Chapter 21
“Why are there no Night Ravens called Ruth?” Bj?rn directed his joke to the group. The groans from Renyx and Brynn rolled back to us in unison, while Sven actually looked to be contemplating.
“Because they are Ruthless . . .” Bj?rn’s laugh thundered against my back, Sven joining him, snickering at the silly riddle.
“Please stop.” Brynn dropped her head forward, her mid-length hair tied back in a ponytail. “I beg you. I will give you five marks for you to shut up.”
“You offered me five marks two hours ago. My price has gone up since.”
“I’ll give you ten,” Renyx grumbled, rubbing at his head, his puffy eye a deep shade of purple and blue.
“I can’t be bought. Annoying you guys has no price on it.”
It was his way of trying to break the thick tension that had been weeding through the group throughout the day, poking and prodding until the pressure snapped.
It hadn’t.
The hersir of the group rode far ahead, his shoulders rigid, leading us through small villages and countryside at an unrelenting pace.
We had been riding for hours. A numbness had long since taken over my body, yet I couldn’t get my brain to do the same, mulling over and over what happened the night before. My body still feeling his touch like it was branded on my skin.
After he had stormed out of the room, I had finished cleaning up the best I could.
My mind was lost in a spool of thoughts, not wanting to pluck too deeply and uncoil things better left alone.
Like why did his touch affect me so much?
Why did the matching rune symbols he put on his hand feel like they reacted to mine?
I crawled into bed, tucking under the blankets pathetically, trying to ignore the over-awareness of the tattoo. His mark.
Sven had been the one to wake me up, awkwardly watching as I got dressed in my new clothing and taking me down to where the horses had been prepped for our travels. The Hunters ready, Onyx stomped over, dropping Munch in my hands.
“He ate more of my fucking saddle. Take him if you don’t want me to kill him.” He sneered and walked away.
“Guess you’re with me, lille ravn.” Bj?rn waved me over to his horse, his gaze dancing between us with a mischievous grin. Helping me onto his Friesian, he chuckled in my ear. “What did you do to him?”
“Nothing,” I snipped.
“He’s in a particularly bad mood this morning.” Bj?rn grinned widely. “Usually, he’s in high spirits after a fight. Thinking someone got under his skin.”
The tension did not relent, and it wasn’t just from the fact Onyx wouldn’t even look at me when we stopped for breaks.
I was nonexistent to him, but the rapport between Renyx, Brynn, and Onyx was also strained.
A pressure hung over the group like a cloud.
They were polite and spoke when needed to, but you could feel the walls between them.
A loud, squeaky fart whistled through the air, along with a tiny sigh, causing Bj?rn to snicker.
“Fuck, I thought Bj?rn could stink up a place, but that thing could light a forest fire.” Renyx groaned from behind us.
“Did you learn your lesson?” I picked up Munch, his tummy still puffy, struggling to digest the tough leather.
“Saddles are not meant to be eaten.” My gaze instinctively flickered up ahead to glimpse the outline of Onyx’s and Fluffy’s large frames through the moonlight. “No more eating saddles, okay?”
The groundling blinked up at me several times, then pulled a piece he had hidden in his tiny hand, nibbling on a chunk of leather.
Bj?rn howled with laughter behind me as I sighed, the first smile of the day twitching my mouth.
“You are a menace.” I ran my finger over his branchy head, hearing the groundling purr as he fell back asleep. Right as I tucked him back into the horse’s mane, a caw sounded in the air, startling me.
Sven cupped his mouth, making the bird call again, pointing at a sign. “We’re home!” he shouted, kicking into the sides of his horse, pushing it into a gallop.
Bj?rn joined in with the same cawing sound, piercing my ear. My stomach dropped with anxiety. A sign on the side of the road came into view.
Entering Ravenshadow.
The Night Hunters picked up their pace, and I could feel their excitement. Tension slid off their shoulders in the comfort of returning home, while I absorbed their discarded strain.
The horses clopped onto a cobbled street, the bright moonlight breaking past the thinning trees, until the land came into full view before us. A gasp parted my lips, my eyes widening with disbelief and awe.
Perched on a hill next to the wide, rumbling Black Forest River, Ravenshadow castle stood over the town like an ornament.
My father had me learn basic geography of our enemy to the north, though my mind had never pictured this.
In contrast to the dark backdrop, it was painted in bright, saturated yellows, pinks, blues, and reds.
