by Erin Beaty
Huzar tapped the side of his mug but otherwise held himself still. “I would not consider the fuss in Tasmet worth such action. Maybe only another year with the forces they have will be sufficient.” He was also surprised the Kimisar were still raiding Tasmet after all these months, but after three years of famine and blight, there was likely little to return home to.
“It would seem the Demoran king expects more trouble.”
Huzar had no knowledge of what his own nation planned, but given the state of Kimisara when he left last year, he doubted it had recovered enough to attempt an invasion. Only the alliance with the D’Amiran family had made last spring possible. The agreement had been distasteful from the start, but he’d followed orders. When it became obvious the Demoran duke had no intention of keeping to the terms, however, Huzar had ordered his men to abandon Tegann and return home. Unfortunately, a company of Kimisar had been stranded in Demora, on the east side of the Catrix Mountains, and Huzar had made it his mission to find them.
Once he did, he realized there were too few men to fight their way back, but too many to keep together for long. He’d ordered them to disperse into the Demoran countryside, find work, and lie low until the time was right to either escape or make a stand. To further throw the Demorans off, Huzar had taken a team to the border to make it look as though the group had crossed into Casmun. Perhaps none of it had worked as well as he’d thought.
“Trouble? From where?”
“Casmun. There have been signs of an alliance between our people and theirs.”
Huzar snorted. The Kimisar and Casmuni had common roots, but they hated each other even more than Kimisara and Demora. More likely the Demoran king was misinterpreting the trail Huzar had left going south, believing it was Casmuni testing the border as the Kimisar were known to do in the west.
He stroked the stubble on his chin, wondering if this was a positive or negative development. That the Demorans were confused could be an advantage, but once there were Norsari, it was only a matter of time before he and his men were hunted down and wiped out.
A Norsari unit would take weeks to train, though. Huzar probably had enough time to gather the 150 or so Kimisar scattered east and south of the capital and make a plan to get home. Information would be his primary asset until then.
The captain turned his eyes back to the stablehand. “If there are to be Norsari, who will be the commander?”
“I have heard one name more than any other.” The man’s grin displayed two missing teeth. “And it is one you will recognize.”
A few minutes later, the stablehand left to return to his job at the palace. Huzar ordered a third pint and barely noticed when it was placed in front of him. He did indeed know the name. Few in the city did not. But Huzar had special reason to know it.
Captain Alexander Quinn.
He’d long ago discovered the name of the lead soldier who escorted the women to the capital city for last summer’s Concordium. In scraping together information in the past months, Huzar was able to paint a clear picture of what had happened at Tegann. D’Amiran had been outfoxed, and Quinn had taken over the entire fortress with only a handful of soldiers. It appeared the Demoran captain would’ve succeeded even if Huzar and his men had stayed, the plan and its execution had been that solid. Quinn had also personally killed the duke.
An enemy one could respect was far preferable to an ally without honor, and Huzar bore him no ill will. He only wished to go home. It now appeared he would have to go through Captain Quinn to get there.
4
FROM HER SEAT within the giant willow tree, Sage watched Alex pace the garden path, pausing often to look in the direction he expected her to come from. She’d arrived several minutes before him and loosely braided her bath-wet hair as she waited. Maybe it was cruel, but she wanted to watch him for a few minutes, remembering the way he moved, savoring his eagerness. It was only fair, really, since he must have been spying on her in the tilting yards for quite a while.
He flexed his left hand as he walked, probably out of habit more than necessity now. It had taken weeks to recover full movement from the wound Alex had taken in the forearm at Tegann. He’d even admitted in his letters that he feared there was some minor permanent nerve damage. Alex wouldn’t want to make her worry, though, and Sage was concerned it was worse than he said. She’d have to ask his best friend, Lieutenant Casseck, for his opinion.
Sage nervously traced the silver-threaded designs on her dress. The blue brocade gown had cap sleeves and a neckline lower than she usually preferred, making her feel exposed. It was much too formal for a walk in the gardens, but everyone said it suited her coloring and played up her better features. Sage had actually come to like skirts in the past year. Well, perhaps like was too strong a word. She’d come to a greater appreciation of pretty clothes, even if she felt like a duck wearing swan feathers.
As the edge of the sun dipped below the high walls, Alex went to sit on the bench, bouncing his knees impatiently. Sage decided she’d had enough and called his name.
He jumped up and turned to squint into the thick, drooping branches behind him. “Sage?”
“I’m in here.”
Vaulting over the bench, he parted the curtain of leaves with his hands and leaned in. When he saw her, he scowled. “How long have you been here?”
Sage hopped down from the low-hanging limb. “Long enough.”
“Oh, you are going to pay for that.” He swooped inside the shelter of the tree and lifted her off her feet. She shrieked and flailed as he lowered her gently to the ground, then pinned her arms down so he could kiss her neck. “Say you’re sorry,” he whispered, his breath in her ear hitting her like a lightning bolt she felt to her toes.
“I can’t.” She giggled. “That would be a lie.”
“How long did I wait there like a fool? An hour?”
“Try three minutes. Five at most.”
“The longest five minutes of my life.”
