Chapter 31
COLINAS, RAVOS
Terena climbed to the top of the hill overlooking the city of Colinas in the valley below.
Crouching, she narrowed her eyes against the sunrise. She heard the soft crunch of snow behind her seconds before Rydon bent down at her side. Gabriol came up on her other side.
The gates to the city were closed, with more soldiers than usual posted on the city walls.
“Nothing but Heylisian uniforms in sight,” Rydon mumbled, running his hand down his beard.
“We need to scout the perimeter, see if there’s a way inside,” Gabriol said.
Rydon grunted. “Let’s go take a look.”
“Gabe,” Terena said as she laid a hand on the mercenary’s forearm. He turned to her with a frown. She motioned behind them as she stared back into Gabriol’s blue eyes.
Gabriol glanced over at Rydon before nodding. He pushed back onto his feet and strode away. Terena looked back over the city.
“What are you planning?”
Terena did not respond right away as she took in the soldiers above the closed city gates.
“Ren.”
Sighing, Terena motioned with her head. “Do you think it strange Cassandra swears this is where she saw the amulet last, and now we find out Duke Ravos has Sonah?”
“Don’t forget the army coming our way from Heylisia.”
“Hard to do,” she laughed, flashing him a grin. “Normally, I’d let you and Gabriol sneak inside. Find a way to get to Sonah while I sit out here and antagonize the shit out of these soldiers.”
Rydon snorted. “Normally? Really?”
Sighing, Terena got to her feet and turned to face Rydon, clapping her hands on his shoulders, her fingers digging into the fur pelt over his cloak. “Do me a favor. Have Soros put five of his best men around Cassandra. I want her well away from any of the fighting before I go down there.”
Rydon nodded. “All right.” He rose but stopped when Ren spoke again.
“I think I’ll flex some of my powers this time. Show them we’re not fucking around.”
Rydon groaned. “Can I convince you otherwise? Gabe and I can sneak inside and grab Sonah before the duke knows she’s missing. We’ll get the amulet too. I swear.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about the amulet just now. I’m here for Sonah. Besides, I have something better in mind,” Terena said with a smile.
She turned as Lerek, hands bound and a gag in his mouth, stopped several feet away with Gabriol’s large hand wrapped around his arm.
“Bring him.”
Terena stared up at the plain stone walls surrounding the city. The gates were closed, and the path leading up to it empty.
Helmed soldiers armed with spears, shields, arrows and spikes stared down at them. No one moved in the eerie dawn, and for a moment, Terena imagined they were just another fortification. Statues created to terrify rather than real men.
It mattered not.
Today, Terena was the one that would terrify.
“Lord Galen,” Terena called up, her eyes scanning the line of soldiers for the duke. “Step forward.”
Rydon’s mount nickered at her side. Nyx stamped a hoof. On her left, Lerek grumbled something she couldn’t hear.
Terena waited, but the duke didn’t present himself.
“What now?” Rydon muttered.
Ignoring him, Terena shifted in her saddle and sighed. “Lord Galen! Do not make me wait. Come now.”
Still, no movement from the city walls.
Terena frowned, then leaned forward to look past Rydon to where Captain Soros sat astride his warhorse. Terena gave the man a tight nod, and the captain leered in response.
Holding out his hand, one of his men strode forward with a spear. Handing it up to the captain, Soros hefted it for a moment before cocking his arm back and thrusting it up and forward.
Terena watched with a slight sneer as the spear slammed into the throat of a soldier. A roar sounded behind her as the man fell from the wall walk and, for the first time that morning, the soldiers atop the walls moved.
Terena flashed Soros a grin and he sketched a bow.
Hermes’s captain was not a god like them, but he was not mortal, either. Whenever she’d asked Hermes about him and the cadre of criminals he surrounded himself with, the god became dismissive. She admitted she didn’t care enough to pry further; just grateful he was on their side.
More movement drew her attention back to the city walls as soldiers separated to let a heavily armored man through.
“You bitch!” The man screamed down at her. “How dare—”
“Is that you, Galen?”
The man paused, then shouted back, “No, I am not. I—”
Terena again looked at Soros, who had another spear in his hand. She’d turned back to the large man who’d screamed down at her when the spear caught him in the side of his throat, along with two others who were regrettably standing nearby.
“I can do this all day, Galen,” Terena yelled up. “Show yourself. Better yet, bring me Sonah Yahn. That’s all I want. I will leave without further bloodshed if you bring her out.”
Movement along the wall to her left caught Terena’s eye. A tall man of slender build came forward, one gauntleted hand on the wall ledge. Terena narrowed her eyes, waiting. After a moment, the man took off his helm, his thinning wheat-colored hair standing on end as he scowled down at her.
