Defy (The Blades of Acktar Book 3)

by Tricia Mingerink

  Renna tugged her hand free from Leith’s and stood. “Thanks, Martyn.” She filled a cup with water from one of the pitchers and held it out to Leith. “You must be thirsty.”

  He reached for it. Pain tore across his back. He cried out and pressed his mouth against his arm to stifle the sound. The cup clattered to the floor. Darkness wavered across his sight.

  “Here. Let me help.” Renna’s soft hand slid against his cheek.

  Cold metal pressed against his mouth. Water soaked into his dry mouth. He tried to swallow, but his stomach and throat rebelled. He coughed. More pain stabbed his back.

  “Take it easy. A little bit more.”

  With her help, he managed to finish most of it. When he was done, she tucked a cold, damp rag against his throbbing jaw. “For your bruise. Ice would’ve been better, but I have a feeling the ice room is off limits.”

  Martyn crossed his arms. “Yes.”

  Leith pressed the cloth to the swollen spot on his jaw. The cool water eased some of the ache.

  Renna picked up a bottle. “This will hurt. Would you like some laudanum first?”

  “No.” The laudanum will dull the pain, but it’d also dull his senses. By the time Renna finished and Martyn returned her to her room, Leith wouldn’t be able to talk beyond a few mumbled words. He could always sleep and talk to her later, but she’d been alone and abandoned for three weeks. She couldn’t wait any longer. “I’ll manage. Save the laudanum for later.”

  They’d need it later. A whipping was the least of the torture Respen would inflict.

  Leith squeezed his eyes shut and braced for the pain. A cool liquid splashed onto his back a moment before fire scorched his skin. He writhed away from it, all his senses burning. Iron hands on his upper arms pinned him down as the torment scoured his back from his shoulders to his hips.

  “There. All done.” Renna’s voice dragged him from the edges of the beckoning darkness.

  He was moaning and shaking. He tried to swallow back a groan but choked. He had to be stronger than this. If he couldn’t even take this much pain, how would he ever manage a week of it?

  Martyn released his grip on Leith’s forearms. When Leith peeled his eyes open, Martyn leaned against the door, his expression hard once again.

  Leith let his eyes fall closed. Renna muttered something. Her boots scraped against the stone next to Leith. Water dribbled, probably as she wrung out a rag.

  Something warm and wet touched one of Leith’s shoulder blades. Pain sizzled into his skin and muscle. He pressed his face into the crook of his arm and concentrated on breathing.

  The hot water seared the open wounds and, when Renna spread the salve across the lacerations, her fingers caught on the rough edges of what was left of his skin.

  Leith ground his teeth and tightened his fists. If only he could beg for laudanum, to slip into oblivion and sleep away the pain. All he’d have to do is ask. Renna wouldn’t keep him in pain a moment longer.

  But he couldn’t ask. He had to remain alert. For her.

  Someone tapped his shoulder. “Do you think you can sit up?”

  The quaver in Renna’s voice stung as much as the rag. If just for that, he had to get up.

  He sucked in a breath, gathered his strength, and pushed himself upright. Pain shot down his back, but he swung his legs to the floor anyway. He had to grip the edge of the cot as his head spun. His stomach heaved, and it took all his effort to keep it down.

  When he finally had the strength to raise his head, Martyn stood across the room, arms crossed, face hard. Renna stared at Leith, her fingers fisted into her skirt so tightly her knuckles shone white. If she’d been anyone else, he would’ve told her he was fine. But she’d just patched up his back. She wouldn’t be fooled. “I’m sure it looks worse than it is.”

  “I doubt it. Now hold still.”

  He tried to follow her order as she wrapped his torso with bandages. When she finished, she stood and helped him drink another cup of water. The shock of the cold water in his mouth helped his dizziness.

  “All right.” Martyn straightened and reached for Renna’s elbow. “That’s enough. I’ve given you more than enough time already.”

  Renna glanced over her shoulder, but she didn’t struggle as Martyn steered her out the door. Leith didn’t call after them. He and Renna would be able to talk once Martyn left.

