by C. R. Pugh
I gaped at Camellia. “That must have been terrifying.”
“I thought I’d killed him. I kept my hands to myself after that since I didn’t know exactly what I’d done. The second time was years later, after I’d turned fourteen.”
“What happened that time?”
Camellia gave me a curious stare. “Why do you assume something happened to me in order for me to use it?”
“Because you don’t have a cruel bone in your body. You’d never use it to hurt someone for sport. Not like …” I pinched my lips together. It occurred to me how General Wolfe might have used her if he’d been able to warp her mind. “Nevermind. Tell me what happened.”
“I’d gone to find Father in the storage barns,” Camellia explained. “He was busy with the harvest, like he was every year. The barn was empty and I was about to head home when that boy, Evan, walked in. Do you remember him? He was always hurting the girls, even when you were still in Terran.”
I swore under my breath. I did recall that boy. He was older than Camellia and me by several years and always had evil eyes.
“Camellia … he didn’t …”
“No,” she quickly reassured me. “He attacked me and tore my clothes some. I put my hands on his chest to shove him away and he screamed. He collapsed to the ground, giving me a chance to run.”
My hands clenched into fists. “If we ever go back to Terran …” I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “You told Father, didn’t you?”
Camellia gave me a weak smile. “He was furious. He told Elder Dagan immediately. Evan was given a public whipping as an example to other boys. I don’t know if he ever tried to harm another girl or not, but he never came near me again.
For all their faults, Terran did not put up with those who mistreated females. I was glad to know that Evan had been punished. “Maybe he didn’t want to try overpowering a girl again. Maybe he believed all the girls could shock him,” I said with a mischievous grin.
Camellia tilted her head back and laughed. “You might be right.”
“Those are the only two times you’ve used your gift?”
She sighed and turned her eyes to pond again. “The third time, I used it on Kieron.”
I felt my fingers close into fists and my teeth ground together. “What did he do to you?”
“He wasn’t in his right mind, Ravyn,” she explained. “He was ordered to kidnap me. Remember? Thorne got to Linwood in time to stop him. Kieron was about to kill Thorne, so …” She shrugged, knowing I could imagine the rest.
After another moment of silence, I asked Camellia, “Is it bothering you that we’re trying to find him?”
“It’s a little strange. But everything is different now and … I trust you.”
Brock and Tallon marched back into the clearing before I could respond to Camellia’s heartwarming words. Two wild turkeys dangled from Brock’s hands.
“Time for dinner!” Tallon called out. “And it’s not squirrels.”
The evening was quiet and so was my tattoo – almost too quiet. I wasn’t sure what to make of this peaceful interlude. Wolfe and his soldiers would never give up their hunt for me. He couldn’t. I was too valuable in his quest for control over the continent. I wasn’t certain what Wolfe would do once he realized Kieron wasn’t under his mind-control anymore, but I knew it wouldn’t be pleasant for Kieron. We needed to find him soon.
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15
Thorne
We followed the watchmen and the herd of horses down a wide, dirt trail through the woods, away from the lake. The path had been made by the horses going to and from the lake each day. The golden forest we had seen from a distance was made up of Aspen trees. Most of them were around fifty feet high, and their trunks were less than a foot in width; small compared to the sequoias of the Valley. Surprisingly, none of these aspens had been chopped down.
What do the people of Ahern use to build their homes? I wondered, gazing up at the radiant yellow leaves.
Hagan had been silent since he had revealed how he and his siblings were related to Ahern’s governor. Nash answered my direct questions, but was quiet otherwise. He peered over his shoulder every so often to make sure we hadn’t bolted. Even he seemed more uptight now that we were in such close proximity to his home clan.
“Relax,” Pierce whispered to me. “We’ll handle whatever comes. Isn’t that what you always say?”
“This isn’t the same,” I replied.
“We’ll be on our guard,” Archer added.
I hoped my suspicions about these brothers proved false and that they were not working to betray us all again. Ravyn was six days’ distance north of us by now, travelling with Kaelem, and there was no way to warn her that we had been deceived – all of us.
The forest thinned out once more and, up ahead, they began to grow restless, snorting and whinnying.
“Is there danger?” I asked the brothers. Peton’s horses made these noises when there was a predator lurking.
“They sense that we’re close to home,” Nash replied.
A moment later, the horses, and the watchmen on their own mounts, took off at a gallop toward the village a hundred yards away.
“That seems foolish,” I muttered. “What if they trample someone in the village?”
We kept marching down the dirt path, watching the horses grow smaller and smaller through a cloud of dust.
Pierce pointed to the herd. “They’re turning. The barns must be on the outskirts of the community.”
The horses shifted as a group like a flock of birds and galloped south along the perimeter of the village ahead.
“This is a strange looking town,” Archer noted, staring at the village. “And so unprotected without a wall surrounding the community.”
“They have little to fear of the Howlers and Sabers since they are at least ten miles away from the edge of the Old Sequoia Valley,” I replied. Anyone who dared to attack this place would be seen for at least a mile from every direction.
