Chapter 10 Toran
Toran
Toran hadn’t found the Witch. But he’d found the next-best thing.
He didn’t know why he expected Nes to be afraid. Expected her to look at him with wide, fear-filled eyes. He should have known better. He’d read the prison records. He should have realized there was little this girl was afraid of.
“You know,” she said, her voice low and whipped with menace, “you’re not the only one who knows. I’ve dealt with them, and I can deal with you, too, Captain.”
“I have no doubt you can,” he said, and he meant it. He refused to ponder what she meant by deal with. “But I don’t think you will.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
But he was. Because despite her lack of fear, he knew her reaction to magic was a secret she held close. In a world such as theirs, survival would depend on keeping any magic-related secret hidden.
He walked around the table, gingerly stepping over the pile of roses. “I saw you yesterday in the square. You were trying to save us.”
She snorted. “Save is such a noble word. It’s reserved for the likes of you. Not Ditch girls like me.”
“Call it what you want, but you saved my life.”
“And then you saved mine.” She crossed her arms again. “I’d say that makes us even.”
“For now.” He stared at her, at the hard line of her mouth, at the blaze of fire in her blue eyes—fire burned hottest when blue—and knew he was going to regret this. But if he wanted to find the Witch, he needed an advantage. “I’d like to be in your debt again.”
“No.”
Toran signaled to Quint. His friend grabbed Pinyak and hauled the man to his feet. He didn’t say another word until the two left the room.
“I can get you out of here.” He waved a hand, gesturing to the prison surrounding them.
She scrunched her lips in an unappreciative grin. “I can get myself out.”
Somehow, he didn’t doubt that. He leaned back against the wall. “How old are you?”
“Nineteen,” she answered immediately.
Only a year old when the previous Witch died. Like him, this was her first true experience seeing the fear the Witch ignited. He considered her another moment before nodding. “I understand why you’ve kept this ability of yours a secret—”
“I don’t think you do.”
He shook his head. “Don’t you realize how many people you could save if you were to join the Guard?”
Her nose wrinkled like she smelled something abhorrent. “I will never join the Guard,” she spat and turned her back.
He couldn’t let her walk away. “Because of your father?”
She froze at his words. Her eyes, narrowed to slits, were barely visible beneath her lashes.
Genna had been right.
After telling Toran how Nes was locked away in the Walled Prison, Genna had mentioned something else she thought might be relevant.
That when she and Fell brought Nes into the prison, there had been a line of permanent prisoners waiting for a meal.
And in that line, an old man had taken one look at Nes and the cuffs on her wrists and started shouting.
Genna suspected the prisoner was close to Nes.
At first, the man refused to speak to Toran.
But once Toran revealed who he was and how he had the authority to get Nes out of prison, he opened right up.
He told Toran he’d deserted the King’s Guard rather than abandon his daughter.
The man didn’t care if he spent the rest of his life in the Walled Prison for it, only that his daughter never shared his fate.
“I spoke to him. He’s a good man and was a good guard. Even if he is a deserter.”
“He’s a better father,” she hissed. “But the King’s Guard didn’t think that was reason enough for him to leave them.”
“We were wrong.”
“Saying so won’t make me agree to help you.”
“I didn’t think it would.”
She watched him, her eyes gathering storms. He hoped he could weather them.
“I want your help for a mission,” he said softly.
“Why me?”
“Because you’re special.”
“And what’s the mission?”
He paused, wondering if she realized she hadn’t denied her worth. “I can’t tell you that yet.”
“Then this is goodbye, Captain. I’d say it was nice knowing you, but—”
“Wait!”
He reached out to stop her, grabbing her by the wrist. He startled at how delicate it was beneath his fingers. The table between them seemed to shrink.
She jerked at the contact. But she didn’t retreat, her mouth set. “Yes, Captain?”
There was silky assuredness to her voice that caught him off guard. He recovered quickly, forcing authority into his own. “I could have you thrown right back in that cell.”
Her eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You think that matters to Fell?” He dropped her wrist and pulled her confiscated flask from his belt. “This is more than enough for him.”
For a brief second, fear flashed against those brewing storms. But then she smirked up at him, a realization dawning in her eyes. “You need me.”
He opened his mouth to deny it, but nothing came out.
Nes’s grin widened, dancing devilishly over her lips. “Desperately.”
He cleared his throat and took a step away from her, but still no answer came. Any answer would damn him. His nonanswer was already damning enough.
