by Chloe Cullen
“The Faction?” Cori asked, not having heard the name before.
Ryker spoke up then. “It’s a name we’ve given to those who think that Diviners are still out there somewhere.”
The information clicked together in her brain. “Oh – they’re the reason for those odd posters that I’ve seen around?” Cori asked.
Ryker nodded, looking like he wanted to roll his eyes but was refraining. “They don’t seem to be posing any real danger to us, but the trouble is that the people seem to think the Legion is responsible for the propaganda. We’ve had multiple people coming up to us on the street and ‘reporting’ magical disturbances for us to check out.” Ryker shook his head with a sigh.
Cori scoffed a little. “What kind of magical disturbances?”
“I had a teenager tell me last week that a fire had started at a bar in the West Markets and that a Flame-render was behind it,” Romy said in her delicate tone, “every tale I’ve heard has always had a most reasonable explanation that has nothing to do with magic.”
Cori frowned. “That’s concerning…” she started slowly, thinking hard, “what could their motivation be for putting those posters up?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Ryker said, “but for now, we’re just trying to get rid of the posters when we find them.”
Cori nodded, and then Thoren stood suddenly, almost dislodging Soraya from the seat entirely. Everyone looked at him, surprised at the sudden movement.
“Well… I better relieve Trey, otherwise he gets grouchy.”
Ryker laughed. “You got that right - he’s had something up his ass the past few weeks.”
Soraya giggled into her hands, and shot a look past Cori to Romy, before saying in a high-pitched voice, “I heard the opposite.”
Ryker snorted. “You mean, he’s put something up someone else’s…”
“Ry, shut your mouth!” Soraya said, but she was trying to hide the grin tugging at her lips.
Cori looked to Romy beside her, and saw her cheeks were turning pink. She nudged her in the ribs, and finally Romy looked up, a small and embarrassed smile on her lips.
“Well shoot, rumours do travel fast around here,” Romy said softly.
Cori couldn’t help but laugh. “Romy … are you shacking up with Trey?”
Romy just shrugged, but her expression betrayed the truth.
“All right, all right,” Thoren said, the ghost of a smile on his face, “you all get your butts down to the training room and do something useful with your time.”
Everyone laughed before starting to stand and move.
Ryker brushed past Cori and gave her another friendly pat on the shoulder, and she grinned at him. She had always really liked Ryker.
“Cori?”
Cori paused on her way to follow the others out of the room and turned to see Thoren still standing next to the set of couches. She looked behind her as the others disappeared around the corner, leaving them alone in the large room, and walked slowly back towards him.
“I was heading to the training area when I heard you guys in here,” Cori explained as she walked towards him, before stopping a few feet away, “it took me a few hours to adjust earlier, but I’ll be straight back into it from now on, I promise,”
Thoren frowned. “I didn’t want to talk to you about training.”
She shifted her weight. “Oh. What, then?”
“I know my father assigned you to me and Trey,” Thoren said, his eyes scanning her face as though searching for an answer to a question he hadn’t asked her yet.
When he didn’t elaborate, Cori raised her brows at him. “Yes?”
Thoren sighed through his nose. “Well, I thought you might want to work out a schedule, or at least ask me what the schedule is. Or were you planning to avoid me and ask Trey instead?”
Cori hid her shock at the blunt question – she hadn’t planned that at all. Instead of answering his question, she instead folded her arms across her chest and said to him, “shall I join you tonight, and we can work it out from there?”
She could see him work the muscles in his jaw, as if he hadn’t expected that response. There was a beat of silence.
“Alright.”
Thoren started moving. He just strode towards the door without saying another word or looking back to Cori.
She watched him walk away, feeling a little stunned by his abruptness. Cori should have expected it after the way she had spoken to him earlier, but the Thoren she had in her mind was a boy who had been quick to laugh, the corners of his eyes crinkling so frequently that it had been her favourite image of him. Had the past two years changed him just as much as it had changed her? Or was it because she was back now?
Amidst the lingering anger with the Legion and with Thoren, she now felt something else more clearly.
Sadness, loss. It was those feelings that ran through her in the second before she started training silently behind him. They had been a perfect pair, the best of friends.
Now they were strangers.
13
Thoren could sense rather than hear Cori following behind him as he strode through the lamp-lit hallways of the Compound.
She was like a ghost, a shadow behind him. He thought about how that was a perfect reflection of exactly what she was like in comparison to the vibrant Cori she had been before the Massacre. Now she seemed like nothing more than a shell of who she used to be, a ghost, a shadow moving around the halls with nothing real to grasp on to.
Though he had glimpsed pieces of the old Cori in the recreation room. When she had spoken so kindly to Sam or laughed and smiled with Romy and Ryker. But in the quiet spaces between the conversation, he had watched her face sink back into the hollow version, her eyes like a deep, cold stone well that had been tapped dry and was wholly empty.
Thoren didn’t know if there was anything he could do or say to bring her back, to fill that well so that she could find some peace and happiness. He barely knew how to act around her anymore, and whether he was making things better or worse. He felt helpless when it came to her.
