by Chloe Cullen
“Thank you,” she croaked out, “please, I…” She paused to cough twice and then swallowed another mouthful of water that Gryffin offered. “I’d like to talk to Thoren.”
“I’m here,” came his deep voice, and Cori turned her head towards the sound to find him moving into the room towards her. Thoren’s eyes never left her face as he came to stand near the edge of the bed. “I asked you fetch me if Cori woke up.”
Gryffin stood and took a step back. “I was just about to; she’s only just woken. I – I’ll leave you to it. See you later.”
Thoren nodded without looking at him. “Thanks, Gryff.”
Gryffin handed Thoren the glass of water he still held. Then he smiled once at Cori, before he left the room quietly, closing the door behind him.
Cori watched as Thoren sat down on the edge of the bed, his silver eyes stormy as they watched her closely.
“I would really like to go the rest of my life without finding you on a floor covered in blood again,” Thoren said, the ghost of a smile on his face.
Cori almost laughed, but when she started to, she could only cough instead. Her abdomen shrieked with pain at the movement.
“Sorry,” Thoren murmured, and brought the glass back up to her lips to drink again.
When Cori settled back into her pillows, she felt some tingling in her fingers, so she began to pull her hands into fists. Then she sighed deeply and met Thoren’s gaze.
“What happened?”
Thoren looked down to his hands, and she could see him swallowing. Then he told her what happened. How he was escorting Nero from the Palace when he said something provocative, and so Thoren had raced back into the Palace with Valentina and Ione. Thoren breezed over finding Cori on the floor but paused before he explained what had been found in Princess Millisa’s rooms.
Cori felt her spine straighten, and a flare of pain coursed through her at the movement. “You mean she’s not… dead?”
Thoren both shook his head and shrugged. “We don’t know that. We just know that the Princess is missing. She hasn’t been seen since, and we have every outpost on the lookout, and every Legion Scout on the hunt.”
Cori frowned at his words. “How long have I been out of it?”
“Almost a week,” Thoren said.
Cori cursed, slumping back into her pillows.
“When we got you to the healers, you were in pretty bad shape. The wound was deep, and you lost a lot of blood – but it seems there was some luck granted to us that day, because the wound was only through flesh, no internal organs. The healers were able to close the wound, but they’ve kept you asleep for six days so you could heal.”
Cori swallowed, her mind reliving the moment she had been stabbed. “Have – has Trey been caught?”
A flash of anger passed over Thoren’s face. “No. He wasn’t there either, and we haven’t been able to find him since.” He laughed then, no humour behind it. “I’d stupidly thought he’d been one of the victims, or he’d been taken, but…”
“Right, I suppose there were no witnesses?” Cori asked, and when Thoren shook his head, she felt confused. “How did you know that it was Trey then?”
Thoren looked at her, surprised. “Because you told us, don’t you remember?”
“No,” Cori said. Her last memories were sitting on the Palace floor, looking up at Trey and sincerely believing it was the last thing she would ever see.
“When we got you to the healers, you were still semi-conscious. It was hard to understand you, but I heard the message loud and clear. You were saying that Trey did it, repeatedly.”
Cori, the feeling coming back to her arms, slowly moved her left hand and pulled it out from under the covers. She tentatively placed it over Thoren’s hand that was resting on the comforter.
“Thank you, for finding me,” she said.
Thoren shook his head. “I just wish I was there with you, maybe I could have—”
“No, Thoren,” Cori said quickly, “this isn’t your fault.” And then she desperately wanted to talk about how fast Trey had been, unnaturally fast. She hadn’t had a lot of time to process everything… seeing Adeline use magic and watching Trey move like a blur. Cori wondered if Thoren might think she was imagining things, but before she could utter anything about it, he spoke first.
“Well, I’m glad you’re safe now.”
“I’d trade places with the Princess, if I could,” Cori said, and meant it wholeheartedly.
Thoren turned his hand over to take hers and squeezed her fingers lightly. “We’re going to do everything we can to find her, I promise you. The moment we hear any whisper of Trey’s whereabouts, you and I will go there together to find them, no matter how far.”
Cori nodded, the need for vengeance coursing through her. “We’ll bring Millisa home and bring Trey to justice.”
Thoren looked like he wanted to say something, and she could almost guess what. That it would be the Legion’s justice, and not the kind that Cori was now used to as the Assassin. But instead, Thoren just nodded.
He offered her the glass of water again, and this time, Cori took it with her own hand, feeling in control of her arms once more.
“The healers said you would be moving quite normally again in a few days, but it may take some time for the drug to fully wear off. So, you’ll need to be resting,” Thoren said.
Cori took a sip of the water and lowered the glass back to the bed. “When can I return to training?”
Thoren chuckled. “So keen. Maybe in a few weeks, but you’ll need to take it easy for a while, okay? It’ll do you no good to return sooner than you should.”
