“Dangerous work.” He glanced over at Kayla. “And how does the lady feel about dodging wild magic?”
Rane looked at her. “She manages.”
The guard pursed his lips. “You see anyone on your journey?”
Rane raised his brows, as if the question was ridiculous.
The guard looked uneasy. “We lost a few prisoners from the stronghold recently. Just wondering if they took to the Great Forest, is all.”
Rane wanted to look at her again, she saw him start to and then check himself. Instead he shook his head. “We were alone. These prisoners dangerous?”
The guard hesitated. “They haven’t hurt anyone, far as I know. But they might be desperate.”
“If they haven’t hurt anyone, why were they prisoners?” Rane’s voice came out easy and calm, but Kayla could feel him tense beside her.
“The liege lord thought he had something to fear from them.” The other guard spoke more to his partner than to them.
“The bloody fool,” the first guard muttered. He glared across at his friend, and the two men stared each other down before the one who seemed to support the liege lord looked away.
“Where will we find Gerald, if you don’t mind pointing the way?” Kayla spoke into the silence.
“Afraid Gerald isn’t here.”
Rane lifted his brows as if surprised, although they’d guessed Gerald must be gone if Andrei had been invited here. “Does he have an apprentice, or is there a new sorcerer?”
“You’re full of questions.” The less-friendly guard thrust his face forward aggressively.
“Just want to find someone interested in buying what I have to sell.” Rane gave a one-shouldered shrug. “No good coming all this way and then walking back just because Gerald’s not here.”
“Get a grip, Kol.” The other guard made a scoffing sound. “Paranoia must be catching.” He stepped aside. “The only sorcerer left here is Andrei Wolfsblood’s apprentice, and word is he’s still on his deathbed, so he’s no use to you. But you’ll want to rest and get some food before you’re on your way, no doubt.”
“Thank you, we would.” Rane took her hand and they walked into the town. Kayla felt both guards eyes on them as they made their way to the town square to look for a place to eat.
“Andrei isn’t here either?” Kayla didn’t know what to make of it.
“And his apprentice near death. Sounds like there was a battle of some kind.”
Kayla hummed her agreement. “Then why isn’t whoever won not here, claiming their place?”
Rane paused as they approached the busy square, looking for any threat. “Andrei could be off elsewhere, stirring up trouble. Unless he fought and lost to Eric, and Eric simply wanted him gone, so he doesn’t have to worry about him anymore. He wouldn’t stay here, he’s got your father to manipulate, the King of Klevan to antagonize, and Nuen to fight for control of Therston.”
It was all too plausible.
Kayla heaved a sigh. If it were true, they were down to two sorcerers instead of four, but she wondered if Eric had fought Andrei and won, what magical objects he’d managed to take. How much stronger he’d become.
The thought was so depressing she pushed it aside, focused on the good news. “What about the escaped prisoners they were talking about? You think one of them could be Soren?”
Rane looked at her, and she could tell he was afraid to hope. “It could be. Halakan’s the most likely place the gem would have taken him, if it wasn’t to Phon. Eric was always unlikely, because he’s the one who wanted the gem in the first place, and Travis and his men were caught up in it, and you say there was no talk about them appearing in Nuen and Jasper’s stronghold when you rescued Soren. He has to have ended up here.”
Kayla realized they’d been standing still, watching the square, for too long. People were looking at them, and she tugged Rane forward, angling toward the large inn that took up almost one full length of the square.
“Let’s see what we can pick up over a meal.”
He gave a nod, although she knew he’d prefer to call on William of Nesta and simply demand answers.
It would most likely come to that anyway.
Rane would tear down the walls of Halakan stronghold if he had to to find Soren.
And Kayla would watch his back while he did it.
* * *
William of Nesta had been holding Soren.
Rane seethed at the thought as he and Kayla walked toward the stronghold, taking the small town’s back gate and then a path that led through a tame wood and past a quaint cottage.
“Do you want me to be the princess of Gaynor?” Kayla’s question cut through Rane’s anger and forced him to pay more attention to the here and now.
He shook his head. “Better not. I might be doing a few things that won’t be good for any agreements your father has with William. Especially if he still has Soren.”
She laughed, and he found his own lips were tugged into a smile at the sound.
“I’ve met him twice, but I don’t think he took much notice of me, either time.” She slid her arm through his as they approached the main entrance to Halakan stronghold.
There were more guards here, and by the time they reached the portcullis, four stood waiting for them.
Rane was sorry the village gossip hadn’t been more specific. Several men had appeared in the stronghold after a flash of light over the last few months, and some had escaped a few days ago. How many were left, if any, seemed unclear.
“I’m here to speak to William of Nesta.” He kept his anger and his fear for Soren strapped down tight under a cordial smile.
“What about?” The guard who spoke looked at them curiously, and Rane knew they were probably getting a polite greeting because of Kayla. It was hard for them to imagine he’d come to cause trouble with a woman in tow.
