“Tohon’s magic will sense your blood on your sword, helping to support our ruse.”
Kerrick glanced at his hands. Blood dripped from multiple cuts. As he reached for the sword, he wondered if he could take the weapon and kill Cellina before she could signal her ufas. His fingers closed around the leather. Meeting her gaze, he released the weapon.
“Last chance for you to come with me to Ryne’s,” he said, knowing the next time they encountered each other would probably be on the battlefield.
“Last chance for you to get out of here before I change my mind,” she said.
He gave her a two finger salute and resumed his trek east.
Kerrick’s energy faded after a few miles. Kneeling next to a stream, he washed the dried blood, ufa slime and sweat from his face, neck and arms. His hands shook with a delayed reaction from the fight.
That was too close. He hoped Cellina’s reprieve meant she might be a potential ally in the future. Pushing to his feet, he continued east.
* * *
A loud crash sounded behind him. Kerrick spun, grabbing for his sword. His fingers wrapped around an unfamiliar hilt.
“My bad,” Quain said, returning the copper statue that had fallen to the marble floor, turning it so the dent was no longer visible. He glanced at Kerrick’s hand. “Expecting trouble?”
“Depends. Why are you here?” he asked.
Quain and Loren, or as Belen liked to call them, the monkeys, had been...not quite avoiding him since he’d arrived at Ryne’s castle four days ago, but they’d been keeping out of his way. They had acknowledged Avry’s absence with grief-stricken expressions. Ryne had warned them prior to Kerrick’s arrival, but they had hoped, with Kerrick’s magic strengthening her healing powers, she would have survived the plague.
“Prince Ryne is looking for you,” Quain said. The lantern’s glow shone on his bald head.
“What does he want?” Kerrick planned to help speed up the departure preparations. Every day spent here gave Avry another day to encounter trouble.
“Don’t know, but he said right away.”
Kerrick suppressed his annoyance as he headed toward the prince’s office. Ryne probably wanted another detailed explanation of the ufa attack. He realized he still held the sword’s hilt and relaxed his grip. Cellina had taken the sword his father had gifted to him when he’d graduated from boarding school. Before the plague had killed King Neil and most of Kerrick’s family.
He concealed the shudder that ripped through him when he thought of the ufa pack. Kerrick would be content to never see another ufa in his lifetime. But the fact Tohon was training and using them meant Kerrick would likely encounter them in battle.
Worry for Cellina swirled in his stomach. He hoped she’d be able to lie to Tohon. The life magician was quick to anger and could easily murder her with one touch.
Quain followed Kerrick into Ryne’s spacious office. Large windows allowed in plenty of sunlight. Oversized armchairs ringed the huge black slab of obsidian that served as Ryne’s desk and conference table. Loren lounged in a red-and-gold-striped chair but sat up straight and eyed Kerrick warily. A few silver hairs shone among Loren’s short black hair. At thirty-five he was the oldest of Kerrick’s gentlemen and balanced Quain’s youth and inexperience nicely. Otherwise, Kerrick would have lost his patience with Quain long ago.
A memory tugged. Avry had accused Kerrick of being moody, sullen and distant. And from the way Quain and Loren had been acting around him, he guessed they thought the same. He smoothed his expression and approached.
Ryne was bent over a map of the Fifteen Realms. Kerrick waited, studying his friend. Ryne’s dark brown hair fell forward almost covering his hazel eyes. Thin and five inches shorter than Kerrick, his pleasant and average appearance belied his cunning mind.
Tapping the map with a stylus, Ryne said, “I think if we send in waves of smaller units, we could soften Tohon’s troops up before hitting them with a bigger force.”
“Sounds like something you should discuss with Estrid,” Kerrick said.
Ryne looked up at his tone. “I know you’re all about action, but there has to be a great deal of planning beforehand or we won’t succeed. Why are you so anxious to leave?”
“Summer is a few weeks away. It’s prime time for Tohon to launch an attack. We should be there,” he said.
