by Halie Fewkes
“You can count on me,” Ebby whispered, feeling the warmth that came with his care.
“You are my best piece, and I will keep you safe at any cost,” he said again, rubbing a thumb across the backs of her hands. “And I know it sounds scary, but all you have to do right now is gain their trust. You have time to get ready, and I’ll be right here if you need anything. You were made to kill Vack, Ebby. I know you can.”
Ebby nodded and pushed the fear of the deed into the future where it belonged. “I know I can too,” she said, because for Ratuan, she could do anything.
Chapter Twelve
Allie
I was back in the cedar forest, outside Tabriel Vale, in the wildflower patch with fire searing through my mind. Sav and Gat had just tricked me into leading them to Ebby, and now she was right shanking next to me.
“Ratuan, no, come back!” echoed through the trees. The woman shouting it was about to have her throat ripped out. Ratuan was about to be crushed into the ground. Ebby was about to be torn away and probably killed.
“You’ve got to run,” I sobbed, curling in on myself in unbearable pain. My shame was almost as excruciating, and I wished I could just die, right here in a disgraced heap. I’d given away the location of our Epic, and I couldn’t fight for her, or scream, or even pull myself up to my knees.
“Allie!”
I thrashed as somebody got a tight grip on each of my arms. “Allie! It’s a dream!”
I fell instantly still, breathing hard, looking through a tangle of hair to see Archie holding me. We were back at the Dragona, in his pristinely kept room where dust didn’t dare invade, where never a single article of clothing was left on the floor. I must have drifted off. We’d been out all night, and the last thing I remembered was sitting on Archie’s perfectly made bed, planning out how we would explain the Dincaran kids’ location to Tarace without revealing who we were.
“Still a violent sleeper?” His smile calmed me as I took a sharp breath. My racing heart finally slowed and Archie let go of my arms.
“I know who that boy is,” I said, shoving my hair out of my eyes, lingering to toy with the ends. “Ratuan. He’s the friend from when all of this started, with Sav and Gat…”
Archie watched me for a confused moment. “What are you talking about? I thought you didn’t know who he was.”
“I just dreamed about him, about the day I woke up without my memory. Archie, I’m the reason Sav and Gat found Ebby. I somehow led them to her, and Ratuan was there too. That’s why he recognized me.”
I pressed my palm to my forehead and took short breaths.
“He probably has no idea that Ebby’s the new Epic,” Archie said.
“Probably not,” I agreed, closing my itching eyes. I needed to return to my room and get some sleep, but I just couldn’t convince my limbs to move.
I sat still for moments longer to gather myself, and Archie startled me as he stood, grabbed my feet, and set them up where he’d just been sitting.
I pried my eyes back open as he grabbed two blankets from the foot of his bed and laid them on the floor.
“What are you doing?”
“Well, you’re clearly not moving,” he said, crawling between the two and making himself comfortable, which was tough when the ground was solid rock. “And neither of us will be able to speak a full sentence to Tarace if we don’t get an hour of sleep first.”
I smiled, grateful for the generosity. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll leave.”
“Do what you want. I’m comfortable here.”
I rubbed my stinging eyes. “Honestly, you can have your bed back.”
Archie put a finger to his lips and said, “Shhhh. I’m sleeping,” burying his face beneath an arm to end the conversation.
I rolled my eyes and turned over, crawling beneath the welcoming blankets that smelled like spiced tea, and like Archie. Of course, I had to practically rip the sheets up first, as they were all tucked in tightly with the corners folded and creased, but every muscle in my body thanked me for the warmth and comfort as I finally sank down beneath them.
Exhaustion was upon me like wolves on a steak dinner, but I knew nightmares loomed close for me. The best way to combat them was confronting my most pressing dilemmas, and life had handed me some big ones.
Murders, kidnappings, the torments of war — they could all end if the two new Epic kids became friends. And while I wanted to do everything in the world for Archie, pulling Ebby away from the Escalis might just be the worst thing we could do.
