Chapter 42
Kiera
Memories jolted through me. A guard with bright red hair, standing at the bridge. Smiling at me. Sneaking me around the other guards. Stealing kisses and a few nights in his bunk.
“Shayn?” I stepped past Aiden, reaching for him, trying to see his face. “Holy Four, you’re alive.”
He gave a bitter laugh. “No thanks to your father and that prick of a High Enforcer calling himself king now.”
I winced. “I’m sorry my father sent you away. I tried to find out what happened to you—”
“Forget about it. I should’ve known better than to get involved with you. I’m only here to verify who you are and see if you have a way to get me back to my family.”
I deserved that. Of course, a short affair with me wasn’t worth being torn away from the parents and sisters I knew he had in Aquinon. Still, I believed he was a decent man, especially if Henry deemed him honorable enough for this treasonous mission.
“How did you find us?” Aiden asked sharply.
“We passed through the fort,” Henry said. “I figured you hadn’t crossed the river, so I told them I would take a night patrol and came north.”
“Excellent,” Aiden said brusquely. “Follow me. We don’t have much time.”
Henry straightened. “I came to talk to Kiera. I still don’t know who you are.”
“Aiden,” he replied over his shoulder. “Aiden Falcryn.”
Three heads swiveled to me. I sheathed my sword.
Getting used to sharing his full name, was he?
“He’s been in hiding since his birth,” I said quietly, leading the soldiers after Aiden. “He’s fought for Rellmira longer than I have.”
“I’ve never heard of him,” Henry said in a clipped tone. “What fighting has he done?”
I shrugged, even though he probably couldn’t see it. “I’ll let him tell you that. But what we’re doing now—and what we need to do after—is why I sent you that note.”
We traipsed back to our little camp. Nikella, Maz, and Ruru looked up at our approach. Maz hefted the axe he was sharpening, rising to his feet.
I caught his eye and shook my head.
He winked at me. “Found your friends, did you, lovely?”
Henry pulled up short. “A Dag?” He glanced at Nikella and Ruru. “A Teacher and a boy? This is who you’re fighting with?”
“We’re who she’ll be winning with,” Maz said with a sinister smile.
Henry’s brow furrowed, but he made no comment.
I sat next to Ruru, gesturing for the three soldiers to sit as well. Aiden leaned against a tree a bit out of our circle around the fire.
We made more introductions. The third soldier’s name was Lionel, and he did little but grunt in anyone’s direction. Their clothes and armor were dirty, and their expressions were haggard in the firelight. As if they’d traveled without stopping.
A kernel of hope wedged into my chest. Henry wouldn’t have come all this way, risking his post and his men, if he weren’t serious about helping Delysia.
“You told me you have something planned,” Henry prompted, getting right to business. “What is it?”
I glanced at Aiden, his features shadowed. He nodded once.
“We’re going to destroy the Calimber mine,” I said.
Shayn’s eyes widened in shock. “That’s lunacy!”
Henry stroked his mustache, his brown eyes thoughtful.
After a few moments, he said, “I can’t help you with that.
All my men are deep in Pravara. It would take weeks to get them here.
Even if I could—even if they didn’t desert at the suggestion—Dracles and his army would slaughter us before we reached the mine. ”
I nodded, not surprised after Aiden had argued the same thing at the tavern. “We have the mine covered. Mostly.” I took a deep breath and looked at him with every bit of hope and solemnity I could muster. “We need you to march on Aquinon.”
This time, Shayn was speechless. Lionel grunted and shook his head.
Henry’s eyes softened. “To get Delysia? I would love nothing more than to rescue her from that . . . that bastard. But we can’t just march on Aquinon.
It would be war. Rellmirans fighting Rellmirans, which would be difficult for my men.
Besides, Renwell would see us coming and summon Dracles’s army before we reached the city. ”
“We’re taking care of him, too,” Maz said.
Henry’s eyes narrowed. “How?”
“He and his men will be in or near the mine when it collapses,” Nikella said, her eyes hard and sharp like the spear in her hands.
“You’re going to bury an army?”
“Unless you think we can get them to desert Dracles,” Aiden spoke up.
I frowned. We’d never discussed that possibility.
Henry shook his head. “Not those men, no. Dracles hand-picked every one of them. The strongest, the cruellest, the most bloodthirsty. Animals more than men, the lot of them. I was glad to quit Calimber when they arrived.”
Like Delysia had said. Suddenly, I wanted to know everything about how they’d met and fallen in love. Holy Four, if anything happened to Henry, I would hate to tell my sister of my part in it.
“Tell me, why Calimber? Why not go to Aquinon yourselves?” Henry asked.
I grimaced. “Things are more complicated than we realized.” I told him of Renwell’s attack at Arduen’s Mountain. Of the sunstone armor and weapons. Of the forge and the prisoners in the mine.
He listened with an expression that grew more and more grim. Shayn shook his head and muttered curses. Lionel simply stared into the fire.
“I see,” Henry said when I finished. He stroked his mustache again. “I see. So you want to destroy the mine and as much of Dracles’s army as you can manage. Then you want me to march my men to Aquinon to liberate the city.”
“Yes,” I whispered. “If I don’t make it out of the mine alive, I need someone I can trust to defeat Renwell and save Delysia and Everett.”
“And if you survive?”
“If we survive, we’ll meet you in Aquinon,” Aiden said.
My heart leaped. I glanced toward him to find him already watching me. The flames flickered in his green eyes.
“With what army?” Henry said, gesturing at our group. He didn’t say it cruelly. Just stated the obvious.
But Maz still bristled. “With every warrior we have left, which will be more than enough.”
“We’ll come by sea,” Aiden added. “We should have several ships by then.”