  After a few minutes, Martyn returned and paced along the far wall, his black clothes shifting with candlelight. After several minutes, he pressed his palm against the wall. “Why did you do it, Leith? What do you have now that you didn’t have as the Third Blade?”

  What did he have? From Martyn’s standpoint, it probably didn’t look like much. He had a failed friendship, a bleeding back, and a week of torture to look forward to.

  But Martyn couldn’t see the other things. The blood of Christ that washed away the blood Leith had spilled. The peace that swelled his chest and pushed away the fear that had chained him. The forgiveness that had cooled the anger he’d harbored toward his father for so long.

  Leith met Martyn’s gaze. “I have hope.”

  Martyn pounded the wall. “What do you have to hope for? Look around you. You’re going to die very slowly and very painfully, probably by my hand. Renna will die shortly afterwards. What do you have to hope for? And don’t give me some nonsense about a place called Heaven you’ve never seen.”

  Leith tried to remember the words Shad and Brandi had used to reach him all those months ago. He wouldn’t have believed in talk of Heaven either. Like Martyn, he’d been taught to only believe in things he could see and touch.

  “I have the hope of God’s strength so that no matter what I face He will make me strong enough. I have the hope of God’s courage so that no matter what Respen does to me, he won’t break me. I know you don’t believe in things you can’t see, but I hope you can see those things in me.”

  Martyn dragged his fingers through his curls. Leith understood that frustration. It was the same frustration he’d felt after meeting Renna, Brandi, and Shad. He could see something different about them and that difference had no apparent explanation besides the one he hadn’t wanted to consider.

  Martyn headed for the door. “I’ll be back later with food.”

  “Respen is actually feeding me?” The words felt light on Leith’s tongue, like he was joking with his best friend instead of his guard.

  “Whether King Respen wants it or not, I’m feeding you.” Martyn strode to the door.

  Leith shook his head. “You can’t try to play both sides. Respen will make you choose.”

  Martyn halted in the doorway. “Why do I have to choose? We should be on the same side. If you’d stayed loyal to King Respen, none of this would’ve happened.”

  Perhaps, but Leith would still be a Blade. Renna and Brandi would be dead. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t.”

  Martyn huffed a breath and dragged the door closed. The lock clicked into place.

  As soon as he was gone, Leith groaned and reached for his boot. He was shaking and breathing hard by the time he managed to tug it off. Dumping the chip of stone Brandi had given him onto the floor, he found a hole in the straw tick, widened it, and tucked the stone inside.

  That done, he eased onto the floor at the head of the cot and located the loose stone. He couldn’t remove it from this side, thanks to the rock chip he’d jammed into the other side when he’d been the First Blade.

  He leaned his head and shoulder against the wall, unable to hold himself upright. Now all he had to do was wait.

  38

  Renna sank to the floor and leaned against the door. Leith was here. She wasn’t alone. She wouldn’t have to be strong all by herself.

  Not that she’d been alone here. God had been with her. Still, it’d be nice to no longer have to face Respen all by herself.

  Should she be relieved or scared that Leith had come? Respen would torture and kill him. What good would that do?

  Surely Leith had a pl
an. He always did.

  She dug her fingernails into her palms. She’d tried to tell Leith what had happened with her and Respen. But what could she say? How could she admit she’d almost believed she could eventually love Respen when Leith looked at her like that? When he’d walked into torture for her?

  This—the look on Leith’s face, the way he clasped her hand and asked her to be strong for him—this was what she’d been waiting for. Not someone to rescue. Not someone to simply rescue her.

  A partner. A friend. Someone to walk next to her even in the darkest places.

  She touched the spot on her hair where he’d kissed her. Kissed her. She gave herself a shake. Now was not the time to dissolve into mush.

  She pressed her ear to the door and listened to Martyn’s footsteps. When she heard Martyn exit Leith’s room and lock the door, she set to work on the stone chip she’d spotted wedged in the wall. Digging her fingernails against the stone, she yanked at it. Her first few attempts resulted in nothing but skinned knuckles and broken fingernails.

