“With the buildings burned to the ground, it may be harder to spot at night,” Gytha pointed out.
Ledger nodded and resumed walking.
“I suggest heading to the east,” Ackley said. He traveled at the back, behind Gytha.
Given what Harley had seen of Ackley so far, he had to either be some sort of mercenary or soldier. Regardless of his profession, he’d have to have a good sense of direction since he’d found her in Kreng. Still, Ledger was a soldier born and raised here. He should know the land better than a foreigner.
After a few minutes, Ledger headed eastward. A quarter of a mile later, he announced that he saw the burned village in the distance. Once they reached it, Ackley stepped around Ledger, leading them to one of the larger homes that had part of a single stone wall still standing. He and Gytha cleared a space for the four of them to sleep for the night. While they did that, Ledger gathered wood for a fire.
Unable to feel her fingers or toes, Harley sunk to the ground, trembling. The smell of burnt wood hung in the air along with another smell she couldn’t pinpoint. Death perhaps. Thankfully, the darkness concealed what she suspected to be charred bones scattered about. Tears filled her eyes. Everything was a mess. Her beloved kingdom was in disarray, her family slaughtered, and her life forever changed. She wished Russek hadn’t invaded Melenia, bringing so much death and destruction.
Ledger dropped some wood on the ground, then turned and left to find some more. As Ackley stacked it, Gytha sat next to him.
“Are you going to offer Harley the extra set of dry clothes in your bag?”
“They won’t fit her.” He continued stacking the wood, not once looking her way.
“I only had the one extra tunic, and I already gave it to her. It’s probably wet by now. She’ll need to remove all her wet clothes and put something dry on.”
He continued stacking the wood, not responding.
“Ackley.” Gytha placed her hand on his forearm. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” he snapped.
“Fine. Be that way. But when I see your sister, I’m going to tell her what an arse you’ve been.”
Harley pretended not to be listening in on their conversation. Pulling her legs to her chest, she thought about what Ackley’s sister must be like. She was probably similar to Gytha. A fierce fighter who could take care of herself. Jealousy filled her. She wished she could fight and defend herself.
“What do you want from me?” Ackley asked, putting the last log in place.
“Your clothes.”
He chuckled, the sound low and sultry. “You didn’t get a good look at me back at the river, so you want me to take my clothes off here for you?”
Gytha smacked him. “You’re so full of yourself.” She shook her head. “Do you want to go a round with me right now? I wouldn’t mind walloping your arse.”
“While I’d like to spar with you, I am going to do a perimeter check, then take up watch. I need to make sure no one is following us.”
“Just get the fire started before you leave. I want to get Harley warmed up.”
By the time Ledger returned with another stack of wood, Ackley had the fire going. Without a word to Ledger, Ackley stood and walked away from them, disappearing into the shadows of the night.
“Now that the fire is going, you need to take your clothes off,” Gytha said as she sat next to Harley. “That way they’ll dry faster and you can warm yourself up.” She opened Ackley’s bag, pulling out dry clothes.
“Won’t he mind?” Harley asked.
“No, he won’t.” Gytha looked at Ledger, waiting.
“Oh, I’ll uh…I’ll go over there so I can’t see you,” he stuttered, pointing to a pile of rubble. “If you need me, just shout.”
“He could have just turned his back,” Gytha said, shaking her head in disapproval.
What about Ackley? Was he far enough away so he wouldn’t catch a glimpse of her? Harley removed her boots and socks, setting them by the fire to dry. Then she took off Gytha’s borrowed tunic, handing it to her. After wearing it over her dress, it had become soaking wet. She peeled off her dress and undergarments. She slid on Ackley’s tunic, the warm fabric engulfing her. Then she pulled on his pants. They were huge, but she didn’t care. If anything, the long material covered her bare feet.
Already feeling better, she scooted closer to the fire, holding her slightly purple hands out. The heat stung.
“Are you okay?” Gytha asked, staring into the flames.