“You deserved it after that stunt you pulled in the yards. How long were you watching me there?”
“Two times in as many hours you defeat me with treachery.” Alex released her wrists to bury one hand in her hair and slip the other around her waist. “I’m marrying a criminal mastermind.”
“I’m hardly—” But he cut her off with his mouth on hers. Sage wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. His hair was still wet, too, and smelled of evergreen soap, like the mountain forest in winter.
He lifted his face to whisper, “I’ve missed you so much,” before kissing her again and again, each time seemingly different, with a separate memory of longing attached. She never wanted it to end, but at last he leaned back to look at her, tracing his thumb over her lips. “Sweet Spirit,” Alex said softly. “I’d forgotten how much I’d do for that smile.”
Sage pulled one hand back from his shoulder. “You look well, though this will take some getting used to.” She ran her fingers over the scruff on his chin.
For a second he looked puzzled, then he laughed. “Would you believe I’d forgotten it was there? It was just easier to manage these last months. Warmer in the winter, too.” He studied her face. “Do you like it?”
She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure yet. It looks quite dashing, but I’ve only seen and imagined you clean-shaven, so it’s a little startling. And a bit rough on my face.”
“I’ll get rid of it tomorrow.”
“I can get used to it. Give me a couple days.”
Alex shook his head. “Nothing will come between me and my lady—nothing that would cause her to deny my kisses, especially. Besides, I can always grow it back later.”
“If you want.” Sage shrugged, honestly not caring. “Who else came with you?”
“Cass and Gram for officers,” Alex said, rubbing his face where she’d touched him. Lieutenants Casseck and Gramwell were two of his closest friends and had been with the escort group last year at Tegann. “Plus a hundred handpicked fighters.”
> That was interesting, especially considering how many similar soldiers had been arriving in the past weeks. She took a deep breath. Now came the question she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear answered. “How long are you here?”
“Not sure yet. Several days at least.”
Not great, but not terrible. “Will you have many daily duties?”
Alex rolled lazily onto his side next to her and stroked her bare arm with one finger, raising goose bumps among the freckles and faint scars. “Cass can handle most of them for me.”
“Shame on you, Captain. That’s an abuse of power.”
“Rank has its privileges. Besides, he’ll make captain soon, so he needs the practice.”
“Where will you go from here?”
Alex gently tugged her sleeve down and kissed her exposed shoulder. “Not sure about that, either. I have a theory, but I won’t know for a couple more days. We got here a little earlier than expected. Can’t imagine what drove me to travel so fast.”
“Did you come through Tegann?”
Even in the dim light she could see his face pale. “Yes, why?”
“I was just curious how much it had been rebuilt, after all the fires and such.”
“I honestly don’t know. We didn’t stop.” The venom in his voice made her recoil a little. “If it were up to me, I’d have burned the whole place down.”
How could she have been so thoughtless? Sage turned his face up to hers to find his eyes bright with tears. “Alex, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. “It’s all right. I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
She searched for something better to talk about. “So what’s your theory about your assignment?”
Alex sighed. “Sage, I’ve spent nine months waiting for this night. Can we please talk about something besides the army?”
His eyes were still closed as she brought her mouth to his. “I don’t think we need to talk at all,” she said.
5
MORROW D’AMIRAN HELD Charlie tight against him with one hand, a dagger in the other. Alex’s brother, barely nine years old, struggled vainly as his dark brown eyes begged forgiveness for being caught.
No, Alex wanted to tell him. You did everything right. This is happening because of my mistakes.
“Choose, Captain.” D’Amiran smiled as he brought the blade to Charlie’s throat.
Choose?
From the back room—the bedchamber—stepped the duke’s guard captain, Geddes, dragging a battered and bloody Sage. She was too weak to struggle as Geddes pinned her against his chest, but she stared at Alex accusingly.
“You said you’d come for me,” she spat. “But you didn’t.”
I thought you were dead. He begged her to understand. I would’ve torn this tower down with my bare hands if I’d known you were here.
The hate in her gray eyes did not diminish as Geddes pulled out a knife and yanked her head back to lay the blade across her slender throat. The ratty-eared guard looked back to the duke.
D’Amiran was still smiling. “Choose,” he said again.
* * *
Alex reached for his sword but found nothing at his waist, instead striking his elbow on the stone wall next to his cot. A bolt of pain shot up his arm to his shoulder, waking him fully before rendering his arm too numb to use. He tore at the blanket with the other hand and half fell, half rolled out of bed, then stumbled through the pitch darkness to the door and out into the cooler passage of the barracks. The light of the low torch burned his vision, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he gasped for air. When he was sure he wouldn’t be sick, he pushed to his feet and felt along the wall to the outer door.
The faint light from the approaching dawn was gentler on his eyes, and he wiped sweat and tears away as he sagged against a barrel of drinking water. It was a dream he’d had before, though not for several months.
Breathe, he told himself. It wasn’t real.
But so much of it was.
When he’d kicked his way into the window of D’Amiran’s private chamber that day at Tegann, it was the only place left she could’ve been. Alex had fully expected to be forced to choose between Sage and Charlie, and he’d had no idea how he would handle it. But only Charlie and the duke were in those rooms. And Charlie had died.
