Mordegan yawned as he propped himself on his elbow. He exhaled and smiled at Benny. “Juna's about your age. At least twenty, probably a little older. Twenty-five at most. He's gonna help us find Radella, then I'm sending him back to his people. He's got a new girl there, but he wants to learn how to protect his people before he has babies with her.”
Juna smirked and shook his head. “I did it out of order. I think she's had the baby already. I don't know time, maybe not, maybe soon. I'll go back to them when I know I can protect them. That's what I promised them. Couldn't protect my first family. Now is different.”
“I don't think we can sail tonight.” Mordegan scanned the horizon. Lightning flashed, illuminating an archipelago of tiny islands. “Don't think we need to. That looks like the Sharktooth Chain. It's all rocks and shoals close to the shore south of here, no good for a boat. If we keep walking south along the coastal road, we'll be in the Sandstone Realm. Coyote Coast and Satla Desert, once we get past all this chaparral kindling. Should hit Deerweed by morning, if the terrain isn't too bad. Don't remember what the cliffs are like down here but I know the road goes all the way south. Deerweed's a shit little town, but should be able to barter for some horses and supplies. We'll still wanna travel by night. Juna'll burn through his clothes in that southern sun, and doesn't look like you've seen much light in a while, Benny-girl.”
Benny held up her hand and drew a rough outline of south Bacra. A blue line followed her movement and filled in the borders. She flicked her fingers and labels appeared. She struck a line through Jadeshire, then Caprima, which they had bypassed two days prior. “Jade, Sandstone, then east through the desert. Salt Range divide, south end of the Topaz Realm, Agate Realm, and then into the Azure Realm. Auberline is on the coast, southeast side of the Azure. Too bad we can't go by sea. This is going to be difficult.”
“Yeah, it is. I'm gonna assume you're a wanted woman by now, given no one actually agreed to keep things quiet beyond me getting you off Claw Island. I should've paid them more, but then we wouldn't have enough to make it to the Azure. We still might lose the rest of our coin by then. We've had a week's head start, but that's noodling down the coast. Keep your face covered from here on out. Might even want to pick you up some looser clothes. If they're looking for you, they're looking for a young woman. Will be safer if people think you're a man on first glance.”
Benny dropped her chin and stared at her chest. In her youth, she'd been teased about her boyish figure. She grew tall and gained far more weight than she cared to acknowledge, but never developed the feminine curves expected of a body that favored human far more than elf. She knew her size and shape were a major reason Radamar was never attracted to her, but maybe it could keep her out of trouble now. “Shouldn't be hard. Was always accused of looking like a fat and homely boy, anyway. Maybe you should cut my hair short before we go. It's a ratty mess, hasn't been cut in years. They wouldn't let me have a brush in my cell.”
Mordegan sat on his knees and leaned forward to touch Benny's curls. “You're beautiful and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. I'll cut your hair if you like. Might be the only way to get rid of some of those mats you've got going on in the back.” He pursed his lips and let out a low whistle. “Juna, you wanna clear out anything left in the skiff while I clean her up? We'll have to abandon it on the beach. Too bad, really. It might not be kind to my stomach, but it's been a good little boat.”
THE CLIFFS WERE TORTURE. Every upward step ripped at her bones, every downward slope threatened to send her careening headlong into the Celadon Sea below. The coastal road was not narrow, but it was treacherous. Switchbacks and old rockslides made night travel an exercise in caution. One wrong step and she would tumble down to be thrashed by the breakers.
The lightning remained offshore, but a wet and angry wind frequently whipped her scarf into her eyes. Her lightweight rucksack kept her unbalanced, so she was grateful her father and Juna hadn't expected her to carry any of the heavier gear. She wondered how long it would take to regain her previous strength, or if she would be able to regain it at all. Six years and two variations of confinement had taken a toll on her. She pushed through the pain and the fatigue, but she didn't know how long she could hide her agony from Mordegan. He had been involved in the mercenary circuit for thirty years and was attentive to the physical condition of those around him. Mercenaries in less-than-peak form were liabilities to him and dangers to themselves. Benny was too young when abducted to join him in the trade, but she had once assumed she'd follow her father and eldest brother into the life of a hired sword.