“Feeling is already starting to return to my fingers and toes.”
“No.” The warrior woman shook her head. “I meant, how are you feeling? A lot has happened. You look like you’re about to fall apart. I’d like to keep you together until we reach your cousin.”
She hadn’t expected Gytha to care. “I’m fine.” She would survive. Even if she lost a toe or two, she was alive, and that was all that mattered.
Gytha chuckled. “You’re not what I expected.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. “What did you picture?”
“I’m not sure, but not you. You actually remind me a lot of Owen.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Since her cousin was close with Hollis, she’d spent a lot of time with him and knew him well. He was an honorable man.
“Good, because it is one.” She picked up a stick, poking one of the logs so it moved into the flames a bit more. “Do you have any questions for me?”
Harley studied the warrior woman. “Questions?”
She nodded. “Like how your cousin is doing.”
“I assumed he’s okay. Otherwise, you would have said something.” So much had been going on that Harley hadn’t considered Owen not being well.
“He’s fine. He had some trouble in Marsden—that’s where Ackley and I are from. One of his own men, Commander Beck, tried killing him and taking control of Melenia’s soldiers.”
Panic filled Harley. Her father-in-law had tried killing Owen? “Are you certain it was Commander Beck?”
Gytha nodded. “When Owen received word your kingdom had been overthrown, he struck an alliance with our king. Ackley and I came here with Owen, along with a few hundred Marsden soldiers. We are here to help you retake Melenia.”
Not only was Owen here, but he’d returned with extra soldiers. For the first time in weeks, hope took root.
“I’m telling you this so you understand that Ackley and I are here to help. We’re on your side. Even if he seems a little standoffish, Ackley’s a good man.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” As for Ackley, she didn’t care if he was a good man or not. All she cared about was that he was on her side. The more people fighting against Russek, the better.
“I need to get some sleep so I can relieve Ackley in a few hours.” Gytha laid next to the fire, across from Harley.
Harley stretched out on her side. “Have you known Ackley long?” The two of them seemed rather close, and she wondered if they were romantically involved with one another.
“No. But he’s one of the most skilled fighters I’ve ever known. Of course, he’d have to be to be a knight.”
“What’s a knight? A man who fights for the king?”
“More along the lines of an assassin.”
Her cousin had sent an assassin to fetch her? “What about you? Are you an assassin?”
“No. I’m a captain in the king’s army. I fight. Ackley can fight, but he also gathers information and can kill a man in a crowded room without anyone seeing. I admire him. If you’re going to be in a scuffle, Ackley’s the man you want guarding your back.”
It was hard to think of an assassin being a good man. Her uncle chose not only skilled fighters to be part of his guard, but men of nobility and honor. Not assassins. She should have known Ackley was skilled in the art of killing. He’d fought those men back in Kreng as if toying with them. A snake to mice. It had been so simple for him to incapacitate four men in under a minute. She shivered. He coul
d have just as easily killed them. “Are there other women soldiers where you’re from?”
“During our journey here, Owen told me a little bit about your kingdom.” She rolled onto her back, staring up at the sky as she spoke. “Your kingdom does things differently from mine. I’m from Axian, which is the southern part of Marsden. There, women are equal to men.”
An intriguing notion. Women fighting alongside men. “Are female soldiers allowed to marry?”
Gytha chuckled. “Yes, but I’m not married if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I think I’d like to visit your kingdom one day.”
Harley opened her eyes. The sky had just begun to lighten. A thick fog coated the land, hiding most of the charred rubble. Directly in front of her, Ackley lay sleeping. Harley’s back remained warm; the fire still smoldering. Near her feet, Ledger slept, snoring lightly. She didn’t see Gytha anywhere. The warrior woman was probably on watch.
