Blood Oath

by Raye Wagner

  —Soap Queen Defeats Drae in the Realm’s Most Epic Battle of Wits—

  I’d work on it.

  My bedroom door swung open, and my meticulous mother stood before me. With a sigh of relief, her shoulders sagged as she greeted me. “Ryn.”

  “Hey, Mum.” I smiled and waved at her, trying to look nonchalant. Drak, my hands still shook. I tucked them behind me. I might want to gloat to Arnik about my escape from Lord Irrik, but my mother was so earnest with her warnings I didn’t want to risk her wrath.

  Her face, illuminated by a lantern, swung into view. Her eyes were wide. “I was worried.”

  I pulled up short and said, “You don’t worry.”

  She gave a tight smile. “Lord Irrik is patrolling. You shouldn’t be out when he is, Ryn. No one should. I’ll have to remind Dyter to keep you if the Drae is about.”

  Dyter was in trrrrouble. “Do you think the king’s Drae is here for more than patrolling?”

  She shifted her eyes to the window, saying slowly, “Whatever the reason, they’ve tripled the king’s presence in Zone Seven. It isn’t good.” She frowned and continued, “I’m not sure I want you going back to Dyter’s until they’re gone. Not with him having those meetings there.”

  “But they could be here for months,” I protested. “Besides, I’m skill-less Ryn. Everyone knows that.” And the rebel leader is coming tomorrow night. I was smart enough not to tell her that.

  My quip made her smile, but she pursed her lips and shook her head. She placed the lantern down and came to sit next to me. “You’re anything but skill-less, baby.”

  “Young lady,” I corrected. “We agreed.”

  “My young lady-baby,” she replied.

  We smiled at each other.

  Her gaze dropped to where my feet were pulled up tight against my body on the bed. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” I replied quickly.

  Everyone knew Lord Irrik could hide under beds at night, or anywhere else that was dark, and if my feet were off the bed, he would drag me underneath and I’d die a slow, horrible death.

  “The Drae were once our saviors. They kept us safe from invasion. They were a loyal and honorable race.”

  Mum had told me stories of the Drae since I was a baby. But they were myths, bedtime stories with lessons mixed in. The Drae were supposedly peacekeepers, self-sacrificing, generous with their skills, and did their best to serve humanity. But the emperor, who was also Drae, was greedy and tried to force them to join his war. He betrayed his own kind, having them slaughtered for their refusal to help him rule the world.

  “Don’t forget the Drae boy,” she said with a quirk of her lips, referencing one such story of self-sacrifice. She then smoothed her expression and said, “We should go work some of the gardens in Harvest Zone Two.”

  The opposite side of the kingdom. We’d be gone for at least two weeks. “Right,” I drew out. I did not want to miss my only chance to meet Cal. “And I’m coming?”

  “I got a message from Bratrik. Their crops are failing. They need our help.”

  I shook my head. “Your help, not mine.”

  “Fourteen children died last week. There are dozens of gardens to visit. You know I can’t do it all on my own. Who else would haul dirt?” she asked with a smirk.

  The tension in the room dissipated, and just like that, mother erased my disappointment. I’d help the children. Of course, I would.

  “Funny,” I chirped, resigned to my fate. “We’ll see who’s laughing when I’m soap queen of Verald. I won’t be hauling your dirt then.”

  She laughed, and the sound was my absolute favorite. It was delighted and youthful and carefree, and it lifted my mood to match hers. Another talent of my mother’s.

  “When will we leave for Zone Two?” I yawned.

  “I’ll need a day to make ready, so two days. Why?”

  Yes! Thank the moons she was such a planner. “I need to ready my entourage; that’s why.”

  “Al’right, soap queen,” she said with a grin. “It’s time for bed.” She swept up her lantern and blew me a kiss. “Goodnight, lady-baby.”

  “Night, Mum.”

  I kicked off my boots and held my breath as they fell into the danger zone off the bed. Faster than your eyes can track, with talons that can fell a tree in one swoop. I didn’t dare change into my nightclothes and leave the safety of bed island. Snuggling under the quilt, the adrenaline of the day waned and my eyes grew heavy. I was hovering just barely on the edges of consciousness when my mother’s next words drifted to me from the doorway. “I checked under the bed earlier. You’ll always be safe.”