If I didn’t fight to help Prince Avalask, then I wasn’t standing up for everyone’s greater good. And we’re supposed to stand for what we believe is right, no matter the consequences, aren’t we?
I slept dreamlessly for hours until I heard somebody whisper, “Not worth it.”
I pried my bleary eyes open to find Archie still on the ground, staring straight at the ceiling.
“Hmmmm?” My question went unanswered. “Archie?”
“We’re all just pretenders,” he replied, and I smiled faintly to myself as I realized he was sleep talking. At least he wasn’t violent.
“What are we pretending?” I rose to one sleepy elbow to watch him, hoping he would respond.
“Everything.” He continued to gaze straight up. “But mostly that we’re happy. We’re always pretending life is worth living.”
My smile vanished. I slowly rose and set my feet on the cold floor as Archie turned away and muttered, “Some of us are just really good at it.”
I padded toward him as his breathing hastened and his inhales became sharp gasps. I knelt quietly. “Archie?”
I tried to set a hand on his shoulder, stopped by his shield until he rolled back toward me and curled into a ball. And since he’d moved to touch me, I was able to grasp him tightly as he whispered, “I’m sorry.” A pang of sadness and maybe even fear hit me in the chest. I had never seen him shed so much as a tear before, but here he was, dissolving in his sleep. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
I rubbed his shoulders and tried to comfort him, if comforting the sleeping was even possible. “Hey, you’re alright,” I whispered, lying face-to-face beside him. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
He released a deep, shuddering breath before settling, and I continued rubbing his strong shoulders as he drifted back into peaceful stillness. Behind his good looks and beneath his positive outlook, lay an Archie who was afraid and ashamed and hiding… but why? What could he have possibly done to feel so guilty? The loss of his sister was the only trauma I knew of in his life, but even if that was somehow his fault, it wouldn’t be a friendship-ending revelation for me. I couldn’t imagine anything that would be.
The dissonance I’d fallen asleep with worsened, because I knew that bringing Ebby home could somehow fix the horrors tormenting him, and I had a sense now for how important that was... But as much as I truly cared about Archie, I couldn’t bring myself to change my mind for him. The world was better off with Ebby in Prince Avalask’s care.
I didn’t remember moving back to Archie’s bed, but I woke the next morning lying atop a mess of blankets, and Archie was gone.
I sat up uncertainly, not sure if I should be worried, or embarrassed, or… Why in shanking life wasn’t he here?
Archie pushed his door open with guilty eyes, and I narrowed mine, trying to understand his clenched jaw and hands thrown restlessly in his pockets.
“Sorry,” he said, “I needed to get out and think for a bit.”
He sat beside me on the bed, searching for words.
“What’s going on?” I asked, making my suspicion sound playful.
Archie shrugged and looked at the ceiling, taking a deep breath.
“I’ve been thinking a lot, and I’ve decided to take Corliss up on her offer to travel.”
I froze.
“What?” I tried to turn my breathless question into a laugh, but my heart had stopped.
“I’m serious.
I’ve stayed here longer than I ever meant to.”
I pushed myself back from him as angry heat crept into my face. “Enough of this stupid nonsense about your past. What is the real shanking reason you want to leave?”
Archie restlessly started to tuck his blankets down into the bed, and I tried hard to fake patience while I simmered inside. “I can’t get close to others, Allie, and you and I are getting too close. Being with me puts you in danger.”
I stood in a flash and said, “That is the biggest load of bullscat I have ever heard.” He must be a new breed of idiot to think himself the source of my peril. “We have exactly the same enemies, and most of the danger we encounter is my fault. I’d already be dead three times over if not for you. How can you just leave me after all that?”
I wished I sounded kinder, like somebody worth staying with, but I couldn’t keep scathing anger from my voice. I knew, deep down, this was part of the reason he wanted to go.
“Look, there are things you don’t know—”
“Oh what?” I sneered. “Something to do with your big secret is putting us in danger?”