My eyebrows lifted. He must’ve been thinking about what I’d said in the tavern these past few weeks. Thinking and planning. Even Nikella looked surprised . . . but also pleased.
Henry leaned back, a gleam of excitement in his eyes. “And what of the cliff gate? I was born in Aquinon. Lived there most of my life. Once that gate is down, it’s impossible to get through it.”
“We had a few guards we bribed before,” Maz said, cutting a look at Aiden, who shook his head.
“Those men are probably dead or on the run after what happened,” he said.
Henry nodded. “I know a few of the men posted there, and one of them sent me a letter after Renwell took the throne. He told me it was likely the last letter I’d get from the inside, as Renwell was barring all communication to the outside. We’ll have to send someone in.”
I opened my mouth, but Nikella beat me to it. “I’ll go inside and disable the gate.” She shook her small bag of blackrust powder. “I can partially meld the chains inside the drum so that the winch can’t turn and the gate will be stuck open.”
Holy Four, she’d been strategizing the battle for Aquinon, too.
But not together, from the look of Aiden’s hardened jaw. “No. You won’t be able to enter the city without someone raising the alarm of who you are,” he said. “Don’t forget who’s hunting you.”
Everyone went deadly quiet.
“I have been hunted all my life. That has never stopped me before,” Nikella said in a soft, cold voice that reminded me of Renwell. I shivered.
Aiden’s jaw flexed, but he said nothing.
Henry cleared his throat. “May I ask who—”
“Korvin,” Nikella said.
Henry’s throat bobbed. “Fucking Four,” he muttered.
Shayn’s face paled, and he grasped the hilt of his sword, glancing around the dark woods as though Korvin was hiding behind a tree.
Which I supposed he could be. But we hadn’t seen or heard anything of him since Caddik’s manor.
The scars on my back itched.
“Yes,” Nikella said, waving away their fear. “We’re also on a tight schedule. Can we count on you in Aquinon or not?”
I pressed my lips together to keep from begging. I could think of no one else who would risk going toe to toe with Renwell and his Wolves. And soon, it would be too late. He would be too powerful with too many resources. The world would slowly fall to him. As Father had. As I had.
“If you fail to defeat Dracles’s army,” Henry said slowly, “I will not march on Aquinon. I would be leading my men to destruction. Many of them are from Pravara and had family who were massacred after the rebellion. They will not be keen to do so again.” He gave me a pained look.
“As much as I love Delysia, I cannot ask my men to sacrifice themselves for her. We need at least a chance of success.”
My heart ached, heavy with disappointment. “I understand. She wouldn’t want you to do that either.”
“Move your men in groups,” Aiden said. “Get them close to Aquinon without looking like you’re advancing on the city.
When you see our ships, send a messenger to the main gate, asking for their surrender.
I do not want our people slaying each other.
We’re there to eradicate the Shadow-Wolves and the man who has seized control of our kingdom and who will make war on the world if we don’t stop him.
We must lay siege to the throne, not the city. ”
My lips parted. I’d never seen Aiden so animated. Everything about him glowed with the fervor he felt for his mission, for his kingdom. He truly was a king.
If he is to be king, where does that leave you? a small voice whispered. To be in love with a king is to love a man who will always put you second.
“Falcryn,” Henry murmured, assessing Aiden, who met his scrutiny without a trace of tension. “Would victory include putting you on that throne?”
“It should,” Maz muttered.
Nikella and Ruru nodded. My heart whispered yes and no at once.
After a long moment of everyone staring at him, Aiden said, “I don’t do any of this to wear a crown.”
“Why then?” Henry asked, his expression curious.
Aiden glanced at me, then back at Henry.
“At first, out of a desire to wipe out tyranny when I fought in the Pravaran rebellion. Then out of revenge when I was imprisoned in Calimber for two years. I nearly had it, too. I almost killed Weylin, the man who murdered my parents and caused so much pain in Rellmira. But Renwell had other plans.”
And me. I had plans that ruined yours.
“You stole everything from me, little thief.”
I could still remember the fury and betrayal in his voice when he growled that at me.
Aiden sent me a heated look, as if he could hear my thoughts. The tenderness in his eyes, his taut brow. It wasn’t the face of a man who blamed me anymore.
“Now I do it for a better Rellmira, for those who fought for the kingdom and the people they cherished,” Aiden said softly. “I do it for the hope of peace. And love.”
My heart burned. He was probably talking about people like Mother and Garyth. But something in his eyes told me his last words were meant for me.
Henry blinked rapidly, looking between me and Aiden. “That’s . . . er, a lot take to take in. Pravara? And a prisoner for two gods-damned years. And Weylin . . . fucking Four.”
Aiden straightened away from the tree. “If you don’t believe me, mention my name to some families in Pravara, particularly around Tiersen and Chalmont. They’ll remember me.”
“I will,” Henry said, rising to his feet. “But I believe you. And I wouldn’t mind a king like you.” He stretched out his hand.
After a moment’s hesitation, Aiden grasped it, and they shook firmly.
It was so simple. A mutual agreement. But I felt as though it was one of Aiden’s first acts as a king.
Judging by the range of proud faces from Maz, Nikella, and Ruru, I wasn’t the only one.
Then Henry turned and kneeled before me. “If you sail on Aquinon, I will be there. I swear to the Four.” He lowered his voice. “And if you’re not, I will never stop trying to find a way to Delysia. And Everett. I swear that as well, Kiera.”
Tears sprang to my eyes, and I clasped his hand. “Thank you. I’m so glad she has someone like you.”
He smiled. “I was going to say the same about you.”
Aiden cleared his throat, breaking us apart. “We have one last problem you might be able to solve. We need to steal a log shipment to take down the river to the mine, but the fort is too well-guarded.”
Henry nodded. “Leave that to me.”