“I will not open the gates for you, you traitorous bitch,” the man screamed out. “You are here without provocation or invitation. If you do not leave now—”
“I have Crown Prince Lerek,” Terena called out, her frustration at how long this had dragged on showing in the shrill tone of her voice. She closed her eyes for a second, then looked back up at the new duke. “So it’s an even trade. Sonah Yahn for the prince.”
“Crown Prince Lerek is dead!”
“And yet here he sits. Now where is my sister?”
“Who is your sister?”
“If you do not know by now that Sonah Yahn is my sister, then you are stupider than you look. Bring me Sonah Yahn. Now!”
“I am a duke, you insolent baggage! I am now Duke Ravos! And I will not—”
“Luca,” Soros barked out. “Shall I?”
“No,” Terena grumbled, shaking her head. “No. Unfortunately, I need him still. At least until he brINGS ME MY FUCKING SISTER!” This last was screamed up at the new Duke Ravos as Terena shot up in her stirrups.
The ground trembled beneath them.
Laughter sounded behind her from Hermes’s men as she sat back down. Terena caught Gabriol’s smug smile.
“Listen to what I’m trying to fucking tell you!” the duke roared at her. “I do not have Sonah Yahn! I don’t give a fuck about Sonah; never even gave her a moment’s thought except to laugh at how pathetic she was. Especially not since the day she was hauled away to be executed!”
“I know you have her, Galen. Send her down and I won’t kill you. Promise.”
There was a shuffling of bodies as the duke moved back. Rydon shifted, moving his mount closer to Terena.
“I don’t like this.”
“They won’t try anything,” Terena said, her eyes trained on the battlements. “Not with Lerek at my side.”
Galen, Duke Ravos, stepped back into view. Leaning his arms on the stone wall, he quipped, “Sit tight, Luca. She’ll be along shortly.”
He moved back, his grating laughter drifting down to them as he moved behind the cover of his men. When he again pushed to the front, he crossed his arms, smiling wolfishly at them.
“You’re not actually buying this shit,” Soros hissed, surprising Terena when he stopped at her side.
“You heard the scout,” Gabriol said. “She’s here.”
“And yet, any sane man with a god at his doorstep would’ve brought her out by now.” Soros replied with a sneer.
“Lord Galen—!”
“I’m the duke now, you brat! You will address me properly or I will finish what the emperor clearly failed to do!”
“Oh my gods, this man!” Rydon sighed.
Terena grinned at him. Turning back to the apoplectic duke, Terena cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “I don’t fucking care what you call yourself these days, you overblown shit! You have five minutes to bring my sister to me.”
Terena didn’t wait for the man’s response. She turned Nyx and looked over at Captain Soros. “Pull your men back to that ridge there,” she said and nodded over the man’s shoulder. “I don’t want our men in range of their archers if this buffoon is stupider than he’s already shown himself to be.”
“What are you planning?” Rydon asked.
Terena leaned toward Lerek and yanked his gag down. She turned to Gabriol. “Take Lerek. I want you all next to Soros when Ravos’s men come out.”
“What?” Lerek scoffed, complaining, while Rydon and Gabriol voiced their concerns.
“Terena—”
“No! You can’t—”
“Listen!” Terena hissed. They all shut their mouths. “I want him to get cocky. I want him to make a mistake and he’ll do so if you are all well away from me. I’m going to make his men come out and attack me.”
“You’re going to do what?” Gabriol scoffed.
“Ren, if you do that, at least let me—”
“No,” she said, shaking her head at Rydon. “I have a bad feeling Xoran fucked us. I think he told Solon everything and this is a trap. I don’t think Sonah’s here. Duke Ravos would’ve flaunted her in front of me by now if she was.”
“Then let’s just fucking leave,” Rydon said.
“Let me speak to him,” Lerek pleaded, moving his mount closer. Rydon growled, intercepting him with his larger stallion. He frowned at the mercenary before turning to Terena. “Please, Ren. He is a friend. He’ll listen to me.”
“Please, do as I asked. Stay close to Cassandra. And don’t move from that ridge. I don’t care how bad it looks. Do not. Agreed?”
“At least let me stay with you,” Rydon growled, edging his horse closer.
“No,” Terena said, her tone harsh.
Rydon stared at her a few seconds more before following after Soros, Gabriol and Lerek.
When she was alone, Terena looked up at the battlements. The duke was nowhere in sight.
Holding out her left hand, Terena curled her fingers and called up to the men above in a voice not her own, fueled by the power raging in her blood. “Open the gates for me. I am alone. Come for me. Now.”