Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ALENA
The woman before her was a ghost—a distant memory from another time, another land. Yet Leywani stood there, real and breathing.
Alena’s mind reeled at the impossibility. “You… how?” she stammered, switching to the Freefolk tongue. “What are you doing here?”
Leywani only shook her head, glancing at the silent camp. “Not here. Inside.” She gestured towards the nearest barrack and slipped ahead.
Phoebe’s hand shot out, gripping Alena’s arm. “Can we trust her?”
“I…” Once, Alena would have said yes without hesitation. Leywani had been like another sister, Katell’s closest friend. But time and hardship changed people. “I don’t know.”
Phoebe gave a sharp nod and followed. Her silver eye swept the camp, but the night remained still—no guards, no footsteps, only the distant clang of the quarry.
They reached the weathered barrack, its planks warped with age, the doorway veiled by a stained scrap of cloth. Leywani brushed it aside and vanished within.
Inside, the air was damp with sweat and mildew. Dozens of empty straw mattresses lay in rigid lines across the hard-packed floor.
“No one’s here,” Leywani murmured, letting the curtain fall. She lit two oil lamps, shadows clawing long across the rows of beds. “The others won’t return until dawn.”
Her gaze found Alena’s, and something broke. Her trembling smile wavered before she pulled Alena into a sudden, desperate embrace.
Her ribs were sharp beneath her tunic, her scent still achingly familiar.
“By the Moon,” she breathed, drawing back just enough to study Alena’s face. “Is it truly you? Scylas said Kat was Marked and you’d both gone, but I never thought…”
“Scylas is here?” Alena’s heart lurched. “And your husband—?”
“Dead.” Leywani’s voice was flat. “He tried to fight the Rasennans. They killed him on the spot.”
No grief coloured her tone. Relief, maybe. And Alena was glad for it.
Phoebe stepped forward, arms folded. “You’re Freefolk. How are you here?”
Alena translated, but Leywani hardly glanced at Phoebe. Her eyes stayed on Alena. “We were captured. At the end of autumn. The Rasennans somehow found the camps. They burned everything—killed those who resisted, chained the rest. A few escaped, but…”
She didn’t need to finish. Those who’d fled had likely frozen or starved before winter’s end.
“They forced us through the snow to the Achaean border. After that… they brought us here.”
Alena’s stomach twisted. “All the Freefolk are here?”
Leywani’s expression darkened. “Yes. The men work in the quarry. Some women, too. Others clean, cook… or are sent to the brothel.” Her gaze dropped. Then, softer: “But why are you here? And your eyes—what happened?”
The questions struck hard. Alena couldn’t begin to answer.
Outside, the wind rattled the boards.
“We’re running out of time,” Phoebe said, eye fixed on the slit of curtain. “We need to find the Non-Humans and get out.”
She was right. San and Kaixo came first. Everything else had to wait.
Alena turned back to Leywani. “I’ll explain later, I swear. Right now, I need to find my friends. Have you seen any Non-Humans in the quarry? One of them is—”
“The mother?” Leywani cut in, her face tightening. “I think her name was… San?”
Alena’s breath caught. A sudden chill settled over her, biting cold pressing in from all sides. “Yes,” she whispered. “Where is she?”
“She had an accident.”
The air whooshed from Alena’s lungs. Fear knotted tight in her gut. Shadows flickered on the walls, the oil lamps casting the barrack into a stifling maze.
“Alena?” Phoebe’s voice broke through. “What is it?”
But Alena couldn’t tear her gaze from the sorrow etched across Leywani’s face. “She’s… San is—”
Leywani shook her head. “She’s alive, but barely. The healer said she won’t last the night.”
The room tilted. Alena caught herself against the rough wall, quarry sounds outside hammering in her skull with oppressive intensity.
San.
“I’m so sorry, Alena. I can take you to her.” Leywani glanced towards the curtain. “She’s in the next shed.”
A warm hand settled on Alena’s shoulder. She blinked back tears and met Phoebe’s gaze. Drawing a shaky breath, she translated what Leywani had said.
Phoebe’s expression hardened. Together, they slipped after Leywani, keeping silent footsteps.
On the way, Apollo emerged from the shadows, his sleek grey coat glistening in the moonlight. He’d caught San’s scent.
Leywani jumped, a strangled noise escaping her throat.
“He’s with me.” Alena reached a hand to the wolf, and he bumped his head into her palm.
“A wolf,” Leywani muttered in disbelief before stumbling through the barracks’ entrance and pulling the curtain aside.
Leaving Apollo to keep watch outside, Alena followed. Straw beds lined the cramped shed, threadbare curtains strung between them in a poor illusion of privacy. The air was stuffy, and though the room was empty, the smell of unwashed bodies lingered.
Leywani led them to a small partition at the far end. She drew back the curtain, and the coppery tang of blood hit Alena’s nose along with San’s scent.