Not wanting to sit and wake everyone, she decided to remain there. Since meeting Ackley, this was the first time she’d had the opportunity to study him in detail. His dark hair clearly indicated he wasn’t from around here. While the color was fascinating, she found his eyebrows and eyelashes truly striking. Black, like the night sky when no moon or stars shone. His face had odd patches of lighter spots, and she wondered if he’d had a nasty sunburn he was still recovering from. A few freckles dotted his nose and forehead. His hands were calloused—more so than either her brother or Lyle’s. A testament to his profession.
When she looked from his hands to his face again, his eyes were open, staring directly at her.
“Don’t move,” he mouthed.
Fear slid over her like a blanket. This man in front of her was an assassin and could kill her before she’d even have time to blink. However, she didn’t think he intended to harm her in any way.
“There’s a rat sniffing your hair,” he whispered.
She screamed, flailing her arms around her head, trying to scare the rat away.
Ackley flung his arm around her, yanking her toward him while simultaneously sliding a dagger from his sleeve, throwing it just above where her head had been. He flipped her on top of him.
“Stop moving,” Ackley demanded.
She froze, her face right in front of his, their noses almost touching. Her hair slid around their heads, shielding them in. “Did you kill it?” she whispered.
“I don’t know. I can’t see it with your hair all over the place.” His chest rose and fell.
“Why is your hand on my…bottom?”
“I told you not to move,” he answered. “You moved. I grabbed you in the wrong spot.”
“So it’s my fault your hand is still on me?” With the entire front side of her body crushed against his, she felt something hard press into her.
Ackley’s eyes flashed with panic. “You weigh more than you look.” He lifted his hand from her rear end, then shoved her off of him.
She scrambled to her knees as Gytha came sprinting toward them, sword in hand.
Right where Harley’s head had been, a rat lay prostrate, a dagger embedded in its body. She shivered, hoping the rat hadn’t been in her hair. “Did you plan to kill that thing with me just lying there?” He could have had her move before he started throwing weapons at her head.
He propped his body up on his elbows. “I considered it. Then I decided to roll you out of the way so you didn’t freak out.” He shrugged. “Looks like you’re freaking out anyway.” He sat up and rubbed his face.
“Let me get this straight,” Gytha said, sheathing her sword. “All of this commotion is over a rat?”
“A very large rat.” Harley pointed at the rodent.
Gytha shook her head. “Ledger, now that you’re awake, come with me to find something for us to eat. There’s farmland to the east of here.”
Yawning, Ledger stretched. “Sure.” He stood. “Harley, want to come with us?”
“She’ll remain here,” Ackley said, not giving her a chance to answer for herself.
Once Ledger and Gytha were far enough away, Harley glared at Ackley. “I am perfectly capable of speaking on my behalf. You are not my keeper, and you do not make decisions for me.”
“Are you done throwing your temper tantrum?” He knelt and tossed a few more logs on the dying fire, stoking it to life again.
“I’m not throwing a tantrum.” If anyone was being unreasonable, it was Ackley. He didn’t own her. “Are you going to do something with that rat?” She didn’t want to see its body.
He tossed it in the fire. “Better?”
“Much.” She shivered from the mere idea of the rat being close to her while she slept.
“I want my clothes back.” Ackley sat next to the fire. “Now.”
She blinked, processing what he’d said. A smug smile slid across his face, as if he enjoyed irritating her. Well, she would not give him the satisfaction. Her dress was not only dry but toasty from the fire. Grabbing it, she went on the other side of the wall. After removing Ackley’s clothes, she put her dress on.
Before rejoining him, she needed to cool her temper. He could have just told her there was a rat, and she could have slid away. He didn’t have to throw a dagger at her head. And he most certainly didn’t have to pull her body on top of his. He was a soldier, an assassin. And she a lady. If anything, he owed her an apology for his behavior. The part about his hand placement or feeling his hardness must have been a reaction to the situation. An accident. Nothing to bother thinking about.
Rolling her shoulders back, she stood tall and rounded the corner. She handed him his neatly folded clothes. “Thank you for letting me borrow them.”
