by Lizzy Ford
“If I were you, I would listen to Diving Eagle,” Rocky called up to her. “There is a real threat in your village, and only this girl with no muscles can stop it before it hurts anyone else.”
The female warrior erupted into what Tiana imagined were curses in her language. She thrashed in the air.
For once, Diving Eagle was smiling. Rather, half-smiling. Tiana doubted he was capable of a full smile, but the right side of his mouth tilted up as he watched the woman flailing above their heads.
Tiana lowered the woman to the ground. The Native stood very still for a moment and then released her breath. Her eyes settled on Tiana.
“You did that?” she demanded.
Tiana nodded.
After a thoughtful quiet, the warrior woman spun. “You may enter my village. You will be gone by dusk.”
Rocky waited until she was a safe distance away before leaving to gather the horses.
“Why do you two hate one another?” Tiana asked Diving Eagle.
“Many reasons,” was his curt response.
“Are we safe in her village?”
“Does it matter? You can throw her warriors into the forest.”
Tiana said nothing. She had the sense those around her gave her more credit than she deserved. Lifting one woman into the air, and controlling her abilities when she was emotionally upset, were two separate skills. If someone attacked her, she was more likely to cry and run than fight.
They mounted their mules and trailed the warrior woman into a familiar village. Tiana cheered up when she recognized the place she had been before recently, on her way to find Arthur. They passed the tallest, oldest tree in the forest, whose lights were dark this day, and continued to the medical clinic at the center of the village.
Tiana dismounted before anyone else, eager to see if Warner had healed.
“Tiana!” Rocky called as she entered the wooden clinic unescorted.
She allowed her eyes to adjust for a split second. The beds were empty, and she frowned, stepping deeper into the clinic. In one of the rooms off the main bay, she saw movement through a half open door and drew nearer.
A healer was changing the bandages on an unconscious Warner. He straightened when she pushed the door open.
“You return,” he observed. “Your brother is no better.”
She went to stand beside Warner. The black wound looked the same as the last time she had seen it. “He is not healing at all?” she asked, disturbed.
“His condition worsens.”
Tiana knelt beside the low bed and rested a hand on Warner’s warm skin. Her gifts were too vast for her to understand their limits. Was it possible for her to heal someone, too?
She concentrated and pushed the agitated magic towards Warner. His body glowed briefly before the energy sank into him. She kept her eyes pinned on the wound for signs it was healing.
It did not change.
She tried again, ignoring the presence of Rocky in the doorway.
No change.
Tiana dropped her arm. “I have limits,” she reported to Rocky. “I cannot heal.”
“No one is perfect,” he said. “Who is this?”
“Warner. He traveled with me from the city.”
Voices from the bay drew both of their attention. Tiana left Warner to join Rocky in the doorway.
Diving Eagle and the warrior woman were quietly arguing. The Native woman gesticulated towards a bed with rumpled bedding.
“Was someone else here?” Rocky asked the healer.
“A man with wounds that should have killed him,” the healer said. “His body was crushed. He barely breathing when they brought him in two evenings ago. This morning, he stood up and said he was well and walked out. I told him he could not leave the village. He said he would go where he pleased and vanished before my eyes. I have never seen anything like it.”
Tiana’s breath caught in her throat. She and Rocky looked at one another.
“That’s not good,” Rocky said for both of them.
“His companion has been placed under guard until the ransom promised by Arthur Hanover is paid,” the healer added.
“Arthur was here?” Tiana asked.
“For the night. He left yesterday morning. His companions, and your brother, are being held for ransom.”
“Brother?” Rocky asked with a glance at Warner. “You have two?”
“I have one,” Tiana clarified. “But we thought it best not to tell people who I was when I traveled, because everyone hates my father. Warner is a friend to Arthur.”
“You’re a Hanover,” the healer said.
She nodded.
“Chases Deer knows where your brother went.” The healer nodded towards the Native woman.
“She’s a real warrior?” Rocky asked.
“The swiftest for a thousand miles. She will lead our people when her father dies, which many believe will be soon, because of his age,” the healer answered.
“Amazing.” Rocky’s eyes glowed.
Tiana lifted an eyebrow at him.
“Not that her father will die,” Rocky said quickly. “But a warrior princess. Aveline is the only female assassin in the city. She would love to hear this.”
Tiana was not as certain. Chases Deer seemed much more confrontational than Aveline had ever been. She waited until there was a lull in the conversation between Diving Eagle and Chases Deer.
“If I may interrupt,” she said, moving closer to the two. “The healer said my brother left yesterday morning. Do you know where he went?”
Chases Deer turned her intense gaze on Tiana. “Brother,” she repeated.
“Arthur.”
“You brought a Hanover into my village,” Chases Deer said icily to Diving Eagle. “The Hanover everyone is looking for.” She pushed past him and glanced at Tiana. “Your brother went to the city to stop your father from creating war with the Natives. You all will remain here until I have had a chance to speak to my father.” She swept out of the clinic.
Only when she was gone did Diving Eagle roll his shoulders back and relax.
