Relic

by Bronwyn Eley

He shot forward, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her toward the door. Just as she screamed, Thorn let out a yelp and dropped her.

  ‘Enough!’ Jesper hissed, eyes wet with tears. Her shaking fingers gripped the Relic tightly. ‘You will do as I say, Thorn.’

  ‘I am in charge of prisoner handlings!’ he yelled, throwing a hand toward me. ‘She murdered your husband!’

  ‘She was defending herself!’

  Thorn scoffed. ‘She’s been planning this for weeks!’

  What?

  ‘She’s one of them,’ Thorn continued. ‘One of Bellamy’s rebels!’

  Jesper shook her head, rejecting the information. ‘No, she’s not.’

  ‘It’s in her blood,’ Thorn said smugly. ‘Her father was one of them too. It got him killed. Now it’ll do the same to her.’

  My breath came to a harsh stop, loud enough to catch the attention of Jesper and Thorn. Both looked at me, watching to see what I would do with that information.

  Elias had said as much, but I hadn’t really believed it was true. Elias said many stupid things. But now Thorn had confirmed it. How did he know?

  ‘What about my father?’ I asked quietly.

  Thorn turned his back on me. ‘You will leave me to deal with the prisoner, or so help the Lords, I will order an entire squadron down here to remove you.’

  ‘What about my father?’ I yelled.

  ‘You will not be left to do as you please,’ Jesper rebutted. ‘We will meet with the Councilmen first to decide her fate.’

  ‘Her fate is sealed!’ Thorn shouted. ‘She murdered Lord Rennard. There is no grey area here. It is black and white. She will be hanged as soon as I can make the preparations.’

  ‘THORN!’ My scream echoed around the dark chamber. ‘What about my father?’

  I threw myself against his back, but he was like a stone wall. He barely moved. Swinging around, he grabbed my wrist, twisting until I submitted.

  ‘Thorn!’ Jesper shot forward, clawing at his fingers to unhook them from me. Thorn pushed her away with his other hand. She stumbled back, striking the wall.

  ‘Get her out of here!’ Thorn cried.

  Anders came rushing into view. How had he just stood by and let this happen? He grabbed Jesper by the arm. She fought against him, until he said something softly in her ear. She deflated, tears in her eyes, and followed him from the room.

  Thorn released my wrist. I snatched it back and stumbled as far from him as I could. Grasping the skin where it burned, I watched Thorn settle into a wide stance as he faced me. It was only now that I noticed the blade hanging on his hip, sharp enough to slice through a throat.

  ‘What – about – my – father?’ I repeated through gritted teeth. If I was going to die, I would get my worth out of him first.

  Thorn considered me, moving his eyes slowly over my body. Finally, he scoffed. ‘You’re so like him.’

  My chest stilled, silencing my tears. I had to hear this. ‘How did you know him?’

  ‘Guess there’s no point keeping it to myself any longer.’ Thorn shrugged. ‘This isn’t the first time someone’s tried to dethrone the Lords. It started a few years ago.’ He sneered. ‘Bellamy thinks he’s so special. Thinks he’s a leader. But the rebellion was around long before he came to claim it as his own.’

  ‘My father was part of it?’ My voice shook.

  ‘He recruited my sister to the cause,’ Thorn snapped bitterly. ‘So, yes, he was part of it.’

  Red spread up the side of his face. Any minute now, he would unleash that anger on me.

  ‘She thought I would be sympathetic to the cause.’ He spat on the floor. ‘Why, I have no idea. I’ve served Rennard his whole rule and, before that, his father. My entire life has been spent serving the Ediann bloodline. Loyalty runs deep, you see.’ His eyes darkened. ‘Somehow that loyalty skipped her. Instead, she gave hers to that lot. I told her to put a stop to it, to leave it alone. That no good would come of it. She didn’t listen, of course. Then I caught her talking with your father one day and I knew he was part of it. He fled, but I had seen his face clear enough.’

  My stomach churned but I stayed still. What had swayed my father to be part of the rebellion? Was he really that desperate for change? Was he really that dissatisfied with his life?

  ‘And then she was found dead.’ Thorn said the words quietly, as if afraid of them. His sister was dead. My father was dead. Rennard was dead. This rebellion had claimed too many lives already. ‘So I confronted the man who recruited her.’

