Authors: Amanda Hocking
“Did he say anything?” Evert asked.
“He just told Konstantin to kill me, and when Konstantin didn’t act fast enough, Viktor grabbed me and attacked me.”
“This changes everything,” Evert said with a heavy sigh. “We must prepare for war.”
“Based on the word of a tracker with brain damage?” Mina nearly shouted in disbelief, and I bristled.
“Viktor D
å
lig has already tried to kill me once,” said King Evert, “and he’s been on the run for well over a decade. I have no idea what he’s been up to in that time, but if he’s been working with Konstantin Black I must assume he’s grown even more dangerous. I will not let him make an attempt on my life again.”
“These are all assumptions.” Mina shook her head. “You can’t prepare for war on assumptions, especially when we don’t know what we’re up against or where our enemy might be.”
“Mina, I value your counsel, but on this matter, my decision has already been made,” Evert told her firmly. “We will find him, and we will destroy him, and that’s final.”
Mina lowered her eyes, holding Vita more closely to her, and she said nothing more after that. Evert stood up, saying he needed to meet with advisors, but he’d be calling on Ridley soon. If we were preparing for war, Ridley would have to gather the trackers and start readying them to be soldiers.
As soon as we were dismissed, Ridley stood up and stormed out of the meeting room. I followed quickly, but his strides were long and angry and it took me a moment to catch up with him.
“Ridley,” I called after him as we walked down the palace hallway, empty apart from a few maids with their hands full of cleaning supplies. “Wait.”
He whirled on me then, his dark eyes blazing, his lips pressed together. I couldn’t help but think back to when his eyes had blazed in an entirely different way a few days ago, when he’d pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips passionately against mine.
But whatever desire he’d held for me was gone, replaced by barely restrained anger. “You should’ve told me, Bryn.”
“I wasn’t sure—”
“That’s bullshit!” he roared, and I flinched. The maids were at the other end of the hallway, and they glanced back at us before hurrying on. “That may be why you didn’t tell the King right away, but you should’ve told
me.
”
“I’m sorry,” I said, since there was nothing else I could say.
He ran his hand through his dark hair and looked away from me, his jaw set hard. “I know things have been … complicated between us lately, but that’s no excuse not to tell me this.”
“That’s not why.” I hurried to reason with him. “I just had to be sure. I couldn’t tell you something this big without being absolutely certain.”
He smirked darkly at me. “So you thought it would be better to blindside me in a meeting with the King and Queen?”
“No, I … I wasn’t thinking.” And that was the truth. Everything had been such a mess lately, and I hadn’t been able to think clearly—especially when it came to Ridley. “I screwed up. I’m sorry.”
“No.” Ridley waved his hands and took a step back from me. “I don’t need your apologies, Bryn. And I think for right now it’d probably be best if we stayed away from each other as much as we can.”
“Ridley,” I said lamely, but I didn’t argue with him.
Then he turned and walked away, his footsteps echoing heavily in the empty hall, and as my head began to ache again I felt more alone than I had in a long time.
When I stepped into the gymnasium, the noise from training fell to a dull murmur, and I could feel eyes turning toward me as the door groaned shut behind me. Thanks to my Skojare-esque appearance, I was used to being stared at in Doldastam—my blond hair and pale skin had always stood out in stark contrast to the tan skin and dark hair of the rest of the Kanin. But this was way beyond normal.
Since the King had officially declared war on Viktor D
å
lig, Konstantin Black, and all of their associates yesterday afternoon, the tracker school had been turned into an army training camp.
The changes had fallen over the city swiftly and quietly. As I’d walked to the tracker school in the blowing snow, I’d noticed H
ö
gdragen standing guard in front of houses—two in front of the more important Markis and Marksinna homes, while one was enough for the less notable families. In the least prominent neighborhoods, one guard would be enough for a whole block.
Even this room full of trackers seemed different: some stood in rows listening to an instructor, while others ran laps and still others did combat drills. Yesterday they had been merely trackers, but now they were soldiers, preparing for a war with an enemy that they might never encounter.