As we drew closer to the village, I could see fields of dirt that had been turned over from the crops that had been reaped. Homes had been built of mud-bricks. The limited numbers of trees in this part of the country had forced these people to use other resources.
The horses disappeared behind the southernmost edge of the village. I hoped, after we had presented ourselves before the governor, that I would have a chance to admire the herd once again.
Pierce, Archer, and I followed Hagan and Nash straight into the village. Since there was no wall, there was also no gate or official entrance to the community. We passed between a few homes to reach what looked like a main road. It was a wide dusty path filled with people milling about. Mud-brick structures of various shapes and sizes lined the road.
No one noticed us as we moved through the throng of citizens, but I had the feeling we were still being watched by some unseen presence. Perhaps it was the guards that Nash and Hagan had spoken of that policed the town.
Walking another two hundred yards, we reached the centermost part of the small city. A large building shaped like a dome had been built at Ahern’s epicenter. It was twice the size of Peton’s own Council building; over thirty feet tall at the highest part of the dome. From where we stood in front of the dome, we could see three other roads that led away from the city’s center. Each one led away from the dome in four directions – north, south, east, and west – cutting the village into four equal sections.
“This is the governor’s home,” Nash pointed out when he noticed us staring.
“We should go in and get this over with,” Hagan grumbled. “She already knows we’re here.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I wasn’t imagining things then. We were being watched.”
“Oh, yes,” Nash assured me. “I’m sure they spotted us as soon as we stepped onto the road. That Saber skin lashed to your pack stands out too. Aunt Laela will be waiting for us.”
Nash a
nd Hagan turned on their heels and marched for the double doors that led inside the dome. I hesitated, my stomach clenching with dread.
Pierce gave my shoulder a quick shove. “Thorne, what’s come over you? You’re acting scared. And that’s no way to confront this woman.”
I pursed my lips together and nodded. Straightening up to my full height, I put on my mask of indifference, as I had done countless times when I had confronted Peton’s Elders. I was Commander once again, at least on the outside. With Pierce and Archer on each side of me, I marched toward the double doors, following the brothers inside.
Once inside the dome, four guards with crossbows surrounded us. They were dressed in uniforms of dark brown shirts and trousers. The guards’ uniforms and stiff demeanor reminded me of General Wolfe’s soldiers.
I gave Pierce an uneasy look over my shoulder, unable to shake off the apprehension I felt. The quirk of his eyebrow let me know that he was feeling the same way about our reception into Ahern.
The guards led us down a corridor and into the governor’s receiving hall. The room could hold over a hundred guests and the ceilings were twenty feet high. Our footsteps echoed on the smooth stone floor as we strode across the hall to face the governor. A woman was seated at the far end of the room on a raised platform, much like Peton Elders in the Council building. This platform had room for only one: the governor. Her high-backed chair had been chiseled out of granite and decorated with gold along its edges. A thick cushion had been placed on the seat for comfort.
We stood before the Governor, the four guards taking up posts along the walls to observe with their crossbows in their hands. I did not doubt they would shoot us if they felt we were a threat to their leader.
Governor Laela was old enough to be an Elder of any clan. The lines of age around her mouth and at the corners of her eyes suggested she was at least forty or fifty, and her chin-length hair was brown, like Hagan and Nash. She wore an olive-green tunic, matching trousers, and brown knee boots. Laela looked frail, as Laelynn had, with thin arms and legs. It was her dark eyes that held my attention. They seemed to pierce right through us to examine our souls.
I didn’t trust those eyes one bit.
“Search them!” Governor Laela shouted from her granite throne, her voice echoing through the chamber.
The four guards that had led us into the hall showed no emotion at all as they approached us. They yanked the bags from our shoulders and rummaged through our belongings, pulling out every weapon they could find. They piled up every blade, gun, and magazine on the floor in front of the governor. Even Hagan and Nash were forced to give up their crossbows and blades. Their baffled looks made me think that they had not been expecting this treatment from their aunt.
I gritted my teeth as one of the guards began to pat me down, checking me for weapons. They found the two pistols at my waist and the two blades inside my boots. Once all our weapons had been confiscated, the guards stepped back to their previous positions around us, crossbows at the ready.
The governor narrowed her dark eyes. “Who are you and why do you come to Ahern so heavily armed?” She gestured to the pile of weapons.
I resisted the urge to fold my arms over my chest, a sure sign of impatience and disrespect. I needed to stay on this woman’s good side and not give her a reason to distrust us. Instead, I clasped my hands behind my back. “We are Warriors from Peton. My name is Thorne. My companions are Pierce and Archer.” I gestured to each of them. “We’ve been travelling through the Old Sequoia Valley. Weapons were necessary for our safety. We’ve come for a short visit to replenish our supplies and trade for some horses.” I pointed to the Saber fur that was still secured to my pack. “Then we will be on our way home.”
Governor Laela regarded us carefully. “It seems to be the wrong time of year for Peton Warriors to be out in the Valley. The weather could turn harsh very quickly.”
