by K. A. Linde
“I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t know if you heard or knew that someone died recently,” Audria said, her voice lowering to a whisper. “It was tragic. He was only seventeen. I heard that he was a pro-rights sympathizer, and now, he’s dead.”
“I do know. He was my friend.”
“I’m sorry,” Audria said, her blue eyes rounding with worry. “Then you should know that the rumor going around is that Fordham was responsible.”
“What?” Kerrigan gasped.
“Apparently, he was the last person to see him alive.”
Kerrigan went cold. He was the last person to see him alive. But that didn’t make him Lyam’s murderer. “Fordham didn’t do it. Why would he be helping me if he killed Lyam?”
“Well, I don’t know. I don’t want to speculate.”
Except that was precisely what she was doing.
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“I’m not saying he did it,” Audria said quickly. “I’ve just… seen you two together a lot, and I was worried. I don’t want it to happen to anyone else. Just be careful.”
“Thanks,” Kerrigan said, retreating once more. This was a lot to take in. She didn’t want to think it was Fordham, but she didn’t know either. “I have to… head to bed.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah. No problem.” Audria smiled, and it was brilliant. All teeth, and her eyes glittered. There were so many layers to Audria Ather. “You know… you really do remind me of someone.”
Kerrigan shot her a pained smile and hastened out of the pool. She slid on her clothes and exited the hot springs.
A pounding began in the back of her head and was slowly spreading to her temples.
So, others saw what she and Fordham were doing, and they immediately thought the worst of him. It would be easy to do so, considering the history of the House of Shadows. But that just didn’t seem like the person she had been training with or the person who had saved her from the assassin or carried her to a healer so she didn’t bleed out.
She didn’t want to think about him betraying her. That he might be a part of all of this in some twisted way. It was possible, but her visions kept propelling them together. Even this last one with the tournament had had Fordham in it.
Gods, she needed to sleep—to really sleep. She couldn’t process all of this. She didn’t even know where to begin. Three visions in three weeks? She had no basis for what to do about any of this. She was just one person, and the visions were getting more frenetic. She needed someone to tell her what was happening. But she didn’t have anyone like that.
She straightened in the empty hallway.
Or did she?
Gelryn slumbered high above in the barely lit eaves. Kerrigan strained her neck to catch a glimpse of the fierce dragon. Even with the dim light, she could just barely make out his massive figure.
Her eyes flickered to the set of stairs carved into the side of the mountain. They were used in daylight, when the cavernous rooms were fully lit. It would be supremely stupid to risk them at night, but Kerrigan had training in the morning, so she had no other option.
With a huff, she attempted to summon a small ball of fire to guide her way. The flame sputtered and popped in her hand before guttering. She strained, attempting to force her magic to do what she commanded but it was no use. The vision had tapped her magic, draining her dry. A little bit of light had never been a feat for her. Flames came the easiest to her, but right now, she couldn’t even make a spark.
She straightened her shoulders and moved to the first step. She really wished that she had thought to bring a torch of some sort with her as she started the impressive climb up the cliffside.
Kerrigan clung to the mountain wall, feeling out each step before she made it. Her legs burned, and her breathing was ragged. Though, to her surprise, she saw some marked improvement with all of the running Fordham had made her do. Not that she planned to tell him that.
At one point, a rock slipped out from under her foot. Her body crashed sideways, toward the gaping mouth of the opening far below. She latched on to a chunk of rock and held on for dear life, one leg dangling into the abyss.
She lay flat on her belly and dragged her leg up and over onto the stairs. Her hands shook. If she had fallen, she would have died, and no one would have been the wiser. That was why no one climbed in the middle of the night with no light. She groaned and carefully hauled herself up to her spaghetti legs. She continued up the stairs, nearly collapsing at Gelryn’s feet in relief and exhaustion.
One giant eye opened up and stared at her. Child, why are you interrupting my slumber?
She held up a hand as she tried to catch her breath. “I need… to talk to… someone.”
Talk to a human and do not bother me again.
“My visions,” she gasped out. “They keep happening, and they’re getting stronger. I need to find out how to control them or stop them or at least what they mean. You said I was a harbinger. That I am strong in spirit magic, but I don’t know what to do, Gelryn. Please, I beg your assistance.”
Gelryn’s eye had closed once more, and she thought that he had gone back to sleep. That all of this had been for nothing. But then he breathed out a wave of heat through his nostrils.
Let us leave this place.
“Leave?”
Climb on my back, and we shall depart.
“Are you… are you sure?” she whispered reverently.
The last thing she wanted was to insult Gelryn, who had lost his bonded dragon rider and never taken another, but she had to be sure.
Kerrigan Argon, do not ask me to repeat myself.
She nodded. Should have known better. She rose slowly to her feet, wincing at the pain in her legs. She was really going to pay for that tomorrow when Fordham made her run a million miles. With the strength left in her arms, she pulled herself up and onto Gelryn’s enormous back. Dragons just weren’t this large anymore. He was truly an ancient breed. She felt like a bug on him more than a rider.