“I’m not making up stories so I can run away,” he said, finally taking offense. “But I didn’t want to leave my sister either, and she was killed because I didn’t.”
A better person would have softened their words at the mention of his dead sister, but I didn’t flinch. “You told me she was killed by Sav and Gat. And you think they’re going to leave me alone just because you’re gone?” Archie looked almost entirely composed, except he dug his nails deep into his palms as I said, “You’re not playing the hero by leaving me to them, and to the Zhauri, and Sir Avery, and whoever else I manage to infuriate.”
We both stared hard at each other until Archie said decisively, “I have to leave.”
“Well, good riddance then.” My voice became suddenly, irrationally flippant. “I’ll go talk to Tarace myself and hope the Zhauri don’t murder me by the end of the week.”
I turned to skip toward the door, and Archie grabbed my arm to stop me. “Look, I’m sorry,” he said, looking truly disheartened. “I’ll help you get through this mess with the Zhauri, but that’s as long as I can stay.”
“Alright, sounds great,” I said with a bright smile. I felt like a lunatic, like it was the only way I could cope with the idea of being alone so soon. “Let’s go see Tarace like we planned then, shall we?”
I put an anger-inspired spring in my step and tried not to think about how much it was going to hurt to lose him. I tried not to scold myself for being such an idiot and relying so heavily on another person. People will always let you down — it’s a fact of life — yet I’d willingly given away a piece of my independence since meeting Archie. What a fool.
We reached the long hall to Anna’s old study, where Tarace now resided over stacks of paperwork, and were still five steps from the door when it creaked open of its own accord. My heart sank as I saw Tarace sitting behind Anna’s old oak desk, Sir Avery leaning against it, and Maverick standing with his hands folded casually behind his back. The whole room reeked of fearsome authority, some left over from memories of Anna, but mostly from the power trio facing us now. I wondered for a moment if I could crawl under Anna’s large desk and just die. It would be a kinder fate than this.
“I’m amazed to see you back so soon,” Maverick said, eyes fixed on Archie instead of me. “You must have even better methods for obtaining information than I do.”
Archie said nothing, so I stepped up to say, “We came back to speak with Tarace. We didn’t expect to run into you.”
“Anything you have to say to Tarace can be said in front of us,” Sir Avery said impatiently, spinning one of his thumbs around the other. Tarace stared silently over folded hands, the perfect image of a man who was picking his battles.
“We found where the Escalis are keeping the Dincaran kids,” Archie launched in. “They haven’t seen sunlight in months, and some of them are hurt—”
“Did you happen to find Ebby among them?” Sir Avery asked. Archie fell silent, gritting his teeth in distaste. “Because the kids’ location isn’t news to us. You’re wasting our time.”
I stared hard at Sir Avery, because if he knew their location, something should have already been done for them.
“Are we just… leaving them there?” I asked, specifically to Tarace.
Tarace, without any particular inflection or emotion, replied, “The Dragona doesn’t have the resources right now to retrieve them. We have allies among the other cities who will help us, but until last night, the matter hasn’t been a priority.”
“Not a priority?” I repeated.
“The children from Dincara are none of your concern anyway,” Maverick said, rather politely. “Your task is to find our Epic so Sir Avery can keep Prince Avalask at bay and my team can extract her.”
Archie turned to Sir Avery and asked, “You honestly want us to give your daughter’s location to the Zhauri? You know their history. They shouldn’t be anywhere near her.”
Sir Avery chuckled and said, “Their history is the reason I brought them down here. Prince Avalask is shading Ebby from being tracked; he can move her to a new hideout at a moment’s notice, and even if I do find her, he can fight me long enough for his son to relocate her. The Zhauri are our best shot at getting her back. Maybe our only shot.”
“But you’re trusting them?” Archie demanded as though Maverick weren’t in the room.
“No, I’m paying them,” Sir Avery replied. “We’ve discussed the reward you’ll receive if you contribute to her rescue, and if the Zhauri can bring her home, I’ve told Maverick that one of his boys can marry her.”
