Authors: Maria V. Snyder
I handed it to Saul. “Since Tohon didn’t know about Ryne’s disappearance, that means the prince hasn’t been captured. I need you to find Ryne or one of his men—doesn’t matter who—and give this to them.”
“How will I find them?”
“They have to be out past the encirclement. Probably to the north.”
“Why north?”
“If it all goes wrong for Ryne, the Nine Mountains would make a nice temporary barrier.” That was if the tribes hadn’t invaded that far south. “Also, if Tohon doesn’t keep his word, I want you to open the package and follow the directions inside.”
“Do you think he’ll kill us anyway?” Saul didn’t act surprised. Guess I wasn’t the only one with terrible thoughts.
“I hope not.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“My gut feeling is he’ll either turn you into his dead or drug you or use his magic to influence you.”
“Thanks for putting it to me gently.”
“You asked.”
“And we won’t have any weapons.”
“You have your silent training,” I said. “And you could get creative with the definition of
a weapon
.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“At least you haven’t been invited to the feast.” A shiver raced over my skin.
“It sucks for all of us.” Saul put his hand on my shoulder. “Come to the sergeant’s fire tonight.”
“All right.”
After Saul left, I checked on my patients. The news of Tohon’s terms had spread throughout the camp at lightning speed. The mood in the infirmary was downright glum. My caregivers tried to remain upbeat, but I told a few of them to take a break to compose themselves. I wondered how many people would try to escape tonight. They wouldn’t get far, but desperate people do desperate things.
I, on the other hand, felt eerily calm. Considering how terrified I had been of being Tohon’s prisoner again, I had settled into a detached state. I’d done what I could. The rest would be inevitable. Plus, with Kerrick gone, life seemed lackluster.
Not that I’d given up. If Tohon made a mistake, I’d be the first one to take advantage of it. Despite his powerful magic and keen mind, he had made them before. In fact, Tohon’s army hadn’t spotted Ryne’s leaving.
I mulled over the implications. Four hundred soldiers were hard to hide. And the encirclement had to have been in place before midsummer’s day. The image of Jael’s map with the red circle came to mind. Saul and I had crossed it on our way back from feeding Ursan to the Peace Lily. Then I remembered the horses spooking. Was that where the dead had hidden underground? Ursan had used his last breath to warn us about it.
I was an idiot. But Ryne wasn’t. Oh, no. He’d figured it out long ago. Combined my theory about Ulany’s magic with Ursan’s message, and he’d known. I hoped he also had a plan to stop Tohon.
When my patients were settled in for the night, I joined Saul, Odd and Wynn next to our fire. I gave Wynn and Odd each a long hug before sitting next to Saul. No one said much at first. We stared at the dancing flames, lost in our own thoughts.
“Remember when Liv liked Sergeant Kol?” Wynn asked.
“Yeah, the entire camp knew she was sweet on him,” Odd said.
“She wasn’t the most subtle,” Saul agreed.
“Then when he finally invited her into his tent for dinner, she bolted.” Wynn laughed.
“It’s hard to believe she’d be scared of sharing a meal,” I said.
Wynn laughed harder, gasping for breath. “Oh! Baby Face...you’re so...”
“What did I say?”
“When you invite a woman into your tent for dinner, that’s code for inviting them into your bed,” Odd explained.
“Oh. Does the Purity Priestess know this?” I asked.
“She hasn’t bothered our platoon since Ursan invited her for dinner,” Odd said. “She said it was the sweetest—”
“Odd, that’s enough,” Wynn said. “Ursan was just yanking your chain.” She looked at me. “Every guy in the army claims he’ll be the one to take the pure out of the Purity Priestess.”
Our conversation didn’t improve after that. It was raunchy, irreverent and silly. Our neighbors probably thought we were drunk. We talked about everything and nothing. We all knew it was the last time we’d have the sergeant’s fire, but no one wanted to acknowledge it. No one wanted to say goodbye either.
Instead, when it grew late, we said good-night as we had all those times before. We pretended we’d see each other in the morning.
Deep sleep remained elusive. I drifted in and out, dreaming of being locked inside a familiar jail cell. The same one I’d occupied back when I’d lived in Jaxton. Tohon’s dead surrounded the building, but Kerrick stood on the other side of the bars.
