Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
A Kingdom in Peril
A Deadly Turn
Cold air struck Adira’s face as Ernach hurried her away from the castle.
He kept a firm grip on her arm as they crossed the open ground toward the woods, occasionally glancing behind them as though expecting Dravic or Tharne to appear at any moment.
That alone told Adira that he feared Dravic and Tharne, though outnumbered, would defeat the mercenaries and soon be after them. It gave her hope, but then Dravic would have it no other way. He would come for her. Of that, she was certain.
She had made sure he knew she believed that before Ernach took her away. That small smile had been meant only for him, and the look in Dravic’s eyes had told her he’d understood.
They reached the edge of the woods where a man waited among the trees with two horses.
Ernach shoved her toward him. “Keep hold of her.”
The man caught Adira roughly by the arm.
“Let’s go. The others wait,” Ernach said, and headed deeper into the woods.
The man pulled Adira after him.
She didn’t fight, not yet. Ernach believed she could neither hear nor speak, and as long as he continued to believe that, he would have no reason to guard his words around her. She intended to hear every one of them.
The woods thickened as they went. They followed a narrow path that curved through the trees until the castle disappeared completely from sight.
Then Adira began seeing men. First just a handful, then dozens, and then more.
They emerged into a large clearing, and Adira stopped.
Mercenaries filled it. Some stood beside horses.
Others gathered around small fires or sat sharpening swords and checking weapons.
More waited beneath the trees surrounding the clearing.
There were far too many for Adira to count quickly.
How had Ernach managed to keep a sizeable army hidden in the woods?
A man approached him. “We were beginning to think there was trouble.”
“It went as planned,” Ernach assured him.
The man’s gaze went to Adira.
“She is here for the men to enjoy later,” Ernach said, and received smiles and nods from the men moving closer around him.
“Tharne?” one asked.
“Inside the castle fighting alongside Dravic. They will be dead by the time you get there.”
The man grinned. “That makes things easier.”
Ernach looked around at the gathered men. “Remember, you have no worry of magic. Enough disgruntled Driochmorians have joined forces with us to counter any magic you may face. You know your orders. Attack now and bring the Morvane Clan down and all in it. Do not spare a soul.”
Grins flashed, eager for battle.
Adira’s heart began beating faster.
Ernach raised his voice. “As we continue through Scotara—”
The men quieted.
“There will be more men waiting to join you along the way. By the time anyone understands what is happening, our numbers will have grown, and word will already be spreading that King Dravic and the Warlord of Drogath killed each other in battle. Chaos will follow with no one left to lead.”
A murmur of approval passed through the men.
Adira stared at Ernach. He planned to take the entire kingdom.
“When done, we meet where you were told… near to Driochmor’s High Council that has been in session since the Morvane symbols have been brought to their attention.”
“We carved enough of them symbols,” one man said, laughing, and the others joined in.
Adira’s stomach tightened. Everything had been a well-planned trap, leading to this moment.
“It kept the council busy, not looking elsewhere. We kill every council member before they learn what happened here. Dar and Kaelen need to fall quickly, or they could present a problem. Once the council falls, I will put those Driochmorians who stood with me in charge and all of Driochmor will fight by my side. Now go. The sooner we see this war done… the sooner I claim the throne.”
Adira’s thoughts were racing. Dravic didn’t know any of this.
He knew Ernach wanted the crown. He knew the men inside the castle belonged to him.
But he couldn’t possibly know about the mercenaries hidden in these woods or the others waiting throughout Scotara.
And he didn’t know Ernach intended to attack the High Council.
Ernach stood watching the first group of mercenaries disappear into the woods.
A few warriors remained behind, and one turned to Ernach.
“You can’t trust any of them. More than one of them probably thinks to take the throne from you.” He grinned. “Or wait a year or two and let age take you.”
“He’s right,” said another. “You have years on you.”
Ernach smiled. “My queen will see me live a long life.”
“Wear you out is more likely.”
The men laughed.
Ernach didn’t.
His smile vanished and his eyes narrowed. “Not when your wife is the healer who can defy death.”
The man stared at him.
“How will you find her when no one else can?”