  He paused to let the words sink in.

  ‘He didn’t fall,’ I said quietly. ‘Did he?’

  Thorn let a smile slip onto his face. ‘No. I just made it look that way.’

  I groaned, backing up against the wall, pushing down the bile that was threatening to rise.

  Thorn had murdered my father.

  Thorn had murdered my father. Pushed him from a roof and stood idly by while his family suffered over his seemingly pointless death. To make it worse, I could see now that my selection as the Shadow was too much of a coincidence.

  ‘You put me here,’ I growled.

  A light sparked in his eyes. ‘Before he fell, I told your father that his family would suffer the way I suffered.’ He paused. ‘But worse. Yes, I rigged your selection. It’s not easy, mind you. The system is designed to be fair, but no one ever questions their captain.’

  My throat closed as panic rose in my chest. I wanted to scream at him, hurt him, but I could do nothing but stare at the man who had torn my family apart.

  ‘There’s a saying among the guards,’ Thorn mused. ‘One in, all in. If one person in the squadron makes a mistake, everyone suffers the consequences. It’s how they learn unity.’

  ‘My family did nothing to you!’ I yelled, hands balling into fists.

  ‘Oh, don’t you worry about your family,’ he said menacingly. I froze. ‘I’ll take good care of them.’

  I sprang forward, reaching for his throat, but he was too fast, too strong. He darted to the side and pushed me, sending me sprawling to the rough ground. My cut hands stung as they scraped against the stone, but I bit down my cry.

  Launching to my feet, I threw myself at him again. This time my fist made contact with his jaw, glancing off to the side. I heard a faint click, but it didn’t slow him down at all.

  ‘Your father tried the exact same thing,’ he chuckled. ‘He was such a small man.’

  I threw another fist at his face, but he avoided it easily.

  ‘He was throwing himself around, just like you are now,’ Thorn continued. ‘I guess that’s what made him lose his balance.’

  I stopped, taking in the sight of the man who killed my father, destroyed my life and my family. He was the reason for all our pain.

  ‘I will kill you.’

  Thorn barked with laughter. ‘Will you, now?’

  Unhindered hatred rolled through me, blazing in every corner of my body. Every limb screamed awake, all pain forgotten, all fear pushed down.

  Hurling myself forward yet again, I feigned a blow to his face before striking out with my foot. His knee cracked as it shifted sideways. Thorn crumpled to his other knee, hands shooting to his new injury.

  Hissing, he shot up and backhanded me across the face. My head exploded with pain, eyes sparking with blinding light. All balance gone, I fell to the ground. Thorn’s heavy tread sounded like thunder in my ears.

  ‘I’d like to see you try, little girl.’

  The dungeon door slammed.

  Shadows enveloped me once more.

  The next few hours were lost to tears and panic. I tried to calm myself a few times, but each attempt ended with me collapsing into a puddle of despair. My fists were raw and bloodied from banging against the door. But no one came. No one released me. No one cared that Thorn was out there, on the loose, threatening my family.

  What was he going to do to them?

  Kye and Rhey wouldn’t be able to handle a cell like this one. />
  I had to get out of here and get them out of the city before Thorn had his way with them. But Jesper was nowhere to be seen. Where was her daring rescue?

  I tucked myself up against the wall and waited. I began to scratch my skin. I didn’t stop until I drew blood.

  More blood.

  Mine this time.

  Better than someone else’s.

  In the stillness of the room, my mind fell into memories of my father. Dancing with him in the morning to wake ourselves up. Sneaking food from a local tavern kitchen to bring home to the boys. Giving him the ring I made to honour his marriage to my mother.

  Seeing his broken body, twisted like a fallen branch, at the bottom of a building mere streets from our house.

  It hadn’t made sense then. What had he been doing on the roof? How had he fallen? How was he dead? Never having those questions answered was nearly as hard as losing him. Usually, he had all the answers.

  I buried my head in my hands, scratching at my face. This wasn’t the plan. Bellamy was meant to kill Rennard. It would have been messy, and who knows what would have happened afterwards, but it would have been better than this. Now I had a new death sentence around my neck. One that put my whole family in danger.

