by Rebecca York
Shading his eyes, he looked up.
“We can get there by late afternoon,” she said, then turned to face him. “I’ve been thinking on the problem of getting you into the village.”
“There are guards?” he asked, thinking of the defenses at Arandal Castle.
“No. For safety’s sake, there are wards that enclose the village. When we get close to the top of the mountain, you will feel a strong need to turn around and run.”
“I won’t.”
“It’s not that simple. The wards will work on your mind in ways that you can’t anticipate.”
“You mean they are dark magic,” he answered.
“No. Protections for my people. You won’t be able to get through on your own. I had trouble leaving. It’s not just the warning in your head. There’s an invisible barrier.”
He felt his eyes narrow. “Then what game are you playing?”
“No game. Just a warning that it will not be easy. Do you want to go back?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you will have to hold tight to me. I already came through once. This time I’ll be better prepared. And I will take you with me. But we still have some time before we encounter the barrier.”
“Then why are you telling me now?”
“So you will not be surprised by it.”
They rested for a while, then started toward the mountaintop again.
* * *
As they drew near to the shield, Rowan waited for the warning to shoot into her mind.
It happened to Grantland first. One moment he was walking beside her. The next, he was down on his knees, his hands clamped to his ears, his face contorted in pain.
She pulled him back, out of range, and his angry eyes shot toward her.
“What trick is this?”
“You’re always expecting tricks. Those are the wards I told you about. The barrier comes next.”
Rowan saw his jaw clench. She knew that a man with less resolve would give up, but Grantland would see this through if it was within his power.
“I’m going to try and shield you,” she said.
“How?”
“Stand in back of me. Press close and wrap your arms around my waist. Ignore the pain and keep moving forward. If you can.”
“I will.”
She wanted to tell him they would find out if he could do it, but she kept the observation to herself.
He moved in back of her, clasping his arms around her waist. He hadn’t touched her since he’d untied the ropes that had bound her. As he embraced her, it was a shock to feel his body pressed to hers.
They hadn’t known each other long, but circumstances had speeded up their relationship. Now, in some strange fashion she was drawing strength from his touch. That knowledge gave her a pang. Couples in the village drew strength from each other in that way, but only those who shared a loving bond.
She shared nothing with Grantland besides the desire to rid the world of an evil man.
Well, there was more. But nothing she could ever act upon. Not with Prince Grantland of Arandal.
Focusing her gaze in the distance, she moved forward, and Grantland came with her. She felt his body stiffen as the silent warning dug into his brain again. Moments later, it hit her, too, and she gasped.
Danger. Go back. Danger.
She had thought she was prepared, but last time she had been coming from the other side. This time she was heading directly toward the warning beacon.
Grantland’s arms tightened around her. “Keep going,” he gasped.
She did, wondering if trying to break into Valleyhold would kill both of them.
Instead, she drew confidence from Grantland’s determination. And perhaps he did from her. Together they kept staggering toward the rim of the mountain.
When she hit the invisible wall, she cried out. Grantland loosened one of his hands, reaching out and pressed against the transparent skin of the barrier.
He snatched his hand back as though he had thrust it into a fire.
“Evil magic,” he croaked.
“Protection from such as you,” she answered.
She flattened her hand against the transparent shield, feeling a slight vibration on the surface as she had before.
Last time she had eased through. This time she gritted her teeth and threw herself against the shield. Grantland’s weight was in back of her, adding momentum.
He pressed against her, and together they tumbled through, landing in a heap on the grass.
For long moments they both lay breathing hard. Her pulse pounded, and her ears rang. Gradually the pain in her head subsided.
When she turned toward Grantland, she saw he was pale and still, lying with his eyes closed. Fear leaped inside her. She scrambled for his hand, clasping his fingers.
“Grant. Speak to me, Grant.”
He didn’t answer, and the fear inside her grew.
Rising above him, she pressed her hand to his chest and felt the beating of his heart. She wrapped her arms around him, shifting on top of him as she clasped him to her, praying to the gods that he was all right. When she heard him draw in a deep breath, she raised her head.
“Tell me you’re all right,” she pleaded.
“Yes,” he said, but she thought the answer was probably automatic. When he shifted his weight, she rolled off of him and lay staring up at the sky.
“I wouldn’t have believed something like that was possible—if I hadn’t felt it.”
“We have to protect ourselves.”
“How many people do you kill with that thing?”
“None. They go back when they hear the warning.”
“Are you sure? Or is that only what your elders tell you?”
“I believe them.”
When he made a scoffing sound, she sat up.
He also pushed himself up.
“We didn’t talk about how we’re going to get Telman,” she said.
“You mean kill him.”
Her chest tightened. That had been her intention, but now that she was here, it wasn’t so easy to think about what they had to do.
“You’ve changed your mind?” he asked.
“No. If there is such a thing as an evil wizard, it is Telman. He is a danger to everyone who walks the earth. But I’ve never killed. The thought of it makes me tremble.”