  4

  “Hey, lady-baby, I need you to take a delivery to Arnik’s mother this morning, and one to Talryna in the Money Coil. I forgot there are three orders to fill, and I need to stop by Pru’s.” Mum set a basket on the table next to me and ran her hand over my long, cinnamon-colored hair. The table was set with two plates, two forks, and two glasses filled with honeyed milk. Someone must’ve paid Mum with it.

  “I can lower myself to grant this boon.” I tipped my nose up and sniffed. The scent of lavender from the soap basket was stronger than whatever Mum had concocted for our breakfast.

  She mussed my hair with her wet hands. “My thanks, soap queen. I’ve got deliveries all day today, but I’ll be back before curfew. We should wash your hair tonight, too.” She stepped back toward the stove and flipped the contents of the pan. She pointed the spatula at me and said, “Make sure you’re back. No matter what’s happening with Dyter, you need to be home before curfew with the patrols out.”

  I nodded, trying to peek at our meal. I didn’t care about my hair. In fact, the stuff Mum used to wash it made it all stiff and gross. No, what was important to me right then were the glasses of milk because if we were having milk, there might be something else tasty.

  “We’ll leave tomorrow at first light. It’ll take us two days to cross the Quota Fields.”

  “We’re not taking the Market Circuit?” I asked. The paved ring road went through all twelve Harvest Zones and was the easiest way to travel.

  Verald was shaped like a bull’s-eye and split into twelve wedges, called Harvest Zones. In the mountainous center of the kingdom was King Irdelron’s castle. The flat band of space immediately surrounding the castle took up the most space in the kingdom and belonged to the dry Quota Fields where the farmers worked. The next band out was the Market Circuit, which was the road running through the twelve Harvest Zone wedges. The wealthiest families lived closest to the Market Circuit in the next band, and their public houses, taverns, and trade shops were here as well. We peasants called the place where the wealthy hung out the Money Coil. The next band out from the Money Coil was named the Inbetween, a space for those who were on the fringes of wealth. And then the uneven very outer band of the kingdom where the rest of us lived was referred to as the Penny Wheel. As a rule, the closer to the king you were, the more he cared about you. That was why his food source was closest and his workers farthest away.

  The Crane’s Nest was one of the only taverns outside the Coil in the entire kingdom. Dyter was on the very outskirts of the Inbetween, which was why he took payment of any kind, not just coin, like in the Money Coil.

  “What’s for breakfast?” I asked Mum, trying to peek.

  “You’ll see if you wait one second.”

  She brought our plates to the table, and my stomach grumbled.

  Breakfast was one potato pancake each and a small serving of sweet apple mash. Better than gruel, at least. Mum set her lavender-flower syrup on the table beside my plate. There was just enough for both of us—practically a feast with the milk.

  A feast that was gone in less than a dozen savored bites, but a feast nevertheless.

  Eating done, I washed the dishes, went back to my room to grab my boots, which somehow survived Lord Irrik under my bed overnight—not even a chew mark—and swiped up the basket. Calling a goodbye over my shoulder, I shook my he
ad as I watched my mother ladle the dishwater into jars to water the garden.

  “Remember to tell Dyter you won’t be in for the next two or three weeks!” she yelled after me.

  Smiling, I bounced down the street toward Arlette’s house to deliver the soap she’d ordered. I was disappointed to find Arnik already gone to the vineyard for the day when I dropped off the basket, but his absence couldn’t put much of a dampener on my day for two reasons. First, I was a Drae survivor. And second, we weren’t leaving Zone Seven until morning, which meant I’d be seeing a rebel leader tonight. He probably had a scar on his cheek—and muscles.

  I lifted a hand to my eyes as I scanned the sky for the Drae. Nowhere to be seen.