“Tohon won’t attack until we’re there.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It does to Tohon,” Ryne said. “The Nine Mountains are an effective barrier. If he conquered Estrid’s army before we arrived, then he would have to cross the mountains to get to us. We’d litter the passes with ambushes, and it would make it harder for Tohon to succeed.”
“We’re safe here, so why don’t we stay and see what happens?” Quain asked.
“I said it would be harder for him to succeed, not that it would stop him. We don’t have the resources or manpower to fight him.” Ryne glanced at Kerrick before continuing. “Besides, Avry promised Danny we’d heal our world. That includes all fifteen realms.”
There was a moment of silence as the men mourned their friend. Kerrick hated deceiving them, but he understood the need. Tohon could have spies among Ryne’s soldiers. Plus, he had promised Avry not to tell a soul that she lived, including Ryne. Kerrick would honor his word.
“When are we leaving?” Kerrick asked.
“When we’re ready,” Ryne said.
“What did you want to see me about?” He tried not to growl in irritation.
“Have you talked to Danny and Zila about Avry yet?”
Instantly wary, Kerrick said, “I thought you—”
“I warned them when we left you that she might not survive the sickness, but they need to hear what happened to her from you.”
“Ryne, I—”
“It’s not a request. Talk to them before we leave.”
“Yes, sir. Anything else?”
“No.”
Kerrick left. Hard enough dealing with the monkey’s gloomy moods, but he felt almost sick thinking about upsetting the kids. No sense putting it off. He strode to the wing where they had been staying.
Not wanting to scare them, he drew in a calming breath before entering their room. A woman sat with Zila in her lap, reading her a book. Danny was at a desk, hunched over a wooden puzzle.
According to Avry, these two might develop healing powers. Tohon had injected them with the Death Lily’s lethal toxin, but they’d survived the poison. Two among dozens of children who had been killed by Tohon’s experiments.
“Can I help you?” their nanny asked.
“Kerrick!” Zila jumped down and flung herself at him, wrapping her thin arms around his legs. The eight-year-old’s bushy brown hair had been wrestled into a braid.
Danny kept his distance. “We heard you’d arrived, but Prince Ryne said you needed some time and we should wait.”
How diplomatic of him, Kerrick thought wryly. He glanced at the young woman hovering nearby. “Can I talk to them?”
“Oh. Sure.” She headed toward another door. “I’ll be in Zila’s room if you need anything,” she said to the kids. “Anything at all.” She shot Kerrick a warning look before leaving.
Danny rolled his eyes. “She’s overprotective.” His black hair was neatly trimmed, and he was an inch taller. No surprise, since at thirteen he was just starting puberty.
Delaying the inevitable, Kerrick asked them how they liked living here.
“Oh, it’s fun,” Zila said. “Prince Ryne visits us every day. He plays chess with Danny and wins every time.”
“I’m getting better,” Danny protested.
She ignored him. “There’s heaps of books everywhere.”
“You don’t know how to read,” Danny said.
“I do, too. Berna’s teaching me.”
“Berna?” Kerrick asked.
“Our nanny.”
“Ah. Do you like her?”
“She’s okay for a girl,” Danny said, crossing hi
s arms.
“She’s the nicest person I know.” Zila chewed on her lower lip. “Well, the second nicest. Avry’s the first.” She peered up at Kerrick with big olive-colored eyes. “Where’s Avry, Kerrick? Prince Ryne said you’d tell us what happened to her.”
He crouched down so he was eye level with the two kids. Trying to break it to them gently, Kerrick explained how Avry died from the plague. Seeing Zila’s pretty eyes flood with tears was worse than being knifed in the gut.
“So if we become healers, we shouldn’t heal anyone with the plague?” Danny asked. His voice warbled, and the tip of his nose turned red.
“You won’t find anyone,” Kerrick said. Although there was a possibility Tohon would use the information he’d learned from working with the Healer’s Guild to create another strain. But this wasn’t the time to express his worries. “There hasn’t been a case in over two years. Prince Ryne had been frozen in a magical stasis to keep him alive until I found a healer.” He gave them a wry smile. “I didn’t think it would take me so long.”