“But you agreed.”
“Because I knew I must.”
“You have a plan?”
She nodded. “I have women’s clothing with me. I’ll change and go down to the village and tell him I needed to be by myself for a few days, but now I want him to come up to the mountain with me to talk about our future.”
“You think you can keep from revealing your true feelings?”
She answered with a harsh laugh. “I’ve been doing it for months.” She looked around. “We should pick a spot where you can hide. I’ll distract him by pretending I want to make love with him, and you come up behind him and…” Her voice trailed off.
“All right.”
She was about to find the gown she’d brought when she saw a man climbing rapidly up the hill toward them. It was Telman.
Chapter Eight
Rowan gasped. They had made a plan; now it was in ruins. Somehow Telman knew that she had left. Knew that she was back. And he was coming to…what?
One thing she understood for a certainty, he had more power than she had ever dreamed of.
As he drew closer, she saw the thunder on his features and she felt a wave of hatred blasting toward her, knocking her to the ground. The barrier had made her head ache. This was far worse. She could barely think. Barely move.
“You dared to leave. Now you dare to come back?” he spat out as he stomped toward her and Grantland.
There was no time to plan. And how could she plan with the pain pounding through her head?
Telman was going to kill them, but she wouldn’t make it easy for him.
“You slut. You have lain with this
man,” Telman bellowed as he approached.
Grantland cried out, and she knew Telman had turned his wrath on him.
“Pretend you can’t defend yourself,” she whispered to Grantland.
He answered with a mirthless laugh.
“I’m going to fight him with my mind. If I keep his attention, maybe you can strike.”
It was all she had time to say.
As Telman marched toward them, she lay limp on the grass, gathering her feeble resources. She had never used her power as a weapon, but she must do it now.
“Why?” he raged as he drew near. “I would have made you queen of this stinking little village. Queen of Arandal.”
Grantland gasped as he took in the import of those words.
Rowan kept her gaze fixed on Telman. “You frighten me,” she whimpered.
“You can watch me kill your lover. Then I’ll fuck your brains out before I kill you.”
When he turned to Grantland, she knew she must act.
Gathering all her power, she imagined a spear in her mind’s eye and threw it at Telman, striking him in the chest.
He made a sound of surprise and whirled toward her. “You dare?” he bellowed.
A bolt of energy hit her then, knocking the wind from her lungs. But she gritted her teeth and summoned more power, hurling another missile at Telman. This time she aimed for his leg, and she had the satisfaction of seeing his knee buckle.
“Bitch,” he spat out, his total focus on her. He wasn’t even looking at Grantland, who had edged away and was circling around in back of the evil wizard.
Telman struck her with another bolt, making her heart stop before starting to beat again. He had said he would rape her. It seemed he was mad enough to kill her now. The pain in her head and her chest were almost unbearable.
And then, suddenly they stopped.
She tried to focus on Telman and saw a look of shock on his face.
Then he fell forward, and she saw Grantland behind him, pulling his sword from their enemy’s back.
As Telman lay on the ground, Grantland ran him through again.
Then he came down beside her, gathering her up and carrying her a few yards away before sinking to his knees.
They hung on to each other, panting.
“We did it,” she whispered.
“You kept his attention so I could attack.”
“Now what do we do?”
“Bury him.”
She gave a small nod. She had thought she could go back to life in her village, but after what had transpired, she wasn’t sure she could manage it. She would be living a lie every day of her life, pretending that she didn’t know what had happened to Telman.
She glanced sidelong at Grantland and saw his lips were set in a grim line. She ached to say that she wanted to go back to the world with him. To be with him.
She could have said that to Grant, the man who had made love to her in the cave. She couldn’t say it to Prince Grantland. He had responsibilities back in his own kingdom. But anything they said to each other would have to be postponed. They must hide the evidence of murder.
Raising her head, she looked up and gasped. It seemed it was too late to hide anything. The nine village elders were coming toward them.
They were led by Fryan, the head man who had been one of the first to champion Telman.
“The second disturbance in the shield,” he said. “You broke the rules of the community and left. Then you came back. You must explain yourself.”
She nodded.
His focus shifted. “And who is with you?”
Before she could speak, Fryan looked from her and Grantland to Telman and made a sharp sound. Rushing to Telman, he dropped to his knees and felt for a pulse in the man’s neck.
“What have you done?” he demanded.
She dragged in a ragged breath and lifted her head. “Fryan, we rid the village of a terrible scourge.”
The head man made an angry sound. “You dare to make that claim, when you have killed the man who would have given us back our place in the world?”
“No. Don’t you understand? He was evil. He told me he wanted to rule the village.”
“And rule Arandal,” Grantland added.
He stood, then helped Rowan to her feet. “We have done what needed to be done to protect you.”
“And who are you?” Fryan demanded.
“Prince Grantland of Arandal.”
