Chapter 24
ERMANEL
“Our little family’s getting bigger.”
Terena looked up and grunted a greeting as Rydon sat down beside her.
“Vassori is growing on me,” Terena said. Then she motioned with her chin to Cassandra, who sat leaning against Croak as they laughed about something on the other side of the campfire. “But Cassandra is still an enigma. There are moments I feel she could be a friend. And others…” She shrugged.
“Aye,” Rydon sighed, stretching out his legs. “The woman confounds me as well.”
They’d eaten dinner earlier and were now enjoying the fire as darkness settled around them.
Orry was curled up on his side with his head in Migela’s lap.
The assassin stroked his hair as she stared into the fire, and beside them Croak lounged against his saddle.
Vassori was conversing with Gabriol, their heads close together.
“We’re not safe here,” Terena said in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the fire. “Xoran better show himself soon.”
“We’ll be safe when he gets here. Ermanel is still part of the empire.”
“You all may be,” Terena grumbled, settling her arms on her knees. “They’ll know who I am straight away. Croak, too.”
“They’re still with Heylisia?” Gabriol asked, looking over at them from his seat beside Vassori.
“Aye,” Vas said. “Xoran learned of Emperor Solon’s agreement to a betrothal between his newborn daughter and the duke’s son.”
“What?” Terena choked on her ale. “Serephina’s given birth? When was she even pregnant?”
Migela signed, a look of confusion on her face.
“Serephina is the emperor’s second wife,” Orry explained.
“And mother to the heir, whose new baby sister is now engaged to a man twenty-three years her senior,” Vassori responded with a snort. “Xoran told me she was pregnant right after the firstborns escaped. When the emperor had him searching for you and your sister.”
“How did they escape? Did we ever figure that out?” Croak asked, the last words stretched as he yawned. Cassandra was curled up beside him with her eyes closed and a smile on her lips.
Vas looked around at the others. “What, you don’t know?” She scoffed at the blank looks they gave her. Terena raised an eyebrow, and the tracker shrugged. “Your man got them out.”
“What man?” Rydon scowled at Vas.
“Wait, Daris?” Croak asked, sitting upright. His eyes darted to Terena. “Did you know?”
Terena felt the heat rise in her throat, almost choking her. “When would I know, Croak? You think I’d keep something like that from you?”
Croak shrugged and leaned back down, propping his weight on his right elbow as he observed her. “Dunno. Pillow talk confessions you didn’t want to share? Wouldn’t blame you. Made an ass of you.”
“That’s enough,” Rydon growled as Gabriol tossed a dried fig at Croak’s head.
“What? She’s over him, anyway. Right, Ren?”
Terena fumed silently. Thankfully, Gabriol asked Vassori about the other provinces, leading to talk of military strategy Terena tuned out.
All she could think about was Daris.
Another betrayal. Using Lerek’s murder to help the firstborns escape.
How could she not have put that together?
Of course, Daris killing Lerek made sense now, as did his meeting with Duke Aurora just a month before that.
He’d denied it that night she ported to his bedchamber.
And a part of her—her traitorous heart—had believed it.
Terena recalled the first time she’d seen Daris. In Aurora. They must have been discussing plans for getting the firstborns out.
And Lerek was the diversion they needed to make their plans work.
Rydon shot up, startling her. Opening her mouth to ask him what was wrong, she saw Gabriol rise and unsheathe his sword.
Rydon, too, had his weapons out. Vassori yanked Croak to his feet before crossing to stand beside the mercenaries.
Terena rose, and Migela pushed Orry down near Cassandra before crouching in a defensive stance with her daggers ready.
“If we were Heylisian soldiers, you’d be dead.”
Rydon glared at Captain Soros as he strolled into their camp. Behind him, several of Hermes’s soldiers flanked him, hands on the hilts of their swords as they swaggered closer.
Putting away her swords, Terena lashed out at the captain. “Are you lost? Where’s your master?”
“We are the advance party. Hermes is on his way.”
“Wonderful,” Croak grumbled as he dusted himself off. “So why are you here?”
“Looking for you lot.”
“Well, I’m not sitting around waiting for him, if that’s what you’re here to tell me,” Terena said, crossing her arms.
