Kerrick had been livid since he’d seen me kissing Tohon. Under the influence of Tohon’s life magic, I hadn’t had a choice. His powers had filled me with an unnatural desire and smashed my willpower to dust. After Tohon had left, and still reeling from Tohon’s display of dominance, I’d been grabbed by Kerrick who had then confessed he’d be upset if Tohon lured me away.
“Avry, are you listening to me?”
“Yes. Vyg bad. Pomyt good.”
“Avry.” His aggravation was clear.
I smiled. He was rather handsome when he was annoyed. Before he could launch into another lecture, I handed him Flea’s juggling stones for Belen, the letter and necklace for Noelle and the pouch full of Quain and Loren’s favorite herbs for them.
“But—”
“It’ll help with the ruse that I’d died.”
“How do I explain the extra time it took for me to catch up to them?”
“You’re supposed to be grieving, so it should be obvious even to Quain why. But if anyone asks, just give them that stony stare and they’ll back right off.” I met his gaze. “Yes, that one.”
“I’m not happy about this,” he said, but he handed me a pouchful of coins. “There should be enough in here for a couple months.”
He wrapped me into a fiercely protective hug before kissing me. His magic shot through me. If I were a plant, I’d have grown roots.
I pulled back before I changed my mind and stayed with him. “I’ll see you in Zabin.”
“You better.”
Squeezing his hand, I said goodbye and headed southeast. When I glanced back, he remained where I had left him, watching me. I shooed. He hefted his pack and turned north.
Although we were apart, the woods vibrated with his magic. A tingle zipped along my skin whenever I touched a leaf or brushed against a bush. Kerrick was keeping track of me. When I rested the next day, I kept my hand on the ground. That evening, his magic disappeared abruptly. Which, I hoped, meant he had reached the pass through the Nine Mountains and didn’t mean he’d encountered trouble.
A sharp ache of loneliness consumed me along with a horrible feeling that I’d never see him again.
KERRICK
Kerrick hefted his pack, heading north toward the main pass of the Nine Mountains. But after a few steps, he paused and glanced back. Avry had disappeared from sight, but thanks to his magical connection, he felt her passage through the woods. Unlike other intruders in the forest, she didn’t irritate the foliage and wasn’t deemed a nuisance to the living green.
No, she saved those special qualities just for him, driving him crazy with her stubbornness and risky schemes. He should follow her. Despite her promises to be careful, these were perilous times. Tohon and his abominations aside, mercs and gangs still roamed what was left of the Fifteen Realms.
The thought of losing her again sent sharp needles of pain into the center of his heart. He rubbed his hand over the stubble on his chin. The scent of vanilla filled his nose, and the memory of stroking Avry’s neck came unbidden. Avry’s new scent since the Peace Lily saved her life. Before she had smelled of honey and the lemon-scented soap she favored. While it was an interesting side-effect of her recovery, Kerrick didn’t care why it had happened. She was alive, that was all that mattered to him.
The desire to rush after her pulsed in his chest. He could send Ryne a note, telling the prince to meet him in Zabin. Except Avry wouldn’t be happy and he had no legitimate reason to change their plans to gather troops in Ivdel before marching south to aid Estrid. That would alert Ryne. And, for now, Kerrick knew that if everyone believed Avry dead, especially Tohon, she would be safer. Unless she tipped her hand.
He sighed. Best to meet up with Ryne as quickly as possible so they could deal with Tohon once and for all.
It took him a day to reach the road up to the main pass. Although it was spring and many of the other passes had opened, they were more difficult to climb. Kerrick weighed the risks. Tohon would expect him to go to Ivdel. If Kerrick headed east across Pomyt and used the Milligreen pass, the journey would be about twenty-two days. But if he crossed the main pass, it would take him closer to seventeen days. Unless he ran into one of Tohon’s ambushes.
The smart move would be to go the longer, safer route. Except Tohon might expect him to do just that and have that pass blocked. Milligreen was narrow and twisty, creating plenty of hiding spots, while the wider main pass gave him more room to maneuver.
