Chapter 10
Ten
Sorin
“I am not staying behind,” Agnes says across the table from Sam, Jarek, and myself at Mahaffey’s. She crosses her arms, her honey eyes piercing like daggers.
To avoid her gaze, I focus on the pub. Only a few patrons are here this early in the day. The constant rain from outside pounds on the door and slams against the windows. The blight is even more severe now that the colder weather has hit, but Jeanette was able to round up a few bowls of porridge to hold us over. I stir the creamy oats but don’t take a bite, before I glance back at my mother.
Her eyes are still narrowed, her lips pursed.
“Mother,” I say with a sigh. Stubborn dragon as always. A part of me wishes Ulric was here, I know he’d be on my side in this. “You’re not staying behind , you’re staying to make sure Park has all the help he needs. The people here look up to you. They know what you and William have done for them, you’re an asset, and I need you here.”
Sam mumbles something. I can’t hear what she says, but still it grates my nerves.
“If you have something to say, Sam, by all means the floor is yours.”
Her brows pinch together so, naturally, I cast her my best grin.
“You should stay here, Mum. Just as Sorin says.” She looks to our mother before returning to her food.
I finish off the last of my bland porridge, a plan beginning to form. “Agnes, Letty, and Eviey will stay here to help Park rally those who are with us if the need for their help arises in Valebridge. Sam—” I turn to her, but she doesn’t look up from her bowl, so I readjust and focus on Jarek. “You two will come back with me to the Jade Guild. There we’ll work with Thaddeus and Evren to form a plan to get me into the castle for the Autumn Moon.”
Sam pushes her empty bowl to the middle of the table. “You’re awfully confident the council and Guilds will be willing to verify you as the rightful heir.”
“And is my confidence a bad thing?”
“No.” She looks me in the eye. “But it could be a dangerous thing. What if you go there, show them this piece of parchment, and they simply decide not to believe you. What then?”
My stomach knots. Of course that’s a very real risk. It will be mine and Thaddeus’ word, and our word only. But seeing as how distant the other Guilds have been since Roman has taken the throne, something tells me they’ll be more than willing to listen. “That’s a possibility. But verifying my birthright isn’t the only reason we’re going.”
“Of course, I know that,” she snaps.
“The horses are ready,” Jeanette says, interrupting the rising tension around the table.
“Thank you,” Jarek offers, his gaze darting between Sam and me.
“I will stay,” Agnes says but not without a large huff of air first. “I’ll help Park in whatever way I can. Ulric is manning Loxley and the three of you—” She makes a point to look each of us in the eye. “Go to the Jade Guild as quickly as the horses can carry you. A storm is coming, and you shouldn’t be caught in it. Once there, form your plan. Send word using one of their men. We’ll be ready should trouble arise.”
I glance at Sam briefly, her brows are still pinched together but she nods.
“Okay, Mum,” she says. Reserving her softness just for Agnes I see. “Be safe. I’m going to pack.” She kisses our mother on the cheek before sliding out from the booth leaving Jarek, Agnes, and I at the table.
Before Sam can make it two steps toward the door, it flies open and in walks three men.
Sam freezes, her fists immediately clenched at her sides. She’s never bothered to mask her brilliant fiery eyes while in Wickersham before, and now I can’t recall if she had today. My chest squeezes when the strangers cross in front of her. Sam doesn’t move as the men sit down at the bar, slinging their cloaks across the backs of their chairs. Three snarling grizzlies are stitched into the fabric.
Hunters for King Roman.
My heart races, my mind dizzying as to why they’ve decided to come to Wickersham of all places. They couldn’t be here for Sam. She has no magick as of yet. Jarek shuffles next to me, drawing my attention. His hand rests upon the small blade on his hip. I slide my gaze to Agnes whose eyes are no longer the warm honey I’m so used to, but instead a milky white.
Shite.
A vision.
Magick.
“Mum.” I slide into the spot beside Agnes. Shaking her shoulders, her eyes don’t flutter. Don’t change. I know there’s no stopping this but with the hunters here…
Glancing up, I spot the three of them talking amongst each other at the bar. Park pours ale into large tankards. His eyes meet mine briefly, but he continues pouring. Chatting to them about the weather, distracting the men while Agnes has her vision.