All these changes had taken place because of me, because of what I’d told the King, and because I’d let Viktor D
å
lig and Konstantin Black slip through my fingers once again. That’s why everyone looked at me, their expressions ranging from respect to skepticism to annoyance.
Ember Holmes broke through the trackers practicing combat drills. Her dark hair bounced in a ponytail behind her, but her bangs were damp with sweat, making them stick to her olive skin.
Boxing tape bound her hands, but her knuckles were still red and one of them was bleeding. To make up for her petite size, she fought twice as hard as anybody else, and I’m sure she’d given her training opponent a run for his money today.
“Haven’t any of you ever seen another tracker before?” Ember asked over her shoulder, casting an irritated glare at everyone in the gym as she walked toward me.
The teacher instructing the trackers barked an order, and that seemed to get everyone back in motion. The volume in the room returned to normal, and I could feel eyes shift away from me.
“You’re late,” Ember pointed out, as if I weren’t aware. “I thought you might be taking the day off to recuperate.”
“I had considered it,” I told her, but that was a lie. The headaches still flared up intermittently, and occasionally the vision in my right eye blurred for a few minutes. But I didn’t need any more time to rest. I was ready to get back to work.
I just hadn’t wanted to come here and deal with all this. Especially when I didn’t know what the point of the heightened security was. Viktor D
å
lig and Konstantin Black were dangerous, but we didn’t know where there were, and there were only two of them. It wasn’t like we were planning to invade another tribe or country. An army felt unnecessary.
“Bryn Aven.” Tilda Moller smirked down at me, but there was a playful gleam in her smoky eyes. “Nice of you to join us.”
Unlike the other trackers who were dressed in workout clothes, Tilda had on a tailored black linen jacket with epaulets on the shoulders and matching trousers—our army uniform. The jacket hung open, revealing a white shirt and the subtle curve of her belly. Her hair was pulled back into a smooth ponytail, and with a clipboard and papers in hand Tilda looked every bit the part of an officer.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.” I smiled up at her. “I was afraid you were on leave.”
“Modified duty,” she corrected me. “I won’t be fighting, but I can help organize and make assignments.”
“Where do you want me then?” It didn’t really matter where Tilda put me, as long I was doing something. I had plenty of frustration I needed to get out.
As Tilda ran her finger down the clipboard, I caught sight of a shiny new silver band wrapped around the ring finger on her left hand.
“Whoa, what’s that?” Ember asked, noticing the same thing I had.
“Oh, this old thing?” Tilda laughed, and her cheeks reddened as she held up her hand for us to get a better look. “Kasper actually proposed to me at the beginning of the month, but I’ve been waiting to tell anyone until after I’d told you about the baby. Since you guys know, I thought I ought to start wearing the ring.”
“Oh my gosh, Tilda! Congratulations!” Ember squealed and threw her arms around Tilda, giving her an awkward bear hug.
I smiled. “Yeah, congrats. That’s great news.”
“I’m glad you’re both so excited,” Tilda said, carefully prying herself out of Ember’s hug. “Because I was going to see if you two wanted to be my bridesmaids?”
“Are you kidding me?” Ember asked, and she was so excited I feared she might actually explode.
“Yeah, of course,” I said. “It would be an honor.”
“When is it? What do you want me to wear?” Ember asked in one quick breath.
“Well, that’s another thing,” Tilda said, appearing sheepish. “We were originally thinking we’d get married in a couple months, before the baby was born. But with everything that’s going on right now, we decided we want to do it sooner rather than later. So we’re thinking the third of May.”
“That’s only a little over a week away,” I said in surprise.
“I know, I know, but we’re all here, and you and Ember could get sent off on a mission at any moment,” Tilda explained. “We just wanted something small and intimate anyway, and we love each other, so why not do it now?”
She looked at me hopefully, almost asking for my approval. After the way I’d botched the news about her pregnancy, I knew I had to handle things much more maturely this time.
I smiled. “You’re right, and that sounds really great, Tilda. I’ll be happy to help you celebrate your day whenever you want me to.”