The wind shifted southward and waves crashed against the cliff base. The tide was high and spray leapt from the breakers to reach toward a full moon that occasionally peeked between the clouds. Thunder rolled across the water as lightning illuminated a distant squall.
Benny shivered and tucked her errant scarf into the neckline of her hooded tunic. The garment belonged to Mordegan so it was too large for her, but its softness brought her a small measure of comfort and its faint scent of cardamom and citrus reminded her of Jadeshire. She doubted she would ever see her childhood home again, and she was hesitant to hope she'd ever again have something approximating a home.
“Need a break, Benny?” Mordegan asked, walking backward along the road. He carried his weapons and heavy rucksack with ease. In the moonlight he appeared just as leonine as his half-Faeline eldest child.
“No. If I stop I won't be able to start again.” Benny tugged at her rucksack straps. They were digging into the delicate network of scars on her shoulders, causing them to pull and itch. “I'm okay. Keep going.”
“You're not okay. No one who's spent two years locked in a cell is okay with walking like this.”
She rubbed her nose to hide the wince forced by a knife-like stab in her right hip. “I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle.”
Mordegan paused to let Juna walk by him. “Yeah, you must have inherited my stubbornness. That'll either serve you well or get you killed. Careful with your persistence, Belinda. Don't push yourself to injury.”
“You only call me Belinda when you're angry or worried.” Benny caught up to him and let him link his arm through hers.
“I am worried about you, to be sure. I dunno what they did to you and you won't tell me. You were sixteen when they took you, and we looked for you for years only to find you in prison, your child missing, and your captors dead or vanished. I see your pain as you walk, both physical and mental, and you are not okay. You've hardly said a word this past week, and none of those words have given me any clue about what's really going on in your head. I love you, my girl, but you are troubling me right now.”
Benny pressed against Mordegan's side, being careful to avoid the handle of his push dagger. The road was flat here and she didn't have to worry about slipping and dragging them both downhill. “I'm okay. I'm not good, and won't be until I have Radella, but I'm okay. Pain isn't something that vexes me anymore. I . . . I won't tell you the things that happened to me. I'd rather forget and move on. I'm free now. Once I'm back with my daughter I'll figure out what to do next. Maybe we'll stay with Mom in Auberline, maybe we'll go with you when you return to Belda and your little ones. I don't know. The past doesn't matter now because the future holds so many possibilities, and all of those possibilities belong to me.”
Benny breathed in the salt mist and the comforting scent of her clothes. Soon her daughter would be in her arms again. If Radella didn't remember her when they met, they would create new memories together. Benny smiled as she held an image of her fair-haired toddler in her mind. Radella was not a toddler anymore, but Benny imagined her looks still favored Radamar. She hoped the child's personality came from her own side of the family. Benny missed the sweet scent of her daughter's skin, missed the innocence in her chirping laugh, missed the unbreakable love they shared in the darkness of Mountain Home. Benny needed her more than anything else. Soon. They would be together again soon, and then the past could be h
idden away for good.
“Squa-aaah!”
“Get down!” Juna dropped to his knees, then flattened himself in a patch of beach grass and yarrow. He braced himself on his elbows and pointed upward. “Bird.”
Benny craned her neck to watch the silhouette of a bird cross the cloud-shaded moon. “Falcon. Probably a messenger bird.”
“No. If that's domesticated at all, it's a hunting falcon.” Mordegan let go of her and crouched. He looked forward first, then slowly turned around to look behind. “Benny, listen. Use those elf ears of yours and listen beyond the waves. Do you hear anything?”
Benny lowered her hood. She closed her eyes and tilted her ears toward the north. Ignore the waves, ignore the wind, ignore Dad's agitated breaths and Juna's frantic heartbeat. There, beyond the falcon's cry.
“Hooves. Dozen horses, maybe more. They're close, scaling the last switchback.” Benny opened her eyes and grabbed Mordegan's arm. “They're too close. We can't outrun them. Nowhere to hide here.”
Mordegan drew his broadsword and nodded at Juna. “Get your sword out, kid. Remember what I taught you.” He turned his attention to Benny as the Uldru stood and unsheathed a black-bladed gladius. He nudged her side, then pressed a dagger handle into her gloved palm. “I'll give you both. I hope you remember how to use these. I'm sorry. I don't have a sword for you. I bartered my extras to get you out.”
