by Kate L. Mary
Asa’s gaze moved to the floor like he was thinking it through, but only a beat passed before he was once again focused on me. “Where would you have me go?”
“If you are asking to come to the caves, I cannot allow it. You know my people would never accept it. That they would never trust you.”
“I know.” He turned his gaze back to the floor. “I understand.”
“You will have to find your own way in the wilds. Your people have boasted of their strength for centuries. Now is the time to prove you are as strong as you say you are.” I took a step back, and his head jerked up. “I need to go so I can make it home by morning.”
He reached out. “Wait.”
Even though I knew what would happen if I allowed him to catch me, I did not stop him from grabbing my hips and pulling me closer. Then his mouth covered mine. Unlike the other times, there was no hesitation in his kiss, and I threw myself into it as well, knowing I might not see him again after this. He might not run, he might be here when we attacked, and even if he did run, he very well could die in the wilds.
Our lips moved together hungrily while he held me in a crushing grip. I did not want this moment to end, did not want him to ever let me go, but we both knew it could not last.
When he broke it off, he did not release me, and he did not pull back before whispering, “I love you, Indra.”
Before I could stop them, the words I had barely acknowledged to myself came tumbling out. “I love you, Asa.”
I pulled out of his grasp and fled the hut, refusing to look back as I once again left him behind.
It was early morning, just before dawn, when I returned to the caves. I had expected everyone to be asleep, had expected to be able to slip back into my alcove unnoticed, but I found Emori waiting for me. She was by the fire, pacing, and she spun to face me when I stepped inside.
“What have you done, Indra?” Her dark eyes were wide and accusing as they raked over me.
“What I had to,” I said as I stripped my weapons off.
Her eyes flashed like they were full of lightning. “He will warn his people. You must know this.”
“I know nothing except that I cannot let innocent people die for the sins of others. That is what happened to Bodhi, and I will not sit by and let it happen again.”
I tried to walk past her, exhausted and hoping to steal a couple hours of sleep before training, but Emori grabbed my arm, refusing to let me pass.
She pulled me close, her face inches from mine as she hissed, “You cannot think this is right. He is a Fortis, and he cannot be trusted.”
“Enough.” My voice boomed off the cave walls and I jerked my arm from her grasp, holding her gaze as I said, “I am Head of this tribe, and I will decide what is best for our people.”
“What is best?” Emori’s eyes flashed again, and this time I saw darkness in them that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “Your actions may have killed us all.”
“I do not think so.” I straightened my back. She was taller than I was, but I was stronger, and we both knew it. “But if it is so, I will carry it with me into the afterlife where it will pull me down to the deepest depths of the underworld. I know what is at stake here. I burned the bodies of our people, too. You were not alone in that, and I have not forgotten what that felt like. I never will. But I also know what it feels like to watch the man I love be punished for something someone else has done. I will not do that to Asa. He has gone out of his way to help me, to help Mira, and he deserves a chance to flee.”
I turned my back on her but stopped when Emori called, “You are letting your feelings for him affect your judgment.”
Her words froze me in place. I could not help it because she could have been right. There was a chance I had allowed my feelings to steer my decisions. But I did not think so. Asa was a good man, better than most, and being born Fortis did not change that.
“Perhaps I am,” I said, not looking back at Emori. “Or maybe I am simply doing what is right.”
“So you admit that you care for this man? This Fortis?”
The words I whispered to him before leaving his house haunted me in the face of Emori’s accusations, but I refused to talk to her about it. She was too full of hate to understand what love was.
“I admit only that I cannot turn my back on him. He did not do that to me, and I will not do that to him. He is trustworthy, Emori.”
“For the sake of what is left of our people, I hope you are right, Indra.”
“So do I,” I said before continuing to the tunnel.
22
The night air cooled my skin despite the oppressive heat from the people at my back. I traveled at the front of the group with my two greatest allies, Roan and Ontari. Having them at my side made me more confident not only in how this battle would go, but also what the future held for us. The Outliers would not return to the old ways, not after this.
Cruz alone gave me pause. He marched at the back of the group with the warriors from the Trelite tribe because he still refused to cooperate with the women. Although we had not spoken since our last meeting in his village, I believed Roan was right. Our alliance with the Trelite would end as soon as we finished our battle with the Fortis and Sovereign. They would not work with women, and no matter how much our world was about to change, that was something that would remain.
But even with the tension brewing between the Trelite and the women in our war party, we were united as Outliers. Only a short time ago, the warriors from the four tribes had met at the fork in the river, gathered together for the first time. With the four tribes combined, we had twice as many people as the Fortis and Sovereign put together. Already I could imagine the life in front of us. The walls of the city torn down, the Sovereign pulled from their thrones and forced to grovel in front of us for once. Victory was within our reach, and I had no doubt it would be sweeter than anything I had ever tasted.
