Tainted Crown

by Jenn Vakey

  Auggie’s face lit up in a bright smile. One I didn’t understand. Then he reached over and smacked my arm with the back of his hand. “I knew she liked me. Enough that, even when you went and messed her head up, she still remembers things I told her.” He looked back to Leeya, far too pleased with himself. “That’s what I told you when I let you leave the wards to look for an injured woman. It saved you then, too.”

  I gaped, torn between annoyance that I wasn’t the one she was remembering and joy that she had gotten something back. It wasn’t hard to settle on one. This wasn’t about me. The important thing was that she was starting to remember things at all. And it couldn’t have been anything better in that moment.

  Leeya looked a little dumbfounded at his declaration, but I could see the excitement there too. It was enough to lighten some of the heaviness of the situation.

  We didn't take the river back. Moving through the woods did put us at a greater risk of running into an animal, but it would be nearly impossible for the Sentry to track us down before we could reach the wards. No one spoke as we went. When we finally crossed through the barrier, it was Leeya who broke the silence first.

  "Why is Dex looking for me?" she asked.

  The party slowed as everyone turned to face her. It was more than just giving her their focus. Everyone with the exception of Dallin looked confused.

  When I stopped, they all followed.

  I couldn't explain the full extent of it here in front of everyone. Half of our party had no idea Leeya and I were even involved, but I could give them enough.

  “We had considered it might be a possibility, but that Sentry today confirmed it,” I said, looking from her out toward everyone else. I doubt they had really understood at the time the significance of what he had said. “I’m guessing he said as much to you?”

  She nodded. “I heard them talking before he sent the others away. They had a description of someone that matched me. He said he was determined to find me. Why?”

  That took away any lingering hopes I had that they really had just been searching for a woman who had been spotted outside of the wards. He wanted her.

  “You somehow had Dex’s confession about everything sent out to the entire city,” I explained. “You stood up to him and questioned him. Got him to say that he would kill anyone who activated, even if it was a significant amount of the population. We can only assume that he also has footage of you leading the team that raided the facility.” But that wasn’t what I feared this was really about. “There’s also the possibility he knows you killed his father. Or it could be as simple as him knowing that you’re working with Gryffin and me. We don’t really have any way of knowing his motives right now.”

  Her eyes widened, and I quickly realized what I had just done.

  “I killed Adler?” she said, barely louder than a whisper.

  “Shit,” Zaydan muttered, running his hand through his hair. It was what I was sure we were all thinking.

  I dug my fingers into the back of my neck. I had told her that she had stopped him. I hadn’t wanted to tell her just how she had done it. Leeya had always struggled with having to take a life. Adler might have been the easiest on her with everything he had done, but it wasn’t something she took pleasure in. I never meant to just throw it out there like this. Especially not in front of other people.

  “You didn’t have a choice,” I said, wishing we were alone. Wishing I could hold her. But this was all I could offer her right now. “He had already shot you, and he was killing me. He was going to take you back to the facility and make you watch as he killed Lillith.”

  She nodded, but I could see her struggling with it.

  “Whatever his reasons are, we won’t let him get his hands on you,” Dallin said.

  I’d die before I let that happen.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  LEEYA

  There wasn’t the flurry of activity I had anticipated when we walked back into camp an hour later. Hardly anyone even looked in our direction. The only strange look I got was from Maizie, who was working out on the training field. I was certain that had to do with the fact that I was wearing Rhydian’s sweater, not what had taken place. The one he had been wearing when she had her talk with him hours before.

  I didn’t want to dislike her, but there was a sense of something close to jealousy deep in my gut when I looked at her. Okay, it was jealousy. I knew what Rhydian had said. I knew he had been telling the truth. That still didn’t change the fact that I was very aware that she was actively trying to start things back up with him.

  Everyone except Dallin branched off and went to do their own things as we walked toward the middle of camp. Orson was standing outside of the dining hall. He watched us, a look on his face that made it clear he had known something happened, but he didn’t approach. I was glad for that. I hadn’t really talked to him, but I still knew who he was. That he was my father.

  That was strange.

  Rhydian led me straight to the clinic. Dallin stayed with us until we reached the door, then he said something about Lillith and getting me dry clothes before he turned back and went in the opposite direction. I wasn’t really paying attention. So much had happened that it almost felt like I was shutting down. Like I was on information overload. All I really wanted was some food and a nap.

  “Hop up,” Rhydian said, pointing to the bed when we walked inside. “Orson will have sent for Noella. You need to be checked out.”

  “I’m fine,” I insisted, but I climbed up to sit on the bed anyway.

  Rhydian folded his arms and looked at me. “At the very least, you’re cold and wet. Assuming you didn’t just decide to jump into the river for the joy of it, I’m going to say that you have a few injuries that need to be tended to.”