In the end, speed won over all the other factors. Kerrick increased his pace, hoping to traverse the nine ridges in five days. His connection with Avry stopped when he stepped from the tree line. Worry for her flared. He concentrated on his progress to keep his imagination from running wild. It was all he could do at the moment.
After he crossed three ridges, he relaxed a bit. Surely Tohon’s men wouldn’t come this far to ambush him. By the fifth day, he descended the Nine Mountains and entered a lush valley in Ivdel Realm.
He breathed in deep, letting his tight muscles relax. The smells of pine and the sea mixed into a familiar scent. It’d been three years since he’d been in the northern realms. The Realm of Alga...home was twelve days to the west. His brother, Izak, and Great-Aunt Yasmin still lived in the Algan Palace in Orel.
Ryne’s castle was located about the same distance in the opposite direction. Kerrick turned east. Regret that he wouldn’t be able to check in on what remained of his family settled deep inside him. He’d send them a letter once he reached Ryne’s.
Someday, he’d return to Alga with Avry. After Tohon’s defeat and the Fifteen Realms restored. Kerrick had to believe that in order to keep fighting.
With his thoughts on Avry, he paralleled the east/west path below the foothills of the Nine Mountains. Keeping to the forest, he sensed a few other groups of travelers but avoided them even though the northern realms had been living in relative peace for the past two years.
He didn’t encounter any trouble until the eighth day of his eastern trek. Kerrick heard a sound that made his blood turn to ice. A throaty growl full of menace. He reached farther out with his magic. Aside from birds, rabbits and squirrels, the forest surrounding him was empty of larger predators.
Another growl sounded. It was louder and closer. This time Kerrick recognized the creature. An ufa. He pulled his sword and backed against a thick trunk, debating if he should climb the tree before the ufa attacked. He nixed the idea. Ufas had sharp claws to match their razor-sharp teeth.
Leaves rustled. Why couldn’t he sense it? Kerrick pulled power, blending in with the mottled browns and black of the trunk. But his scent gave him away. A large ufa broke through the bushes, heading straight for him.
Images from another attack flashed in his mind. The memory of burning pain and the sound of ripping flesh as teeth punctured his throat caused sweat to pour from his body. Not again.
Kerrick pointed his sword at the beast, but it stopped a foot from the blade’s tip. The ufa was as long as Kerrick was tall. Gray brindled fur covered solid muscle. It stared at Kerrick with cold dead eyes. Horror welled. Tohon was one sick bastard.
More rustling announced the arrival of another five dead ufas. They always traveled in packs. They fanned out, blocking any chance for escape. Not as if he could outrun one, let alone six.
Kerrick tried to influence the vines growing nearby, hoping they would tangle in the ufas’ legs, but the forest didn’t sense the ufas as a threat, even as they moved through the underbrush. Dead flesh nourished the living green and was an accepted part of its ecosystem. And the tree canopy above him contained nothing but healthy strong limbs.
With no other recourse left, he gripped the hilt of his sword, hoping to take a couple out before they finished him.
CHAPTER 2
I reached the outskirts of Mengels fourteen days after I left Kerrick. Bypassing Zabin had been tedious. I’d spent more time hiding than walking. The High Priestess Estrid’s holy army patrols covered more ground than before. Plus she had incr
eased the frequency of their sweeps.
The noise of her squads’ passage through the forest had made it easy to avoid them—it just took longer. But their ineptitude worried me greatly. There was no way they would be able to perform any stealth military tactics without giving their positions away. Tohon’s troops would cut right through them. They needed to learn Kerrick’s trick of moving in the woods without making a sound.
Outside the Lamp Post Inn, I wrapped my hair into a tight knot. It had grown a couple inches since Mom and her daughter, Melina, had dyed the blond strands back to my natural auburn color and trimmed it. Now it hung straight to the end of my shoulder blades.
