Kira’s words from the memorial rang through my mind. The girls desperately needed each other. Dasha had been born in the convent, and Kira had lived there since she was four years old. Dasha’s tie to Kira was stronger than her tie to her brothers, whom she’d only met a few months ago.
Dasha needed to come home.
I stared at the candles that a group of Romska women lit by the stones for Sestra Mirna and my mother. Their bright flames burned spots in my vision. Even so, I felt like a blindfold was suddenly removed from my eyes. The way ahead became perfectly clear.
I couldn’t be Sonya the Sovereign Auraseer anymore. I didn’t want to be tempted by that kind of power. It was too unstable to offer anyone lasting salvation. Feya had blessed me with my enhanced ability long enough to compel Valko to abdicate and ignite this revolution, but everything else I’d done with my gift had been a step backward for the good of Riaznin. At least my experience helped me understand Dasha. No one else knew what it was like to be overwhelmed and terrified and emboldened by bending another person’s emotions. No one else knew how it felt to be manipulated by Valko for that gift.
I may not be able to reach inside Dasha’s aura and compel her to leave him. I may not even be able to sense what she was feeling anymore, but she could sense me. She’d feel my love and understanding.
Maybe I couldn’t save Riaznin with my power, but I could help a little girl. I could give her back her sister and her home.
I broke away from the others and searched the main cavern for Tosya. At some point, he’d drifted away with Ula and Konstantin. I wanted to tell him what I’d resolved to do.
He was still with the chieftain and soldier when I found him standing near the far wall. Their heads bent together by the light of one of the cavern windows. Ula held a letter in her hands. Konstantin’s jaw muscle tensed as he looked at it. Tosya stood with a rigid back. “What’s happening?” I asked, approaching them.
Ula glanced up and released a heavy sigh. “There was an avalanche not far from here. One of our tribesmen discovered a man and his horse buried in the rubble.”
“He was a courier,” Konstantin added. “This letter, addressed to King Léopold, was found in his satchel. It’s a report about the war in Riaznin.”
Dread dropped like acid in my stomach. “What does it say?”
Tosya placed a hand on my shoulder, as if to brace me. “Valko’s troops and the Shenglin army have razed the city of Orelchelm. This letter was dated ten days ago, which means—”
“They’ve already arrived in Torchev,” I finished, my voice barely rasping past the sudden dryness in my throat. Orelchelm was only a one-day march from the capital.
Tosya nodded, his brown eyes flat, grave, and almost hopeless. “And if Valko takes Torchev, he’ll win the war.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“I STILL THINK YOU SHOULD STAY WITH THE ESTEN ROMSKA,” Tosya said the next morning, hastily packing provisions in his saddlebag. The snow had let up enough to allow traveling again. He planned to ride back with the soldiers to Riaznin. At the border, the soldiers would take the road to Torchev to assist the critical battle happening there, and Tosya would take the road to Ormina to warn the Riaznian Romska of the culminating danger and extend Ula’s offer of protection if they desired refuge in the Bayacs of Estengarde. “There’s nothing you can do to help in Torchev.”
His words stung. If I only had my power . . . For months, that had been my endless refrain. But the reality was I didn’t have it. I had felt no sparks of awareness after the memorial, either. I was in the same state as before, emitting aura but not sensing it. Far from manipulating it.
“We’ve been over this,” I replied, folding up my bedroll. “I can help. I’m going to find a way to free Dasha. She needs me.”
Tosya groaned and ran his hands through his hair. “You’ll be a walking target. Dasha will be able to bend your emotions now that you’re giving off aura. And she’ll be able to track you.”
“I’ll practice meditation on the journey there. Anton taught me how to go about it.”
“Anton would hate the idea of you going to Torchev during a siege.”
“Well, it’s good that he isn’t here, then.” I winced as soon as the words were out of my mouth. What a foolish thing to say. How I desperately wished Anton were here. “I need to leave with our regiment now. I can’t delay and wait to travel with Anton and the Esten army. It’s already an eight-day journey to Torchev, and that’s only if the weather holds and we ride at breakneck speed. We’ll be lucky if Feliks can defend the capital until then. If Valko takes the palace, it will be next to impossible for me to get to Dasha.”
