The Silver Pear (18 page)

“He didn’t get the chance.” William’s gaze went back to her. “He died walking into the dungeon to do it. There was a spell in place. It killed him immediately. And all the prisoners were gone.”

Rane didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not. Whether Soren had escaped, or merely been caught up in something Eric or even Nuen had done.

“You said a prisoner disappeared in front of your eyes?” Kayla asked.

William nodded. “It was when Miri and Andrei fought each other. My men saw the most recent prisoner had gotten out of the dungeon, and when they went to grab him, Miri was there, too. Andrei attacked her, and in the confusion, the prisoner just . . . disappeared. I took my eyes off him, but there were guards at the entrance, and none of them saw him.”

“What happened to her? To Miri?” Rane let up a little, stepping back to give William some room.

The liege lord huddled into himself. “She disappeared, too. I left her in the dungeon, afraid of what she would do to me if she recovered from the injuries Andrei had given her. I knew the other prisoners had disappeared from there, but I didn’t think. Too much had happened and I just . . .” He drew in a breath. “Now I’m without any sorcerer, and none will come to me after all the bonds I’ve broken. And my people . . .”

“Your people think you’re a bloody fool.” Rane finished the sentence for him softly. “Yes, we gathered that when we stopped in Halakan.”

“They loved Miri. She’s one of them. Grew up with them, helped them. My betrayal of her . . . they’re wondering what good is a liege lord who betrays his own in a fit of temper.”

Rane held his tongue. Nothing good was going to come out of his mouth, and William appeared to know exactly what kind of situation he’d brought upon himself.

“Where did those men come from? Your brother and the others?” William pressed back against the wall, and Rane realized the blade of his knife was still very close to the liege lord’s throat.

He didn’t move it away.

“They were innocent victims of a magical gem. When the gem is touched, whoever touches it, and those around them caught in its light, disappear. It seems they landed here, in your stronghold.”

“That’s what Miri told me. She said exactly that, before Andrei . . .” He looked out, into the courtyard beyond.

Rane glanced back as well, saw men running from the gate, and then an explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet.

The front wall of the stronghold disintegrated into a cloud of stone, dust and wood.

A thin strip of skin across Rane’s shoulders started to throb and burn, and Rane forced himself not to touch it.

“I think,” he turned back to William, “that you’re under attack by Eric the Bold.”

T
hey were
long past the border into the Great Forest before Soren spoke.

Miri had sensed a reluctance in him to discuss their business in front of the others, and she’d agreed with it. But even in the woods of Jerat, she’d had a sense they weren’t truly free to talk.

Soren waited for her at a point in the path that widened into a small clearing beside a fast-running stream.

“It’ll take all of today and most of tomorrow to get to Harness Stronghold, but if we push ourselves, we’ll get there before Eric.”

“Why would Eric go to Harness? I thought he was going to Halakan.” She moved toward the stream and crouched down to see how clear the water was.

“I’ve been thinking about it.” Soren followed her. “He and Nuen have killed off most of the sorcerers between them. Eric killed your father, and after he’s rested enough, he’ll head to Halakan to take on Andrei. When he realizes Andrei is already dead, Nuen will be his only real rival. And Eric’s way of doing things is to attack. Nuen hasn’t been active since I injured him, and even though he must have been healed by the golden apple, he’s kept a low profile.”

“You think Eric will want to take him by surprise?” She scooped up a handful of water and sipped it from her palm.

Soren nodded. “We need to get there first, steal back the golden apple, and then wait for Eric to arrive, and get the silver pear back, as well.”

Miri laughed, reached out to dip her hand back in the cool water. “As easy as that?”

He leaned forward and gripped her forearm. “Not easy. I know that. We can do it. But I can do it alone, and leave you out of any danger. You could go to Therston Town to wait for me.”

She went still. Looked up at him. “You know I won’t do that.”

He waited a moment, and eventually nodded. “I just want you to be aware. If we’re caught by Jasper . . . I honestly couldn’t stand it for you to go through what I did in his dungeon.”

She leaned forward herself, laid her free hand on the side of his neck. “We will have to plan very carefully, then. Make sure we aren’t caught.” They would have to take him back into their dark torture chamber over her dead body. She could feel the sky magic dancing above her at just the thought of it, and forced herself to relax.

He drew her a little closer using the hold he had on her forearm, until their knees were touching.

He brushed a kiss on her cheek, and then one on the corner of her mouth and she dropped her head to rest on his shoulder.

“I don’t want you hurt. I don’t want you anywhere near Nuen.” His lips brushed her ear.

“I know. I don’t want there ever to be a chance you would go back to the hellhole they made for you. I’d bring every brick in Harness down first.”

He threaded fingers through her hair, and she felt the brush of his lips on the top of her head.

“Then let’s get there as fast as we can, and see what we can do about taking back the golden apple. We don’t want Eric coming there with the silver pear and, depending who wins the war between them, either Eric or Nuen ending up with both of them.”

The thought of that focused her more than anything else could, just when she was thinking a half day of rest, of exploring each other, would not matter one way or the other.