As he said his name, he heard a collective gasp from the elders.
Fryan’s gaze shot to Rowan. “You killed our leader, and you have brought our enemy to Valleyhold,” he spat out.
“No. He’s not our enemy. He’s different from the others.”
“Silence, foolish girl. They are all the same.”
Telman had tried to kill her, and she had fought him off. Now there were too many elders to fight. Working together, they wrapped her and Grantland in a smothering, invisible blanket. She could barely breathe, barely think. She would have fallen if strong men hadn’t caught her, then started dragging them down the mountain.
* * *
Grantland struggled to stay calm as the men dragged him and Rowan away. He tried to turn toward her, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even grab her hand, but he managed to press his fingers against hers.
He wanted to tell her they’d get out of this, but he suspected that would be a lie. When he tried to drag in air, he felt like he was drowning. Taking shallow breaths helped as he stared through the invisible wrappings that held them fast.
Below the mountainside were neat, well-tended fields followed by houses more substantial than most he would find in Arandal. Under other circumstances he might have been impressed with the prosperity of Valleyhold.
The men herded him and Rowan toward what must be the village square. Off to one side stood a cage made of wood. It looked as if breaking out would be easy, but he suspected that was only an illusion. Probably there were wards around the damned thing like the barrier around the valley—only designed to contain a prisoner.
In this case, two prisoners.
The men took away their packs and tossed him and Rowan inside, where they sprawled on the packed earth floor. Once they were confined by the cage, the bonds around them dissolved.
Grantland dragged in a grateful breath as he moved his arms and legs.
“Hear me,” the man named Fryan said.
While everyone else stepped back, he continued to speak. “The council will meet and decide your fate. Meanwhile, you will be bound here.”
As he spoke, Grantland watched a film form around the cage, making a barrier that was thick and milky looking.
“Wait,” Rowan called out. “Let me explain.”
“We have seen what you have done. You cannot justify your actions.”
As one, the council members turned and walked away leaving the prisoners alone.
Grantland sprang to the bars and shook them, but they stayed in place.
“What do you think they mean to do to us?” he asked.
“Something bad. We have killed a man they honored.”
Grantland snorted. “And you tried to tell them he was evil.”
“But they never understood him.”
“What will they do to us?” he asked again.
“Most likely, kill us. And if they don’t, we’ll probably wish we were dead.”
“Why?”
“They will do something horrible to our minds. Make us simpletons fit for nothing more than working in the fields or herding sheep.”
He caught his breath, staring out at the grassy square. “You said your people were good.”
“In their eyes, we have committed murder. And I have broken many of their laws. Like bringing a dangerous outsider here.”
“For a good cause.”
“You know they don’t see it that way.”
* * *
A flicker of movement caught Rowan’s eye. She looked through the milky barrier to see a girl tiptoeing toward
their cage. It was her sister, Willow. The girl stopped and glanced over her shoulder, then hurried forward. When she stretched out her arm toward the cage, the confinement shield made a sizzling noise, and she yanked her hand quickly back.
“Are you hurt?” Rowan asked urgently.
“Just a little.” Willow flexed her fingers, then said, “I was so worried about you. I knew you left to escape Telman. Our parents feared for you, but I didn’t tell them anything.” Her gaze swung to Grantland. “You brought an outsider here. No wonder they were angry.”
“He swore not to reveal the secrets of Valleyhold.”
“And you take his word for that?”
“Yes. But that’s not why the council imprisoned us.” Rowan sucked in a breath and let it out before saying, “We killed Telman.”
Willow looked from her to Grantland in disbelief. “How could you?”
“He was going to kill me and rape Rowan, then kill her,” Grantland said.
Willow gasped.
“Rowan kept him focused on her so I could come up behind him and strike a killing blow.”
“Then you have done us a service.”
“The council doesn’t agree with you,” Rowan answered.
“I know. I was hiding in the shadows and I heard them talking among themselves. I knew they were angry. I knew it wasn’t only because you had run away, but I didn’t know what else had happened.”
Rowan kept her gaze fixed on her sister. “We don’t have much time. Tell our parents that I love them. And what I did was for the good of the village. They won’t want to hear that now, but maybe one day they will understand.”
“I’ll make them understand.”
Rowan swallowed hard. “Don’t try to convince them now. It will only make them angry at you.” She dragged in a breath and let it out. “You should go before someone catches you here, and you get in trouble.”
“I don’t care!”
“Yes you do. You have to live in Valleyhold, and you must think of your own future. They are already angry beyond reason.”
Willow nodded. “I love you,” she said. “I hate what our community has become.”
“I love you, too. Don’t hate our people. Things will settle down. You can have a good life here now that Telman is gone.”
Willow held up her hand, palm out, almost pressing against the barrier. From the other side, Rowan did the same, and their palms would have touched if the shield hadn’t separated them. Tears glistened in her sister’s eyes.