The huge palace covered the mountain like a whimsical story with its wide turrets, dome towers, fanciful steeples, ornamental battlements, and decorative terraces.
A deep red defensive wall surrounded the town below the castle, the roofs of the homes peeking up, smoke billowing from their chimneys, hinting at the large village inside the barrier.
“It’s . . .” I trailed off, still trying to take it in. I had always imagined Ravenshadow to be dark and gloomy, a reflection of the people and king living within. It was anything but. “Beautiful.”
“Not what you anticipated?” There was amusement in Bj?rn’s tone.
“No.” I shook my head as the horses raced over a decorative stone bridge, torches lighting the way, shining in the water rushing under us.
We entered the bustling village, the various buildings a collision of bright blues, yellows, greens, and pinks.
Where Carrion Crow had used soft pastels, the hues here were vibrant and effervescent, defying the night and challenging the moon for its brilliance.
The villagers were dressed in the same colorful shades, their dark hair and features blending them into the night, while their clothes spoke in a lively song.
Torches and large firepits burned brightly everywhere, giving off so much light that people easily moved around, conversing, laughing, drinking, and going about their day, comfortable and happy in the warm glow.
The town was larger than Silvervale, the buildings packed in between markets, pubs, hothouses, bathhouses, food halls, and livestock pens.
A few buildings rose above the rest, reaching up to the sky in three or four tiers, like a cake.
Night Raven carvings were displayed in detail on the roof of each tier, like they were guarding the village.
Bj?rn trotted us through the streets, my focus darting everywhere, lost in the wonder and color of the capital city.
Ravenshadow was nothing like I’d invented in my head.
I’d figured the selfish, barbaric king let his people live in squalor, starving and miserable, so despondent they couldn’t even hope for a better life. That was not at all what I saw.
Life here seemed similar to home.
Silvervale was laid out in a way that was more systematized and controlled, everything having an area or place.
My father preferred order and sense. Ravenshadow seemed chaotic and disordered, yet the villagers went about their lives much like my people did.
What I was taught jarred uncomfortably with what I saw, feeling like more foundation under my feet was breaking away. What else was my father wrong about?
Spotting the stunning black beauties and their riders, the people in the village rushed out of the way, bowing their heads in reverence or cheering at the Night Hunters as if they were royalty.
Audible gasps murmured in the air at seeing Onyx, like he was their king.
Their mouths gaped in awe and fear at the man and the strange beast he rode in on.
“Awww . . . it’s good to be home,” Bj?rn yelled out to his comrades.
We galloped up the hill to the castle. Onyx reached the gated entrance before us, where Sven was already dismounted, chatting and clapping hands with guards outside the castle entry.
Four sentries stood on duty, wearing thick brown leathers with the Night King’s raven emblem burned into the middle, but their uniforms didn’t have the skull like the Night Hunters did.
“You’re back?” A tall guard glanced over at Brynn with a wink. “Maybe we can grab that drink when I get off duty.”
“She’s married,” Renyx retorted, and I could see the realization of his statement flinch painfully over his face. She technically wasn’t, anymore.
“So am I.” The guard smirked, his gaze hungry. “Just a friendly drink between two shields.”
She crooked her finger, the guy strolling to her with a self-assured grin.
Brynn leaned down, her fingers tracing his short beard with a smile before her fingers pinched his chin, her smile fading to indignation.
“I could flay your ribs open before you even reached for your sword, liten pikk.” Little dick.
“Do not ever confuse me for a basic, grunt shield, like yourself. I am a Night Hunter. You bow when I walk by. Understand?”
His eyes only lit up more, like he loved her dominance. “Yes, ma’am.”
She huffed, straightening up on her mount. “Now, open the fucking gate, we have a prisoner for the king.”
The guards finally took notice of me, my hood and Bj?rn’s bulky figure blending me into the background. This time when they looked, they saw the silver hair under the cloak. Their eyes widened; mouths parted.
“That’s really her?” one whispered in astonishment. “That’s the White Raven?”
“Open the fucking gate. Now.” Onyx’s growl sliced through the air, shivering up into my bones.
His order was like a shockwave, the sentinels reacting instantly to his command. Chains squeaked, the gates releasing with a crack as they parted, opening for us. The Night Hunters raced up the cobble street, to my doom waiting inside.
“ . . . a prisoner for the king.”