tunnel, but Renwell must’ve found it. Filled it with rubble.”
Aiden grimaced. “Is Melaena safe?”
Ruru nodded, and I nearly melted with relief again. I’d never told Renwell about that tunnel, but he’d guessed what I was hiding from him.
“Renwell’s keeping a close eye on her club, though,” Ruru continued. “Probably hoping the three of you will show up. I sent her a coded message, and she sent—” Ruru jerked upright with a wild look. “Fucking Four, my bags! Did you grab—”
“Calm down,” I said, dragging his saddlebags forward. “Nikella took them off your horse.”
Ruru sagged with relief. “Thank the Four. After what I went through to keep these safe . . .”
“What’s in them?” Maz pawed through one. “Letters?” He held up a wrinkled piece of paper with an air of disappointment.
Ruru snatched it out of his hand. “Yes, letters Melaena gave me. What were you hoping for?”
Maz shrugged. “I don’t know. A Wolf’s head. Renwell’s battle plans. Gold.”
“I’d already taken my coins from the chest in the Temple,” Ruru said. His cheeks pinked as he glanced between me and Aiden. “Kiera’s too.”
Aiden frowned at me. “You don’t have any coins with you.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but Ruru beat me to it. “That’s because she gave hers to me. To get me settled outside of Aquinon.”
Everyone stared at me, different levels of begrudging respect on their faces.
Heat crawled up my neck, and I dropped my gaze to my boots. “It was the least I could do.”
“Did this conversation happen when you freed Kiera?” Aiden’s deep voice made me look up again.
Ruru clutched his remaining bread like he’d been caught stealing. “Yes. But I had to, Aiden. I owed her.”
“I would expect nothing less from you, Ruru,” Aiden said softly. His eyes met mine. “In the end, I’m glad you did.”
I blinked. He was glad? Even though I’d interrupted his assassination of my father?
“Good,” Ruru said with a sigh of relief. “And it’s lucky I grabbed the money when I did because, two days after you sailed away, Renwell invaded the Temple.”
“He did what?”
We spun around to see Nikella towering behind us in her Teacher robes, her eyes blazing, her fist clenched around her spear. I’d never seen her so furious.
Jek stood behind her, holding our wooden swords and gazing at her like she was a goddess he’d gladly kill for.
Ruru’s voice trembled. “He went into the Temple with a dozen Shadow-Wolves. When they came out, they had Librius in chains. They ripped apart the bookshelves and collapsed the entrance to the secret room.”
Aiden paled, and Maz swore loudly.
“How did Renwell know we were using that room?” I wondered.
“Any Teacher, including the High Teacher, could’ve spied on us,” Aiden said darkly. “He could’ve—”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nikella barked. “He’s an elite spy with informants. The point is, he destroyed the entrance and arrested Librius. He must’ve figured out that Librius was helping us.”
I remembered the Teacher who’d been nothing but kind to me the few times I’d seen him. Was Renwell punishing him for being our ally? If so, then why had he spared Melaena?
My stomach growled as my head pounded. In all the turmoil, I’d forgotten about my empty stomach.
Wordlessly, Ruru tore his bread and handed half to me. It reminded me of when we’d share sticky bread from the market. A market that now had Wolves stalking through it, day and night.
I shoved the bread into my mouth.
“Tell us about the prison square and the letters,” Aiden said.
Ruru swallowed his last bite of bread. “Renwell dragged Weylin’s body to the square and burned it in front of hundreds of people.” He glanced at my wide eyes and winced. “Sorry, I know he was your father—”
“Don’t be,” I rasped. “The man was a murderer and a usurper who tried to execute half his family, including me. I’m glad he’s dead.”
Surprise flickered in the eyes of everyone listening.
Did they really think I cherished the man who was only a father by blood? He’d destroyed so much of my life—my first love, my friends, my future, Mother.
I avoided Aiden’s gaze, even though I could feel it burning a hole in my wounded cheek.
Ruru cleared his throat. “All right, then. So, Renwell made a big speech about how he was king now, that Weylin had stolen the throne in the first place, and that there were no heirs. He pointed at Everett and Delysia and said they had no legal right to the throne and that the Falcryn line had died. He never mentioned Kiera or Aiden by name.” He glanced at me.
“Which is also why I thought you were dead.”
Gods, that was a lot to take in.
Renwell had revealed the truth about Father’s claim to the throne. He’d effectively cut off any support Everett and Delysia might have garnered. And he’d stricken me and Aiden from the story altogether.
No one to miss us. No one to look for us. No allies. Just enemies.
And we had no way to tell anyone otherwise.