  Between my trek to try to get back to the wards, the Sentry, and all of the information that had been thrown at me, I hadn’t actually had the time to think about how all of this happened in the first place. I knew I had been in the river for a while. With how long I had been walking after pulling myself out and the Sentry saying I had stopped two miles shy of the wards, I had to assume I had been in the water for at least four or five miles. That would have taken some time. Most of which I didn’t remember, as it had only taken me a couple of minutes to get out after I came to.

  And that was another problem. I had woken up in the river. How had I gotten into it in the first place?

  “I don’t remember the river,” I said, thinking out loud. At his bemused look, I clarified. “I mean, I don’t remember how I got into it. I must have hit my head, because I woke up in the water. According to the Sentry, I had been walking back in this direction for an hour and a half before I stopped to hide from them. He said I was still two miles outside of the wards. But I don’t remember going that far.”

  Rhydian’s jaw tightened. He looked concerned, but he didn’t say anything. Thankfully, he also didn’t ask me what my plan had been when I walked out into the woods in the first place. My emotions had been running strong at the time. I could admit now that my idea had been completely irrational. I had no idea how to even get to Eden. I hadn’t been armed. Hell, I didn’t even have food or water with me. What was I going to accomplish in trying to harm the king other than getting myself killed.

  No, it was best for my dignity if I just kept that to myself.

  “I’m going to have to report the Sentry activity to Orson,” Rhydian said. “He commented earlier about locking you up in the cell.”

  My eyes widened. I didn’t like the sound of that. “You’re going to lock me up?”

  Rhydian raised a disbelieving eyebrow and shook his head. “Absolutely not. If he tries to, send someone to get me. I doubt he would even attempt it, since he knows exactly what I’ll do to him if he does, but I wanted you to be prepared. So you don’t panic if he actually manages to get you in there.”

  I guess I should be happy that, despite what had happened today, Rhydian wasn’t willing to lock me up himself. I had
seen the relief in his eyes when he found me. I could tell how worried he had been. I felt bad. I never should have wandered off like that. Not when I knew I wasn’t supposed to be alone in the first place.

  The door opened behind him revealing an exasperated looking Noella. “And here I thought that blow to your head would actually limit your trips in here,” she said, stepping past Rhydian and around the bed. Her eyes took in my appearance. I hadn’t actually looked in a mirror, but I didn’t imagine I looked great. There was also the fact that my pants had dried mud on them in several places and I was wearing a sweater that clearly didn’t belong to me.

  “So, what’s going on?”

  I opened my mouth to tell her, but Rhydian beat me to it. “She spent a fair amount of time in the river, most of which it sounds like she was unconscious for.” His tone was a little clipped as it came out. I couldn’t blame him. I was lucky I hadn’t drowned. Actually, I was surprised I hadn’t. “She thinks she hit her head. She was also wet and in the woods for several hours.”

  “Well, you certainly like to keep things interesting around here,” Noella said, pulling a flashlight out of one of her drawers.

  “So I’ve been told,” I mused. Rhydian made a sound that resembled a growl. It earned a curious look from the dog that was sitting next to him. I smirked.

  Noella shined the light in my eyes a few times, then stepped back. “I’m guessing you fell in the river instead of deciding to go for a swim. Did you hit your head before or after?”

  I thought about it, trying to envision both scenarios. I came up blank.

  “I’m not sure,” I told her. “I honestly don’t remember the river at all. I was out in the woods one minute, then waking up in the river the next.”

  Noella scowled, then looked to Rhydian. He watched me for a moment before shrugging. “Kip took us to where she went in. There were what could have been marks from her either sliding in or someone being dragged, but there wasn’t anyone in the woods at all when we checked the wards. It’s possible she slipped on the damp ground and fell in, hitting her head in the process. Then it looked like she went back in not too long before we found her.”

  I nodded along as he spoke. It made sense, I guess. I at least remembered the second time. “I fell while running from a Sentry and rolled in. He pulled me out pretty quickly.”

  Shock took over Noella’s expression as she took another step back and looked between us. “Sentry? Where did this happen?”

  Again, it was Rhydian who answered. “The river took her outside of the wards. She was lucky, and the Sentry was actually an acquaintance of Dallin’s. Not one of Dex’s most loyal. He hid her and told us where to find her. I don’t think he hurt her.”

  He looked to me for confirmation. I shook my head.

  She looked me over for a few moments after that. Checking my head, and cleaning the scrapes on my hands. Rhydian was tense the whole time. It was more than him just being worried she would find some hidden injury. He was lost in his thoughts. His mind going places that he wasn’t voicing.