Cori sighed. “How is everyone else?”
Thoren shrugged again. “Okay, I suppose. Everyone who knows what happened is trying to move forward. Many people, including the public don’t yet know the full details, though there are rumours. The loss of Ryker is a huge blow to us all… he was a great person.”
Cori closed her eyes tight, a pang of shame coursing through her. “Ryker,” she whispered, “I haven’t even spared a single thought for Ryker.”
His hand tightened around hers. “It’s okay. There has been a lot – too much – going on.”
Cori just shook her head, remorse and sadness overlapping with what had already been there, at the thought of the handsome, and quick to smile warrior. Another light in this world that had been winked out so suddenly.
Thoren cleared his throat. “And uh… Romy is taking everything quite hard as well. I think it would do her some good to know that you’re alright.”
Romy. She had been in love the man who had deceived them all.
“Gods, of course. Poor Romy,” Cori said.
“But, tomorrow, my father will be addressing the public, and the Legion are all to be there as well. If you’re up to it, we can go together,” Thoren said gently.
Cori nodded. “I’ll be there.”
Thoren left Cori to rest not long after. She had a lot of thoughts churning around her brain, but the last few weeks had left her with bruises and scars, both inside and out. So, it wasn’t long before fatigue overpowered her busy mind, and she fell back to sleep.
***
Cori slept for almost eighteen hours straight after Thoren left her, but on the odd occasion when she woke briefly, she could sense him there with her. By the time the President’s address was approaching, Cori struggled to make herself bathe and dress. The basic tasks felt ten times more difficult with her sluggish and tired limbs, and the pain that would flare with any stretching of her torso.
But Cori did bathe, and she did dress.
When Thoren came for her, Cori was as ready as she could be. She had dressed in a flimsy pair of pants because the tighter waistband on her usual uniform was too abrasive against her wound. But she had pulled on her grey tunic and had plaited her blonde her so that it fell down her shoulder. When Cori looked at herself in the mirror, she almost felt like herself again.
As they walked out of Cori’s room,
Thoren insisted she hold onto his arm for support, for which she was grateful. He’d known she wouldn’t have asked for help, but she was still limping slightly on her right side to avoid a painful pulling sensation as she stepped.
“Has Maveron briefed the Legion about his address today?” Cori asked.
Thoren shook his head. “No, but he’ll be honest with the public. I know my father.”
Cori nodded as they walked the hallway, empty humour in her voice as she said, “I suppose he wants to tell everyone that the Legion is still a place you can be safe, with people you can still trust.”
Thoren glanced over at her. “I still think it is a safe place, with people we can trust.”
Cori didn’t entirely know what to say, but she tried, “I know that a few pieces of rotten fruit doesn’t make the whole tree rotten… but Thoren – how do we know who we can trust?”
Cori asked the question quietly, as though anyone could be lurking around the corner.
“I know I can trust you, and you know you can trust me,” Thoren said solemnly, “I suppose we start there, and figure the rest out day by day.”
Cori paused in her steps, and since she held on to his arm, Thoren stopped too. She looked up and down the empty corridor before she faced him. “Do you really trust me? After… everything?”
The question lingered there, and Thoren considered for a moment, his brow furrowing. But then he nodded.
“Cori… of course I trust you. I… can understand why you did what you did. I don’t agree with it,” he said with a hint of a smile, “but I can understand it.”
Cori looked down to her feet. “I can’t wholly apologise for those things, but I am sorry for compromising what you believe.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone, Cori. I’ll keep your secret… but can you promise me you won’t need to be that person again?”
Cori nodded truthfully. “My contract is almost up. I don’t plan to become her again anytime soon, I promise.”
“Then we don’t need to speak of it again,” Thoren said and they continued down the hallway.
They went at a slow, steady pace, her gaze cast downward. They walked the remainder of the Compound in silence, and when they stepped out into the light of the afternoon, the bright sun shone into her eyes and she breathed in the fresh air.
When they reached the square in front of the Compound gates, a large crowd had already gathered, and Maveron stood upon a raised platform that must have been erected that morning, the remainder of the Legion Five standing behind him.
Behind Maveron, they stood completely still and grave. Ione, Soraya, and Valentina. Once five, now three. Cori couldn’t even recall a time in recent history when they had lost two of the Legion Five at the same time.
Maveron allowed the crowds to continue swelling as more and more people joined them, expanding out across the square and even squeezing in down alleyways, kids climbing on carts to be able to see better. Then he approached the front of the platform, and the sounds of the crowd died down around them.
“Good people of Everton,” Maveron started, his voice booming across the heads of those below him, “you will have heard of the terrible events that occurred within the Legion grounds, and in the Royal Palace over this past week. I am here today to tell you, that some of what you heard is true, and I will put any other rumours to rest today.”
A murmur ran through the crowd.