Gelryn rose to his haunches, spreading his massive wings. Kerrigan held on with all of her might, flattening herself against him, and then he took off, descending deep into the cavern below. She barely suppressed her shriek of terror before he leveled off and then flew upward to one of the exits in the mountain. Then, just like that, they were soaring high above Kinkadia.
She released her death grip on Gelryn’s back and pressed herself up into a sitting position. She held her hands out to her sides, enjoying the wind running through her hair. It was easy to forget all of her problems when she was up in the clouds. Her last ride with Tavry felt like a lifetime ago, but she remembered thinking it would be her last. She was glad that she had been wrong.
They didn’t fly long before Gelryn descended toward another smaller mountain peak. He dropped gracefully onto a summit overlooking the entirety of the valley below and every twinkling light above.
“Whoa,” she breathed. “This is beautiful.”
You speak of more visions. Tell me what you have seen.
So, she spilled her guts, telling him all about her latest visions—the tournament, the raven sigil, and then the bizarre dream she’d had that prompted her to come see him.
“The tournament portions make some sort of sense, but how am I supposed to know what to do with the rest of it? A length of rope? A blue drink? A girl with blonde hair?”
It is as I feared.
“What is?”
The spiritual magic is controlling you, child, and not the other way around. You need to find a way to harness this ability, or it will destroy you.
“And how am I to do that?” she demanded. “They come on completely unexpected.”
Since our meeting, I have been researching the harbinger ability. Others in the past have been harbingers, but it does not appear that we have seen one in millennia. The recorded histories of that time are few. But even without more information, it is clear to me that the closer your visions are together, the more danger.
“That, at least, is true. All of my visions have spelled danger… usually personal danger.”
I fear that dark times are coming for Alandria. If only one vision was enough to reveal the Red Masks riots, how much danger could be coming if you have already had three visions?
She frowned. She had not thought about it in magnitudes. “A lot.”
Indeed. We need more knowledge. That is always the answer.
“What can I do? Scour the library?”
No, child. I fear Fae and humans alike have not been kind to harbingers. Most are seen as mad at best. He looked at her with one wide eye—a warning. It appears almost all have been violently killed for their gift.
She shuddered. “That’s… marvelous. At least I’m on the right trajectory.”
With your visions coming more frequently, I think it is time that I go home.
He said it with such reverence that there was no question in her mind where he meant. He wanted to go to the Holy Mountain. When dragons had first come to Alandria, the story went that they had been exiled through a portal from another world and left upon a mountain of Tendrille. There, they would bring their eggs to feel the vibrations of home. She didn’t know how much of it was even true, but it was a good story. And many dragons lived and pilgrimaged to the Holy Mountain every year, especially those whose riders were too old to continue participating in the Society culture. They retired to the mountain, and immense amounts of knowledge were still recorded there.
“You think that someone will know about other harbingers?”
Unlikely, he said truthfully. But I hope to find more information from our spiritual leaders. They have walked the plane for generations. I will find control for you, child, if I can.
She respectfully bowed her head. “Thank you, Gelryn.”
While I am away, you need to stay close to Fordham. He is in your dreams for a reason. Whether for good… or evil, we will find out with time.
She cringed. Well, that wasn’t exactly comforting. It paralleled what Audria had been alluding to in the caves. Was Fordham here for good or to cause havoc? She had come to believe that he was on her side, but she wasn’t sure if he was on anyone’s, save himself.
Trust your gut.
“I will,” she agreed.
Her gut said he was friend, not foe. She hoped her gut was right.
28
The Tip
Fordham punished her with more running. Okay, it wasn’t precisely a punishment. He thought that he was helping. But her legs ached for days after her climb up the mountainside, and she couldn’t exactly tell him why she hurt so much. She couldn’t exactly confide in him about the visions.
At the third-mile mark, Fordham slowed to a walk. Kerrigan happily fell into step beside him. Her chest wasn’t heaving quite as bad as it had been, but it wasn’t easy yet either.
“You’re improving,” he said.
“Does this mean we can move to weapons?”
He just shot her a look. “We’ll cut this session early. The second task is tomorrow.”
“Okay,” she said, trying not to sound eager.
She couldn’t believe the second task was already here. Half of her time was up, and she hadn’t gotten any closer to finding out who had killed Lyam or what tribe was going to accept her. She had thought Ellerby would be the answer, but he still hadn’t responded to her letter. He might never respond. She needed to find a way to get in front of tribe members who wanted a Dragon Blessed. Parties were the easiest way to do that, but she’d found Ellerby almost right away and not had to schmooze at any of the parties. Plus, there weren’t any more Dragon Blessed parties until after the tournament was completed.
“You seem distracted,” Fordham said.
“Just two weeks left.”