“She has risen before, and she will rise again.” Agnes’ voice is loud. Much, much too loud. I hate myself for what I’m about to do, but what other choice do I have? “The—” I slam my hand across her mouth before she can say another word, turning her so she faces as far away from the hunters as possible. Her mouth moves behind my hand but the words are muffled and indecipherable. After a few excruciating seconds, her milky eyes begin to change, returning back to her warm tone. Bewildered, I forget to remove my hand before she swats me away. “Child, you best remove?—”
“Hunters,” I whisper, releasing my grip from her shoulders.
Her eyes go wide, but she remains quiet. Sam has returned to the table, the worry visible in the shake of her hands.
“Everyone relax and act normal. We’ll wait another minute and then head for the door, calmly .”
Agnes and Sam nod. Jarek, to my right, doesn’t but I know he’s with me. His eyes trained on the door.
“Now,” I mouth.
One by one, each of us rises from the table. I smile at Park, bidding him good day. The hunters don’t turn, too focused on their ale and talk of their travels.
Three steps to the door.
Sam trips behind me, stubbing the toe of her boot on a knot in the floor.
My stomach drops.
“Easy lass,” one of the hunters says. I look over my shoulder, foam from his ale trapped in his long, red beard and the way he stares at Sam makes my fists clench. The other two chuckle before returning to their drinks. Jarek’s face reddens, but he stays quiet as he helps Sam from the floor.
Two steps to the door.
“Ladies first.” I gesture for Sam and Agnes to take the lead to get them out of here as quickly as possible. Agnes passes in front of me, but Sam remains between Jarek and I.
One step to the door.
Agnes reaches the door first, but before she can push it open, the cold metal of a blade presses against my throat.
“Did you really think we wouldn’t know what she was?” the hunter behind me says.
My skin heats as my mother turns, her eyes blown wide. The blade digs against my throat as I turn to face the hunter, a few drops of blood trickling down onto my shirt. From my peripherals, Sam is in the same predicament. A blade tucked under her chin. And behind her, Jarek as well.
Shite. Shite. Shite.
“Let’s all just calm down,” Park says from behind the counter.
“Stay out of this, barkeep,” the hunter holding Sam barks. “This Enchantress is the one breaking the law.” He removes his blade from Sam’s throat and points it at Agnes. “You are under arrest for the use of magick and to be handed over to?—”
A loud guttural sound releases from Jarek as he flings his head backward, colliding it into the hutner’s nose. Blood spews, coating the ground and the hunter’s face. Screams erupt from inside the pub as patrons flee for the back door.
Here we go, then.
I follow suit, elbowing the hunter holding me in his gut. As he doubles over, the blade slips enough from my throat for me to maneuver away.
Park is up and over the counter before I can scream his name. His wooden club smashes into the back of the hunter who still holds Sam. She spins, now free from the hunter’s grip, as her boot lands in the man’s chest. He topples to the ground, and she kicks him again until his eyes roll to the back of his head. She goes to kick him again, but I take a step forward and grab her arm.
“Enough, Sam.” Her eyes flare, fire igniting. Hatred and whatever pent up anger she has is letting loose on this man who dignifies hunting innocent Enchantresses. I share her rage, but now is not the time to linger. Jarek’s fist collides with the last hunter’s jaw, the final blow landing him face down on the floor.
“Jarek,” Sam gasps, running to his side. Blood spills from his nose, but otherwise he seems to be okay.
“Drop your weapons.”
My stomach curdles. I spin around, and my heart slams against my chest, the ache ricocheting deep into my bones.
“I said drop them.” The third hunter, the one that was holding me, stands shakily with a dagger to Agnes’ neck.
One by one, our weapons clatter to the floor. The two disabled hunters groan from the floor. Their faces and bodies, bloodied and bruised by the hands of my family.
But I didn’t do my part.
I let this man stand and now he holds a blade to my mother’s throat.
“It’s my job to take this woman to the king. Anyone who stands in my way will be arrested for treason,” the hunter says, his blade pressing deeper into my mother’s skin.
Treason .
As if what Roman has been doing isn’t treason itself.
“Arrested by who?” Jarek says from behind me. “Looks like you’re out of men.”
The hunter’s lips turn up in a smile, and as if on cue, the door swings open and in comes not one, but five more hunters.