  Gritting her teeth, she tightened her grip and threw her whole body into yanking it out. The wedge shifted, then popped free. She crashed backwards and bashed her elbows against the stone floor.

  Rubbing her elbows, she crouched next to the stone once again. It stuck out from the rest of the wall enough for her to pry at it with her fingertips. She inched it out of the wall, slowly at first, then faster.

  Something pushed it from the other side. It fell through her hands, bounced against her foot, and clumped onto the floor.

  “Are you all right?” Leith’s voice carried clearly through the opening.

  “Just dropped the stone on my foot.” She wiggled her toes. “Nothing broken. I’m all right. Now get back into bed before you pass out there on the floor.”

  Groans and shuffling sounded through the hole. Leith’s cot creaked. “There. I’m lying down.”

  If he wanted to pretend he wasn’t in pain, she could play along. “What’s this loose stone doing in the wall anyway?”

  “First Blade Vane used to spy on Second Blade Hess to make sure the Second Blade wasn’t plotting against him. Hess knew Vane was doing it, so he used the hole to spy right back.”

  Renna peeked through the hole. She couldn’t see much of the room besides the far wall and the legs of the washstand. The cot rested against the same wall as the hole, hidden from sight. “Will Martyn be able to listen through a loose stone in the other wall?”

  “No. Vane and Hess didn’t bother spying on me. They knew I had no ambitions to become the First or Second Blade. So no loose stones in the walls.”

  She nodded, even though Leith couldn’t see her. Did Martyn know about this loose stone? Probably.

  So why had he placed them in two rooms where he knew they’d be able to talk to each other? Was he still trying to be Leith’s friend even now?

  Was that why he was still staying in the Third Blade’s room, even though he’d been the First Blade for the past several weeks?

  “They probably searched that room before they locked you in there, but there might be one hidden knife yet.” Leith’s voice was pitched loud enough for her to hear, but low enough that it wouldn’t carry through his door. “I hid a knife in there when I became the First Blade. I never knew when I might be discovered.”

  “Where would it be?” Renna glanced around the room. “I searched under the mattress and behind the bedside table. I didn’t find anything.”

  “Crawl under the cot. There should be a knife strapped to the front post next to the wall.”

  Renna studied the cot. It was formed of thick, metal bars, too heavy for her to lift. Twine laced between the two sides and supported the straw tick.

  Grimacing, she lowered herself onto the floor. The stones under the cot fuzzed with a layer of dust. “Didn’t you ever clean under here?”

  From the other side of the wall, Leith chuckled. “No. I was a Blade, remember? Cleaning anything other than my knives wasn’t one of my skills.”

  She pressed her palms against the dust and tried to ignore the grit grinding against her skin. Inch-worming forward, she reached the cot’s far post. The light from the candle didn’t penetrate this corner, shrouding her in dusty darkness. She reached for the iron post and felt leather straps winding around it. Unbuckling them, she tugged what felt like a leather sheath with a knife from its place wedged between the wall and the post.

  When it inched free, she wiggled from under the bed. “Got it.”

  “Good. Keep it on you and don’t let anyone know you have it. Not even Martyn.”

  “All right.” Standing, she hiked up her skirt and strapped the knife and sheath around her thigh. It was uncomfortable, but couldn’t be seen if her divided skirt fluttered while she walked. After considering it for a moment, she drew the knife and cut off the bottom of the dress’s pocket on that side. Now she could draw the knife through the pocket without hiking up her skirt.

  Not that she could do much with a knife. But she might be able to hide it for Leith until he needed it, for whatever he was planning.

  She sprawled on her cot with her head facing the missing stone in the wall. “So what’s the plan?”

  “Does there have to be a plan? Maybe I just turned myself in to be with you.”

  No plan? She just assumed Leith would have a plan. “Sorry, I expected…” Her voice trailed off as his tone registered. He was teasing. “Empty romantic gestures are fine and all, but I expect a sensible plan too.”

  “I’m not sure how sensible you’ll consider my plan, but I do have one.” Leith’s sigh filled the space between them. “It all depends on Prince Keevan.”