D’Amiran had made a critical mistake that morning in sending Captain Geddes to imply Sage had been caught in her attempt to escape Tegann. Alex was meant to think she was being tortured, but instead he’d assumed she’d been killed. For the first hour he was too sick to do anything. By the time he and his soldiers realized she might not be dead, Alex had regained control of himself, and he was able to make a rational, though rushed, plan. Had Alex thought from the beginning she was alive, he might have charged in without thinking.
Not might have. Would have.
Alex ran a hand through his damp hair, relieved that feeling had returned to his fingertips, and stood straight. His body pulsed with adrenaline as he strode back into the barracks. In his room, he quietly felt around for his boots and socks. Lieutenant Casseck stirred as Alex opened the door again to step out into the passage.
“Where you goin’?” his friend mumbled. “I thought we had the morning off.”
Normally a day began with group exercises, but Alex had pushed the men with him hard to get to the capital early and felt they deserved rest. “For a run,” he answered. “It’s almost dawn. Best time for it.”
“Crazy bastard.” Cass rolled into a sitting position and squinted at the torchlight slicing across the floor. “Need company?”
Alex hesitated. He didn’t want to wait the ten minutes Cass would need to be ready. “Catch me on my second lap?”
One circuit was a mile and a half. Cass rubbed his face. “Yeah. Second lap. Just make sure you actually wait for me.”
“Then don’t be late.” Alex broke into a run as soon as he was outside again. By the time Cass joined him, all traces of the nightmare and fear were gone from Alex’s face.
At least he hoped so.
6
SAGE WAS TO meet him after Chapel Day services so they could go for a ride in the hills above the city. Alex had brought his spare mount with him to Tennegol, intending to leave her behind for Sage. Knowing she’d be reluctant to accept such a gift, Alex planned to frame it as doing him a favor, which wasn’t entirely inaccurate. Shadow had been his first horse, and Alex wasn’t ready to give her up, but the weight of a fully armed soldier was a little much for the mare these days. She was perfect for Sage, however.
Sage was wearing riding breeches and her father’s old leather fowling jacket as she waited outside the barracks, chatting with a short, black-haired soldier. Her own hair glinted with sunlight as she shook her head and laughed. In his dream she’d been angry, and Alex took a moment to soak her happiness in, replacing the false memory with what was real. Sage looked away from her conversation and caught him staring. The soldier she was talking to stood straight.
“It’s been a long time, sir,” Sergeant Ash Carter said, rendering a salute. Alex tried not to roll his eyes as he returned it. Ash could’ve been an officer himself, but he’d refused a commission in favor of supporting his half brother, the crown prince. “How’ve you been?”
“Not too bad,” Alex answered. “What brings you here? I thought you were in Mondelea babysitting Rob.” When the conflict in Tasmet had become too risky, the prince was moved to serve in a safer region. Robert hadn’t taken it well, and Ash had gone along to calm him down.
“You know how it is when something important needs to be done by someone expendable,” Ash said with a self-deprecating grin. Born a year after the death of the first queen, Ash was illegitimate but had all the authority and privileges of a royal. Alex was technically only the crown prince’s cousin, but he considered Ash just as much family as Robert. They’d all stuck together through page and squire training. It was only in recent years their lives had begun to diverge.
Alex and Robert h
ad high-profile positions in the army, but Ash preferred to work in the background. Due to his invisible nature, he made an excellent spy. Had Alex not reassigned Ash to scout ahead and then taken his place as lead informant, things at Tegann would’ve been very different. Sage would’ve met and befriended the real Ash Carter, for one.
At the thought, Alex glanced at Sage, feeling queasy. She met his eyes with concern written on her face, and he smiled back though the nauseous feeling remained.
“So were you called in, too?” Alex asked his friend, keeping his voice low and trying to convey meaning with his tone.
Ash was about Sage’s height, and he had to tilt his head up to meet Alex’s eyes. “Yes.”
“Do you know why?”
His friend smiled slyly. “Maybe.”
“Care to share what you know?”
“And miss the look on your face tomorrow? Not a chance.”
Alex rolled his eyes. “I think I already know.”
“I really think you don’t.” Ash’s joking manner fell away. “Something big is going on.”
Alex glanced again at Sage, whose pale face was blank. She was listening, but pretending not to. “I’ve spent the last months fighting in Tasmet; you think I don’t know how big this conflict is?”
Ash shook his head. “No, Alex, it’s bigger.”
“Bigger how?”
“No offense to Sage here, but big enough that I can’t tell you until we’re securely in the council chambers.” Ash winked at her. “I’ll leave you two to spend some time together. After tomorrow you’re going to be very busy.”
Sage watched Ash go, her lips pursed. Alex slipped an arm around her waist and drew her close. Sweet Spirit, she smelled good. Like lavender and sage and sunshine.
She turned into him. “I see you shaved,” she said.
He bent his face down to kiss her. “Feel for yourself.”
“I dreamed about you last night,” she whispered several seconds later.