“Come on,” Kerrick said, opening the cell door.
Unable to move, I said, “I can’t. I’m trapped.”
“It’s not so bad,” Flea said. He was lounging on a mat in the next cell.
“Flea, what are you doing?” Kerrick asked.
“Hiding. This is a great spot. No one will think to look for me here.”
“Who are you hiding from?” Kerrick asked.
“Tohon.”
“We need to go, now.” Kerrick held out his hand to me.
Feeling as if my legs were mired in mud, I took a step toward him. Our hands almost touched.
“Not so fast, my dear,” Tohon said. He breezed pass Kerrick and snatched my hand. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”
Pain shot up my arm, waking me. The fingers on my right hand tingled, and my heart thumped in my chest. My sheet was tangled around my legs. Giving up on sleep, I rolled out of bed and changed.
A loud and fast knocking sounded as I buttoned my shirt. Muffled words, “...an emergency...the High Priestess...” reached me. I sprinted for the door. Christina stood with her fist raised in midknock. Her red cheeks and messy hair indicated her distress.
“You’re needed in the infirmary now,” Christina said.
We ran the short distance. Estrid waited with two of her priests. She didn’t appear to be sick or injured, but she was clearly upset.
“What—” I started.
“Wake her.” Estrid pointed to a prone figure on a nearby bed.
Recognition spurred my steps. Noelle was unconscious, and her face was as pale as snow. She had no visible injuries, but blood stained the pillow.
“What happened to her?” I demanded.
“That’s what we want to know,” Estrid said.
I gasped. “Did someone attack her? Where’s Jael?”
“Wake her and we’ll find out.”
When I placed my hand on her forehead, her eyes fluttered open. My magic sought her injury. There was a serious gash and lump along the back of her skull. She must have hit her head pretty hard. She also had a few bumps and bruises on her limbs, but nothing serious.
As I drew her injury into me, she blinked. “Avry?”
“Who hurt you?” I asked.
“Jael.”
Pain exploded in my head. I would have to wring the bitch’s neck when I recovered. Groping for an empty bed, I collapsed onto it, squeezing my eyes shut against the searing lantern light. I teetered on the edge of consciousness.
“Where’s Jael?” Estrid asked.
“I tried to stop her, High Priestess,” Noelle said.
“Stop her from what?”
“From leaving.”
KERRICK
His dream seemed so real. The tips of Kerrick’s fingers tingled and Avry’s scent lingered on them. Longing and fear filled him. She was in trouble. But he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Probably why Flea was in the dream, as well. Another he couldn’t save.
As he lay in bed, he concocted an escape plan and calculated how long it would take to reach Avry. Thirty days if he was on foot, ten by horseback if he managed to find a horse and it didn’t balk at crossing the Nine Mountains. Either way too long.
Giving up on sleep, Kerrick rose and headed downstairs to the library. Danny had discovered an apartment on the second floor when he’d collected the books. Noak had allowed them to use it while they researched.
Kerrick lit a lantern and opened a book on herbal remedies. He read through the descriptions, but his thoughts returned to Avry. Lately, anything he did reminded him of her. The bone-deep ache never left him. To avoid slipping into a self-pitying sulk, he concentrated on the list of green ferns, which had different properties than the yellow variety. No surprise, his mind wandered again.
Kerrick and Danny had spent the past two days researching a possible cure for the sick tribespeople. After Kerrick had stopped the boy from healing him, Noak had questioned them on what they’d been doing with the stacks of books.
Although seeming to be perplexed that they would put so much effort in finding a cure for their enemy, Noak had allowed them to work together.
When Noak had left, Danny had grabbed his own stomach. “Avry was right. The desire to heal just...grew from my core and then tugged hard, pushing to get out. Why did you stop me?”
“I don’t want the tribespeople to know. Not yet. They could force you to heal this disease, and it might kill you. We need to learn more about it.” Kerrick rubbed his neck. The cuts had already stopped bleeding. “Besides, you don’t need to heal minor injuries.”
“But I’d like to experience how it works before I need to save someone. What if I do it wrong?”