  The door was thick, but I could still hear Thorn’s heavy tread approaching. I knew his gait well enough by now. A part of me wanted to act now, to catch him off guard and strike him down with something, anything.

  But she was still here. That weak and whimpering Kaylan, too afraid to speak out. I thought she would have died with Rennard, but somehow her presence was stronger than ever.

  Latch unbolted. Door unlocked. Thorn towered over me yet again.

  He drew his dagger, twisting it in his fingers. The metal stole the light of the fire in the hallway, glinting menacingly at me. ‘You don’t remember your last visit here, do you?’

  I said nothing.

  Thorn pressed the tip of the dagger to the wall, then began slowly dragging it against the stone. Discomfort rippled through me.

  ‘You left quite a mess up there.’ He thrust the tip of the dagger at the ceiling. ‘Blood and glass everywhere. There was so much rage in that room. Some would look upon it and see revenge, as clear as day.’

  ‘If anyone has revenge on their mind, it’s you,’ I spat, unable to help myself.

  ‘I won’t deny it.’

  ‘But why?’ Tears drew close to the surface. Not again. Not in front of him.

  ‘I told you why.’

  ‘It was her choice.’ I was reaching. I didn’t want to admit the truth. If the rebellion had caused Elias’ death, I would blame them too. I would blame Walker and Bex and Bellamy. They were just like my father, weren’t they? Recruiting to the cause. How could my father have done that?

  ‘It wasn’t my father’s fault.’

  ‘Wasn’t it?’ Thorn’s eyes glinted. His thin lips pressed together. Why wouldn’t he just say what he wanted to say? I knew he was holding more back. But he just shrugged. ‘It’s you I’m interested in now.’

  Amid the terror and pain, a spark of relief touched my heart. Perhaps he would spare my family, even if he did kill me – and I had no reason to believe he wouldn’t. But then again, he had already taken his revenge out on my father, and hadn’t seen fit to stop there.

  If I could stall him long enough for Jesper to enact her escape plan, maybe we could all make it out of this alive. ‘I didn’t mean to kill him.’

  ‘Doesn’t matter,’ Thorn said plainly. ‘Defence or not, you murdered him. What did you expect would happen now?’

  ‘It all happened so quickly.’ My eyes swam, recalling the moment. Instinct had kicked in. I hadn’t even realised what I was doing until it was too late.

  Thorn sheathed his dagger and leaned close. ‘Before you die,’ he whispered, ‘I will claim justice for Lord Rennard.’

  ‘Why?’ I looked up at him. ‘Why are you so loyal to him?’

  Thorn pulled back slowly. ‘Despite what he became in the end, he was a loyal partner.’

  ‘Partner?’ I scoffed. ‘Rennard didn’t play nice with anyone.’

  ‘Do not judge the man and his rule on the few short months you spent in his presence,’ Thorn snapped. I recoiled. ‘I was there when he was born. Watched him grow and learn. Watched him take control and thrive in his position. You think his life was so easy, simply because he was wealthy? Because he had power where you did not? No life is easy and nothing is simple, Shadow.’

  ‘Don’t call me that.’ The words lashed from my mouth. ‘That sick, twisted regime he had is gone now.’ I pushed to my feet, scraping against the wall to help my weak legs. ‘I’m the last Shadow.’

  Thorn’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. ‘You most certainly are. But the pages of history won’t remember you for that.’ He took a step closer, eyes burning into mine. ‘They will remember the traitor who was hanged for her crimes.’

  I stared unblinking into his cold eyes.

  ‘Then I’ll die a traitor, and take the Shadows with me.’

  Chapter 29

  The heavy, rusted bolts unlocked, the noise ripping through the cell like a scream.

  How long had I been here? It felt like days. I had spent what seemed like hours with my ear pressed to the door, straining to hear whether Thorn had brought my family to the dungeons. There had been nothing but silence, which was almost worse. Not knowing where he was or what he might be doing was torture.

  So when the door opened now to reveal Jesper, I cried out in relief. Curling forward, I collapsed into sobs. Her gentle hands found me.

  ‘I thought you weren’t coming back.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. Her eyes were red. ‘It’s been difficult, with Thorn, and the guards loyal to him. But he just left the castle, so I took my chance to come see you.’