“She will come to me,” Ernach boasted. “She will not let the people of Scotara suffer needlessly and I will see that they do. She will show herself and I will strike a bargain with her that she cannot refuse.”
He was completely mad and he had madmen following him. She couldn’t let Ernach take her farther away. Dravic would find her eventually. She had no doubt of that, but by then it might be too late to stop what Ernach had set in motion.
She glanced at the man holding her. His attention was on the departing warriors, looking with envy on them and his hand had loosened on her arm.
Ernach was closer than she would like, but then so was the thick forest.
Adira looked for the densest part. She had one chance.
She didn’t hesitate. She tore her arm free and ran.
A shout erupted behind her.
Adira didn’t look back. She plunged between the trees, running as fast as the uneven ground allowed, branches catching at her cloak as she tried to remember the direction they’d come from.
“Get her!” Ernach’s furious command rang through the woods.
She heard men crashing after her and she ran harder.
She had to get back to the castle, back to Dravic and warn him.
The ground began to slope beneath her feet. She jumped over a fallen branch and nearly lost her footing when she landed but caught herself and kept going.
She heard the pounding of footfalls behind her. One shouted from somewhere to her left. Another answered from behind her. They were spreading out, trying to surround her.
Adira changed direction.
She spotted a narrow opening between two trees and raced toward it. A man suddenly appeared ahead. Adira swerved away from him. Her foot came down on loose earth. She twisted trying to stop herself from falling, but she went down hard.
She saw the large, jagged rock as it rose up toward her, but she wasn’t fast enough to avoid it.
Adira struck it hard. Pain exploded through her head, and everything went black.
Dravic drove his sword into the warrior coming at him and ripped it free. Another immediately took the man’s place. There seemed no end to them.
He swung again, barely aware of Tharne fighting several feet away. They had somehow been forced back-to-back as Ernach’s men closed around them.
Dravic would have laughed at the absurdity of it if he hadn’t been consumed by the need to get through that damned door. Adira was somewhere beyond it and every moment he remained trapped in the Great Hall took her farther from him.
He blocked a blow and slammed his fist into the man’s face, then he drove his shoulder into another warrior and sent him sprawling.
The doors at the far end of the Great Hall burst open and more warriors poured inside.
Dravic swore. Ernach had planned well. He and Tharne couldn’t hold off an entire army.
A familiar voice suddenly thundered across the hall.
“Protect the king!”
Dravic froze for no more than a heartbeat. Scotaran warriors surged through the doors. His warriors. And leading them—
“Tavish,” Dravic called out.
Relief hit Dravic hard, but it lasted only an instant. He had to get to Adira.
Tavish, along with several warriors, fought their way toward him, sword in hand and fury on his face. Dravic was soon surrounded by his warriors who were quickly dispatching the mercenaries.
“I assume you’re pleased to see me,” Tavish said.
“You took your damned time.”
Tavish blocked the point of a sword that slipped between the circle of warriors. “I left with an army as soon as your message reached me, and you’re welcome.”
“I should thank you for doing your job?”
“There is the king I know and respect,” Tavish said.
A small golden light shot through the doorway beside the dais, catching Dravic’s attention.
Fiora flew straight toward him. “Dravic!”
Something in her voice turned his blood cold. “What happened?”
“Ernach has men everywhere. Hundreds, maybe. They’re moving out now and then they will strike the Driochmor High Council, killing them all. He plans to take all of Scotara.”
“Where is Adira?” Dravic demanded with worry, though relieved to hear the fighting dying behind him.
Fiora hesitated, a rare tear appearing in the corner of one eye.
Dravic’s heart slammed against his chest. “Tell me, Fiora.”
“Adira tried to escape.”
Tharne was suddenly beside Dravic, blood streaking one sleeve, his blade red. He stared at Fiora, waiting.
“She fell, hit her head, blood pooled beneath. She hasn’t moved.”
Dravic let out a savage roar that froze everyone in the room.
“Take me to her,” he ordered Fiora.
“I go with you,” Tharne said forcefully.
For the first time since entering the Great Hall, neither king nor warlord stood against the other.
Together they followed Fiora.