  Facing toward the king’s castle in the distance, I darted through the hodgepodge peasant housing of the Penny Wheel on my way to the House of Tal. I went through the Inbetween, and soon the grand stone houses of the Money Coil were ahead of me. I slowed when I reached the Tals’ house—the largest of them all. I left the second basket at their door after pounding on the heavy entrance for a full minute.

  The barren garden from last night stretched before me, the grand fountain at its center.

  This time, with no winged foe above me, I stopped at the fountain that had been dry my entire life. Pausing here was habitual because a tiny welded flower was inlaid in the side of the concrete fountain—the sole bit of beauty in the otherwise functional and practical space. I don’t know how it caught my eye as a toddler, but Mum said I’d pester her from dawn up to dusk about visiting the flower. After checking soldiers weren’t around, she would lift me up to trace the petals of the flower and its curving stalk. For years she’d lifted me, until one day I could stand on my tiptoes and touch it myself. Now, whenever I passed this place, I continued the tradition, stroking the welded flower with fondness.

  Leaving the Money Coil and my welded flower, I wiped perspiration from my hairline and began retracing my steps to reach the shelter of The Crane’s Nest on the other side of the Inbetween. Mistress Moons, the sun’s rays burned with muggy heat this morning.

  At this time of day, the laneways were about the busiest they ever got, and I smiled and nodded at nearly everyone. I’d known them my whole life—seemed rude not to say howdy. Hyrriet from House Hy glared at me, and I pretended not to see her pristine ankle-length skirt and perfectly ironed aketon which she’d drawn in at the middle with a wide leather belt. Hers had been the last potato bush I’d killed. I swear I’d done everything right, but two days later, Mum told me they’d found it shriveled up.

  I dodged through the crowd and knocked at the back door of Dyter’s, tapping my foot as I waited.

  “You’re being followed, girl.”

  I yelped and spun to see a man shift in the shadows two paces from where I stood. He stayed crouched behind the cover of the stacked crates outside Dyter’s back door. The stranger poked his head up, and I caught a glance of the speaker from underneath a wide-brimmed garden hat pulled low over his eyes. The young man I’d seen last night; I’d recognize his twenty-somethingness anywhere.

  He hunched back over, disappearing behind the potato crates, and said, “Two men are following you. They’ve been on your tail since you left the Wheel.” When I did nothing more than stare at him, he snapped, “Turn around and act like you’re waiting for the door.”

  Numbly, I turned to face the door again. I didn’t dare glance over my shoulder to the mouth of the alley to check if this man told the truth. He didn’t seem the kind to make stuff up.

  “This place has become interesting to the wrong people,” he said. “You’re not the only one with a tail today. Lord Irrik followed you and several others last night and ordered soldiers to follow you all and report back.”

  His concerns reinforced the uneasiness I felt in my gut at Lord Irrik’s presence. The Drae was here to catch rebels, and so were the king’s guard.

  “How do you know all this?”

  He spoke over me. “Tell Dyter the meeting needs to be moved to another location at a later date. He’ll know who needs to be there and how to make it happen. Warn him.”

  Two men were following me, and the fear pulsing through me became my entire world. The seriousness of what that meant hit me with a force that made my knees weak. If I wasn’t on the king’s personal radar, I was on the radar of his personal Drae. Which could be worse. Unable to remain quiet any longer, I asked, “Are they watching me?”

  “They’re hanging back around the corner.”

  “What do I do?” I didn’t know this man, but he was the only adult around, and I needed help.

  He paused for a moment. “I wouldn’t worry too much. They’ve set tails on suspected rebel members in the other Harvest Zones, and nothing came of it. Don’t do anything suspicious until the soldiers leave the area. Blend in as if your life depends on it because it probably does. Could you leave for a while, maybe go to a different zone?”

  For the first time, I wondered if Mum’s sudden gardening trip wasn’t all that sudden. “They won’t hurt my mother, will they?” I asked, trying not to move my lips. To the men watching me, it probably looked as if I was staring at the door. “I need to warn her.”

  The man shifted back down the alley. “Stick to your usual routine. Unless,” he paused, “your mother has something to hide?”

  I snorted, gaining back a bit of my lost confidence. The certainty of my mother set the world all right. “My mother? Not a chance.”

