Resistance (Ilyon Chronicles Book 1) (63 page)

“How are you this morning?” she asked. Her eyes were shadowed with concern and lack of sleep.

Kyrin let out a slow breath, congested from all her tears. “I’m not quite sure yet. I have to talk to Rayad and Warin.”

She walked to the door and let herself out. The forest was still dim, but a glow came from the flicker of small flames at the fire. Jace still sat there with Tyra, just as he had promised. The warmth of this sight soothed her. Tyra met her as she approached and nudged her face into Kyrin’s hands. Kyrin rubbed her head and sat down next to Jace.

“Have you seen Rayad and Warin yet?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. It probably won’t be long though.”

Kyrin gave a nod and forced herself to wait. Thankfully, it wasn’t long. A few minutes later, the two older men joined them. Gathering her thoughts and determination, Kyrin stood.

“I’m going to give myself up.”

The men looked at each other, and she caught Jace’s horrified expression as he pushed to his feet.

“You can’t,” Rayad said only a second before Jace surely would have. “I know it’s difficult, but giving yourself up won’t save your brother.”

“It might,” Kyrin replied. “This isn’t what you’re thinking. Like Trask, the only way to rescue Kaden and Trev is if they
’re taken out of the barracks. The problem is, if we wait around for that to happen, Richard will start torturing my brother and…” She swallowed to wet her aching throat. “ I just can’t bear that. And now that they don’t need Trask to tell them where I am, Goler could just kill him. It doesn’t leave us any time to wait for a perfect opportunity that might never come.”

“So, what’s your plan?” Warin asked.

“If I give myself up, Richard won’t have a reason to hold any of us in the barracks. He’ll want to get us back to Valcré for execution. So, when they transport us out, you can rescue us. I’ll just go in to get things moving.”

Rayad exhaled with a deep frown of uncertainty. “I don’t know. It’s risky. There’s no telling what will happen to you before you’re transported, and there’s always a chance he could just kill you there.”

“I know, but I don’t believe he will. The emperor wants our deaths, particularly mine, to be public. He’ll want Richard to bring us all to Valcré. I know the risk and that things could go wrong, but I
have
to do it. For Kaden.”

Rayad looked over at Warin, who shrugged and said, “It’s more of a plan than we’ve had so far.”

Rayad considered it for a long moment, his expression mirroring his hesitation, and Kyrin prayed he would not only agree, but that her plan would indeed work. She glanced at Jace. He stared at Rayad too, with an almost pleading look in his eyes.

Finally, Rayad nodded. “I’m not at all comfortable with putting you in harm’s way, but
…” He sent Jace an apologetic glance and continued, “You’re right that we don’t have time to search for other alternatives.”

Jace released a worn breath and hung his head, but when he raised it again, determination had replaced his fear. “We’ll have to scout the road and select an ambush point.” He looked at Kyrin and his face softened. “We need to have everything ready and planned out before you go in.”

Rayad agreed. “As soon as we’ve had our breakfast, we’ll ride out and do some scouting.”

R
ichard picked at his lunch and scowled. Such a tasteless diet was not fitting for a man of his breeding. And his sleeping accommodations! He snorted. The flat straw mattress had left him itching and no doubt crawling with bugs. His bedroll on the ground had been more pleasant. That girl would pay for forcing him to come all the way out here to the wilderness and endure this. Oh, yes, she would pay. And the longer she kept him waiting, the more he would enjoy inflicting pain on her in any possible way he could conceive.

His mood darkening by the hour, he shoved back his chair and stormed out of the headquarters, leaving his half-eaten food to the flies. It wasn’t fit for much else. He strode across the yard and climbed up to the watchers on the palisade tower.

“Anything?”             

“No, sir.”

Richard’s eyes scanned the tree line and narrowed. Nothing stirred.
That’s it
. He would not be kept waiting by this little ragtag group of traitors. He spun around and climbed back down. On the ground, he met Goler.

“It’s been over twenty-four hours,” he snapped. “Time to send a message.”

Everything inside Jace rebelled at what was about to happen. His eyes rested on the barracks for only a moment before coming back to Kyrin. Rayad offered her a waterskin, and she took a gulping drink before handing it back. Her face appeared pale as she too looked out across the field.