  ‘Are we going?’ I made to get up, but Jesper stopped me.

  ‘Not yet.’ She sighed. ‘I can’t be the one to lead you out of the dungeon. If we were spotted, it would be clear we were escaping. But I will send Anders to you as soon as I can.’

  It was only then that I noticed the guard hovering by the door, watching us closely. Not Anders, but another. His eyes were calm, despite our treasonous words. ‘He’s with you?’

  ‘Yes.’ Jesper rubbed my hands. ‘Kaylan –’

  ‘Have you heard anything about my family?’

  ‘I have a friend watching your house. He says it’s quiet so far. Thorn hasn’t been to see them yet. He hasn’t even made the announcement that Ren is dead. Only the Councilmen and guards know. But that will change very soon, I’m sure. I don’t know what he’s planning, but it will be bad. I’ve known him long enough to take his threats seriously.’

  I baulked, and Jesper hurried to reassure me. ‘Your family is fine. My friend sent word only a few hours ago.’

  Relief flooded through me and my body went limp. ‘Thank the Lords.’

  The phrase felt heavy and unnatural now that I had killed my own Lord.

  ‘I should go.’ Jesper rubbed my hands again, gathering my attention. ‘It won’t be long, I promise. I will send Anders before sundown tomorrow.’

  ‘Time means nothing in here,’ I said darkly, glancing around.

  ‘Less than one day,’ she said reassuringly. ‘We will leave this place.’

  ‘You’re coming?’ Hope spiked in my heart.

  ‘Of course I am.’ She smiled slyly. ‘With you gone, there would be nothing left for me here.’

  ‘Where will we go?’ We didn’t exactly have many prospects. The other Lords would cry for my head when they found out what I had done. My family and Jesper would be labelled my accomplices.

  ‘I have plans.’ Jesper stood. ‘I think it’s time I went home, don’t you?’

  I smiled warmly, trying to picture the far-off city of Stynos. ‘I do.’

  ‘Don’t go anywhere without me, now.’ She hurried to the door.

  Despite it all, I chuckled. ‘I won’t.’

&n
bsp; Now that I knew I had less than a day to wait, time seemed to slow. Every sound was an enemy, playing tricks with my mind, telling me Thorn was returning to kill me now, before I could make my escape.

  But I didn’t see Thorn again. The next time the door unlocked, it was Anders.

  I nearly collapsed with relief. We hastened to the stairwell at the end of the hall and climbed. Two guards waited at the top; I slowed my pace until Anders greeted them and the doors were opened for us. I pushed up the stairs and nodded to the men as we passed. I would probably never see them again.

  The hallways were dark and quiet. Half the lamps remained unlit. Anders knew his way, taking quiet halls and slipping us away whenever we heard someone approach, leading me straight to Jesper’s door. He stopped and turned to me.

  ‘In you go. I’ll keep guard, you get Jesper.’ He turned his back, watching the hall.

  I slipped inside. The room was as quiet and dark as the halls. White moonlight streamed in through the open window to my right. My eyes fell on a candle, recently extinguished, small tendrils of smoke creeping up, up, up until they disappeared.

  I scanned the room for Jesper, but saw no sign of her. There was only a stillness that tensed my body and gripped my heart. I moved forward and rounded to the left, hoping Jesper would be waiting by her bed.

  She was.

  At first I thought it wasn’t her. That it was just her blue dress discarded on the floor. I pinched my eyes shut. This was just another one of my hallucinations, like the one standing right behind me, looking over my shoulder, breathing down my neck. The Rennard who watched me wasn’t real. Neither was she: the Jesper lying on the floor.

  My eyes sprang open again. She was still there, motionless.

  Thick, red blood pooled from a hole in her stomach.

  Her empty eyes watched the dark ceiling.

  It was a nightmare. I shook my head. It had to be. It was just Rennard, playing tricks with my mind again, mocking my sanity. He would never stop.

  I turned on him, the man who wasn’t there, and screamed. Long and hard. There was no sense to it, no words to voice my pain, just that horrid noise.

  The door burst open and Anders entered. His feet skidded to a stop. He stared at me for a moment, then his gaze passed over my shoulder, to what I knew was real behind me.