“And where are you going that you cannot wait for Lord Hermes?”
Terena snorted. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I am following Sonah’s trail. You can stay behind and tell Lord Hermes if you wish. Come dawn, we’re gone.”
More soldiers poured into the small clearing until it was crowded. Soros began shouting orders to his men and soon they were occupied with setting up tents and disturbing their peace. Orry sat beside Croak grumbling as they waited for Soros’s men to settle.
The captain joined them a long time later, sitting next to Vassori as he warmed his hands at their fire.
After Terena introduced Soros to Cassandra, the captain turned a calculating stare at Vassori.
The tracker stared back in silence. Rydon spoke before Terena could ask Soros what that was all about.
“How long before he arrives?”
With a shrug, Soros twisted his lips, the scar on his upper lip making his mouth look wider. “Days.”
“You know,” Orry said, clearing his throat as everyone’s attention turned to him. “I’ve been translating some texts in my research into the shroud and several mention cyphers and their amulets. One in particular is interesting as it allows the cypher to—”
“Breach!”
The distant shout reached them even as the roar of soldiers pouring out from the woods to their left made Terena and the others bolt up from their seats, unsheathing weapons as they looked around. The clashing of metal on metal tore through their encampment.
Soros took off, and the others were a moment behind him, swords drawn. Croak stopped to grab Orry by the cloak. Cassandra struggled to run and Croak dropped back to assist her.
Terena fell back to join them when the first arrows shot past.
“Fuck!”
“Run!” Terena roared at Croak and shoved him away.
She felt the slowing of time until it seemed to have stopped. The only sound was her breath. She exhaled and a flash of red edged her vision.
Her body was consumed by fire, crackling across her skin until she no longer felt tethered to reality.
She spun, swords connecting with the nearest soldier.
After hacking off his arm, she turned toward her next target.
Her movements were effortless; her speed in relation to the soldiers she felled defying space and time.
The power of her bloodlust took over and she grew more powerful, more savage, the longer she fought.
The pulsing within her ears and the red haze dissipated abruptly and she fell forward onto her knees. Her eyes felt heavy as she looked up at the others. Her brow furrowed as Vassori swam in and out of focus, rubbing something at her chest as her lips moved in a litany Terena could not hear.
She tried to rise, but a wave of dizziness so sharp consumed her and made her rock sideways.
“Terena!” Rydon caught her under her arms.
“What the fuck happened? Is she hit?” Gabriol yelled as he caught up, sliding to his knees at her side.
“There she is!” The shout from a nearby Heylisian soldier signaled the end of their reprieve. More soldiers poured out of the woods ahead of them.
“Run! Run!” Gabriol shouted.
“I need to talk to your sister!” Orry cried out as he ran to catch up to Croak.
“Oh, you think now’s a good time?” Croak snapped.
The clash of steel and the soldiers’ roaring surrounded them.
Rydon lifted Terena roughly, moving them far from the fray.
Terena opened her eyes to see Orry, Cassandra and Croak huddled near the riverbank with Migela.
The assassin stared back at them wide-eyed before turning and signed something at Croak and Orry.
“What’s happening?” she asked, her voice faint. Rydon didn’t answer. Water splashed up, and Terena opened her eyes.
A group of Heylisian soldiers were running toward them and gaining. Her eyes widened as one of them lifted a bow, an arrow trained on her and Rydon. Terena cried out and jerked hard enough to make Rydon lose his balance. He fell, and they rolled together.
Crawling, she made to stand just as wolves attacked Captain Soros and his men from all sides.
Her eyes finally registered the large wolf racing toward her and she stumbled back.
At the last moment, Rydon hacked at its shoulder with his sword.
Croak shouted from somewhere behind them and she turned, her head heavy, watching her brother fight off two soldiers.
Rydon grabbed her arm and yanked her behind him as more wolves came at them.
“Loose!”
Rydon and Terena ducked reflexively as a volley of arrows rained down around them. The wolves closest to them fell over dead or ran off, their whines and yelps fading as they disappeared back into the woods.
Terena turned to see Soros with some of his archers getting ready to release more arrows.
Rydon yanked her back and they ran. Croak came forward to cover them, snarling as another Heylisian soldier fought his way through Soros’s men.