I donned a pair of eyeglasses that I’d found. It made everything a little blurry but not enough to hinder me. Then I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head. While the spring days had been warm, the nights cooled fast enough that I wouldn’t draw unwanted attention. I’d decided to enter the inn during the evening rush when the arrival of one more person wouldn’t be unusual. I’d rent a room where Mom could help me with a better disguise when she had time.
A good plan, except only a few people arrived. Anxiety grew. Mom always had a full house. Well, the days I’d been here she had. Perhaps this was her off-season.
When I pushed into the common room, I jerked to a stop. The reasons for the small turnout sat at the bar and occupied most of the tables. Estrid’s red-robed acolytes had invaded the inn.
I would have retreated, but a few of the acolytes spotted me standing in the doorway. If I left, it would be suspicious. So I strolled over to the bar to inquire about a room. Waiting for the bartender to finish with another customer, I scanned the inn’s common area.
A blaze roared in the hearth. Mom had covered the rough wooden tables with bright tablecloths, and cushions softened the chairs. Pastel paintings of flowers hung on the walls, and the mantel displayed Mom’s teapot collection. Despite the relaxed decor, tension thickened the air.
The door to the kitchen banged open. Mom stood on the threshold brandishing a spoon and fussing at one of the servers. Wisps of her pure white hair had escaped her bun. Stains coated her apron, and she looked years older even though I’d last seen her four and a half months ago. Not good.
She spotted me but didn’t react. “What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to rent a room.”
Mom glanced at the acolytes sitting at the bar. One man nodded to her. She pointed her spoon toward the tables. “Have a seat. I might have an open room, let me check.”
Oh, no. I retreated and found a small table in the back right corner out of the direct firelight. My thoughts swirled with questions. When had Estrid invaded Mengels? Should I just bolt and hope for the best?
A server I didn’t recognize took my order. In fact, I didn’t know any of the waitstaff. More than a few acolytes eyed me with interest. Swords hung from their waists. Which was a new twist. The acolytes I’d seen before hadn’t been armed. Well, not visibly. I wondered if these devotees would try to “recruit” me as they had my sister.
Noelle had been living on the streets of Grzebien when Estrid’s army had arrived to “help” the plague survivors, whether they’d wanted it or not. Along with a group of other street rats, Noelle had been rounded up and sent to a training camp.
The scars on my back burned with guilt as I remembered Noelle swinging a mallet at my head and accusing me of abandoning her. She’d been ten when my mother and younger brother, Allyn, had sickened with the plague and died, leaving her alone. At the time, I was in Galee working as an apprentice healer. Noelle said she’d sent me letters begging me to come home, but I never received them. I suspected my mentor, Tara, had intercepted them.
That still wasn’t an acceptable excuse. Or the fact that, since the plague swept with such speed, I wouldn’t have gotten home in time. Noelle was right. I’d abandoned her, and I needed to make amends.
Since my every move was being scrutinized by the acolytes, I ate my meal without tasting it.
Mom arrived with a slice of strawberry pie. She set it down in front of me.
“I didn’t order—”
“A skinny little thing like you can afford to have dessert.”
And just for a second, I caught a gleam of recognition in her eyes before she returned to brisk innkeeper.
“I do have a vacancy. How long are you planning to stay?”
“One night.”
“Just you?”
“Yes.”
“When you’re finished, I’ll show you the way.” She left.
Kerrick was right. The pie was delicious. Too bad I couldn’t really enjoy it. Not with Mom acting so strange. I hoped I’d have time to talk to her before the acolytes ambushed me. Because even looking through the blurry lenses of my glasses, there was no missing the nods and speculative stares that passed between them.
* * *
Mom led me to a tiny room on the first floor. Relief loosened a few knots in my stomach when I spotted the window between a narrow bed and a tall, thin armoire. I yanked off the spectacles and rubbed the ache in my forehead. While she lit the lantern on the night table, I closed the door and leaned against it.
“Tell me this isn’t as bad as it looks,” I said.
“It’s worse.” Grief leaked through the bland persona she’d adopted.
“Melina?”