“Feliks is another problem you need to consider. How do you plan to hide from him?”
“I won’t hide. I’ll tell him the alliance with Estengarde has been secured.”
“An alliance that has come too late to do any good. Feliks will want you to intervene with your power—all the people will. They’ll think you’ve come to deliver them.”
“Then I’ll admit I still don’t have it. Or maybe I’ll pretend I do. Maybe that can get me close to Dasha.”
Tosya squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Sonya, a million things could go wrong with this plan—your death at the very top of that list.”
“Don’t you see I have to take that risk for Dasha’s sake?” I tied a securing knot around my bedroll, then looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Please support me, Tosya. I know you’d risk your life for me. It’s what we do for family. It’s what Sestra Mirna would want me to do.”
He turned a pained expression on me. “Of course I’d risk my life for you, but this is different. You’re responsible now for more people than Dasha. The Esten Auraseers look to you as their grande voyant.”
“I’ve already spoken with Lara, and she’s explained to the others what I have to do. They’ll be safe with Ula’s tribe.” In a rare gesture of friendship toward the non-tribespeople, Ula had promised to let the Esten Auraseers remain here until the early freeze thawed. Then they would guide the women and girls back to the convent in Ormina. While I wished I could have taken them myself, traveling out of the way to Ormina before going to Torchev would have added an extra four days to my journey—and that was by horse, which the Esten Auraseers didn’t have.
Tosya huffed, fastening the buckles of his saddlebag. “Well, the other Auraseers may understand, but Kira doesn’t. She hasn’t talked to me all morning. Now she’s hiding somewhere.”
I sighed and pushed to my feet. “I’ll find her.”
I searched, but couldn’t locate Kira until I went to the cave stables to tie my pack and gear onto Raina. A smaller pack was already clumsily strapped on, and Kira was sitting in the saddle, her mouth pressed in a hard line.
I put my hands on my hips. “You’re not coming.”
“You need an Auraseer to warn you if there’s danger.”
“You’re a child.”
“I’m the one who found you in the storm. I saved you.”
“That’s different. We’re not traveling into another storm; we’re entering a war zone.”
Kira slumped and stuck out her lower lip. “I just want to go back to the convent. Tosya can take me. He’s not going to Torchev.”
I leaned on one leg and folded my arms.
“Please, Sonya. I’ve already been here for weeks.” Her doe eyes tugged at all my defenses. “I want to go home.”
Why did she have to remind me of me? At this moment, Kira’s stubbornness was very Sonya. This whole conversation was an echo of the one I’d just had with Tosya, except the roles were reversed. “Fine,” I relented. “You can stay with me until we cross the border of Estengarde. But once we set foot in Riaznin, you and Tosya are taking the road to Ormina.” I supposed having Kira already at the convent would help me persuade Dasha to leave Valko.
She bounced in the saddle, and Raina whinnied. “Thank you, Sonya.”
“You should thank Ula, too, for keeping you safe all
this time.” I needed to thank her, as well. “Hurry.” I held up my arms to help Kira off the horse. “We need to leave soon.”
We found Ula with the other nomads in the main cavern. They bustled about, ladling up last bowls of soup for the soldiers and helping them pack their belongings. Kira gave Ula a big hug, and Ula bent to kiss her brow. I wasn’t sure if I should hug the chieftain, too, but when I expressed my gratitude and started to dip into a bow, Ula raised me by my chin and brought me into her arms. My nose stung with a surprising swell of emotions. I wished I’d held Sestra Mirna like this, though she had never been one for embraces.
Ula pulled away and removed another of her beaded necklaces. “Tosya has told me about Dasha, my cousin Motshan’s daughter. Give her this for me.” She passed me the necklace. “Bring her back to safety.”
“I’ll do everything in my power,” I promised. A power that was limited to emitting aura. I prayed to Feya it would be enough.
Konstantin motioned to me. We needed to leave. I nodded, but then Lara hastened over and took my hand. “The other Auraseers and I have something to show you before you go. It won’t take long.”
