Touch of Power (15 page)

A strange little feeling tugged deep within me. Flea had voiced what I’d been unconsciously worried about—Kerrick. Which was utter nonsense. I concentrated on Flea’s question. “Then we’ll go find him and rescue him if we can.”

“But Kerrick said—”

“Think about it, Flea.”

He didn’t take long. “Belen won’t listen.”

“Not that complicated when you stop to consider all the variables.”

“No, but…sometimes I don’t have an answer for all the variables.”

“No one does. We do the best we can with what we have. And good leaders stay about two steps ahead of the rest of us. I’m beginning to understand why your prince assigned this mission to Kerrick and not Belen. A certain amount of ruthlessness is needed.”

Kerrick failed to arrive on the tenth day. Belen paced and fretted and growled at anyone who dared suggest we pack up or we search for Kerrick. He kept his angry bear routine all during the eleventh day, as well.

Near sunset, Quain, Loren, Flea and I gathered outside the cave and out of Belen’s sight and hearing.

“Do we follow Kerrick’s orders despite Belen’s…ill humor?” Loren asked.

“Or do we find out what happened to Kerrick?” Quain asked.

“We should leave,” I said. “If Estrid has him, she’ll eventually learn where we’re hiding. We can launch a rescue attempt from our new location. If he’s delayed, he can easily track us to our new hiding spot.”

“Leave tonight or in the morning?” Loren asked.

“Tonight, under cover of darkness,” I said.

“What about your sister?” Flea asked.

“She’s safe enough where she is. If there’s a chance to get her before the spring, I will, but I won’t risk all of you. I can always come back for her later.” Without thinking, I had assumed the leadership role, and, like I had said to Flea, a certain amount of ruthlessness was needed. In this case, my sister would have to wait.

The men returned to the cave to start packing despite Belen’s protests. Before I entered, the wind shifted and I caught a whiff of spring sunshine and living green. I turned into the wind, expecting to see Kerrick standing there. Disappointment panged until I remembered I hated him. Until I realized he had probably been hanging around to see what we’d do without him. Typical.

Breathing deep, I walked north, following Kerrick’s scent until I lost it as quick as I had found it. I pulled off my gloves and pressed my palms to the cold ground. Strong magic tingled along my skin, pulsing to the south. He had moved downwind of me.

I straightened and spun around. No one, but I wasn’t going to trust my eyes this time.

“I know you’re there. No sense wasting any more energy,” I said.

Kerrick appeared next to the tree a few feet in front of me. He had used his magic to blend in with the darkening forest. His expression was unreadable.

“How long have you been back?” I asked, trying to sound annoyed in order to cover my relief.

Instead of answering, he said, “You sniffed me out, didn’t you?”

“I asked first.”

“You had to,” he mused more to himself than me. “You didn’t resort to feeling for the magic until I—”

“Yes, I followed your stench. It’s not that big a deal. Not when
you’ve
been playing around, making
your
men worried and considering mutiny.”

“
My
men? As of an hour ago, they were
your
men, willing to take on Belen so they could carry out
your
orders.” He cocked his head to the side. “Funny, I didn’t put you in charge when I left.”

I crossed my arms. “Did you or did you not order Belen to leave this place if you didn’t return in ten days?”

“I did.”

“In case you missed it, we’re still here. A dangerous place to be if you were in Estrid’s or even the mercs’ custody. Belen is too kindhearted to leave without you. Someone had to be the voice of reason.”

“You? The voice of reason? That’s hard to believe.”

His nasty comment was uncalled for. I struck back. “Since I didn’t care if you returned or not, I had no trouble making decisions based on logic.”

Not wanting to continue this useless conversation, I headed toward the cave. Belen’s angry voice reached me well before I arrived. He held Quain in a headlock. Bedrolls and blankets had been strewn about the cavern. Flea and Loren kept their distance from the raging Poppa Bear.

“Belen,” Kerrick said.

Everyone turned. The tension dispersed as grins of relief replaced the strained expressions. Belen released Quain, who puffed for air and rubbed his neck.

“What happened?” Loren asked Kerrick.

Kerrick shot me a look before saying, “I was delayed. But I’ve good news. Estrid’s people are returning home, and there’s no sign of mercs, either.” He scanned the mess. “We’ll leave tomorrow night after Avry and I fetch her sister.”

Flea and the monkeys gathered their belongings, but before Belen could join them, Kerrick said, “Belen, a word.” He led Belen outside.

We all exchanged glances.

“Belen shouldn’t get into trouble,” Flea said. “He was right. There wasn’t any danger.”

“This time,” Loren said.

I packed my knapsack early the next morning. It didn’t take long. Too many hours remained before I would be with my sister. I’d endured three long years without her, but the thought of waiting until midnight seemed unbearable.