He raised a single eyebrow as he took the clothes. The simple gesture made her stomach do a little flip. She hated when men knew they were handsome and used it to their advantage. Pretending he had no effect on her, she sat by the fire again. If she were to ever be with another man, it would be someone sensitive, kind, considerate. The opposite of Ackley.
“While we’re waiting for Gytha and Ledger to return,” he said, eyeing her over the fire. “I have a few questions for you.”
She didn’t respond because she owed him nothing. There was no reason to be civil to this man. Especially considering where he’d accidentally touched her.
“Owen is trying to learn the state of the kingdom. What towns Russek has gained control of, where their troops are, that sort of thing. Did you learn anything while in Kreng?”
Surprise washed through her. While she owed Ackley nothing, she did want to help Owen. “I didn’t. Ledger was the one working with the commander in Kreng.” But he hadn’t told her much of what they’d learned. As a woman, she hadn’t thought it her place to question him.
“Hopefully Ledger can convey to Owen any pertinent information.”
She played with the hem of her dress, trying to think if Ledger had once told her anything useful that he’d discovered. He’d said things about keeping Russek away, but not much beyond that. “During the takeover, I did overhear something of importance.” Someone besides her should know, just in case. “There is a traitor. Someone inside the castle aided Russek and helped them get past our defenses.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“No. I only know about him because I overheard him speaking with Prince Soma of Russek. Soma was there to assassinate his stepbrother, Prince Kerdan, who planned the entire invasion. He said once Kerdan was assassinated, the Melenia royal family would be killed. So I warned Kerdan.”
Ackley’s eyes widened in surprise. “You warned the Russek prince?”
Although he’d asked it as a question, it sounded more like an accusation. “Yes. He was the only one keeping my family alive.” She quickly told him all that had happened, starting with the birthday celebration when Kerdan entered, her lighting the signal fire, Kerdan giving her the key before she was attacked and locked up, and ending with her fleeing for her life with Ledger, Milard, and Rayne. She did skimp on th
e details of her family’s beheading and the attempted rape.
Instead of asking questions as she thought he would do, Ackley withdrew into himself, not speaking. Even when Gytha and Ledger returned with apples, nuts, and berries, he didn’t converse. As Harley ate, she watched him. His keen eyes remained alert, and she got the impression he was working through something.
After they ate, they headed north, traveling all day. When it became clear they wouldn’t arrive at the cove before dark, they set up camp for the night, sleeping under the stars. Harley had a hard time falling asleep, afraid a rat would crawl on her.
The next morning, they set out early. Just before noon, they reached a tunnel that cut straight through a mountain. Ackley explained that the tunnel led to where Owen and the soldiers had set up camp. A handful of sentries stood guard. When they saw Ackley, they immediately granted them passage.
As Harley traveled through the dark tunnel, she could almost feel the mountain pressing down on her and the dampness of the land seeping through.
“It’s not much longer,” Ackley said, as if he’d known she was starting to panic with the thought of being crushed alive or suffocating.
“Is that the exit up ahead?” She could just make out a hint of light.
“It is,” he answered. “Almost there.”
The closer they got to the light, the faster Harley walked. “I want to see Owen right away.”
“Of course,” Ackley said. “I’ll take you straight there.”
Harley stepped out of the tunnel and observed the sight before her. Bright green grass covered the valley; dark green and brown trees blanketed the surrounding mountains. In the middle of it all, hundreds of tan tents stood erect in neat rows. Dozens of soldiers rushed to and fro. Emotion overwhelmed her. Her lip quivered, tears filled her eyes, and joy flared in her heart. Owen was here.
“This way,” Ackley said, gently gripping her elbow. He led her through the camp, heading toward the largest tent with a flag atop it.
When they reached the tent, two sentries in full uniform stood guard. Seeing the familiar crest of the royal family on their chests made her swell with pride. This was her kingdom, and Owen was her cousin. Together, they would seek retribution. Without waiting to be granted entrance, Harley burst inside.
Sword of Rage: Reigning Kingdoms, Book 1 Page 10