“You should have raided her village,” Rocky said wisely.
“Agreed,” the warrior seconded.
“I like her,” Tiana said. Chases Deer did not fear Diving Eagle the way Tiana did. In fact, Tiana guessed the Native warrior feared no one for any reason.
I want to be like her. But she doubted she ever would, not when she feared herself as well as the rest of the world.
“We are stuck here for now?” Rocky asked their companion.
“It would seem so.” Diving Eagle faced Tiana. “Can you sense the skinwalker?”
She tilted her head, listening and feeling for any kind of anomaly that might indicate the skinwalker was close. He had a definite impact on her; if he were nearby, she should know.
She left the confinement of the building and stood in the open space in front of it. Tiana closed her eyes. A tiny whirlwind of energy tossed her hair around her shoulders and lifted the loose layers of clothing she wore.
A whisper of an instinct came from one direction. She opened her eyes. Her clothing and hair settled once more.
“Maybe …” she said and pointed to the west. It was too faint to determine with certainty, as if he were trying to hide himself from her. She turned to find Rocky and Diving Eagle regarding her with different levels of wariness on their features. Rocky managed to smile. Uncertain what had disturbed them, Tiana cleared her throat.
“The healer said your brother traveled with a companion.” Rocky was the first to speak.
“Marshall,” Diving Eagle supplied. “They both disappeared from our captivity.”
“Marshall,” Tiana repeated, recalling Marshall’s sister Matilda, whom Tiana had accidentally killed. Little had she known Matilda would be the first of many Cruise deaths.
“Chases Deer said the spirit wolf is with him. The wolf is the skinwalker’s companion. Perhaps she can take us to him.”
Tiana was quiet. She
did not want to face Marshall, a stranger she had met on only one other occasional before finding him and her brother chained in cages in Diving Eagle’s village.
“Can you find Marshall?” Rocky asked her.
She shook her head. She did not wish to try.
“I may know where he is,” Diving Eagle said and struck off in the direction of the large tree.
“You’ve been imprisoned here before?” Rocky and fell into step beside him.
“More than once.”
Rocky laughed.
Tiana trailed, spirits dampened when she thought of Marshall and his family. He would hate her – for good reason. Disheartened to face another victim of her father’s madness, she kept her thoughts to herself as she followed them through the village and to a small cabin guarded by two Natives.
They were permitted to pass through and entered. Tiana lingered in the doorway, afraid of Marshall’s reaction. The wolf with marbled fur curled up on a blanket in the living area drew her attention. The last time she had seen it, the wolf was black.
“Marshall?” Rocky called.
“In here,” came a voice from one of the rooms off the main living area.
The two men went towards Marshall, but Tiana crossed to the wolf instead. She knelt.
The great wolf lifted its head to peer at her with golden eyes.
Tiana reached out to it and ran her fingers through its hair. “What happened to you?” she whispered.
An image of six puppies flashed across her mind.
“Ah. Are they healthy?”
Yes.
“But you are not.” Tiana touched the white fur. It was unnaturally cold compared to the black fur.
Dying.
Her fingers stilled. “I am so sorry. Why?”
My time.
“It is not because of a Hanover?” Tiana joked.
Hanover kind.
“You are the only one who thinks so.”
Hanover good. Help others.
“I do not. My brother might but … I have been pretty useless,” Tiana said. “Thank you, though, for the kind words.”
“This is what I was telling you.” Marshall’s voice jarred her.
Tiana twisted, terrified to see him with a weapon ready to strike her down in revenge for murdering his sister. He stood several feet away, arms crossed, Rocky and Diving Eagle beside her.
He does not know.
Tiana glanced at the wolf.
Marshall good. Safe. Arthur scared to hurt him.
Tiana almost sighed. She had never heard of a good Cruise, but she knew nothing of the family outside of her experience with Matilda and what Arthur had shared with her.
“The Hanover’s have this disconcerting ability to speak to magic wolves,” Marshall said. “Do you not?”
It took Tiana a second to register his question. She was trying too hard not to imagine what it would be like if she lost her brother and everyone else she cared about.
Marshall did not know.
Should she tell him?
Yes, said the wolf.
“Yes,” Tiana answered Marshall. “I can. She says she is dying.”
“Does she speak of her master? The skinwalker?”
Tiana returned her attention to the wolf.
The image in her mind was a blur of forest and sky.
“I do not understand,” she said.
You find him soon.
“She says we will find him soon,” Tiana told the others.
They were quiet.
The wolf rested her head on her paws and closed her eyes. Tiana rubbed her ears, saddened by the idea of the animal dying. “Where are her puppies?” she asked.
“In my room,” Marshall answered.
Truth. The wolf said quietly into Tiana’s mind.
Tiana drew a deep breath. She stood and faced them. “Marshall, I need to speak to you.”
“Speak,” he replied curtly.
“Alone.” She gave Rocky a look.
He nodded and stepped aside.
“Very well,” Marshall looked between her and Rocky. “Come meet the puppies and we can talk.”