“Of course,” I said, nodding in agreement. “Which is why we will not be staying longer than a few days. We do not want to risk the weather.”
“And how is it that you happen to be travelling with these two?” she demanded to know, gesturing to her nephews.
I glanced at Hagan and Nash. Nash, always so calm and accepting, didn’t react at all. Hagan, on the other hand, had his hands clenched into fists and I could see the muscle in his jaw tick. I couldn’t pinpoint what he was feeling. Was he annoyed that she had not acknowledged them until now? Perhaps he’d been insulted that Laela had ordered the guards to strip them of their weapons. Surely, she would not expect her own flesh and blood to harm her.
Or did she? I thought, peering back up at the governor. Her dark eyes gave away nothing.
“We stumbled across their village in the Valley,” I told her. “They were headed back to Ahern so we decided to join them. There is safety in numbers, after all.”
She brought her hands up to her chin and steepled her fingers together, considering my words. Her eyes flicked over to Hagan and Nash once and then back to me and my Warriors. This was the moment of truth: whether she would invite us to stay, send us on our way, or arrest us without reason. Something in her eyes suggested she would do it in a heartbeat.
A moment later, her face seemed to relax. “We do not take to strangers lightly. I must consult my advisors and guards and then I will give you my answer.”
“Thank you.”
“Wait in the outer corridor,” she commanded, snapping her fingers for the guards to come forward again. “But leave the weapons here.”
Every part of me protested at this order. These guards reminded me of the soldiers that we had been fighting in the Valley, and being among strangers kept me watchful.
The governor turned her vicious eyes to Nash and Hagan. “You two will stay.”
The guards shoved our packs into our hands, ushered us out into the corridor, and slammed the doors behind us. Three of the four guards remained to keep an eye on us. The other returned to the hall.
I set my pack down against the wall in the narrow corridor and turned to my comrades.
“I don’t like being disarmed,” I said.
“We don’t either, but it’s not surprising,” Archer stated. “We would do the same to strangers in Peton.”
“Do you think they’ll return them when we leave?” I asked.
Pierce shrugged and scratched his chin. “That’s the question, isn’t it?” He waved away the concern. “Look, we need to take this one step at a time. She hasn’t even decided whether she’ll allow us to stay. Let’s wait and see.”
***
An hour later, we were still waiting. Pierce and Archer had both taken a seat against the wall while I paced back and forth along the corridor. The three guards watched me, as if I was about to pounce on them.
The thought had crossed my mind. If the governor decided to arrest us, I wasn’t going quietly.
What if Ravyn was right. Did this governor have ties to General Wolfe? It was possible the governor already knew about the Warrior fugitives from Peton, but I didn’t know how that was possible unless Hagan and Nash were spies for the General, as I was beginning to suspect. They could be accusing us of all sorts of things.
Stay calm, I thought, taking a deep breath and running my fingers through my curls. It would do me no good to lose control.
Just as I was about to sit down beside Pierce and try to relax, a guard burst through the door from the hall and approached us. Pierce and Archer jumped to their feet and stood at my side.
The guard was six inches shorter than me but a fighter nonetheless. His crossbow was slung over his shoulder and he carried three of our sheathed blades in his hands.
“The governor will allow you three days to do your business here,” the guard said. He held out the blades. “She also says you are allowed to be armed with these until you leave.”
“And we will have our other weapons returned on our departure?” I asked him.
The guard nodded. “That is what she has said. Now if you wi
ll follow me, I will show you where you can wash up and sleep tonight.”
I breathed a quiet sigh of relief with at least my blade fastened to my belt again. Part of me still felt uneasy about leaving our firearms with the governor. There was something about her that I did not trust.
“What about Hagan and Nash?” Archer asked. “Will they be coming with us?”
“They are receiving their punishment,” the guard confessed.
All three of us froze and gaped at the guard in shock.
“Punishment? For what?” Pierce asked with a frown.
The guard was unfazed by the governor’s decision. “For leaving without warning. The governor is their aunt, as you must know. She took it as a personal insult.”
I looked back toward the entrance to the hall. There were no cries of pain, so it must not be a flogging or some other form of brutality against them. “What kind of punishment?”
“That is not your concern,” answered the guard. He turned on his heel and marched toward the exit.
I hesitated, glancing back at the entrance to the hall once more.
Pierce placed a hand on my shoulder. “The man’s right. This is their clan. They must have known what would happen when they came back.”
Archer added, “If we were to go back to Peton again, you know there would be consequences for defying our Elders.”
Even knowing they were right, I felt sick. If not for the soldiers, or Ravyn, they would never have had to leave Linwood. Their quiet little village in the trees would have survived and flourished.
I grudgingly nodded and turned my back on the hall and the three of us followed the guard out into the village.
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16
Ravyn
The warning sensation in my neck woke me. It was dark, but I wasn’t certain what time it was. I looked around the clearing to see who was on watch and muttered a curse. Everyone was sleeping under their blankets.
“Everyone up!” I shouted. Whatever was threatening us already knew we were here. Checking for the weapons still sheathed on my body, I picked up my rifle.