An unusually subdued Belen worked knife-defense drills with me, which helped to pass the time. But after dinner, I couldn’t keep still.

“You should rest,” Kerrick said. “It’s going to be at least a full day before we can sleep again.”

“Why don’t you tell her another Prince Ryne story,” Quain said. “That always puts her right to sleep.”

I muffled a laugh over Kerrick’s sour expression.

“Tell her about Jael,” Belen said in a quiet voice. He stared at the flames and not at Kerrick. “Tell Avry how if it wasn’t for Jael, you would have killed Ryne.”

I glanced at Kerrick, expecting an angry retort. But he had shut down. Kerrick stood without a word, and left. A minute later, Loren arrived. He rubbed his hands over the fire to warm them.

Sensing the mood, Loren asked, “What did I miss?”

“Nothing.” Belen threw a log onto the fire. “Absolutely nothing.”

I lay in my bedroll, but I couldn’t sleep. When Kerrick approached to wake me, I sat up. No one else had fallen asleep, either. As I stuffed my remaining things in my knapsack, the others also packed the rest of their belongings.

“We’ll meet you just south of Zabin around midday,” Kerrick said to Belen. “If we don’t arrive by after—”

“I know,” Belen said.

We left the cave together. Taking our packs, Belen led the others northwest, while Kerrick and I headed north. He offered his hand and I took it without hesitation. Through his connection with the forest, I sensed the location of the others. Handy.

It didn’t take long to reach the training camp. Nothing had changed. Once again we slipped inside the barrack without trouble.

I woke Noelle.

She stared at me a moment. “You came back.”

“I said I would.”

“Is Kerrick with you?”

“Yes, he’s in the hall. Are you ready to go?”

Pushing her covers off, she sat up. Instead of wearing nightclothes, she wore her training uniform. Smart girl.

“It’s nice of him to help us,” she said.

I agreed. “Where did you hide your pack?”

“No one in our neighborhood would help me when Mom and Allyn were sick.”

“Noelle, we need to go. You can tell me this later.”

“I was ten years old. No one would help me. They died and left me all alone. I’ve been alone for the last three and a half years.”

I sat next to her and put my arm around her shoulder. “You’re not alone now, little shadow.”

She shrugged me off and stood. “Don’t call me that. And you’re right. I’m not alone anymore.” Noelle crossed to her desk, grabbed what looked like an oversize hairbrush and banged it repeatedly on the wood.

The sharp slaps splintered the quiet night, rattling the window. I jumped to my feet, and rushed to stop her. “What are—?” I froze in horror.

Voices yelled, boots drummed, doors slammed and the unmistakable sound of steel striking steel rang from the hallway.

Noelle stopped pounding on the desk. She gestured toward the door with the mallet. “You’re too late.
Again.
I don’t need or want your help.”

Chapter 13

Noelle swung the mallet at my head. “You…”

I ducked.

She reversed direction. “Abandoned…”

I ducked again.

Lunging forward with her weapon, she aimed for my stomach. “Me!”

I hopped back, but stepped in close when she raised the mallet above her head. As she brought her arms down, I grabbed her wrists. Skin on skin. Noelle struggled, but I held tight.

She cursed. “I hate you. I want to kill you, but you’re too valuable.” Noelle nearly growled the words.

They burned through my heart like acid. I kept my grip on her wrists, but in the end I couldn’t hurt her. She had endured so much, I wasn’t going to cause her any more pain.

The door banged. Voices ordered me to release her. I ripped the mallet from her hands and spun her toward the soldiers. Then I yanked my knife from my belt. Before anyone could react, I threw the weapon at the closest soldier, burying the blade into his shoulder. He yelped.

I hurled the mallet at the window. The glass shattered with an explosive crash. In two quick strides, I reached the broken window and dove through it. Hitting the hard ground with my shoulder, I rolled. Despite the pain, I gained my feet and ran. Shouts and curses followed, but I didn’t stop until I climbed over the fence.

Instead of racing into the woods, I turned left and hugged the fence. When I encountered a dark section, I pressed up against the wooden boards, hoping to blend in.

I muffled my gasps for breath as the fastest soldiers reached the barrier. My heart ceased its frantic beat when the soldiers landed on my side. They glanced both ways. And just when I felt on the edge of passing out, they headed into the forest.

Sagging in relief after the last of them disappeared, I fought to regain my composure. Everything had happened so fast, but once again, those years spent on the run had trained me not to hesitate even when my own sister tried to beat me over the head with a mallet.

When my heart slowed from panicked to scared, I ghosted along the fence until I found a crack big enough to peer through. Soldiers searched the compound. After a few minutes, the door at the end of the barracks flew open. Men spilled out. And in the middle of a tight group was Kerrick.