Danny kept up his brave front and returned Kerrick’s grin.
But Zila burst into loud sobs. “You killed her,” she shouted, then ran from the room and slammed the door.
Kerrick and Danny exchanged a glance.
“She’s eight,” Danny said. “Her reaction is understandable.”
The nanny poked her head in, asking what happened. Kerrick told her.
She scowled at him. “They’re children. If I’d known what you were here to talk about I’d have stayed with them.”
“They hardly knew her.” Kerrick tried to defend himself as Berna hurried from the room after Zila.
Danny gazed at him with a pained expression. “She rescued us from Tohon.” He gestured to the room. “We went from lab rats to being spoiled rotten. Doesn’t matter how much time we spent with her. She’s...” He swallowed. “She will always be special to us.”
“Yeah. I get that,” Kerrick said. “Sorry.”
Berna returned flustered and red-faced as if she had been running. “Zila’s disappeared. Don’t just sit there, help me look for her.”
When Berna turned her back, Danny rolled his eyes. “Berna gives up too fast,” he whispered to Kerrick. “Come on, this shouldn’t take long.”
Kerrick followed the boy from the room, marveling at the boy’s ability to shift back and forth from a child to a young man in moments.
However, Danny would be wrong about the search. It would extend for hours, enlisted dozens of seekers and covered the entire fifty-room castle without success.
A new worry swirled in his chest. If they couldn’t even find an eight-year-old, how would they fare against Tohon’s army?
CHAPTER 4
Ursan flourished his knife, threatening me. “Talk, or I’ll start cutting off body parts.”
“Yours? Or mine?” I kept my voice steady despite my insides twisting into goo. “It’s an important distinction.”
Grabbing my left hand, he pressed the blade against my wrist. Blood welled as the sharp steel cut into my skin.
“I see.” I craned my neck to meet his gaze a good six inches above me.
He was as solid as an oak tree. He even had muscles in his neck. A square-shaped head added to his sturdiness. His intent to harm shone in his eyes. I would have been terrified, except he held my hand. Skin contact was all I needed to defend myself. Except if I shocked him, then what would I do?
“I’m Irina of Gubkin Realm. I volunteered—”
“Bullshit. You’re one of Tohon’s magicians.” He drew in a deep breath. “I can smell it.”
Oh, no. He was a magic sniffer. I cursed my rotten luck. The day had just been too easy.
“He sent you to spy on us.” Ursan’s knife cut deeper.
I hissed in pain. “Why would I offer to help train your men if I worked for Tohon?” I sensed a softening. “He’d want me to sabotage your efforts, not aid them.”
“But you’re not an ordinary girl, are you?” Ursan sniffed my hair. “Not a water mage or air...” Another snort. “I smell forest magic and life magic.” His grip tightened. “Only one life magician in the Fifteen Realms, which means you’ve been with Tohon.”
I thought fast. “And there’s only one forest mage left. And they’re on opposite sides.”
“Prince Kerrick disappeared. No one knows where he is. He could be dead or Tohon’s prisoner.”
So Ursan knew Kerrick was a forest mage. I wondered what else he knew. However, this had gone on too long. I made a quick decision and zapped him. He grunted but failed to let go. Sending another blast, I forced him to his knees. What was it with these big guys? Didn’t they feel pain? The third assault loosened his grip on the knife. I yanked the weapon from his hand, then released him.
I stepped back as he sank onto his heels, panting and sweating.
When he regained his composure, he asked, “What magic is that?”
My initial instinct was to lie, but all he had to do was notice the already healing cut on my wrist to figure it out. “I’m a healer.”
A variety of expressions crossed his face. From surprised to suspicious to confused and then back to suspicious. “The healer with Prince Kerrick also disappeared.”
“Obviously, there’s more than one healer.” I waved my left hand. “I can prove it to you in a few hours.”
His confusion returned. “Why are you here?”
“Tohon lifted the bounty on healers and I was sick of hiding.” I shrugged. “I wanted to help.”
“Why aren’t you helping in the infirmary?”