But there was one thing he knew how to do well, no matter who it was, and that was to train and guide in being a Legionnaire. So, he could do this for her, and know he wasn’t making this worse for her, but better. Cori had been away for two years, and while he had no doubt she still had skills that could outmatch a great number of them, he also knew she would be de-conditioned, and would need to prove herself before being stationed solo. He would do everything he could to help her prove that, whether she wanted his help or not.
Thoren led Cori out into the front gardens, and he saw in his periphery as she caught up to him and matched his pace to walk beside him.
The moon was high in the sky, and the glow from the moon, as well as the gentle glow of the lamps that had been lit, guided their silent trek through the otherwise dark topiaries and front gardens.
As they were walking through the Compound gates and onto the street, Cori finally spoke.
“So, Maveron said you and Trey were taking turns patrolling the Quarter? But I figure there’s more to it considering it’s… you and Trey.”
Thoren glanced sidelong at Cori, her eyes trained straight ahead as they passed through a small group of people who immediately parted for them to walk through.
“Before the Assassin started causing us trouble, I was training the initiates. Sometimes my father would ask me to cover some Palace border rotations, but nothing high profile.”
They strode past a series of wooden stalls that were now empty, the merchants having removed their wares before the sun had fully set.
“Why nothing high profile?”
She asked the question casually, but he also heard the other silent question behind it. Why was he not using his skills like he had always planned? When they had spoken of their futures, he had told Cori that he always wanted to be a Legion Five warrior. If he couldn’t be that he wanted to be a permanent palace guard of the King and Queen,
or the Princess. He had wanted to aim as high as he could go.
Thoren couldn’t give her the real answer, so he just told her that his father issued the orders, and he had followed them.
Cori gave a small disbelieving sound, but she dropped the subject. “And now?”
“Now, Trey and I have been ordered to patrol throughout the night – looking for any unusual activity, but mainly keeping a lookout for this vigilante.”
They resumed a quiet walk along the cobbled street, the silence occasionally pierced by a shouted conversation, footsteps as someone passed by, or the clopping of horse hooves when a carriage bumped past. They passed another female Legionnaire, who nodded at Thoren and Cori as she went by.
Thoren watched Cori from the corner of his eye, noticing that she appeared on full alert, her eyes tracking darkened storefronts, each alley they passed, the windows and the rooftops. Her hand rested absentmindedly on a dagger sitting at her hip, but her posture was relaxed, easy, ready to jump into a fight. He hid a faint smile as he, too, returned to searching the streets. Cori was made for this, and Thoren hoped that after a few patrols and resuming training, that she would remember that also.
As they passed by a pub, Thoren heard raised voices followed by a crash that sounded horribly like someone had been thrown into a wooden table. Thoren was about to cross the street towards the open door, when Cori picked up her pace and was already at the door before his foot hit the street.
Thoren paused and watched as Cori stood in glow of the open door to the pub, hands on her hips.
“Can someone explain this to me?” Cori asked loudly over the din inside the establishment. Thoren heard with amusement as the noise died down almost immediately. He heard someone mumble something that he couldn’t make out from this distance, and he started across the street.
Cori scoffed at something one of the patrons said. “Alright, I’m sure that’s all it was. Now pick yourself up. And you—” Thoren saw Cori point at someone. “—Please upright that table and those chairs, and respect the owner enough to not trash this place, okay?”
Thoren heard more mumblings and a scrape of wood against wood.
“This is a warning,” Cori said, looking at someone in particular, “if the Legion catches you fighting or causing trouble again, we will detain you as we see fit.”
“Yes ma’am.” Thoren heard a gruff voice say quietly.
Cori turned away from the door, and without looking once at Thoren, she scanned the streets left and right before walking resolutely towards another Legionnaire who was moving in their direction from a fair distance away.
Thoren could guess what she was doing, and instead of questioning her like he would to any other person, he instead took a moment to glance into the pub. A burly looking male was shifting a chair back into place, red in the cheeks and looking every bit like a scolded child. A few of the patrons spotted Thoren in the doorway and nudged the others around them. Everyone stilled again and seemed to stand up a bit straighter at the sight of him. There weren’t many people who didn’t know his face in these parts of Everton.
He nodded at the owner of the pub and turned away again. When he was out of sight, he leaned himself against the wall outside the pub, and after a moment he heard someone from inside whisper that the girl had been The Lone Oakheart, and he cringed inwardly. He had no doubt that people would recognize Cori as well, regardless of her absence in recent times, but hearing that name the people had given her was difficult. He was glad she was not there to hear it being whispered through the pub.
Thoren had been as close as he had ever been to challenging Ione earlier, when she had spat that name at Cori, as good as a slap across her face. Many times, Thoren had disagreed with Ione over the years, she was an unforgiving and brutish person, but she was the leader of the Legion Five now, and so he had always held his tongue. Tonight, he had wanted to throw her across the room regardless of her rank.