My curiosity tinged with wariness. What was this about? “All right.”
She led me across the main cavern to where the Auraseers were gathered. Each woman and girl kissed me on both cheeks and whispered words of farewell in Esten. Then Lara guided me a few more feet to the memorial stones for my mother and Sestra Mirna. “We thought we should pay tribute to one more person,” she explained.
The Auraseers stepped away and revealed a third stone with Genevie painted on it in flowing script. My eyes immediately blurred with tears. One of the younger girls passed me a bouquet of holly. I tried to say thank you, but my throat ran dry. She nodded in understanding. I looked at the others, who appeared to be waiting for me.
Heartsore, I knelt by Genevie’s stone. I didn’t want to face what I knew must be true: she was dead by now. “You were courageous and noble,” I began, then fell quiet for several moments we didn’t have. I hated to be rushed. I needed to give Genevie better than this—a garden dedicated to her at the convent, not just a rock I was leaving behind. I remembered what she had once told me, and now I gave her back the words. “You were a true friend.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“DOESN’T THE AIR SMELL DIFFERENT?” I ASKED NO ONE IN PARTICULAR, my eyes closed as I breathed in deeply.
Late in the afternoon, five days later, we passed through the great watchtowers at the base of the western Bayacs. Despite my aching muscles from the arduous ride and the urgency I felt to rescue Dasha in Torchev—still a three-day journey away—I tipped my head back and released a sigh that shot warmth from my head to my fingertips.
We were in Riaznin. We were home.
“It smells like rain,” Konstantin grumbled, but when I peeked at him, he was grinning, too. We’d left winter behind us in the frosty peaks of the Bayacs, and now a lush valley with golden fields spread out before us, dotted with trees brandishing every autumn color. Even the thunderclouds looming above couldn’t diminish the beauty. “We need to find a thicket and make camp before we’re all drenched.”
We rode a little farther until Konstantin found a wooded area to his liking. As the soldiers and Tosya began staking our tents, Kira and I gathered everyone’s flasks and walked down to a stream to fill them up. She’d been clinging to me like a shadow. Tomorrow morning, she and Tosya would part ways with the rest of us and take the road to Ormina.
“I can sense what you’re feeling.” Kira frowned in disapproval as I bent over the bank of the stream and cupped water into my hand to drink.
“I didn’t know you were testing me right now.” Ever since we’d left the Romska caves, Kira had been helping me train so I’d be better prepared to meet Dasha. Blocking my emotions through meditation was still extremely difficult, but I was making progress. “You need to taste this,” I said, reveling in the perfect tang of minerals on my tongue. “There’s something divine about Riaznian water.”
She folded her arms. “See if you can drink it again without feeling so happy.”
“Oh, Kira.” I laughed and splashed her. “Enjoy this moment with me. Smell those pines! Aren’t they sharper than Esten pines?”
“They shouldn’t make you feel anything—or think about anything.”
My smile faltered. I leaned my elbow on my knee and studied the pinch of desperation at the edge of Kira’s pursed mouth. “I am going to bring Dasha home,” I promised. Feya, let my words be true.
Kira’s chin wobbled. “This is the last day I can help you.” Raindrops started falling and flecked moisture on her sunburned cheeks. “What if you’re still not ready?”
“I will be.” I have to be. “Look, I’ll practice with you one more time, if it makes you feel better.” In truth, it would make me feel better, too. My brief joy upon setting foot in Riaznin was swiftly plummeting, replaced by my encroaching fears. I had to master meditation if I hoped to be immune to Dasha’s power. I had nothing else to fall back on.
Kira cracked a grin, then pressed her lips together, growing serious. “All right. Stick your whole arm in the water, and I’ll tell you what you’re feeling. It better be nothing,” she warned.
I arched a brow. “My whole arm?”
“I could ask you to jump in.”
I held up my hands. “I’ll take the arm.”
I rotated my belt a little, moving back my holster so the pistol I’d taken to wearing wouldn’t get wet. Kira screwed up her face in concentration, ready to sense any whiff of emotion. I pushed up my sleeve and strived to even out my breathing. Water was just water. Coldness was coldness. They weren’t attached to my feelings.