“Thanks.” She looked relieved then waved her hand. “Anyway. We can talk about all the wedding stuff later. Right now, we should all get to work.”
“Right. So what should I be doing now?” I asked again and cast a glance around the room to see what my options were.
“If you’re up to it, you could work on combat training with Ember,” Tilda suggested, apparently deciding to go with her gut instead of the clipboard.
“Good. The guy I’ve been going against could use a break anyway,” Ember added with a laugh.
That did sound like the best possibility, but my attention was elsewhere so I didn’t immediately reply. While I was scanning the room, I’d spotted Ridley in the far corner, nearly hidden behind the boxing ring. A group of maybe twenty trackers sat on the floor around him, staring up with rapt interest as he paced in front of them.
I was too far away to hear him over the noise of the gym, but his arms were clasped behind his back and he spoke with a kind of intensity. He wore the same uniform as Tilda, though his jacket was buttoned up and he had a large silver rabbit pinned to his jacket—the sign that he was the
Ö
verste.
In times of war, the Rektor took on the role of the head officer overseeing the army. The head of the H
ö
gdragen, the Chancellor, and the King all ranked above him. The
Ö
verste made no decisions in terms of battle, but the position still had great responsibility in commanding the trackers/soldiers and preparing them for their orders.
“Bryn?” Ember was saying my name, but I didn’t look back at her.
“What’s going on over there?” I asked and motioned toward Ridley.
“Ridley’s training the scouts,” Tilda answered.
I turned back to her. “Scouts?”
“They’re going to go out and find Viktor D
å
lig and Konstantin Black,” Tilda explained. “They’re supposed to find the base camp, get a rough idea of how large Viktor’s operation is, and then report back to us. Based on the scouts’ information, we’ll send out troops to find Viktor and everyone that works for him, and destroy them.
“The H
ö
gdragen will stay behind, so Doldastam’s not left unprotected while all the trackers—sorry, troops—are off to war,” Tilda finished, and I remembered the guards I’d seen stationed at doorsteps.
Until—and
if
—scouts found Viktor D
å
lig, we had no idea when or where he would strike again. That meant everyone here would be on high alert as a precaution, especially since we still didn’t understand what he or Konstantin wanted.
“And before you ask, no, you can’t join the scouts,” Tilda said, her eyes apologetic. “Ridley told me to tell you.”
“It’s probably just because you’re injured,” Ember said. “Just like how I didn’t go on the last mission, because I’d broken my arm.” She swung her arm around now, fully healed by medics since Bent Stum had broken it.
Tilda looked down at me, her full lips pressed together and her eyes grim, and she didn’t say anything. Like me, she knew my injury wasn’t the reason I was being held back. I’d already let Viktor D
å
lig get away once. They weren’t about to let me make that mistake again.
“We should get training,” I said, because I was tired of talking.
Tilda nodded then walked away, checking over the papers as she did. Ember led me to a spot on the mats where she’d been practicing. Her partner had moved on to work with someone else, and when he saw that Ember would be training with me and not him, he appeared relieved.
I wrapped my hands with boxing tape while Ember explained what specific moves she’d been instructed to focus on today. When I finished, I tossed the tape aside and glanced over at Ridley. He happened to look up at the same time, and his eyes met mine.
Even across the room, I could see the anger still burning in them. He hadn’t forgiven me yet, and I wasn’t sure if he ever would.
Then Ember’s fist collided painfully with my jaw, and I swung at her instinctively. She blocked her face, so I went for her stomach—connecting solidly with the firm muscles of her abdomen.
She gasped in pain, but smiled broadly at me. “Now that’s more like it.”
The wind had calmed down some, so I left my jacket open, letting the air freeze the sweat that still stuck to me. After we’d finished training for the day, Ember had insisted that I join her for a treat at the bakery in the town square, saying we’d earned it. Tilda had to finish up some paperwork, and then she planned to meet us so we could talk more in depth about her wedding plans.
My muscles already ached and my right wrist cracked loudly every time I moved it, but I wasn’t sure I felt like I’d earned anything. The day left me feeling more like a failure than I already had.