When the Fortis village came into view, it was silent and dark. We had waited until halfway through the night to attack, wanting to be sure all the Fortis were in their homes, and it had worked. Not a single person emerged from the houses as we crept through the village, and there were no sounds other than the howl of the wind as it swept across the wastelands and between the buildings.
Upon entering the village, the other Heads and I split up, each of us leading our group in a different direction. My tribe was small, so we headed for the living quarters on the far end of the village. Inside that building hundreds of Outliers were being held, locked away and possibly starving, and very likely being abused. After tonight, they would be free.
Xandra walked at my side as usual, with Anja and Mira behind her. Emori’s anger toward me had only grown since our last confrontation, and since then I had worked hard to keep distance between us. I grew to distrust her more and more every day, and had even begun to watch my back as her hostility toward me intensified. It would not be long before she challenged me as Head, and when that happened, I knew what would need to be done. It was a reality I was not happy to be faced with, but for my people, I would do it.
The fighting started before my tribe had even reached the quarters. A cry echoed through the night, and when I glanced over my shoulder, the light from the moon was just bright enough to illuminate figures darting in and out of houses. Inside those buildings, people were losing their lives, and even though I had killed so many Fortis that I had long ago lost count, I could not help the pang in my stomach. What we were doing was not right, but we had reached a kill or be killed point. We had to make the first move. More than anything else, though, I could not help thinking about the things Asa had said to me. I could only hope he had heeded my warning and fled the city.
We reached the quarters to find the building unguarded, but it was no surprise. No one had ever challenged the Fortis before, and even with their hunters being killed, it would never have occurred to anyone to post guards outside the cells. No, neither the Fortis nor the Sovereign would have gu
essed the Outliers would join forces and rise up against them. It was unheard of.
But it was happening.
When I saw the conditions our people were being held in, I remembered what Asa had said about the building being almost done. It had walls and doors, but the windows were only bars, which did nothing to keep the weather out. There were at least ten people crowded into each room, and they were so cramped that even if they had not needed to sleep curled up together to keep warm, they would have been forced to due to lack of space.
A metal clank echoed through the air when the first lock was broken, and inside the cells, people began to stir. At first they were afraid, but their fear turned to hope when they realized we were Outliers. Lock after lock was broken, and door after door flung open. People rushed out, throwing questions at us that we did our best to answer in low voices in case anyone was around to hear us.
One of the first cells I came to held several Winta men, the first we had seen since our people were slaughtered. The sight of them filled me with both pain and relief, as well as another feeling. Dread.
A few rushed to the window, Atreyu and Linc among them. Both were about my age, and Atreyu had at one time been good friends with Bodhi. Seeing them alive was a relief, but the reprieve was short lived.
“You are alive!” Linc called out. “The Fortis said you were all dead.”
I slammed the stone I had gripped in my hand against the lock before answering him, and it broke, clattering to the floor. Not only did I want to delay relaying news that would most certainly hurt Linc, but we also needed to hurry.
“They killed most of us.” I yanked the door open and the men rushed out. “But not everyone. Twenty-three women and children are all that remains of what was the Winta people.”
Linc’s face fell when he looked behind me and saw the small group of women freeing the other slaves. “It is true, then?” he asked when his gaze was back on me. “Inara is dead?”
“It is,” I said softly. He had been a prisoner for over a year now, and in that time had probably come to accept that he would never again see his wife, but finally having it confirmed no doubt stung. “I am sorry, Linc. But we are here to wipe out the Fortis, and when that is done, the Sovereign will be next.”
“You are wiping out the Fortis?” Confusion momentarily overshadowed his despair. “Who is leading you?”
“It is a long story and one that will have to wait. For now, you must help us free the other Outliers.”
I turned away from the men and moved to the next cell before Linc could say anything else. When I looked back, I found him and the other Winta men behind me.
Linc and Atreyu stayed at my side while I worked to liberate the prisoners, and before I had even reached the last cell, more than a dozen Winta had been freed. When I opened the final door, more Winta women rushed out, throwing out thanks and relieved exclamations as they passed me. I paid very little attention to who they were, but the last woman to step out gave me pause. It took a moment for me to put a name to the face, though. Gaia. She looked older than she had before, much more than ten years Xandra’s senior, and she was thinner, too. Her face was gaunt, her hair wild and shining with gray in the light of the moon, but her eyes were wide when she looked around.
“Gaia,” I said, pulling her gaze my way. “Xandra is here.”
“She is here?” Gaia froze and blinked a couple times like she did not understand me. “Xandra is alive?”
“She is.”
The other woman’s expression crumpled and tears came to her eyes. She swayed, and even before it happened, I knew she was going to collapse. I reached out, grabbing her arm just before she fell.
“I have you,” I whispered to the sobbing woman. “It will be okay now.”
Gaia was frail, light, but still much too big for me to carry. Thankfully, Atreyu was at my side, and when he realized she lacked the energy to walk, he scooped her into his arms.