I slowly plunged my hand in. As soon as the water reached my elbow, Kira sucked in a sharp breath.
“Really?” I slumped back on my knees. “I swear I felt nothing that time.”
She glanced around us and started shaking. “Sonya . . .” Her voice strained to whisper. “I remember this feeling.” Tears streaked to her jawline. “The bounty hunter.” She whimpered. “He’s here.”
My heart stopped. Then slammed against my ribs.
“Kira, run. Now!” In a burst of adrenaline, I launched for her. Grabbed her hand. Raced back toward our camp.
Feverish panic lanced my nerves. How was the bounty hunter here? Anton’s soldiers should have taken him back to Isker.
Footsteps pounded nearer on the woodland mulch behind us. Kira and I made it past the first cluster of trees, then he yanked her from my wet grasp.
She released a muffled scream. I whirled around and froze, staring into the Esten bounty hunter’s merciless eyes. His filthy hand strapped across Kira’s mouth. A jagged knife bore down against the throbbing pulse of her neck. Any more pressure and he would draw blood.
I held my breath, didn’t move, didn’t shout for help. I kept my eye on that blade. “Genevie isn’t with us,” I blurted. “She’s back in Estengarde—with Floquart.” I smoothed the tremor from my voice, hoping he wouldn’t hear my lie. “So you have no more bounty to claim.”
“Peu importe.” His yellow teeth flashed as he gave a low chuckle. Kira shuddered but didn’t dare struggle under his knife. “Someone else has offered me another bounty.” His oily grin split wider. “This bounty is for you, Sovereign Auraseer.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
RAIN SOAKED MY SARAFAN AND KIRA’S BLOUSE AND SKIRT AS the bounty hunter marched us through the stream so we wouldn’t leave tracks. Our coats, cloaks, and other provisions were back at camp, but we weren’t allowed to return for them. It took me several minutes to tear a scrap of my sleeve away without the bounty hunter noticing, even longer to find the right moment to snag it on a shrub. Hopefully Tosya would discover it and lead the soldiers to our rescue. My only other hope was the dagger sheathed on my right thigh. I kept myself to the opposite side of the bounty hunter, praying he wouldn’t notice the shape of the hilt under my waterlogged skirt. He’d a
lready confiscated my brass pistol and shoved it in the back waistband of his trousers.
Once his fierce demeanor relaxed a bit and he wasn’t hovering so close to Kira, I dared to ask, “Who offered a reward for me?” He put a finger over his lips and raised his knife to Kira’s neck again. I winced and resolved to keep my mouth shut.
Near sundown, the woodland grew sparser and opened up to a muddy road, a vast field, and a manor house. Past the deafening sheets of rain, the bounty hunter shouted, “We will take shelter there!” He pointed at the house and cast wary eyes about the surrounding field. “Stay low and hurry!” He motioned at us with his knife and barked, “On y va!”
We sprinted to the brick walls along the perimeter of the estate grounds. They had been blasted to rubble in several places, and the towering gates no longer hung on their hinges but lay prostrate in the overgrown pathway. As we trampled over them, I read the rusted name of the house, which had been wrought onto the iron: Trusochelm Manor.
My pulse quickened. I thought through the map of Riaznin in my mind. We must be near the village of Montpanon, which meant this was the Trusochelm Manor, where Anton had been raised in secret. Now it lay desolate and ruined. Half of the left wing looked like it seen the end of a battering ram. All the windows were broken, and the gardens had been overrun with prickly weeds and tall grass, every bit of vegetation dead on the verge of winter in the valley.
The rainfall quieted as we stepped inside the house. Kira’s little sobs and gasps for air echoed against the warped floors and mildewing walls. I recalled what I knew of the manor’s history: As soon as Emperor Izia died and Anton moved away from here, King Léopold had retracted his protection on this house. The Esten soldiers had then raided it during the border wars.
Seeing Anton’s childhood home so forlorn and abandoned amplified my piercing despair. Would I ever see him again? Would I be able to get to Dasha? Who would stop Valko? What would become of Riaznin and everyone I loved?
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