Ione was still young by anyone’s standards, nearing her thirty-fifth year, but Thoren could tell that some part of her was broken, or damaged, for her to treat people the way she did. He supposed Brennan and his own father kept her in her position because she was a truly excellent fighter and trainer. If it were up to Thoren, she would be gone from the Legion as soon as he could manage it for the way she treated people.
Thoren turned his head and watched Cori stride closer, next to her was the Legionnaire. Cori spoke to him as she gestured towards the pub that Thoren still leaned against.
He pushed off from the wall as they approached.
The other Legionnaire was a tall and muscled male that Thoren knew well. He smiled at him. “Hey Willow – how’s the evening going so far?”
Willow, a younger male whom Thoren had once trained last year was grinning at him. “All quiet so far. Tonight, I’ve had one single interaction – and that was with an old man who was asking if I knew where his wife had gone. Turns out she was in the store across the street, trying to buy some sweets in secret so she could hide them from him.”
Thoren’s laugh was a small exhale through his nose. “Sounds like a great start to your night.”
Willow laughed. “I’ve certainly had more interesting nights, but I’m not complaining… no sign of the Assassin anywhere. No bells yet.”
Thoren nodded gravely, all humour vanishing from the conversation. When Cori looked confused, he explained for her. “We will know if there are any sightings or any more victims discovered – each Legionnaire has been told to raise the call to the bell tower so that all within earshot can be on the alert.”
Cori nodded her understanding. “When was the last sighting, and where?”
Willow pointed behind Cori, closer to the Royal Palace. “In one of the larger apartments on High street up that way – a Legionnaire spotted a dark shape on the rooftop, supposedly leaving the scene of what turned out to be a pretty grisly murder. Pretty risky if you ask me, to kill someone so close to not only the Compound, but the Palace.”
Thoren agreed with Willow – it was extremely risky, and it was grinding to know that this person was getting away with such heinous acts right under all their noses.
“Well, then. We had better get on our way. Thanks Willow,” Cori said to the other male, who nodded at her with a smile on his face.
Thoren inclined his head in goodbye, and Willow immediately took up Thoren’s earlier position against the wall of the pub, presumably to keep an eye on the patrons who had become a little noisier again inside in the last few minutes.
As they approached the higher end of the main street, the sparkling Palace visible ahead of them, Thoren kept his eyes trained on each rooftop they passed, his ears perked for any sound that was out of the ordinary.
“Why do you think they’re doing it,” Cori asked quietly, breaking the silence, “the Assassin, I mean.”
Thoren didn’t let his eyes stray from scouting the dark corners of the streets and buildings. “I could make a few guesses, but nobody would know except the person responsible.”
“I suppose so,” was all she said.
“I would guess that they have some sort of benefactor in the area, and we have our eyes on a few of them,” Thoren said.
There was another beat of silence as the Palace grew closer. They should come across Trey at any moment, but Thoren couldn’t see him ahead anywhere. Perhaps he was patrolling down some of the side streets tonight.
“So… can I ask about Soraya?” she asked, taking Thoren by surprise, so much so that he let his eyes stray from his scouting and land on Cori.
He didn’t know what she meant by that, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Soraya and Thoren weren’t… together. Not in the conventional sense, but they had certainly spent a lot of time together the past few years. He wouldn’t lie to Cori if she asked outright.
“What about her?” he asked, keeping his tone cool and neutral.
“About her becoming a Legion Five warrior,” Cori said, allowing her own gaze to find his for a mome
nt, “I mean, I know Soraya is great and everything, but honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t win the trials.”
Thoren stared straight ahead, suddenly feeling even more uncomfortable than if Cori had been asking about Soraya for another reason. He cleared his throat. “I actually didn’t enter the trials.”
“What?” Cori stopped dead in her tracks, causing Thoren to halt as well, and they faced each other. “Are you crazy?”
He frowned at her disbelieving stare. “There was a lot going on, and so I didn’t want to enter when they came up last year.”
Cori shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “But Thoren, how could you not… that opportunity only comes up a handful of times in a lifetime.”
He just shrugged at her. “I know that, but I wasn’t ready for it.”
“That’s bullshit,” Cori said, and Thoren raised his eyebrows at her with surprise, “we’ve been ready for those trials from the moment we were branded.”
Thoren looked her straight in the eyes, and before he could stop himself, he said, “you’re right. We were ready for it.”
Cori flinched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean it was always something we talked about doing together. It didn’t feel right without you here.”
Cori turned away from him, her arms falling to her sides before she reached up to run a hand over her head and down her braid, as though deep in thought. “That is so… stupid.”
Shock ran through him. “Excuse me?”
Cori whirled on him. “It’s stupid, Thoren! Even if I had been here, they would have only picked one person. We couldn’t have been in the Five together anyway!”
Exasperated by her outburst, Thoren turned defensive. “I know that, but we always talked about entering the trials together when the time came, and… the timing felt wrong, so I just didn’t. I didn’t feel like I could after everything.”
Cori just shook her head, a disbelieving look still across her face.