“Tell me what this mission is, what you plan on giving me in exchange, then maybe—maybe—I’ll consider joining you.”
His heart was the only thing left in his body capable of movement. He felt snared by her, afraid if he dared look away, she’d pounce.
“The mission is to apprehend someone,” he said.
Nes groaned. She pushed herself up from the table, sauntering over. “I need more than that, Cap.”
His throat had all but dried out and he swallowed hard. “That’s all you get.”
“Why aren’t you putting together a more professional team? As the Prince’s Crown, shouldn’t you have the entire King’s Guard at your command?”
“I’d like for this mission to remain discreet.”
She held a hand close to her chest, running her thumb over the tips of her fingers. “Discreet, huh?”
“Yes.” Maybe this was a bad idea. This girl made him want to drink. “Will you help me or not?”
“Easy there, Captain.” Her voice turned teasing, soft and low.
She leaned in, breath hot at the base of his throat. It made his whole body tighten and his heart pump faster. He hoped she couldn’t hear it.
“You haven’t told me what’s in it for me.”
He cleared his throat. “Glory.”
She wrinkled her nose, her face still close. “I can do without the glory.”
“Money,” he managed without choking on the heat rising to his face.
She was dangerous and she was beautiful. He hadn’t wanted to admit it in the Drowning Square, but it had been her beauty that first caught his eye. And there was no doubt in his mind she now knew that.
“Not good enough.”
As he leaned in, drawn toward her, the ring around his neck shifted. The hard crystal was all the reminder he needed. He straightened back to his full height, towering above her. “Promise to assist me with this and, if we are successful, I’ll have your father released from prison.”
Her blue eyes widened, fear and hope melting together. She blinked, and they hardened to stone once more.
“Who’s to say you won’t change your mind? Refuse to release my father once you get what you want?”
“I will honor my word.”
“Your word means nothing to me.”
Her accusation dug into him and, try as he might, he couldn’t sew up the fresh scar she’d inflicted.
Toran had always prided himself on his honor, but the past year had dealt a blow to that honor.
The King had never said as much, but after Toran’s failure in Aeos, he knew he’d lost a bit of the King’s trust. And it hadn’t been until he lost it that he realized just how much it mattered to him, just how much that trust had served as a guiding point his whole life.
Nes continued. “You guards take an oath to protect the innocent. Marnie Sorphel was innocent. And so was every other so-called Witch you guards have drowned. So, Captain, why in the world would you expect me to trust your word?”
“I couldn’t save Marnie, but I’m trying to save others.” He met her eyes again and didn’t flinch at the raw emotion there. “That’s why this mission is so important.”
“Then I suppose you better give me one hell of a reason to trust you,” she snapped.
He saw a part of her then. Saw a girl who’d been burned before. A girl who guarded her trust as fiercely as he’d once guarded his country. She would not help him. Not unless he gave her a bit of his own trust first.
There was only one way. From beneath his shirt, he pulled his ring. Set in the center was the beautiful yellow, storm-clouded crystal. The engagement ring he’d once given to Loriana, making an entirely different promise than the one he was about to make.
“This ring,” he started, then stopped. He glanced around the room and swallowed. He tried again. “This ring holds little monetary value, but it’s invaluable to me.” He held the ring out to her and wondered if she noticed how his hand shook as he did. “Take it.”
Slowly, oh so slowly, as if afraid she might startle him, she took the ring from his fingers. She examined it, studying the cut and smooth lines and bursts of color within. Her eyes lifted to meet his.
“Keep it,” he said, pushing past the lump in his throat. “Return it to me once I’ve held up my end of the deal.”
She clutched the ring in her fist, her eyes never leaving his. Behind the determination and ferocity, there was an appreciation in her gaze, almost as if she was grateful he’d not just seen but also understood this small part of her.
“I help you with this unknown mission and, at the end—successful or unsuccessful—my father is released from prison. No stipulations. No questions asked.”
He nodded.
She lifted her chin. “The money, too,” she continued. “I want it. And you’ll give it directly to me in coin.”
Toran pursed his lips to keep from looking like he was mocking her. The money would be the easiest part. He nodded again.
Her lips quirked, the beginnings of a smirk shining through. “Just know, if I go down for this—for any reason—I’m taking you with me. If you can live with that, then I think we’re in agreement.”
Relief rushed him as she pocketed his ring.
“Okay, Captain,” she said, “I’ll join you on your Witch hunt.”