Fordham remained silent, continuing their walk and turning them back toward the mountain. It had seemed so simple when she made that deal with Helly. But then life had gone down the drain, and though she could see the future, she had no idea what was coming next.
“Are you worried about the tournament tomorrow?” she asked.
“Unless you have some insider knowledge about the second task, I have no idea what’s coming. There’s no reason to worry.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve been through worse.”
“Well, that’s highly logical,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“This isn’t what has you distracted,” he said.
“No,” she said with a sigh. “Audria came to see me a couple nights ago.”
His back stiffened. “About what?”
“You.”
He gritted his teeth. “And what did your friend from Bryonica have to say?”
“She’s not my friend,” she said at once. “But she was worried about me.”
“Because of me?”
Kerrigan shrugged. “You are from the House of Shadows.”
“Of course.”
“And… there are rumors that you killed Lyam because you are anti-human rights.”
He looked at her, and then all the anger bled out of him. To Kerrigan’s surprise, he began to laugh. She’d never seen him laugh before. Not really. Not like this. It was full-bodied with his head tipped back and his eyes closed. The display was contagious, and she found she was laughing too. She hugged her belly and tried to stop but failed three times before she got it back under control.
Finally, they both straightened, and Fordham cleared his throat. “Rumors are rumors. It’s easy to pin it on me, but why in the gods’ name would I be helping you find his killer if it was going to lead you to me?”
That was a very good question.
“I said that to Audria, but I just wanted you to know.”
“I can handle myself,” he said as easily as she always did.
And she let the subject drop. She hadn’t believed Audria when she passed that rumor on to her. Kerrigan would have been more worried that she and Fordham were working together if her visions hadn’t kept pushing them together. Plus, Gelryn had told her to stay near him. Fordham surely had his own aims for joining the tournament, but it didn’t seem to have much to do with her.
After another long session in the baths, Kerrigan retreated to her room for a much-needed nap. Only two or three hours was all she was getting. It seemed prudent to try to get in as many sessions as she could. Anyway, Fordham was busy the rest of the evening and she’d already received instruction from Bastian about her role in the tournament tomorrow. A nap sounded wonderful.
But when she returned to her rooms, Clover was seated on her bed.
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
She sighed and held up a piece of paper. “Dozan has me sending missives now.”
“I thought you were a card dealer,” she said, taking the letter from her hand.
“I am, but he knows that you trust me. So, here I am.”
Kerrigan waved away the note of concern and instead broke open Dozan’s red wax seal—an arrow through a capital R.
The letter held an address and underneath that:
Tonight at midnight.
Do try not to get killed, princess.
* * *
—D.R.
She scowled at the letter. Princess. She hated everything that he called her, but princess was a joke. A stupid joke. Oh, how she regretted confiding in him all those years ago.
“What have you gotten yourself into?” Clover asked.
“There’s a weapons deal happening tonight,” Kerrigan said. Magic flared to life at her fingertips, and she burned the note to cinders.
“So?”
“So, I’m going.”
“What? Why?”
Kerrigan sighed. “Someone tried to kill me the other night. It was the same person who killed Lyam.”
Clover’s jaw dropped. “What? When were you going to tell me this? Do Darby and Hadrian know?”
“No. I haven’t told anyone yet. I wanted proof.”
“You need to tell them, Ker. They need to know.�
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She nodded. “I know. I will. I promise.”
“So, how does Dozan factor into this.”
“Well, the assassin got away, and Dozan offered to help me find out who did it.”
“Dozan doesn’t offer to help people.” Clover looked worried. “What did he want in exchange for this information?”
“I agreed to do a fight… a big fight.”
Clover groaned. “You said you never wanted to be beholden to him.”
“I don’t… but this is important. Lyam’s death wasn’t an accident. No one believed me when I first said it. Not even you. But if I can get proof and take it to the Society, and then we can get justice for what happened to him.”
“Or you could die!”
“I’m not going to die. I’m bringing Fordham.”
Clover’s eyebrows rose sharply at that. “Fordham, huh? On a first name basis with the dark prince?”
“Stop it,” Kerrigan said, a flush rising to her cheeks.
“I mean, you have good taste. Dozan Rook. Fordham Ollivier. You like them big and bad with muscles and—”
“Please stop!” Kerrigan said, hiding her face. “Fordham and I are not together. I am not interested in him. He is just helping me figure out who killed Lyam.”
“And what is he getting in return?” Clover asked carefully.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t be naive. No one does anything for free.”
“I helped him with the last task. He’s returning the favor.”
“Seems like a big favor.”
Kerrigan shrugged. She wasn’t wrong. People weren’t altruistic. But this was different. “He saved my life from the assassin.”
“So, he really had no reason to be helping you. Favor already repaid.”
“Yeah. I don’t know,” she admitted.
“Maybe find out.”
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I, uh… should go get him, so we can make it to the drop point.”
“I wish I could go with you,” Clover said. “Dozan told me to come straight back. That he wants me on a table all night.”