“Thank you,” I said, smiling up at the man who had at one time been a boy I played with.
“Thank you, Indra.” He pulled Gaia closer and looked past me into the cell she had just been liberated from. “We had almost given up hope of being saved.”
“I am sorry it took so long.”
Behind him stood the other members of the Winta tribe. Twenty in all, a handful of them men. I had never taken the time to consider what would happen to our newly formed tribe if some of our men had managed to survive. Now, though, it occurred to me that Emori might have someone to back her up if she did decide to challenge me, and the thought was not a welcome one. I had no desire to fight my own tribe. Especially not when we were in the middle of waging a war against the people who had oppressed us for centuries. I would do it if I had to, though. For my people, I would do anything, and after the last year, there was no way that the women of my tribe would go back to what they had once been. Weak and dependent on men.
Atreyu and the others followed me down the stairs where we found the Windhi women, as well as dozens of newly freed Outliers. The men and women who had been held prisoner stood out even in the darkness. Like Gaia, they looked thin and sickly, and shivering as a breeze swept in from the wastelands.
I spotted Xandra among the crowd, talking with Anja, and called out to her. My friend turned, and her eyes grew wide when she spotted Gaia.
She moved without speaking, rushing toward the woman in Atreyu’s arms. “Gaia. Are you okay? Gaia, tell me you are okay.”
“She is weak,” Atreyu said, and the expression on his face said he did not know what to make of this exchange.
Gaia turned toward Xandra, reaching out with a shaky hand to wipe the tears from her face. “You came for me.”
“I would not have left you for anything.” Xandra reached for her, not even looking at Atreyu. “I will take her. Give her to me.”
He handed the woman over without comment, and at his side, Linc watched it all take place with silent allegations burning in his eyes.
When he turned on me, the accusations in his gaze were no less violent. “What is happening here?”
With all the prisoners now free, I felt comfortable taking a moment to explain the situation, but only a moment. There was more to do, and these people needed to be led to safety.
“We have unified the Outlier tribes,” I said, but looked not just at Linc, but at everyone gathered around, “and we have come to wipe out the Fortis.”
The man in front of me lifted his eyebrows in confusion, pushing his passage markings up so they disappeared under the fringe of dark brown hair covering his forehead.
I turned my back to Linc before he could say anything. “Xandra will lead the prisoners back to the wilds. She will make sure you get out of here safely.”
“I will.” My friend’s gaze was focused on the woman in her arms. “I will make sure nothing happens to them.”
Xandra headed off with most of the other women from the Windhi tribe, leading the dozens of Outliers we had just freed toward the valley that led to the river. As my sister passed by me, she paused long enough to give my hand a squeeze before turning to help an older Huni woman.
I watched for only a second before focusing on the Fortis village. The war was in full swing, and through the darkness figures were visible, darting between houses and running from open doors. We had the advantage both in numbers and because the Fortis had been taken by surprise, and just as we had expected, there seemed to be very little resistance. It would not be long until it was over, or at least that was what I hoped. All I could do now was join the fight and pray I had not unified the tribes and brought them here only to be slaughtered.
The occasional strangled scream still echoed through the darkness as I ran. Here and there I spied a bulky figure that had to be a Fortis, but most of the people I came across were Outliers. Without my bow, I felt inadequate. Useless. Still, I knew bringing it would have been impractical. In the darkness of the village, not only would it be difficult to get a good shot off, but in the con
fusion it would also be too easy to mistake an ally for an enemy.
I was only one street away from the center of the village when a man dove from the shadows and slammed into me. I went down, letting out a yelp of pain, and he landed at my side. He lunged a second time, but I rolled away before he managed to get his hands on me. My own hand moved to my hip, and my knife was out before he was able to jump at me again. I slashed at him, and blood sprayed across his face when the blade made contact with his cheek. He let out a sound that could only have been described as a growl and dove for me again, but I was ready. When my knife sank into his chest, I let out a battle cry that echoed through my head and left a ringing behind in my ears.
The man collapsed half on top of me, and I had to shove his body off so I could get free. I rolled him over to retrieve my knife, still panting from the struggle, and in the light of the moon, his face came into view. It was Thorin. This was the man who had threatened me in the streets as I was trying to carry Ronan home, and the one who had beaten Asa until he was unconscious, making it impossible for him to be at his post. Because of this man, no one had been around to protect me inside Saffron’s house, leaving me vulnerable. Giving Lysander a chance to attack me.
I pushed myself up off the ground and stood over Thorin’s now lifeless body. The rage that radiated through me when I looked at him had not lessened with his death. It was like the sun had come out and was beating down on my head. If I could, I would bring him back to life so I could kill him again. Not just once, but again and again. I would watch him bleed and not care if it pulled me down to the underworld.
It was impossible, though, so I chose instead to spit on his corpse. The act did nothing to alleviate my rage.