“Ready?” Rayad asked, and she nodded.

Jace watched her struggle to draw breath just before she looked at him. She attempted a smile, though it resembled a wince, and his heart nearly broke.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked. His insides churned over what could happen to her. Now he wished he’d protested it more. He’d do almost anything to get her to reconsider.

But she stood up a little taller, and determination solidified in her eyes. “He’s my brother. He’s always thrown himself into any situation to protect me. I have to do this for him.”

Jace let a long sigh seep out and glanced over her head to the barracks again and the distance she would have to cross by herself—or maybe not.

His gaze dropped to meet hers again, and his pulse quickened. “I should go in with you.”

Her eyes widened a little, but she shook her head. “No, you can’t. Richard would find any way he could to use you against me, and there would be nothing you could do anyway.”

Jace didn’t care what Richard did to him, and maybe he couldn’t protect Kyrin in there, but she shouldn’t have to walk in by herself.

“I have to go. Alone,” she said. Her voice held a slight tremble, but she was good at hiding her fear. She looked up at him with hopeful eyes. “Pray for me?”

“I will,” he promised without hesitation.

She managed another brief smile and turned away to walk into the clearing toward the barracks. Jace stood and watched, never taking his eyes off her. Halfway across, she glanced back, and he took a step forward. Those men could so easily kill her, just like Kalli and Aldor. A fresh sense of loss from that day knocked the wind out of him. He couldn’t lose someone like that again. But Rayad grabbed his arm.

“This is her choice,” he said quietly. “We have to stick with the plan and pray it works.”

As Kyrin drew nearer and nearer to the barracks, Rayad’s grip on his arm remained. How the overwhelming desire to protect her had developed in the last weeks, Jace didn’t quite know, but it burned through him like fire. No one had ever found
their way past his barrier walls and mistrust so quickly before—not even Kalli. But Kyrin had. She’d offered friendship and understanding in the midst of hostility, but greater than that, she’d brought back a stirring of hope that he thought had died on the farm. If this didn’t go according to plan and Richard didn’t bring her out in the next day or two, he would get to her one way or another. He’d tear that barracks apart if he had to.

Loud footsteps echoed through the jailhouse. Kaden glanced at Trev. Gut instinct warned him what was coming. Richard stalked toward the cell, followed by Goler and a trail of soldiers.

“Your sister must not care about your well-being,” he said in a low snarl. “Either that, or she considers me a fool.”

With a jangle of keys, Goler unlocked the cell door. Kaden scrambled to meet them on his feet. They could break his body, but not his spirit. He would never stop fighting. Still, his heart pounded and refused to slow.

Two soldiers seized him by the arms, igniting his adrenaline. He wrestled against them, but one drove his fist into Kaden’s side, setting fire to his already bruised ribs. He gasped, his struggle weakened, and they shoved him up against the wall. His breathing came harder as he glared back at Richard. The man yanked out a dagger, and Goler grabbed Kaden’s wrist, splaying his hand against the stone. He tried to wrench it away, but his strength was depleted after being starved in the days since his arrest.

“Let’s see how stubborn she is after this,” Richard sneered.

The soldiers’ tightened their grip on Kaden even as his will to fight them exploded with the knowledge he was about to lose some part of his body. Richard’s dagger pressed down on one of his fingers, and the sharp blade sliced into his skin. He bit back a groan at the fiery sting, but it clawed its way up his throat as the blade went deeper—all the way to the bone. Hot blood ran down his hand. He ground his teeth together and shut his eyes tightly. He would do this for Kyrin. Anything, as long as she stayed safe.

“Sir!”

Kaden’s eyes popped open, and Richard whipped his head around. A soldier rushed to the cell door.

“Sir, she’s here.”

The pain vanished, and coldness gripped Kaden instead. He couldn’t mean Kyrin. She wouldn’t come…she couldn’t.

Richard wiped his dagger clean and snapped it back into the sheath as he strode from the cell. Goler and his men followed, locking the door shut behind them. Kaden slumped against the wall and looked down at his hand. Blood still trickled from the wounded finger, the steady drip adding to the spatter on the floor. He clamped his hand over it, but his eyes rose back to the hall. If Kyrin showed up there
…He let out an aching groan and prayed like never before.