“I don’t think there’s a wrong way, but when we have some privacy, I’ll cut myself someplace that’s easy to cover and let you heal me. All right?”
Danny had agreed to keep his new healing powers under wraps. Over the next two days Noak had stopped by from time to time to check on their progress. Otherwise, he left them alone.
Kerrick felt better having the boy close to him, but his dream about Avry still haunted him. Danny joined him after dawn, and by the time Noak arrived late in the morning, they had a list of possible plants that might work as a substitute.
Noak and two of his men escorted them into the forest to collect samples. Kerrick had seen the first plant when they’d searched for the venite, so he didn’t need his magic to find it. A slight breeze blew through the trees, and he breathed in the comforting scent of the living green.
As they hiked, Kerrick asked Noak about his ice magic. “Can anyone else in your tribe do the Winter’s Curse?”
“My father. That is why he’s our leader. Only those touched with power can lead.”
“Does Olave have magic, as well?”
Noak scowled. “No. His tribe is different.”
Kerrick considered. “Then how can he challenge your father?”
“When he marries my sister, he will control her power. She’s been touched by summer.”
“And she’ll let him?” Kerrick couldn’t mask his surprise.
“She has no choice. When they marry, they will be bound during the ceremony. This allows him to...use her power despite her wishes.”
“Is that how it works for all your people?”
“No. Only those who have been touched by one of the seasons.”
“So you would—”
“Yes. Only if my wife does not have power. If she has been touched, we would be able to use each other’s power equally. It is the ideal situation.”
“Is Rakel happy about the arrangement?”
“It does not matter. It is done.”
Kerrick marveled at Noak’s cold response. “If your father knows Olave will challenge him, why would he promise his daughter to him?”
“For our people. We are divided and need to be one. Father will either prove his right as leader of all, or die, proving Olave is the one to lead us.”
“Why do you need to join together?” Kerrick asked.
Noak scanned the forest, but his gaze grew distant. “We’ve endured too many harsh winters in the Vilde Lander, and my people can no longer survive on our own.”
That would explain why they were on the warpath. “My people are also struggling to survive. If you’re willing to share resources with Olave, then why not share with us?”
Noak stopped and turned to him. He huffed with amusement. “And who are you to offer such a thing?”
Ah. Kerrick considered but decided Noak would more likely kill him than try to ransom him. “I’m Prin...” No. It was time to face the truth. “I’m King of Alga Realm.”
If Noak was impressed, he didn’t show it. “Your people forced us off our land. We will not share.”
“That happened a long time ago. I had no part in it, nor did my people. I’m not going to apologize for the decisions made by my forefathers. But I can offer you land of your own where no one can chase you away again. In exchange for peace.”
“And I am supposed to trust—”
“I would give my word.”
“Why would you do such a thing?”
“To stop the killing.” He gestured to Danny, who hadn’t said a word the entire time. “So he can grow up, find love and have a family.”
“Weak sentiments. It is why you lost.”
Kerrick shook his head. Why did he even bother? The tribes were looking for revenge. But when they crossed the Nine Mountains, they might view his offer differently. Especially if Tohon and his army of the dead waited on the other side.
Letting out a breath, Kerrick concentrated on finding the plants, using his magic to discern the location of a few. They spent the day gathering leaves and roots. By twilight he stumbled with exhaustion. Danny grabbed his hand. A zip of energy flowed up his arm. Avry had been able to share her strength with him, but he thought it had been an anomaly. Perhaps it was just a part of the healing magic.
When he felt a little better, he released Danny’s hand. He didn’t want the boy to use all his energy. They returned to the library after full dark. Lantern light blazed from the windows. That was the first clue something was wrong.
Inside, Noak’s father, Canute, and Olave waited with a dozen armed men. Another clue.
“Where is she?” Olave demanded.
Kerrick thought he referred to Avry. But the man had addressed Noak.
“Rakel is in seclusion as is proper,” Noak said.
“Not anymore. She is gone,” Canute said.
“Escaped?” Kerrick asked.
Olave glared. “Not without help.” His tone dripped with accusation.
“I would not aid her,” Noak said. “It is not proper.”
“Then she has been taken by another suitor,” Canute said.