“Just over a week ago, the Legion Compound was again infiltrated by those who have donned themselves the Shadow Legion, and our Legionnaires fought them off, with few casualties. However, the day following, during a gathering at the Royal Palace, there was a second attack.”
Maveron paused, taking a deep breath before addressing the crowd again. “I am sad to announce that we have lost one of our treasured Legion Five warriors – Ryker Farrow, and most regrettably, our beloved Princess Millisa is currently missing.”
Another swell of murmurs mingled with some cries and sobs around them.
“I would like to advise you all, that although we are not affiliating the Legion with those who are responsible, we will still be holding thorough investigations into each and every current member of the Legion, and we have allocated all available resources to locating the Princess. I want to ask you all to join us on this mission.” Maveron extended a hand towards crowd. “As we believe two people in particular are responsible, and that is Trey Nasher, one we considered our own… and a rogue vigilante – an assassin, who has eluded us for far too long.”
Cori stiffened, and Thoren shot her a bewildered look, clearly having no idea that his father was going to suggest that she had been responsible for the Princess’ abduction. Maveron had no idea the Assassin was standing next to his son, and that he had invited her back into the Legion with open arms.
She felt like she wanted to be sick, as the whispered conversations around them intensified.
“We will find the people responsible, and they will be detained and punished severely for their crimes.” Maveron took another deep breath. “And now I would also like to state that things must go on, even after such events. We will continue to work, and respect each other, and the Legion will continue to be there for your protection. We will continue on as we have for many years – and that means that we will be hosting a set of trials in the coming months to test for the next two warriors to join the Legion Five.”
Cori couldn’t help herself as she turned her head to look at Thoren, who was looking directly at her, and she almost smiled. Almost. Because she never thought they would get this chance, to enter the trials together, and possibly win together. But in the wake of everything… would it be right if she even entered?
Maveron wrapped up his address not long after that announcement, and then the crowd began to thin slowly.
Thoren found Cori’s gaze and she just shrugged at him. “What do we do now?”
Thoren put a hand on her shoulder, spun her around, and steered her in the direction of the Compound before walking beside her.
“Now, you’re going back to the Compound to rest. And when you’re better, we’re going to train hard, find the Princess, find and punish Trey, end the Shadow Legion for good, and lastly – we become one of the Five together.”
Cori scoffed. “As easy as that, huh?”
“Unfortunately,” Thoren said, holding on to her arm again as they made slow progress back through the gates of the Compound, “I’m not sure any of it is going be easy. Except maybe kicking your ass in the trials.”
Cori laughed softly, knowing that he was making a joke for her benefit because he was right – not about kicking her butt, because please, but about the rest of it. There was so much uncertainty, that it was impossible to know where to start. Was the Princess still alive out there? Where had Trey gone, and why had he betrayed them like this? Where is the Shadow Legion hiding, and what did they want from them? Where did Adeline disappear to after the fight – and did Cori really see her using magic? It was one unanswered question after another.
“By the way,” Thoren said slinging a half smile at her, his silver eyes sparkling with humour despite the way of things. “I’m still waiting for an apology for you breaking my nose.”
Cori gasped and stopped walking before she covered her face with her hands. “Oh Gods, you’re right!”
She peeked at Thoren through her fingers as she recalled throwing her head back and hearing the slight crack of his nose breaking when she had run into him as the Assassin. She cringed as the sound played through her mind again.
“I am really sorry…”
Thoren reached forward and tugged her hands back away from her face. “No permanent damage,” he muttered, and Cori was surprised to see he was smiling down at her. She didn’t quite understand how he could so easily forgive her.
As they kept walking across the grounds, passing under the statues, Cori resolutely decided exactly what moving forward would look like. She would become stronger, quicker, smarter. And she would n
ot stop working and training hard until the Legion was finally clean of these twisted shadowed versions of themselves. The Legion would rise up and become the glorious family it had once been.
Most of all, she would find Millisa, and Trey would pay for what he had done to them, and to Cori.
She would do it all with the boy walking beside her. This fierce, loving male who still stood by her even after everything she had done, everything she had put him through.
So together they walked, each of them deep in thought at what the coming months might bring.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Firstly, I want to thank anyone who has gotten to this point. Thank you so much for reading this, the first book I have put out into the world – your support means the world to me. My next thanks will go to my best friend and first person I shared this book with, Kendyll. She gave me some of the best feedback and insight I could have asked for – and the readers may want to thank her for some major changes made to the fate of some of my characters! Thanks also to my mother who shares my passion for writing. I’m also incredibly grateful for the amazing talent that is Jenna Pearson (Instagram @jemlin_c) for creating the beautiful cover design which I never could have replicated in a million years. My final acknowledgement is for my husband, Thomas. He is the best husband I could ask for and has always supported my dreams. He also brings me food – need I say more?
Stop by and say hello on my Instagram @infinitybooks or @chloecullenauthor I’d love to hear from you!