“Taken.” She sat on the edge of the bed as if her legs could no longer hold her. “As you will be.”
No surprise. “Now?”
“Middle of the night. They have keys to all the doors, so you need to leave right now.”
“Do they recognize me?” I asked.
“No. They think you’re a lone traveler and an easy target.”
“Tell me what happened?”
The story sounded too familiar. Estrid’s troops had arrived to help. They’d conscripted all the young people and “converted” as many as they could, turning them into true believers of the creator.
“My rooms are filled with acolytes, and Chane, the one in charge of Mengels, is staying here, as well,” Mom said.
“The big guy at the bar?” I asked.
“Yes. He says if I cooperate, I’ll see Melina again.”
“Do you know where they took her?”
“Up north. They need soldiers to fight King Tohon’s army. They’re planning to recruit in all the towns in Sectven Realm.” Mom twisted the end of her apron. “I don’t know what I’ll do if she’s killed in battle.”
“She won’t be. I’ll make sure she’s safe.”
Mom glanced at me. “I can’t ask—”
“You’re not. I’m offering. Besides, I saved her before, and I’m not about to let her get hurt again.”
She straightened her apron. “How can I help?”
I debated. Kerrick had instructed me to find a job that made me invisible. If Estrid’s acolytes recruited me as a soldier for her army, then I’d be one of dozens. And one uniformed soldier looked much like another. Except I’d be watched as a potential flight risk and wouldn’t have any freedom. Their squads needed to learn how to move within the forests without giving away their positions or they’d be slaughtered. It was something I could do if I managed to convince them they needed my help.
Mom waited for my answer.
Kerrick wouldn’t be happy. Good thing he wasn’t here to lecture me.
“I need a better disguise.” I explained to Mom about my death and about the Peace Lily’s role in my survival, just in case something happened to me and Kerrick. “However, you cannot tell a soul I’m alive.”
“Of course not, dearie. I protect my girls,” she said with a spark of the Mom I’d remembered.
I outlined my plan.
“Goodness, such a to-do. You’re heading straight into trouble. I hope you know what you’re doing.” She left to fetch a few supplies.
I hoped so, too. While I waited for her, I arranged the room to aid with my plans. Mom returned with a basin, dyes, towels and a tray laden wit
h other materials, including a couple jars filled with flesh-colored goo. At least that was what it looked like.
“I can’t lighten your hair since they’ve seen it darker, but I can dye it so it’s more red than brown.” She gestured for me to sit. “Make sure you always wear it up or pulled back. It will help make you look older.”
She worked fast, and soon my hair was wrapped tight in a towel. Opening one of the jars, she dipped her fingers in and then smeared the goo over my face and neck. Then she attacked my eyebrows with tweezers, plucking without pause. She dyed the thin arcs she left behind.
“This is going to hurt,” she warned me before brandishing a syringe. “Hold very still.”
I almost jumped from my seat when she pricked my bottom lip. Bracing for the stab of pain to my upper lip didn’t make it feel any better. My lips throbbed as if I’d bitten them very hard.
“Watz tat or?” I asked through swollen lips.
“It’s venom from a lannik snake. It’ll make your lips fuller for now.” She considered. “Usually it wears off in six months, but it might not last that long for you.”
“Ight ot?”
“Healers heal faster, right?”
Our bodies healed about ten times faster. I nodded. It was easier than talking.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to them. Now let’s get the lightener off your face.”
Mom washed my face, combed and braided my hair so the braid circled my head like a rope. She sprinkled something wet over my nose and cheeks before blotting at it with a towel.
With a satisfied smile she flourished a hand mirror, turning it until a stranger stared back at me.
“Freckles?” My now pale skin sported an array of freckles.
“They match the hair color. I used an ink that should last six months, and your natural skin color shouldn’t return for at least four months. I’ll put together a package of supplies for you to take along, so you can reapply if needed. And you’ll need a new name and realm to go along with the disguise.” She stepped back and regarded me. “Not bad, dearie. With the spectacles on, no one will recognize you.”
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