Chapter 4 #2
Callen and Ana nodded in agreement. North simply ground his teeth.
Unbothered by his defiance, Harthon carried on. “We meet with our cabinet this evening. They’ll have questions for you about your time with Koerlyn.”
The very last thing I wanted to do was relive my time with that cruel man—more than I already did in my thoughts, anyway. My only comfort was knowing it wouldn’t happen for several hours.
Harthon dashed that small relief to pieces when he said, “I want you to share it with us now so we can determine which details you should say, and which you should keep to yourself.”
My body washed cold. “How much of it do you want to hear?”
“Everything. Start at the beginning, after you left the Citadel.”
I swallowed the wool clogging my throat, trying not to let the discomfort show. It was just a story. A series of events. I could tell it, and I would not look weak while I did.
Meeting Harthon’s eyes, I said, “Jac took me toward the hills to the south. He explained that Koerlyn’s men would kill his sister’s family if he didn’t do it.
He gave me a draught, then, so I don’t remember any part of the travel, or know how long I was out for.
When I woke up, I was in a windowless room inside an inn. ”
“Where was the inn located?”
“In a small city somewhat close to the border, but I never heard a name.”
“Issel, maybe?” Ana offered from beside me.
Harthon grunted in acknowledgement. “Continue.”
“Koerlyn was there when I came to. My hands were bound to the bed. I learned that he didn’t have Merelda.
Apparently, he hadn’t found her yet, which means she’s no longer in our village.
Then he demanded to know where the path was.
I told him that, like the magvis, I wasn’t able to tell anyone the path. He thought some motivation might help.”
My voice betrayed me, quavering on that last part.
Dread pooled in my belly, and I couldn’t hold Harthon’s gaze anymore. Not when I might find judgment in them. Not when he might blame me for the events I revealed next, just like he blamed me for everything else.
Searching the table, I found comfort in Callen, whose green eyes were steady.
“He had guards bring two men and a woman into the room. They were bound. I don’t know if they were prisoners or just people he found.
When I couldn’t tell him where the path was, he killed the two men.
” Breathe. “I made something up so he wouldn’t kill the woman, but I forgot to use his title.
So he slit her throat anyway. He left the bodies there with me. ”
I jolted as a hand squeezed mine. It was Ana’s.
She was trying to comfort me, but I couldn’t bear her pity. I’d given myself up to Koerlyn, and these were the consequences.
Sliding my hand free, I mustered the courage to face Harthon again.
He was as still as I’d ever seen him, his expression sharp. Angry at me, or Koerlyn?
“Did you escape after that, or did something else happen?” he asked.
“I was brought to dinner with him later that night. He said that you only wanted to get into the Domus for power, not because you meant to help people.” There was no need to say whether I believed him.
The fact that I was willingly here told them all they needed to know.
“I was brought back to my room after and restrained to the bed again.”
In a gentle voice, Ana asked, “He didn’t say anything else at dinner?”
The only other thing Koerlyn had revealed was her and Harthon’s relationship.
They’d supposedly been together for years, and when Ana had pushed for something more serious, Harthon shut her down, unwilling to be weakened by a relationship.
Koerlyn’s aims had clearly been to hurt me.
To imply that, even while Harthon kissed me and held me, he was only using me as a temporary plaything.
I was not about to share any of that at this table.
“No,” I told her. “I escaped in the early hours of the morning. A man there helped me. He snuck me out of the inn and got me to the city’s walls.
He killed some men who almost caught us, then told me where to go.
I made it pretty far before I was caught by a hunting party, but I was able to get away from them using the river.
” I looked at Harthon. “That man who helped me was one of those who’d chased me after the magvis changed my eyes.
His name was Kenrick. He said he helped me because he owed you. ”
I’d never seen Harthon surprised until that moment. He hardly made a show of it, but his chin subtly lifted, like the information was a blow.
Callen, meanwhile, rocked back in his seat. “Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know,” Harthon muttered, scraping a hand over his jaw. “Did he ask you any questions? Try to get any information from you?”
“Not at all.” Our interactions had consisted of him telling me to shut up, dragging me through the inn, and getting me to the city wall, where he’d gone through the effort of digging a tunnel. “Who is he?”
“Someone we have history with. And believe me when I say that, regardless of the help he decided to give you, he’s a bad man.”
Kenrick hadn’t hurt me. He’d killed three of his own men to ensure I escaped. He hadn’t been a warm and fuzzy personality, but he hadn’t been my enemy, either. “No one forced him to help me escape. I have a hard time believing he’s so terrible.”
“He’s Koerlyn’s second-in-command,” Harthon revealed with the tact of a dull ax.
Suddenly, I was the one rearing back in my seat. When I could finally produce words, I asked, “Was he at the battle?”
“He was. On the main battlefield.”
I couldn’t wrap my head around why he would help me escape only to then fight to get me back. If he was second-in-command, why would he help me escape, period?
“Yeah, I don’t like this. Something isn’t right,” Callen declared, stating what was on everyone’s minds.
“Never is with that fucker,” North spat. Whoever Kenrick was, North seemed to hate him more than me, which was a true feat. What was he? A prior enemy? A former ally?
“What history do you have with him?” I pressed.
Harthon’s eyes met Ana’s, and something silent passed between the two. Then he gave me an equally vague and terrifying answer.