It did matter.

She sighed, and they rose together.

It was time to fix Soren’s mistake. And then, they’d try to fix hers.

H
arness Stronghold was so
close to the edge of the Great Forest, Mirabelle wondered if Nuen was exceptionally powerful or simply mad.

They had walked until late into the night, snatched some sleep and woken at dawn to continue on. The pace Soren had set meant they arrived just before dusk fell and a soft pink light made the stark walls of Harness almost beautiful.

Soren had gone, moonstone in hand, to check there were no patrols nearby, and to find a safe place to camp.

Mirabelle stood alone in the trees and admired Nuen’s confidence.

He only needed to look out of his tower to see the Great Forest lying spread out before him. And to know he was tauntingly close to wild magic.

Sky magic glimmered over the wall and Miri straightened as she heard screaming, then shouting. The magic cut abruptly off, and left her pulse hammering in her ears.

A ball of wild magic shimmered to life just to her right, spinning in place for a long moment before it seemed to catch an invisible breeze and move off into the trees.

She concentrated on the stronghold, wondering if they were too late, whether Eric had changed his mind and decided to strike down Nuen before he travelled to Halakan.

She couldn’t see the front gate from the place Soren had left her, but she thought she heard the creak of hinges, more raised voices.

She crept forward, working her way deeper into the trees for safety. When she reached a place where she could see the entrance, she pressed herself up against a tree and peered around the trunk.

The gates were open halfway, and two men were backing out of the stronghold, their hands raised. Their faces and their posture didn’t speak of surrender, though. It seemed more as if they were conveying they had no weapons and meant no harm.

“Shoot them. Shoot them
now
.” The man who screamed the order was short, possibly only an inch or two taller than she was. His face was red, and while sky magic danced down his arms, Miri could see he was spent, he had nothing left to give or he wouldn’t have been calling the archers on the gate towers and on the battlements to shoot.

The interesting thing was, the men were ignoring him.

“Nuen.” A large man, with a hard, tight belly hanging over his belt, came into view. “That’s enough.”

Nuen looked at the new arrival, a man Miri guessed must be his brother, Jasper, and drew back his lips, baring his teeth. “I need them.”

“Why were you asking the men to shoot them, then?” Jasper tried to soften his tone, but it came out hard, and exasperated.

“I didn’t mean kill them, just shoot them.” He pointed to one of the men at the gate. “Just shoot them!”

The man looked over at Jasper, and he gave a small shake of his head. “Close the gates.”

Miri saw the relief in the guards as they obeyed him. There was a tension in their bearing that signaled some of them were frightened, and at least one, as he pulled the heavy doors closed, looked longingly out at the men half-hobbling away, as if he’d like to join them.

She realized there was something strange about the men as they drew level with her.

They were hobbling, like there was something wrong with their legs, although she could see no injuries or signs of crookedness. As they moved, their limps became less pronounced, until they disappeared beyond her sight, jogging almost normally.

“I thought I left you in a safer spot.” Soren’s body was suddenly pressed up against her back as he whispered in her ear.

She swallowed back a scream, looked back at him, to find he wasn’t there.

She narrowed her eyes, and he appeared, a grin on his face.

“Come. I’ve found a good place to camp.”

She put a hand on his arm. “Something happened inside. Nuen cast a spell and there was screaming, then two men ran out the gates, and Nuen tried to have them stopped.”

Soren’s grin dropped from his face. “
Tried
to have them stopped?”

“The guards wouldn’t listen to him, and Jasper intervened and had the gates closed. He let the men go, even though Nuen said he needed them.”

“Where are the men now?”

Miri pointed down the path. “They were hobbling at first, but they managed quite a good run at the end.”

Soren looked the way she pointed. “Sounds as if they may have something useful to tell us.”

She nodded and he led the way, holding her hand and weaving them through the trees parallel to the path.

The way curved right, toward Therston Town, although it kept very close to the edge of the Great Forest.

Miri was still amazed at how the people of Therston seemed brave to the verge of foolishness when it came to the Great Forest. But Soren was from Therston, and she realized it explained a great deal about him.

The men had not been able to keep up their fast pace, and she and Soren caught up with them after only five minutes, both standing bent over, holding their sides.

“Do we risk it?” One of them asked.

“I can’t go on, and I don’t want to stay on the road, in case Jasper changes his mind, or Nuen changes it for him.” The other looked back down the path, and Miri shivered at the loathing and fear on his face.

“Right then. Let’s do it.” The first man straightened and walked toward the trees, found a faint trail and started in, and his friend followed.

They didn’t go far. Just to the first reasonable clearing, although it had no water.

The men sat down, and then one lay on his back, eyes open, looking at the sky. “Never thought I’d see the sky again.”

The other man grunted and lay down himself. They said nothing more, and Miri could feel Soren’s agitation grow.

“I’ll have to ask them,” he murmured in her ear. “Stay here. It’s better they don’t know about you.”

She nodded, and Soren moved quietly around to the other side of the clearing and beyond, and then started walking toward them without any effort to hide the sound.