“About the men who’ve been magically appearing inside the stronghold. I have some information about it, and I’ve heard William would be interested in hearing it.”
The guards shared a look. “You heard right.”
They searched him, patting him down and ignoring his knife, which looked even more dull and blunt that usual. They left Kayla alone, but they wouldn’t have found anything on her. The wild magic in the satchel she wore could easily become a cloak or a dress if they decided to unstrap it.
When they were satisfied Rane wasn’t dangerously armed, they opened a small door inset into the main gate.
The Halakan stronghold was well-kept and a guard led them across an open area to the front of a large stone building.
They entered and were shown to a room on the ground floor overlooking a formal garden. A guard stood just within the door, watching them, and William was sent for.
Kayla walked over to look at a portrait on the wall, and Rane noticed her petticoats were billowing, swaying gently as if she was still walking, or as if there was a breeze.
He hid a smile.
The door opened and Rane guessed it was William who stepped in. He was dressed well, in contrasting dark and light blue, and he wore a sword at his side. He nodded to the guard to dismiss him.
The guard wanted to argue, Rane could see it. He didn’t want to leave William alone with them, but eventually he stepped out and closed the door.
“You’ve had trouble recently?” Rane asked.
“Why do you say that?” William’s eyes were an ice blue and he watched Rane carefully.
“Your guard didn’t want to leave you alone with us, as if you needed protection.”
William didn’t respond for a moment. “We may have had a few problems. Who hasn’t, these days?” He looked over at Kayla and frowned at her, as if trying to place her. “My guards say you have information about the men who’ve been dropped into my stronghold. How do you know anything about it, and who are you?”
Rane gave a shallow bow. “My name is Rane De’Villier, and I understand you have my brother in your dungeon.”
William gape
d at him. “There’s no-one in my dungeon now. They’re all either dead or escaped.”
“Dead?” Rane didn’t recognize his own voice.
“Andrei Wolfsblood walked into the dungeon and died a terrible death. The prisoners escaped, one before my very eyes, and someone took my sorcerer away.”
“I thought Andrei Wolfsblood was your new sorcerer?” Kayla spoke up for the first time, giving him some time to recover his balance at the news that the only one dead was Andrei, and again William swung his attention to her, frowning.
“How do you know that?”
“We’ve recently come from Phon. That’s all they’re talking about over there. How William of Nesta came to poach Andrei Wolfsblood from Vik the Steady.” Kayla smiled at him benignly.
William’s frown deepened. “You must have left shortly after me, to be here from Phon so fast.”
“How fast we travel is of no consequence. Let’s talk about your prisoners.” Rane finally had himself back under control.
William spun to look at him, eyes wide. “That sounded like a demand.”
Rane had held himself back, controlled himself, mostly, with Vik, certainly with Ylana, but this man, who had locked his brother up when he’d been nothing more than an innocent victim, did not deserve the same restraint.
Rane pulled his knife as he leaped at William, slamming the liege lord up against the wall. The blue blade extended, glimmering in the light from the window, and Rane pressed it up against William’s throat. “That’s because it was a demand.”
Kayla moved behind him, but he kept his focus on William.
“Why don’t you start by telling us why you locked them up to begin with?” she asked, and William’s gaze skittered to her.
“Thought a sorcerer was trying to take over, sending men in to kill my guards from within.”
“Did these men try to kill your guards?” Rane forced William’s attention back to him.
“No.” William closed his eyes. “They were upset, though. Hard to subdue.”
Rane’s throat closed at the thought of Soren ’subdued’. He’d barely recognized his brother after Kayla had rescued him. He’d been too thin, almost broken. Rane couldn’t imagine the agony he’d faced at the thought of going back into a dungeon after only a few days of freedom.
“Did Gerald tell you that’s what was happening?” Kayla asked.
William started to shake his head, then froze as Rane hissed a warning at him, lifting the blade. “No. Gerald disappeared. I thought someone had killed him and was trying to take over because they thought Miri was too weak to step into his place.”
“Miri?” Kayla took a step closer.
“Mirabelle, Gerald’s daughter.”
“I’ve never heard of a woman sorcerer.” And Rane knew a lot about sorcerers since Soren’s obsession with bringing them all down.
William tried to smile, and managed to lift up one side of his mouth. “Miri is unique. And she is powerful. She came close to breaking Andrei, and his apprentice is barely hanging on to life.”
“If she’s so good, why did you bring Andrei in? Isn’t it against the code?” Rane asked.
William’s cheeks flushed red under his pale skin. “I was a fool. I wanted her to torture the prisoners, get them to tell me why they were here, but she refused. I was angry. I wanted a sorcerer who’d do as I told them, so I called in Andrei. I didn’t know that he had even less intention of doing as he was told, and was far less honest about it than Miri. I didn’t know he planned to kill her.”
Kayla drew in a sharp breath.
“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.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
SOREN AND MIRABELLE
They 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.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
HARNESS 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.
The Silver Pear (The Dark Forest Book 2) Page 19