“All you need to know is that the only thing Kenrick thinks he owes me is death. He didn’t help you as a favor to me. He has plans. And we have no idea what they are.”
* * *
I didn’t know if other worlds existed. Some surmised that just beyond our dull skies, other places like ours might be waiting.
Those who were religious thought there were far-off lands belonging to whoever it was they worshipped.
Others believed Centralis, contained within the Domus, was the closest thing to another world we had.
I’d never given much thought to the matter, because what was the point?
But as I sat in the garden below my window, I realized the allure of believing in other, better places.
Surrounded by green, thriving plants, rich soil, and leafy trees towering above me, it was as if I were in another reality.
One defined by life and serenity, rather than death and violence and suffering.
One that was beautiful—and smelled divine, thanks to the lavender sprouting before me as I sat against the stone wall.
I took a deep inhale for probably the twentieth time, soaking in every bit of that garden air, before returning my attention to the map spread across my lap.
“What’s this supposed to indicate?” I asked Stefano, pointing to the short lines sketched just outside of Fifth’s borders.
He peered down, squinting at the tiny marks.
He’d been standing outside the library doors when our discussion ended earlier.
Harthon had handed me a stack of maps to study, stating the library was mine to use, but I’d found myself wandering to the window, wishing to be outside those stuffy walls.
Stefano was happy to oblige, but demanded we go to this garden, as it was enclosed and easily defensible.
Thus far, I’d only been in this garden when trying to escape or running from attackers. It was nice to actually enjoy it, rather than careening into it from my window.
“Those are pointing out an area of bad currents. They’ve taken down a ship or two,” he explained.
Ah, so it was an ocean thing. “Have you ever been on a ship?”
When it came to the seas, I knew essentially nothing. I was raised inland, close to the Domus, and never left.
“A few times. Ocean travel can be much faster than land. And, obviously, it allows you to avoid certain Territories, so Harthon’s used it from time to time. But it isn’t always safe.” He gestured to the map, indicating the currents.
“But even if it allows you to avoid certain Territories, you can still come across their ships. What happens then?”
He crouched beside me, arms resting on his knees. “Depends. Sometimes you engage, sometimes you don’t. That usually hinges on if either ship thinks they can win.”
And the loser ended up at the bottom of the ocean. I much preferred land battles to that.
“Are these all mountains?” I asked, tracing my finger over the stack of triangles in an area marked First Territory in bold, swirling letters.
“Yep. It’s the biggest mountain range we have. It basically acts as a border between Sixth and First. I’ve never been, but I’ve heard it’s a brutal place.”
“And this, beside it?” I studied the dark shading that stretched from the coast to the Domus, adjacent to the mountains. “This is all…wilderness? No cities?”
His cheeks puffed on an exhale. “Yes, and it might be more brutal than those mountains. I haven’t been to First at all, but from what I’ve heard, it’s a pretty wild and uncivilized place.”
“But isn’t it led by a Princeps?”
“He’s a pretty wild and uncivilized leader. I’ve heard stories from men who’ve been there in past lives, and it’s, uh—”
A rustling sound had him launching to his feet.
I nearly did the same until I found its source. Peering between the leaves of a cucumber plant were two brown eyes, a little nose beneath them. Seeing he’d been spotted, he jumped to his feet, a look of alarm on his young face.
It was the looter boy. The one who’d held a knife to my stomach when we ran into his group on the way to Fifth.
Harthon had sent him back here to give him a new life.
He was under North’s care—an absolutely shocking fact—and last I heard, he’d been assigned to help some of the kitchen workers with cleaning.
Stefano relaxed, but the boy quickly stepped back at the sight of him, perhaps recognizing Stefano as the one who threw a knife into his leg.
It’d been to save both him and me, but still, it must have been traumatizing.
And it wouldn’t have happened if I’d followed Harthon’s orders and stayed put on the horse that day.
Just another tragedy that fell on me.
I lifted my lips in what I hoped was a friendly smile. “Hi.”
He stared back, looking equal parts terrified and intrigued.
Purple eyes. Right.
“What’s your name?” I asked, unsure if he’d chosen one yet.
He blinked once, turned on his heel, and scurried back to the kitchen.
“I don’t know if he’ll ever look at me like anything but a monster,” Stefano muttered, slumping back against the wall.
“How long has it been? A couple of weeks? He just needs time.” When Stefano grimaced, I reminded him, “You saved his life.”
“Doesn’t feel that way.”
“You saved his life and mine.” I rested my palm on his boot. “I don’t know if I ever thanked you.”
His eyes zipped to my hand. When they remained glued there, I realized I’d never done such a friend-like thing to Stefano.
Wait, was Stefano my friend? I’d never been one for friends, and Stefano was only ever with me because he was my personal guard. But categorizing him as just another soldier didn’t feel right.
Maybe he was my friend.
A half-friend?
He cleared his throat, and I quickly yanked my hand away.
“You don’t need to thank me. I was just following orders.” He cleared his throat again and nodded toward the map. “Is the map helping you at all?”
I returned my attention to the weathered paper and roved over the sketches until I focused once again on the shaded area beside First’s mountains.
A wild, uncivilized place. The last place I’d seemingly want to go.
Then why couldn’t I draw my eyes away?