  “Well, you have a minor concussion,” she said when she finished. “You aren’t going to like this, but I think it’s best if you rest for the rest of the day. Nothing strenuous. No training. I’m concerned that you could be missing a little more time. I’d like to air on the side of caution.”

  As if this entire thing hadn’t been bad enough. But the look she was giving me told me not to argue. I also knew that Rhydian wouldn’t let me start without Noella’s approval, even if he was as eager for me to train as I was.

  It felt like I was letting him down, knowing that it was my fault that I had missed our training session in the first place today. Now we couldn’t start until tomorrow. That is unless she told me in the morning that it still wasn’t time.

  “Okay,” I said instead, not doing a good job of hiding my disappointment.

  She gave me an understanding smile and helped me down.

  Rhydian was silent as we walked outside. I wondered briefly if he was mad at me. I almost asked, but then he spoke.

  “I’m going to be changing your guards,” he said, tucking his hands into his pockets as we went. “If I’m not able to be with you, it’ll be Dallin. And if you’re comfortable with it, Auggie. You can be with Lillith and Pax when you’re in the dorm, but you have to be with one of us when you’re outside of there.” He looked over, so serious. “No more slipping away. Not until you’ve gotten your memories back.”

  And maybe not even then. He wasn’t saying it, but I could tell he was thinking it.

  This was also about more than just me worrying him.

  “You don’t think I fell in the river, do you?” I asked.

  He gave me a heavy look before moving his gaze around us. Looking to all of the people out walking around. He tilted his head toward the dorm as he reached out and took my elbow. Leading us there.

  Dallin was just coming out with Lillith as we approached. I had a feeling he had spent some time filling her in on what had happened before coming back to bring me the clothes that were in his hand.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking them from him.

  Lillith rushed toward me, throwing her arms around my neck. “Don’t ever do that to me again,” she whispered in my ear. The look she gave me when she pulled back might have been her attempt at a stern glare, but it fell flat. There was too much worry there. Worry that told me Dallin had also explained that I was a target of Dex’s.

  “I’ve got some things I need to discuss with Leeya,” Rhydian said. “I’ll find you later to go over a few changes.”

  It was short and vague, but Dallin appeared to have understood. He nodded and they stepped back, letting us pass.

  Rhydian walked me down the hall toward the bathroom without even bothering to stop at my door first. After making me check to make sure no one was in there, he told me he would be waiting in the common area outside the door. To take as long as I wanted in the shower.

  I might have felt bad for making him wait, but that fell away as soon as I stripped my clothes off and stepped under the steaming stream.

  How had this day gone so wrong? It felt like I had been tossed around, and not just by the river that literally had done just that. It had been an emotionally draining day.

  I stayed under the water until long after that bone deep coldness had left me. I might have spent the rest of the day in there had I not began to worry that Rhydian would actually start turning people away if they tried to come in. I had been lucky so far that no one really seemed to know what had happened to me today. I didn’t want anyone to start questioning it now. Having a guard outside of the bathroom would likely do just that.

  After dressing, I walked out to find Rhydian right where he said he would be. He looked me up and down, giving me a faint smile as he stood. At least he didn’t look put out for having to just sit there.

  We walked back down the hall and into my room. Rhydian closed the door behind us, watching me as I crossed the room and sat on the bed. He looked like he was unsure what he was supposed to do for a moment before moving to the chair in the corner. Part of me wanted to tell him to sit next to me, wanting to feel that comfort that he always managed to provide, but that would have been a little strange.

  He sighed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. He looked as tired as I felt. It only added to my guilt.

  “To answer your question, I’m not really sure,” he said, picking up the conversation where we had left it. “I don’t know what happened out there today, Leeya. There were marks by the river that definitely could have been drag marks. Dallin and I checked the security system when we realized you were missing, though, and no one was in the woods.”

  He groaned and shook his head. “All of the new people who came in yesterday morning were searched, and none of them had a Haller on them that could put them in contact with anyone in Eden. It’s possible one of them could have come in knowing Dex was searching for you, but I don’t think it’s likely. It was t
hree families, all with young children. All of the rest of our new people left Eden too quickly for there to have been a coordinated plan by the council or Dex. Most were out before your broadcast, and very few left behind us.”

  He was thinking aloud more than telling me. Like he was trying to puzzle out how it could have even been possible.

  “I don’t want to think anyone here could really be working with them,” he said, a little more sure now. “No one is allowed in Alkwin who isn’t either Tainted or with someone who is. Before Paxton and your sister decided to look into whatever it is they’re feeling, he was the only not Tainted person who has come in that wasn’t family or engaged to a Tainted. For someone to be working with them, they would have to betray either their own kind or someone they loved.”

  I nodded. It made sense. Before I could agree to brush off the possibility, though, something he had told me came to mind.