Chapter 32
Viviane watchedas Gallain and Ivan used raw strength to knock down the fence posts right opposite where they’d come off the path.
Marchant’s compound was behind them, and they had negotiated the woods below his house and gone through the clearing with the bell, so far without anyone falling into a pit or dying some terrible, magic-induced death.
She knew her nerves were near snapping point, and the way Gallain and Ivan attacked the fence, she guessed she wasn’t the only one.
The horses hadn’t liked the narrow path and were happier to be out in the open, but Melodie and Theo had stressed there was a trap along the track that ran beside the fence, and the horses weren’t going to jump over it, so it had to come down.
“Hey! Hey, what are you doing?” A woman walked across a barren field toward them with a lantern lifted over her head. She appeared to be unarmed, but Viviane could see a man just behind her, keeping a little back so he was almost invisible in the shadows.
This must be Nena, the woman who owned the land that Theo had told them about. Viviane couldn’t blame her for being alarmed at her fence being destroyed.
Caro and Jacinta moved forward, both with knives in their hands, leaving Gallain and Ivan to finish flattening the fence.
Marchant hadn’t returned their swords, but all four of them had obviously had knives in their packs because they’d each found at least one as they’d moved through the forest, and now wore them at their belts.
“Soldiers?” Nena stopped in surprise.
“You steal children from Kassia and Cervantes, you get soldiers,” Caro said. Her voice was soft, but even Viviane shivered at the tone.
“No, I didn’t steal . . .” Nena’s gaze went to Vivi and the others, holding the horses’ reins on the track. “Marchant.” She said his name bitterly. “But why not use the track?” she asked, the heat gone completely from her voice.
“There’s a trap on the track,” Jacinta told her. “It warns Marchant who’s coming and going.”
“What do you mean, a trap?” The man finally got closer to Nena, so he was visible in the light from her lantern.
“A magical spiderweb built across the track. Every time you walk through it, Marchant knows.” Caro’s body shifted slightly, keeping the man directly in front of her.
He swore, the sound low and angry. “Did you know?” He turned to the woman.
She reared back and took a step away from him. “Did I know?” Her voice dripped with disdain. “I have barely been capable of tying my own boots for the last few years, and given how clear my mind is now, I’m betting you and Marchant had something to do with it.”
“Sorry.” He half-lifted a shoulder in a defensive move. “Of course you didn’t know.”
“You’re Gus?” Ivan joined Caro and Jacinta, while Gallain moved toward Vivi and the others, gesturing for them to walk the horses over the fallen fence.
The man flinched, and Vivi, carefully and slowly guiding a horse over the wooden planks, guessed from his reaction that he was.
He lifted both hands, and she saw he was holding a knife in one of them. “Gus?” he asked, trying for casual.
“He’s Gus,” Nena said. “Marchant’s faithful servant.”
“That’s a problem,” Caro said. “We understand you’re very likely to scurry off and let Marchant know we came this way. We aren’t going to let that happen.”
Gus spun, and bolted across the field.
Caro lifted her knife, her movements smooth and unhurried, and threw it.
With a strange half cry, half shout, Gus went down.
Ivan and Caro looked at each other, then jogged over to him.
Jacinta stood where she was, watching Nena.
But Nena had turned, and slowly walked after them, Jacinta shadowing her.
Caro pulled her knife out of Gus’s back, and he made another sound.
So he was obviously still alive.
“Theo and Melodie said you were probably no friend of Marchant.” Caro turned to Nena as she stood beside them, looking down.
Nena gave a laugh, and shook her head.
“Then we have a proposal. We’ll tie this one up for you, and ask that you keep him until we send someone back to fetch him. We’re talking at the most a week, hopefully less. And Kassia and Cervantes will pay you for your trouble, and make restitution on the fence.”
Nena stared at her, head angled to the side. “That’s the most fair anyone’s dealt with me for years.” She held out her hand. “It’s a deal.”
They stood in the cold, shivering a little while Ivan, Caro and Jacinta carried a weeping, pleading Gus into what looked like an old stable. They were probably only gone for half an hour, but as the darkness gathered in the woods behind them, and the air got colder, it felt like time stretched out, that Marchant could have dealt with Melodie and was right now running after them, terrible spells at the ready.
Nena came back with the three soldiers, talking softly.
“I can show you where the horses are kept at the inn,” she said as they came into earshot. “Maybe save you some time?”
“I’ll go with you.” Jacinta flicked a look at Gallain and he gave a tiny nod. “We know the town guards have a deal with Marchant, so we need to be invisible.”
“I know the guards.” Nena sounded bitter. “I didn’t know they were in with Marchant, but that makes a lot of sense.” She drew in a breath and flicked a quick look at Vivi and her friends. “I’ll be a diversion if you need one.”
“Appreciate it.” Gallain kept all suspicion from his voice, but none of them trusted her completely. Still, if she was being sincere, she could help them ghost through town.
She led them out of her gate and down the track toward Warven, with Jacinta sticking close to her.
The night was almost completely silent except for the sound of the horses hooves on the hard-packed ground and the rustle of clothing.
Viviane let herself believe, for the first time since they ran for the forest, that they might actually be free. Her eyes watered, and her nose started to run, and she slid her pack off her shoulder and found a handkerchief inside.
It was one her mother had embroidered for her, and she gripped it tight in a white-knuckled fist. She felt the tingle of her mother’s magic, and dabbed away her tears.
“It’s starting to feel real, isn’t it?” Ric hooked an arm over her shoulder, his voice soft. “And once we’re free and clear, we need to talk about what you did to my shirt. To me.”
She glanced over at him. “No, we don’t.”
He stared at her, his expression thoughtful. “I think we do. But we have time.” He dropped his arm, but kept close to her, walking shoulder to shoulder.
“Ric—”
“It’s all right,” he murmured. “This is just between you and me.”
She relaxed a little. “As long as you understand that.”
Up ahead, beyond a line of trees, the night sky lightened with the glow of a small settlement, and Gallain looked back at them, finger to his lips.
They fell silent, and Jacinta and Nena disappeared, running ahead.
“We go this way,” Gallain whispered. “Nena says there’s a short cut through the woods to the main road.”
“And do we trust her?” Viviane asked.
“No.” Ivan suddenly loomed out of the darkness, and Viviane realized he’d been scouting ahead. He was holding his knife in a very businesslike manner. “But it does look like there is a short cut. I’ll go ahead, whistle if it’s clear.”
Caro had fallen back, taking up the rear, Vivi noticed. Gallain had already moved to the front.
They were getting out of here. They were really getting out.