Archie’s jaw fell open, and I felt a protective beast rear its head in my chest as I growled, “She’s ten.”
“She’s almost twelve,” Maverick corrected me, “and next year she’ll be thirteen, and three years after that, she’ll be sixteen. We all understand the nature of aging. What’s important right now, is that you two locate her.”
“Oh, I’ll find her,” I said, my lip curled back in disgust, “but you are going to be the very last person to find out when I do.”
Archie stood on my foot, telling me to shut up as Maverick replied, “I’ve given you your deadline. I can give you motivation not to miss it, if that would be helpful.”
Archie grabbed my hand tightly enough to suggest he might break it as I spat, “I don’t take orders from you,” and Archie groaned as though I’d just signed for our deaths.
Maverick broke into a frightful smile and said, “Such brave words for one in such a vulnerable position.”
I was just about to spit a string of insults regarding his character and his mother, but hesitated as he exchanged a conspiring glance with Sir Avery.
“I can point Allie’s sister out to you if they’re not cooperative,” Sir Avery said, his tone suggesting that this entire conversation was beneath him and he had other places he’d rather be. Maverick shot me a patronizing smirk as Sir Avery continued, “Archie’s got a group of friends they’d both hate to lose, and neither of them would be particularly keen to see the other maimed or given Time, if you really need to get persuasive.”
My jaw fell open and I breathed, “What are you doing?”
“I don’t think you understand the severity of this situation,” Sir Avery replied, leaning toward me with his eyes narrowed dangerously. “That’s my little girl the Escalis have. They haven’t killed her yet, which means they’re trying to turn her against us, and I can only imagine the methods they’re using. What’s it to me if you have to lose a couple fingers in order to rescue her?”
Tarace finally stood up and said flatly, “The threats are unnecessary. None of those things will happen as long as I lead at the Dragona.” He turned his sharp gaze to me and Archie, ignoring the other two men in the room, but I couldn’t help but wonder if Tarace’s protection meant anything against the threats of Maverick and Sir Avery. “But you both need to un
derstand how important it is to get Ebby home,” he told us, “especially after what we learned last night. Humanity might not survive if we don’t retrieve our Epic. Rescuing her and the Dincaran kids just became urgent.”
I glanced at Archie, whose frown looked nearly serious enough to be permanent. “What did we learn last night?” he asked.
“That’s right, they wouldn’t have been here,” Sir Avery said dismissively. “I’ll leave you two to explain the situation. And I’ll see your boys later tonight,” he said, giving Maverick a curt nod before leaping to disappear.
Tarace fell thoughtfully quiet, and Maverick was the one who cordially explained, “The situation, as Sir Avery calls it, has grown quite dire.”
“It sounds like you already know Sir Avery didn’t have a son like he was supposed to,” Tarace said, irritation finally creeping onto his face. “Messed that right up with some tavern girl who gave him a daughter?”
“We’ve heard of Ebby,” I said defensively.
“So that’s where our Epic is, being brain-washed to side with the Escalis,” Tarace said, his composure slowly leaking away. “Meanwhile, those children the Escalis captured consisted of our young mages from the Dragona, and every child who had just been exiled from Tekada to Dincara for the ability to use magic — which means the Escalis have all our future magic-users.”
“Do you have any news for us that isn’t a waste of time?” I asked, wishing Sir Avery was still in the room for the jibe.
“You asked why we haven’t done anything about those children yet,” Tarace said. “And the answer is because we were waiting for our adult mages from the Dincaran surrender to come home so we could mount a real rescue. But they’re not coming home.”
Fearful dread crept into my chest as I said, “What are you talking about? The Escalis took the survivors in Dincara across the ocean and dumped them on the shores of Tekada. Everybody knows that.”
“Yeah, that’s what everybody heard,” Tarace said, choking on a sudden surge of emotion that made my breath catch. What could be wrong? Corliss had said the survivors were already released. Izfazara had promised they would be.