The men were already on their feet, eyes wheeling left and right by the time he burst into the clearing and drew back, as if surprised to see them.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he said easily. “You gave me a little heart-jump, yourselves.”

“Who are you?” The man’s voice trembled a little.

“Soren De’Villier.” Soren held out a hand, and the man looked at it in utter surprise, as if good manners were the last thing he expected.

“Tom Butler.” He extended his own hand, and Soren gave it a quick shake before he let go and held his hand out to the second man.

“Ned Timkin.” The second man took a cautious step forward, and shook as well.

“If you don’t mind my saying, you look the worse for wear, gentlemen.”

“Thing is,” Tom said bluntly, “why don’t you? I heard all about you. Everyone connected to Harness has. Shouldn’t you be half-dead?”

Soren cocked his head, and Miri could tell his sympathy for the men was leeching away as he wondered if they had worked for Jasper while he was down in Jasper’s dungeon. “How are you connected to Harness?” he asked.

They didn’t seem to hear how cold and quiet he’d gone. Miri did, though. She had come to know him well, she realized.

“Tom and I supply Jasper with his stirrups and bits for his horses. Some other metalwork, too.” Ned pressed trembling hands against his sides. “We delivered a few things while you were kept there. Heard the guards talking about how you were clinging to life by a thread.”

Soren raised a brow, signaling him to continue.

Ned sighed. “We didn’t like it, but Jasper is our liege lord, and the king of Therston’s always taken his side in any complaint. We just hoped you’d get out, is all.”

“Heard you were rescued by a princess.” Tom laughed. “We couldn’t understand why Jasper didn’t just tell the truth about it. Getting his men to spread it about that Kayla of Gaynor magicked you out of there still gets a laugh in the village.”

Soren didn’t say anything for a beat. “What are you doing here? It’s dangerous in the forest.”

Ned shook his head, the trembles in his hands back, and Tom shoved his own hands deep into his pockets.

“Nuen. He’s . . .” He shuddered.

“He broke our legs.” Ned whispered. “Broke them with some spell, so we could hear the snap.” The next breath he took was more a sob than anything else.

“Called us his volunteers. Because Jasper said the guards didn’t have to volunteer if they didn’t want to. Knows the way the wind’s blowing, that one. That people are leaving for Therston Town, putting some distance between themselves and Jasper and Nuen. Soon they won’t have anyone to tax, nor men whose loyalty they can count on.”

“Volunteer for what?” Soren frowned.

“Testing the golden apple.”

“Why does he need to test it?” Soren looked from one to the other. “Didn’t it heal him?”

Tom tipped his head from side to side. “Yes. His skin is healed, and he isn’t in pain any more, but . . .” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “Seems he wakes up thinking he’s still hurt,
feeling
as if he’s still hurt, and then even when he realizes it’s just a dream, he keeps thinking it’s all come back, or that it will, at any moment.”

“So he’s testing it? How will that help him?”

Ned shrugged. “Don’t think he knows himself. We’re the third lot of suppliers he’s grabbed. One he hurt so severely, he was dead before Nuen touched him with the golden apple. The others, Jasper made him let go. We were unlucky. We got there this afternoon when Jasper was busy, and Nuen grabbed us.” He shuddered and hunched. “My mind still can’t believe my legs are all right. The sound they made when they broke . . .” He turned and vomited into the bushes.

Soren and Tom looked away while he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shuddered again.

“There’s no water here,” Soren said, sliding his bag off his shoulder. He pulled out a flask, and handed it to Ned. “You can take this. I have to be off.”

“Where’re you going?” Tom asked, and Miri thought he sounded like he wanted Soren to stay. As if he felt safer with Soren around.

“I have things I have to do. I would find a new liege lord, if I were you.”

Ned took a sip of the water and then handed it to Tom. “We already came to that conclusion. I will never set foot in that place again.”

“Thank you.” Tom lifted the flask as if in a toast. “Don’t go back there, no matter what vengeance you have in mind. Nuen will break every bone in your body.”

Miri didn’t like the look that passed over Soren’s face, contemplative, as if he was thinking that very thing.

He gave the men a nod, walked out of the clearing.

While she waited for him to work his way quietly back to her, she watched Tom and Ned as they sank back to the ground and shared the water.

“Strange fellow,” Tom said.

Ned shook his head. “Whatever we endured today, he had weeks of it.”

Tom turned his head. “He asked us what we’re doing here, but we should have asked him the same. To hang around near the stronghold after he’d been a prisoner there for weeks . . . Do you think he’s mad?”

“Didn’t seem mad.” Ned lifted his arms to pillow his head. “Seemed remarkably sane, you ask me.”

“Did you notice he didn’t deny the story about being rescued by a princess?” Tom stretched out, catching the last of the light.

Ned gave a low chuckle. “Too outlandish to dignify with a response, most likely.”

Soren was suddenly beside her again, holding out his hand. Miri took it and let him lead her to the safe place he’d found for them tonight.

She was afraid, though, from the look she’d seen on his face, that when he thought about safety, he was only thinking about her.

He was planning something really unsafe for himself.