Good question. Did I have a good answer? “Healers are still not welcome.”
“Not around here. That other healer was here for a few weeks last year. She saved a bunch of lives. We owe her.”
Nice to know I’d been appreciated. “It’s still a big risk. And one I’m not ready to take.”
He gestured to the forest. “Who taught you how to go silent?”
“No one. I’ve been on the run for four years. I’ve learned a few things.” I glanced around. The light was fading fast. “What are you going to do?”
“Me?”
I laughed at his shocked expression. “Yes, you.”
Ursan stared at me. “I’d thought you’d...disappear.”
“Then you thought wrong. I’m tired of running and want to help. I’d rather teach your squad for now. But if you want to expose me...I won’t stop you.” Handing him his knife, I waited.
He clambered to his feet and once again towered over me. The desire to cut and run pulsed through me for a second, but I steadied my nerves.
“All right,” he said. “We’ll do it your way for now. But if I see you doing anything suspicious, I’ll drag your ass to the major. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
As we headed back, I said, “Lieutenant Thea knows you’re a magic sniffer. She asked you to sniff me out, right?”
“Yes, but not many do. We don’t want too many people to know just in case Tohon sends one of his magicians undercover.” He gave me a pointed look.
“It’s a good strategy. I’m sure Tohon has spies in camp.”
“You’re sure as in you know, or you’re sure as in you think?”
Now it was my turn to give him a pointed stare.
“Yeah. Dumb question. No doubt he has spies.”
We joined the lieutenant and the other sergeants a few minutes after sunset. All five of them turned to us. I kept quiet just in case Ursan changed his mind.
“She found me,” he said. “We’ll begin training my squad in the morning.”
The lieutenant said, “What took you so long?”
Ursan grinned. “I cheated.”
Thea failed to see the humor. “Explain, Sergeant.”
“It’s war, sir. Rules don’t apply.”
* * *
I followed Sergeants Liv and Wynn back to our tent. They lit a lantern and stared at me as if assessing the
enemy. I stretched out on my cot, glad to relax for the first time all day. They remained standing.
“You’re a little young to be a sergeant,” Wynn said. Her frown contrasted with her round face and small nose.
“More than a little. She’s just a baby.” Liv smirked, flashing big square teeth. Her light brown hair resembled a fine fuzz and had been clipped so short the hair couldn’t lie flat.
Liv noticed the direction of my gaze. She ran a hand over her head. “Lice. If you manage to get sent out on missions, you’ll be shaving your head, too. Long hair’s a bitch to take care of when you’re a real soldier.”
“You haven’t been promoted from a grunt.” Wynn pointed to my face. “Too pale.”
Resigned to the interrogation, I pushed up on one elbow. “You don’t have any people from the northern realms here?”
“We do. But we’ve been training outside for months.” She pulled her collar down and showed an impressive tan line, visible even in the soft lantern light. “So what’s your story, Baby Face?”
“Just what Lieutenant Thea said, I’ve been assigned to train—”
“Yeah, yeah.” Liv waved a hand. “Who cares about that? Not us. You show up from nowhere with this uncanny skill. There has to be a reason.”
I considered my options. These two seemed to have adopted the whole hardened-soldier persona. But was it all swagger or a true indication of their characters?
“I came down here to see a bit of action,” I said.
They snorted in amusement.
“She’s cute when she’s trying to be tough,” Wynn said.
“You’re going to see more than a bit, Baby Face,” Liv said. “There’s more to being a sergeant than sneaking around the woods. Think you can handle it?”
“Yes.” No sense selling myself short.
Wynn’s demeanor turned speculative. “That’s rather bold.”
“Yes.”
Liv and Wynn exchanged a glance.
“She’s training the jacks tomorrow,” Liv said to her friend. “If that doesn’t send her away, nothing will.”
“Oh, yeah.” Suddenly in a good mood, Wynn slapped my shoulder. “Good luck with that.” She strode from the tent.
Liv followed her but glanced back when she reached the flap. “Come on, Baby Face. It’s time for the sergeant’s fire.”
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