  I pounded on the back door again, but no one answered, and I figured The Crane’s Nest was busy enough that no one was in the kitchen. After all, that was where I was supposed to be. Too scared to go back the way I’d come, I went all the way to the other end of the alley and circled around to the front of The Crane’s Nest to go through the public entrance. I was officially spooked.

  Relief washed over me as I stepped into the familiar setting, but the feeling lasted less than a second. The tavern was empty with the exception of Dyter and two men I recognized as members of the rebellion that weren’t from around here. One of the men mumbled something to Dyter before the two rebels disappeared into the kitchen.

  Dyter rounded the bar with a terrifying frown. “You can’t be here today, my girl.”

  “A man in the alley told me you should move the meeting,” I blurted. “I’ve got two men following me and Mum made potato pancakes and we’re leaving, but the man said to tell you.”

  He dragged me to a tall stool by the bar and sat me down. “Calm yourself, Ryn.” Then he yelled toward the kitchen, “Don’t go out the back. She’s being followed.” He took a deep breath and faced me. “Now, what is this? What man in the alley?”

  “The blond man that was here last night. The one in his twenties.”

  A spark entered Dyter’s gaze, and he said, “I see.”

  I stared at him. “That’s it?”

  He circled around the back of the bar, absently rubbing the stump on his left wrist. “You have two tails?”

  I nodded, swallowing the fear clawing its way up my chest.

  Dyter closed his eyes. “You’re not the only one, unfortunately. I don’t know how it happened. We had men check the area for soldiers before everyone left.”

  I told Dyter what the man had said. “If Lord Irrik can conceal himself like Mum says, then the man could be right,” I said. “The Drae was breathing fire all over the place.”

  “You think it was the Drae’s signal to the ground soldiers to follow you?”

  I paled. No. I hadn’t. But that put a different perspective on last night.

  “That certainly explains it,” Dyter continued. He heaved a sigh and closed his eyes briefly. “Your mother’s going to hurt me for getting you involved.”

  “We’re going away for a few weeks,” I said. “She said to tell you.”

  “That’d be best. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to ya.”

  Last night had been scary, but I’d thought myself safe when I got home. I’d even come t
o think of it as exciting. Now, that sense of security was rapidly burning away. I might’ve wanted some interruption to routine, but this? This was much too scary, and I didn’t like it, not one bit.

  Dyter said, “Hold here a bit, love. I’ll be back.”

  He disappeared out the front and reappeared a few minutes later. “Drak. Two tails, al’right. One’s tall and skinny with a face like a snake, and the other’s a fat toad.”

  “Seriously?” A laugh escaped, my anxiety rising to hysteria. My tethered grip on reality was slipping.

  He cupped my cheeks, forcing me to stare at him. “Take a deep breath, Rynnie. It’s going to be fine. One is headed around the back now. I just saw him go. I’m going to distract Toady, and I need you to run. Go into the Quota Fields, and then head home. Make sure you go sideways through a couple of zones so you can lose them, al’right? Your mother, is she going to be out all day?”

  I nodded.

  “Well then, you best stay in the fields until curfew. I don’t want you home alone.”

  “Can’t I stay here?” I whispered.

  He squeezed my shoulder and shook his head. “I don’t know what the soldiers plan to do or how much they know. If they come here, you’d be in harm’s way for sure. I don’t want that, especially when I might’ve put you there in the first place.”

  “I made my own choice,” I said, refusing to let him feel guilty over allowing me to work here.

  “I know,” he smiled, “But you’re the daughter I always wanted, and I can’t help getting overprotective.”

  “I . . . I can help.” I wasn’t sure if I could or not, but I didn’t want to leave. Somehow, in my mind, staying here with Dyter was safer than hiding in the fields.

  “I appreciate that. I do. But that no is firm. I won’t have you here.”

  I scowled at him. A real one. “Shouldn’t I warn Mum?”

  “Your mother is a lot safer going about her day in ignorance. But you tell her as soon as you see her next. If you need help getting away in the morning, you send word via Arnik, you understand?”