Her chest seized.
San lay unconscious on a straw mattress, pale and grey, sweat-slick hair plastered to her temples. Her brow furrowed with each ragged breath. Though her abdomen and leg were wrapped, blood soaked the bandages and spread dark across the mattress.
The sight stole Alena’s breath.
She dropped to her knees, heart hammering. “San,” she whispered, clutching her hand. It hung limp, far too cold. Fever burned beneath Alena’s palm when she touched her brow—hot, fading fast.
A young girl knelt nearby, black hair tangled, hands shaking as she rinsed a bloodstained cloth in a chipped bowl. She froze at Phoebe’s presence until Leywani whispered something that steadied her.
“There was an accident,” Leywani said softly, kneeling beside Alena. “At the quarry. Some men misjudged a cut—a block fell. Two were killed. San was caught beneath the edge.”
Alena could barely hear her over the pounding in her ears.
“We brought her back and tried to fetch the Rasennan healer.” Leywani’s jaw tightened. “But he refused.”
Alena’s gaze snapped to her. “Refused?”
“He said he wouldn’t sully his magic on a Non-Human. We did what we could—cleaned the wounds, wrapped them, tried to keep the fever down. But the medicine’s gone, and none of them will help us. We’re nothing to them.”
Alena’s fury rose so fast it blurred her vision. Her hands shook where they gripped San’s.
“They left her to die,” she whispered.
It was her father all over again—helpless, fading beyond her reach, no matter what magic she wielded.
“Where’s Kaixo?” Her voice hardened. “Where’s her son?”
If they’d thrown him into the quarry, she’d cut down every guard to bring him out.
Leywani exchanged a grim glance with the girl, and Alena’s stomach dropped.
“Tell me.”
“No one knew they were related, not until San’s accident. Her boy screamed for her in their tongue, and the soldiers realised. There was an uproar because his father clearly isn’t a Non-Human, and that… mattered to them.” Leywani’s voice broke. “They dragged him away.”
Alena leaned forward, glancing between them. “Dragged him where?”
“I heard they tied him to a pillar in the soldiers’ quarters,” the young girl with tangled black hair said. “I don’t know what they plan to do.”
Alena’s blood ran cold. “Soldiers?”
Leywani nodded. “An officer arrived with two dozen men—reinforcements. Word is, other camps have rebelled, and the soldiers came to make sure that doesn’t happen here.”
Alena relayed the news to Phoebe, standing half-shadowed in the flickering lamplight. Her expression hardened.
Soldiers hadn’t been part of the plan. This changed everything.
Alena turned back to San.
The mother still lay motionless, her breathing shallow. She looked smaller somehow—shrunken, gaunt. Alena knelt beside her, eyes burning.
“Oh, San…” Her voice cracked. She smoothed a damp braid from San’s face. “I’m so sorry. This is my fault. But I swear—I’m going to fix it.”
She swiped her eyes with the back of her hand, then forced herself to move. Her fingers dove into her satchel until they closed around a bundle of dried white oak bark.
“Can you boil some water?” she asked, voice hoarse.
Leywani nodded. Alena pressed the herbs into her hands. “Boil these until the water runs red. Then get her to drink three cups—slowly.”
The younger slave girl took the bark and hurried out.
“Will it save her?” Leywani asked.
Alena didn’t answer right away. Her throat clenched as she looked down at San—so still, so pale, her life flickering like a dying flame. “No. But it’ll ease the pain.”
Leaving her satchel behind, she rose. Phoebe stood watching from the doorway, one brow lifted in silent question.
Alena swallowed and steadied her voice. “The soldiers found out Kaixo is half Non-Human. They dragged him to their camp. I’m going to get him back.”
“No,” Phoebe said at once. “Absolutely not. You’ll be caught before you even reach him.”
Alena’s jaw clenched. They didn’t have time to argue.
“If you think I’d leave Kaixo behind, then you really don’t know me at all.
” She forced herself to think past the fury pounding in her chest. “We’ll use the wolves as a distraction, like we planned, and sneak in to save him.
” Her gaze locked on Phoebe. “Either way, I’m not leaving without him. ”
“Alena…” Phoebe’s face hardened. “You’re the Omega—”
“I know damn well who I am and what I’m supposed to do!” Alena’s voice cracked. Her fists trembled at her sides. “But the Omega is also a beacon of hope in the darkest times, and that’s exactly what I’ll be tonight.”
Phoebe shook her head, her tone softening. “You can’t save them all.” Her gaze drifted to San’s broken form, and something caved inside Alena’s chest.
“No,” she whispered fiercely, “but I can save one child.”
A long beat passed. Then Phoebe exhaled, shoulders sinking in defeat. “You’re as stubborn as your mother.” She turned towards the exit. “Fine. Let’s go.”