Blood flowed from a gash on his forehead. He scowled as they hustled him along. His hands had been manacled behind his back. They took him to a square building in the northwest corner of the camp. Probably a jail or a place where they could interrogate him.

What now? Catching up to Belen and the others would be the smart thing to do. It would be what Kerrick would want me to do. But guilt wouldn’t let me be smart. Oh, no. Guilt knew we had come here for me. And that I had to fix this. The problem of how to rescue him remained.

I considered what I had in my favor. The element of surprise—since they would hopefully assume I had escaped into the forest—my defensive powers and a knife. In order to keep my optimism, I skipped the longer list of things against me.

Waiting for the camp to return to normal, I wiggled into a comfortable position and spied through the crack. As I shivered in my cloak, my thoughts kept returning to Noelle. The venom in her voice and the rage in her gaze still burned in my mind. More guilt swelled. I remembered thinking it was odd that I hadn’t gotten a letter from home in a while, but I had been so wrapped up in my studies that I hadn’t spared the time to discover why. Noelle was right to hate me. I had abandoned her. Desire to make amends, to explain, to hold her until she forgave me, pulsed in my chest. However, Kerrick was first, and later, if I had a later, I would find her again.

The soldiers who had run into the woods returned. Slowly, the compound emptied of searchers and settled. A few men left the square building, but too many for me to handle remained inside. Torchlight glowed from the ground-floor windows.

When I felt as confident as possible considering the circumstances, I climbed the fence and dashed into the shadow of the building. No cries of alarm pierced the air. I drew in a deep breath. Hugging the wall, I crept to one of the windows and peered inside.

The bright light blinded me for a moment. Despite the glass, I heard a man ask, “Where is she going?” No answer. Then a loud slap.

My vision adjusted, and I had an unobstructed view of Kerrick’s bloody back. I closed my eyes, but I couldn’t block the image of him with his wrists chained to two posts. He stood between them without a shirt. The man asking him questions held a whip. And each time Kerrick refused to answer, another ugly bleeding slash joined the others.

Five more soldiers witnessed the whipping. Too many for me to fight. Unable to watch, I sank to the ground. I bit down on my knuckle as the torture continued. Tell him something, I silently urged Kerrick. But the stubborn man wouldn’t say a word. He didn’t make a sound the entire time. It went on for an hour or more, but felt like days. The only thing keeping me from surrendering was the fact he would have suffered for nothing if I just waltzed in there.

The soldier finally stopped. He promised to return with a magician, and he left along with three others. Two remained. Could I handle two? I would have to.

I removed my cloak and hid it. My black shirt and pants resembled the training uniform. I twisted my hair up into a knot. Now the hard part. Walking as if I belonged there, I headed to the drinking well. My luck held. No one called out and I found an extra bucket and ladle. Filling the bucket, I returned to the square building.

The door was locked so I knocked on it. A soldier peeked out. “What?”

I held up the bucket. “Captain ordered me to bring the prisoner water, sir.”

He stepped aside, letting me in. The other leaned against the far wall. He peered at me with a contemplative purse on his pudgy lips. Kerrick no longer stood, but hung limply between the posts.

“Would you like a drink first, sir?” I asked the guard.

“Sure.”

I held up a ladle full of water. He took it from me and bent his head to drink. One chance only. I touched the back of his neck with three fingers, and sent a blast of power. The soldier tipped forward as the other one yelled his name. I let him fall, pulled my knife and turned in time to meet Pudgy Lips.

He hadn’t drawn his weapon. Skidding to a stop, he reached for his sword. I didn’t wait; I threw my knife, aiming for his right shoulder. Hard to swing a heavy blade with a knife embedded in flesh and muscle. Then I rushed him. Grabbing his arm, I poured magic into him, overloading his senses. He screamed, then collapsed to the ground.

Not wasting any time, I went to Kerrick. He had passed out. I laid my hands on his chest and shared my energy with him. Kerrick groaned and opened his eyes.

He squinted at me. “Avry, what—?”

“Can you stand?” I put my shoulder under his arm to help him get to his feet. On tiptoe, I inspected the cuffs around his wrists. “Do you know where the key is?”

“No.”

I searched the two guards and found a ring of little silver keys. Dragging a chair over to the post, I stood on it. Of course the right key had to be the third to last one I tried. At least unlocking the second cuff took mere seconds.

Kerrick’s short cape and ripped shirt had been tossed in the corner. By the time he dressed and we slipped from the building, the predawn light had crept over three-quarters of the night sky.

Halfway to freedom, we were spotted. “Hurry,” Kerrick urged as the soldiers chased us.

We scrambled over the fence and dove into the woods. As soon as we entered, Kerrick grabbed my arms. Magic zipped along my skin as we rolled together through the underbrush. Our pursuers crashed through the brush. I marveled over how close they came to stepping on us.