Benny took the second push dagger and grasped the T-shaped handle so the blade protruded from between her third and fourth fingers. “I remember. Don't worry about me. Daggers work in emergencies, but you need to know that I'm a weapon myself now.”
Helmeted heads bobbed above the edge of the rise. Broad shoulders followed. Humans, maille armored and clad in the green and white of the Jade Realm. These were ducal soldiers.
“Shit. Starbright's swords. Don't attack yet. Be ready to, but wait.” Mordegan slipped Benny's hood back over her hair before adjusting his sword into a ready, but minimally-threatening, position. Behind them, Juna shifted from foot to foot.
The lead soldier dismounted two yards from Benny. He drew his sword and regarded her with suspicion in his dark eyes. His nose scrunched as his gaze shifted to Mordegan. “Mordegan Vale, I had hoped it was you we followed. We've been watching you offshore for days.”
“What do you want, Haidan?” Mordegan asked, boredom in his tone.
“The Duke wants you returned to Jadeshire, along with the escaped prisoner you aided.” Haidan sniffed, then cocked his head toward Benny. “This must be her. Awfully large for a half-breed, isn't she? Then again, I've met enough of your bastards to know what kind of monstrosities you sire.”
Mordegan grunted, his lip curled. “Come now, Haidan. We were friends once and you shared meals in my home with my family, but now you've decided you're Starbright's man and that makes you think you're entitled to insult my kids. You'd best apologize to my daughter, then be on your way. Go tell Starbright he can suck a troll's festering cock, because that human-hating swine will never be the rightful Duke of the Jade Realm. What are you doing, old friend? Why are you working for that self-fellating assturkey?”
“We are loyal to the Realm, and by extension its Duke.” Haidan leered at Benny, revealing a gap left by a missing canine. “Goldtrees are gone, and you're wanted for treason, Mordegan. You've been working for the wrong family for a very long time, my friend. Duke Starbright wants you dead or alive, and it's easier to drag your oversized carcass back to Jadeshire if you're already dead. We'll keep your girl alive until we've tired of her. That other thing skulking behind you . . . whatever it is, I might keep it and have some fun, might, not. Might toss it off the cliff if it turns out to be trouble.”
Juna growled and took a step closer to Mordegan. “I'm trouble.”
“Fiesty runt, isn't it?” Haidan laughed and licked his lips. His eyes shifted from malicious to lecherous. “Belinda Vale, you were such a pretty little girl, and I do like a woman with some extra meat on her.” He tilted his head toward his company and raised his voice. “I get her first.”
Blue light sparked from the tips of Benny's daggers. She was not afraid of these men. She let her scarf slip from her face, then pursed her lips and smiled. “Hmm. No. I get you first.”
Benny thrust her arms upward, releasing lightning from the daggers. Haidan's mouth gaped as the bolts struck his chest and groin. Smoldering, he fell forward, and crashed face first at Benny's feet.
The sound of scraping metal filled the turbulent air as the rest of the soldiers dismounted and drew swords. Benny was tired, too tired to take them all at once. Her full potential was not yet fully restored, and the single lightning spell had left her light-headed.
“Told you not to insult my daughter, Haidan,” Mordegan mumbled. He raised his sword and side-stepped away from Haidan. “You assholes still wanna kill me? Go ahead and try.”
Swords clanged as Mordegan and Juna took on the first attackers.
Benny retreated to allow a moment to regain her balance. Light dripped from her daggers as the blue enveloped her hands. Too many, and not strong enough yet. She had grossly overestimated her own recovery. She took a deep breath and plunged her left blade into the neck of a soldier circling in from the side. One down, many to go.
And there, there was the clarity of head she needed. She turned to the side and released a quick series of lightning bursts. One, two, three, four, five, all down, all smoldering. Halfway there, but again her head spun.
Her knees gave way and she sank into the grass, gasping. This was never difficult before, why was it so difficult now? Too much time in a cell, too many days trapped in a magic-dampening cuff.