  Keevan. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to picture her cousin. The only image she got was a gangly teenager with flyaway blond hair and impish blue eyes. She’d had cause to shriek his name whenever he’d pulled her hair or poked her in the side. “He really is alive?”

  “Yes.” The word held a weight of guilt that Renna felt even through the stone wall. For nearly five years, Leith had believed he’d killed Keevan.

  Renna drew in a deep breath. What was so shocking about that? This wasn’t anything she hadn’t already known. “Respen told me how you killed him. Or thought you killed him.”

  “I sliced down his face and neck, but I didn’t stay to watch him die.” Leith’s tone lowered further. “He survived, but he still has a scar across his face and a rasp to his voice. And he probably would’ve executed me for attempted murder if I hadn’t offered to turn myself in to Respen to stop what I thought would be your wedding.”

  Leith’s mission was basically a suicide mission? Renna swallowed.

  “Prince Keevan is leading an army from the Sheered Rock Hills. He intends to attack Nalgar Castle. I’m here to keep Respen distracted, pull some of the Blades from the front, prevent him from killing you, and be Prince Keevan’s inside man when he attacks during the Meeting of the Blades.”

  The things Leith wasn’t saying echoed in the room. When the Resistance army arrived, Leith would be the first person Respen killed. Their only hope was speed on Keevan’s part. “Will he get here in time?”

  “Maybe. Respen’s army is stationed between here and the Hills. Prince Keevan will have to push them back before he can approach the castle.”

  An army between them and rescue. Renna swallowed down the warmth bubbling inside her ever since Leith had halted her execution. He might’ve prolonged her life, but neither of them was safe. Not by a long shot.

  She needed to change the subject. “How’s Brandi?”

  Silence greeted her question.

  Her body clenched. “What happened to Brandi? Is she all right?”

  “She wasn’t hurt, but…” Leith’s voice grew so quiet she barely picked out the next words. “She killed a Blade.”

  Brandi had killed a Blade? Renna gripped the blanket, her head spinning. How had Brandi even known enough about fighting to kill someone, much less a Blade?

 
“I’m sorry, Renna. I wasn’t there. I was in the Waste at the time.”

  “What were you doing in the Waste? Respen told me you’d died there.” Renna folded her arms on the cot. “I think you’d better start at the beginning.”

  It took all morning for them to catch each other up on what had been going on. Renna told him everything that had happened to her while he described the events she’d missed while locked in Nalgar Castle.

  Renna pressed her fingers against her chest as if she could hold in her tears. She should’ve been there for her sister. Brandi had gone through the hardest time of her life, and Renna wasn’t able to be there for her.

  “She seemed better when I left this time, but I’m not sure.” Leith’s voice held a note of worry. “I’m not sure what she might’ve been planning.

  “You did the best you could. Thank you.”

  Leith had done everything in his power to keep Brandi safe. He couldn’t do more than that. Thanks to Leith, Brandi was all right, for now. Renna could only hope that wherever she was, Brandi remained safe and didn’t decide to do something crazy.

  39

  This was the craziest thing she’d ever done. Brandi strapped the last of her gear onto Blizzard’s back and tugged him into the line of Riders forming along one side of the encampment.

  She checked the knife Leith had given her, her short sword, dagger, and the knife she’d strapped to her ankle. Packing so many weapons, she felt powerful.

  Powerful was good. Powerful would rescue Renna and Leith.

  Brandi flexed her arms. Strength rippled through her muscles. While she wasn’t as strong as a boy her age would’ve been, she was stronger than she’d ever been in her life. And she was quick. She wasn’t in the awkward growing stage like the teenage boys, so she wasn’t tripping over her own feet whenever she tried to walk.

  Shad approached, leading his chestnut gelding. Jolene dashed from the group of archers and wrapped her arms around Shad’s waist. They talked quietly for a few minutes before Shad leaned forward and kissed her.

  A few of the assembled men hooted. Brandi rolled her eyes. Of course Shad and Jolene were kissing. They weren’t going to see each other again before marching into battle. Why were all the guys making such a big deal out of it?