This was the third time Kerrick had used this trick. It was effective, but he wouldn’t last long. My magic stirred in response to his weakened physical condition and burning pain. Instead of sending my healing power, I shared more of my energy.

Hours passed before we felt safe enough to move. By this time, Kerrick could barely stand.

I searched my memory for a mundane way to ease his pain. “Is there a stream or creek nearby?”

He nodded. I supported him as we shuffled east. When we reached a small tributary, I sat him down and helped him remove his cape. The back of his shirt was soaked with blood. It clung to the gashes and in a few places it had dried.

“This is going to hurt,” I warned him.

He barked a laugh. “Hard to imagine anything worse.”

I scooped icy water from the stream and poured it down his back.

Kerrick hissed. “I stand corrected.”

Once his shirt was dripping wet, I pulled the fabric from the lacerations and over his head. Then I grabbed fistfuls of muddy sediment from the stream’s bottom. I smoothed the mud over the raw cuts. Kerrick paled.

When I finished, we were both shivering in the cold late-morning air. The temperature was the only thing keeping him from passing out. He had his short cape, but the mud needed to dry first. My cloak was back at the training camp and his shirt was sopping wet. I hung it over a tree branch.

“Should I build a fire?” I asked.

“No. The wind is wrong. Lean-to,” he said.

I collected branches, vines and leaves with numb hands. He called instructions and I built a small shelter. Using mud to plug the gaps between the branches, I completed the structure.

Kerrick collapsed inside it. I crawled in to cover him with his cape, but he drew me down next to him.

“You’re frozen.” He draped the cloth over us both, pulling me close.

Our combined body heat eased the shivers. He fell asleep, but I could still sense the forest around us even though he slept. Nice to know no one came close to our hiding spot.

Should I heal him? I debated. He wouldn’t want me to. Low on energy and with no food the past twelve hours, I wouldn’t have the strength to defend myself if I assumed his injuries. However, his forest magic was more useful right now than my healing power. Plus he shouldn’t suffer anymore. It was my fault he’d been captured in the first place. If we were discovered, he could camouflage us. I really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

His arm was wrapped around my waist. I laid my hand on his forearm, releasing the magic. It flowed into him. The cuts on his back throbbed, but didn’t sting as sharp as before. I collected the power, pulling it into me. My back blazed. My tunic irritated the lacerations. And my temple throbbed.

Then it seemed as if the roots in the earth swelled, enveloping me in a cocoon of living green and spring sunshine. The pain eased, and I drifted to sleep.

“Avry.” Kerrick managed to pack my name with both annoyance and exasperation.

I opened my eyes, but the darkness remained.

Kerrick’s hand pressed on my back. “Can you move?”

Stretching, I tested my range of motion. My muscles were tight. The fabric of my shirt stuck to my skin.

“Do I need to cover your back with mud?” he asked.

I sat up and reached under my shirt. Touching the welts along my lower back, I felt a line of scabs. “No.”

Kerrick slid from the lean-to. “Come out in the moonlight and let me see.”

An achy stiffness slowed me. I felt like an old grandmother as I joined him outside. A brisk wind sent goose bumps along my skin. He pulled up the back of my shirt. The icy air bit deeper. I shivered.

“The wounds are already half-healed.” His tone carried a note of awe. “Why? I thought you hated—”

“I do.” I yanked my shirt down and stepped away from him. Even for me, the cuts shouldn’t be so far along. Unless… “How long did we sleep?”

“About ten hours.”

Not enough time. But I wasn’t about to credit the faster recovery to Kerrick’s forest magic. That wouldn’t change anything. However, a little voice in my head wouldn’t be quiet. It reasoned he must have saved my life back when I had taken Belen’s injury. I threw the annoying voice down a deep well in my mind and locked the lid.

“What’s wrong?” Kerrick asked.

“Nothing. Shouldn’t we go? We need to intercept Belen and the guys before they storm the training camp.”

He offered me his cape, but his shirt hadn’t dried. It was frozen.

“I’ll be fine as long as we keep moving.” I ignored his hand, too.

But after stumbling through the woods for an hour, I didn’t protest when he laced his fingers through mine. Nor did I complain later when he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close, sharing his warmth.

We stopped at dawn. Without a word, we built a shelter and ate the nuts Kerrick had found. Lying next to him, I stared out at the gray landscape. Once again his arm hugged my waist, but I felt the tension in his muscles and knew he wasn’t asleep.

“I’m sorry about my sister,” I said.

“You couldn’t have known she’d ambush us.”

“She’d survived years on her own and had changed so much, but still, she’d given me plenty of clues when I talked to her the first time. I missed them. And look what happened…”

“It worked out.”

“Not without considerable…consequences. And it makes me wonder, what else am I missing?”

“Not much gets by you, Avry.”