More hooves in the wind. What now? More soldiers? There were still six alive—two losing to agile Juna while Mordegan struggled against four. Come on, Dad, you've taken on worse, Benny thought as her vision grayed. An invisible weight pressed against her chest, forcing hard-fought air from her lungs. Too tired, so tired, can't fight it.
A whistling tang cut through the air as a polearm lopped off the head of one of Mordegan's attackers. The last rider was here, a slight, black-cloaked figure upon a gray horse. This wasn't one of the ducal soldiers, and judging by the stature he wasn't a human man at all.
Another whistle as the polearm cleaved two screaming heads at once, then a third as the rider thrust the blade into the unprotected spine of one of Juna's attackers. Juna and Mordegan easily dispatched the remaining two, then breathed heavily as they regarded the black-clad rider.
The rider ignored their stares as he dismounted and strode toward Benny. She could barely keep her heavy eyes open to watch him. He crouched before her, then touched a gloved hand to her chin and whispered, “Belinda.”
“Hmm?” Her thigh muscles spasmed and she dropped the daggers. Her balance slid sideways. The rider caught her easily and supported her elbows as he helped her remain upright. She forced her heavy eyelids to remain open as she gazed into his wide brown eyes. She knew those eyes, but she couldn't remember why.
“Belinda. I hoped it was you. I've been tailing the soldiers since Caprima.”
“I know your voice,” Benny whispered. She slowly reached up and pulled the black scarf from the rider's elven face. Sandy blond hair escaped from his hood and fluttered in the wind as he regarded her with concern. She smiled as he pressed his palm against the back of her hand. “Hello, Radamar.”
Benny's vision extinguished to black as the earth rose to meet her head.
BENNY WOKE TO MIST on her face and chilled skin beneath her fingertips. Whatever was beneath her head shifted and she opened her eyes. Mordegan's stubbly face loomed above her. He gently rocked side to side as he cradled her head and shoulders on his lap. He looked not at her, but instead over her toward a small cluster of horses grazing near the cliff.
“Dad?” Benny whispered, her throat parched to the point it felt as if it might crack and bleed. “Dad, I fainted.”
Mordegan slid his hand out from under hers so he could stroke h
er hair, which now settled about her chin. He'd been reluctant to cut it any shorter. “I know. You're okay. You're right, you are a weapon. I've known mages, but never seen one pull lightning from the blue before.”
Benny stretched her neck to the left, then the right. Her balance still wasn't back to normal and even lying still she felt as if she was slowly tipping backward. A chestnut horse nickered and stared at her. “Light is light. Concentrate enough of it and you've got energy. I see we have horses now.”
Mordegan rubbed his nose and nodded. “Yeah. A whole herd of them. Some ran off, but we've got nine we can choose from. Juna will have to ride with one of us, though. He's afraid of the beasts. And of your elf.”
Benny searched her field of vision but saw neither Juna nor Radamar. “Oh? I thought he might have been a dream. Is he really here?”
“He is. Can't say I'm glad to meet him, but he did likely spare us from minor injury. Juna and I could've taken the guards you didn't zap, but might've gotten banged up for it.”
“Why is he here?”
“For you. Any more than that you can ask him yourself. Can you sit up? I need to go see where Juna's hiding. Kid's as brave in the moment as any merc I've ever trained, but once the adrenaline's gone he's afraid of everything.”
“He has every reason to be.” Benny dug her fingertips into dry dirt, then pushed herself upright. Her stomach lurched, but her balance remained steady.
Mordegan shifted away from her. He brushed his hands over his thighs as he stood. “Better explain yourself, Nightshadow. I'm off to find my friend, and then I'm gonna see if any of these dead impwankers have civilian clothes in their saddlebags that might fit us. Too much blood on what we've got on.”
Radamar walked around Mordegan, then sat cross-legged in front of Benny. His hood was off and the wind tugged sprays of hair loose from his long, ragged braid. He hung his head in his hands and stared at Benny's slippered feet. His fingernails were filthy and he smelled as if he'd been rolling in dust. She never expected to see the elegant highborn elf so disheveled. She'd never expected to see him again at all, and her feelings on the reunion were conflicted. Relief mixed with uncertainty and a dash of fear. Radamar had committed monstrous acts against both the Uldru and the enemies of the Jarrah, and Benny wasn't sure if her new friend was safe around him.
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