Vassori pushed a dead soldier off of her and Migela helped her up just as Gabriol roared at them to move.
“Stay with her,” Rydon shouted at Croak, then turned back to the fighting with Gabriol at his side.
“What’s wrong with you?” Croak yelled in her face, half dragging her into the shelter of a tree whose hollow was large enough to shield her.
Cassandra dropped down beside Terena and held her hand, smoothing away the hair plastered to her brow.
Orry bent down next to her, his lips trembling as his eyes searched her face.
“This is what I was trying to tell her,” Orry snapped at Croak. “Something’s drained her powers. There must a cypher nearby!”
“Do not kill him!”
Rydon’s head snapped up as Soros ran toward him and Gabriol.
They had just struck down the last wolf when Rydon saw a young man crawling along the ground. He clutched at his arm, and from the way he held it, Rydon could see it was broken. An amulet glowed faintly at his chest, the amber light hidden when he turned to look desperately for an ally.
Soros caught up and yanked the man up by his collar. The man let out a yelp, his legs kicking out ineffectively.
“You know him?”
“I know his kind,” Soros spat, shoving the man but not letting go.
He dragged him to the nearest tree and pushed him so his back cracked against the bark.
The man was young, a few years older than Terena, perhaps, and the wild look in his eyes betrayed his fear.
He pressed his lips tightly together and cradled his arm.
“Where the fuck did the wolves come from?” Gabriol gasped, wiping his sword on his breeches. “Solon’s got animals fighting for him now?”
“This piece of shit is a cypher,” Soros said again, his arm at the man’s throat. The man’s grey eyes widened as his gaze darted between Soros and the others. “What’s your power, boy? How do you control the wolves?”
“He what?” Rydon asked.
“Answer me!” Soros screamed in the man’s face.
The man flinched, his sweat-soaked black hair dripping down the side of his neck as he closed his eyes. Soros’s men surrounded them, leaning in to get a better look at the cypher.
“He can’t speak with your arm at his throat,” Rydon barked.
A rustling behind him made Rydon turn his head, and he saw the men parting to let someone through. Terena pushed her way to the front with the rest of their friends close behind her.
“Are you all right?” Rydon asked, at her side in two strides as he lightly gripped her elbow. She nodded, her eyes heavy as she blinked up at him.
“I’m fine,” she whispered.
“What happened? Where’d the wolves come from?” Croak asked, looking between Rydon and Soros at the young man held against the tree.
Soros kneed the cypher viciously in the gut. He fell, and the captain called out for some rope.
“Caught ourselves a fucking cypher,” Soros said, flashing a crazed smile at Terena. “And a good one, too. He can call on wolves. Let’s find out what other animals he can control.”
The captain tied the man’s wrist, and the cypher cried out when Soros yanked his broken arm back to tie the other.
Terena moved forward, her steps halting.
“That’s not necessary. His arm’s already broken. Secure it to his chest until we get to camp. He’s not going anywhere,” she said, one hand out as if to stop Soros. “Tie the rope to his good hand and hold it if it makes you feel better.”
Soros shot her a disgruntled look but did as she said. Terena crouched down in front of the cypher. Rydon watched them closely as Terena and the young man stared at one another. Something flashed in the cypher’s eyes like recognition.
After an endless moment, Terena reached out and the cypher flinched. Looking into his eyes, her fingers cupped the amulet at his chest. She looked down at it for a long time, then back at the young man.
“Artemis has blessed you,” she said, and a hush fell through the group.
The cypher stared back at her, fear and frustration warring across his youthful face.
Terena regarded him for so long, Rydon opened his mouth to say something. Tearing the amulet from the cypher’s neck, Terena watched when he cried out as if she’d punched him in the belly. His face crumpled, and he screwed his eyes shut tight, sobbing, and hung his head.
Terena rose slowly to her feet and Rydon moved closer, worried she might still be weakened.
As she looked down at the cypher, Terena tied the amulet around her neck and tucked the stone beneath her tunic. The amber glow faded until the jewel was an ordinary orange color.
Looking around the small clearing at everyone gathered, Terena leveled a look at Soros. “He comes with us. And no one is to touch him until Hermes catches up.”