She trailed him into his room and closed the door behind her. On his bed were six small puppies sleeping and surrounded by a blanket wall to prevent them from wandering off the bed.
“Supposedly, one of them is magic,” Marshall said and knelt beside the narrow bed. “Your brother abandoned me here to the Natives.”
“I am certain he had his reasons,” she murmured.
“As am I. But he could have shared them with me. We have spent the last few weeks together in a wild chase to save you from a skinwalker whose life you almost took.”
Tiana listened. She leaned over to peer at the puppies and smiled.
“I am ready to leave the forest behind and feast at your father’s table again,” Marshall added.
Her gaze rose, and she straightened. “That cannot happen, Marshall.”
“Why not? I helped save your father’s two stray dog children,” he replied with no heat. “I feel I’ve earned my place at my father’s side at the head table. Arthur and I put aside our differences. I would consider us friends.”
Tiana’s mouth felt dry. She wet her lips and drew a breath. How would Aveline broach the news to someone? Her assassin friend, much more experienced in the world, had always been direct with her.
“Marshall, your family is dead,” Tiana said. “All of them.”
He stared at her.
Tiana took a step back towards the door. “Arthur did not know,” she added, wanting to spare her brother the dishonor of lying to a friend, Cruise or otherwise. “My father burned everyone.”
Disbelief crossed Marshall’s features. His mouth dropped open as he gazed at her. His cheeks flushed red. After a moment of shock, a strange sound emanated from his mouth, one that sounded half like a scream, half like a shout.
And then his hands were around her neck, and he was slamming her into the floor. Black edged Tiana’s mind. She did not fight him and closed her eyes, preparing for a beating the likes of which his sister used to give her routinely.
The door slammed open. Marshall, still screaming, was hauled off her. Someone snatched her arm and yanked her up and out of the room, through the cabin and outside.
The two guards were peering into the cabin at the otherworldly shriek originating from within.
Tiana shook her head to clear it and steadied herself against Diving Eagle’s warrior body. She touched the tender back of her skull with a wince. The skin around her neck burned and promised to bruise.
“What happened?” the Native demanded.
“My father’s reach extends even here,” she said hoarsely. She wiped away tears of pain and turned away from the cabin. “My father murdered Marshall’s family. Every last person in the city who had a drop of Cruise blood in them was burnt. Marshall did not know, but I thought he should.”
Diving Eagle released her, eyes pinned to her features as she spoke the difficult words. “Why would the Hanover do that?” he asked.
“Because he is mad,” she replied. “Because he is the monster you believe him to be.”
“You could have hurt Marshall. Ended his family line the moment he touched you.”
“I am not my father,” she said quietly, vehemently. “I have told you this many times. Arthur and I are different.” She stepped away from him.
Diving Eagle was silent.
Tiana did not dare look up for fear of his judgment.
“You’re a selfish coward, Tiana Hanover,” he said finally. “You bear immeasurable power and think only to escape him when you alone may be able to stop him from destroying anyone else.” Without another word, Diving Eagle strode into the cabin and slammed the door closed.
Marshall’s scream was instantly quieted.
Tiana looked up, startled by the rebuke but more so by the idea anyone thought she could do anything to oppose her father.
The image of throwing the skinwalker into th
e air returned to her thoughts.
What if he is right? She thought. What if she had spent her life feeling helpless and vulnerable and cowering away from anyone who spoke – but she and her hated deformities were strong enough to overcome her father?
She had not always understood her deformities and feared those monitoring her too much to test her limits. Whether she always had the level of ability needed to kill, or it was new, she could not know with certainty.
Was the Native right? Was she strong enough to protect herself now?
Rocky seemed to think so.
What is wrong with me? She thought, distressed. How could she possess an ability and fear using it to the point she cowered away from … well, everything?
The faint presence of the skinwalker stirred at the edges of her mind. She turned to face the direction in which he was located. A new thought entered her mind. With a last glance towards the cabin, Tiana began to walk towards the forest.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The stallion bred for endurance and speed lived up to its reputation. Twenty-eight hours after leaving the village, Arthur barreled through the city, past the smoky area where his father burned dissidents, and towards the pyramid at the far side. Cries from the Shield announcing the movement of a Hanover through the city followed him. He did not bother to stop and speak to any of the Shield members.
He had slept fitfully for a few hours atop the horse and was plagued by the same vision of his father watching the city fold in on itself and die. The images stuck in his mind, and Arthur had discarded the saddlebags and saddle – even his weapons – in order to relieve any excess weight so the horse could travel faster.
Half-crazed, praying his father had not had the chance to act out yet, Arthur ignored everyone and everything, breezing past the soldiers who greeted him in surprise, the outer city residents who cried out in joy, even George, who appeared startled as Arthur galloped past him.
Arthur slid off the horse’s back once he reached the stables behind the pyramid. A groom rushed out to take the horse, and Arthur patted the sweating animal before hurrying towards the entrance to find his father. From the corner of his eye, he saw George running after him and waving his arms to attract his attention.
Arthur ignored him. Nothing else mattered than ensuring his father was still present in the city and never left.