Deny (The Blades of Acktar Book 2)

by Tricia Mingerink

  Harding gulped and rubbed his chest like he could feel a knife penetrating his skin. Daas crossed his arms. “You’re scared to face Vane.”

  Leith glared back. “You forget. I’ve faced him before. I’ve taken his knife in my shoulder. I know how he fights. You will obey my plan or you will fail. Understand?”

  Daas lowered his eyes and nodded. Leith could see a spark still tightening his stance, but at least he listened.

  Leith layered a hint of steel in his voice. “We’ll corner him as he enters the Hills. The trees will give us cover and make throwing knives difficult for him.”

  Harding nodded vigorously. Daas shrugged. “Sounds like it will work.”

  Leith drew a map in the dirt. “There’s a high cliff here. I just scouted the area, and it will be the ideal place to corner him. I want you to be stationed here and here where we can all herd Vane toward the cliff. Any questions?”

  Neither of them spoke.

  The knot in Leith’s stomach tangled tighter. Plans normally went wrong because no one could predict their enemy’s plan. But in this case, he was the enemy. This should be as simple as playing Raiders against himself.

  If the Blades didn’t realize Shad looked and acted nothing like Vane.

  If…the enemy of the best-laid plans.

  40

  Leith leaned against the wall and watched Shad wrap the black cowl and hood around his head. They’d scrounged a black shirt and trousers for Shad and modified the belt and sheathes taken from Vane’s body to fit him. He wore the former First Blade’s knives strapped in the same places.

  Perhaps this would work. Except for Shad’s four inches of extra height, bulkier muscles, and several additional pounds, he looked somewhat like Vane.

  “Are you sure you’re ready?” Leith searched for any detail he might have missed, but he couldn’t see any.

  Shad turned to him. His eyes, the only part of his face visible, squinched with a grin. “Sure. I’ve always wanted to be hunted by a bunch of Blades.”

  “I’m sure after the first few minutes, the excitement will wear off.” Leith crossed his arms.

  Running his hands over the knives strapped to his waist and chest one last time, Shad nodded. Together, they strode to the back kitchen door. Jamie appeared at Leith’s side, dressed in his black clothes once again.

  Shad slipped out the back door and sneaked through the remains of the flower garden. The guards had been alerted that he’d be sneaking out tonight. No reason to keep that secret from them. After all, Vane was supposedly on their side.

  Shad exited the flower gardens, glided around the hedge, and disappeared into the trees and barricades on the other side. Except for the fact that his sneaking resembled a pleasant stroll through the garden, he didn’t pause in every shadow to take stock of his surroundings, and he didn’t glance over his shoulder to check for someone following him, Shad might’ve passed as a Blade.

  Leith prayed that the other Blades remained blind tonight.

  When he deemed Shad had a reasonable head start, Leith slipped out the back door. Jamie followed as if tied to Leith’s heels. When they broke through the tree line and crossed the ditch, Leith spotted Shad’s black silhouette cresting the hill. He motioned Jamie forward.

  They wove through the long grasses. The lopsided, almost full moon rose in the distance. Steel grey clouds scudded across the sky and dappled the grass. Leith breathed easier when Shad stuck to the shadows provided by the clouds. If he hadn’t, his black clothes would’ve stuck out midst the silver grass. A trainee mistake the real Vane would never make.

  A mile from Walden, Leith spotted the scurrying form of the Seventh Blade shadowing Shad’s movements four hundred yards to Shad’s left. As they continued onward, Leith kept an eye on Daas in case he got any ideas about attacking Shad early.

  Half a mile from the foothills, Leith slipped towards Shad’s right, leaving Jamie as rearguard. After a few minutes, Shad froze as if he’d finally noticed he was being stalked by two Blades and a trainee. He broke into a fast lope, headed for the foothills.

  Daas broke into a run as well and closed to within two hundred yards. Leith kept pace with him on the right. So far, everything had gone according to plan.

  Shad scrambled into the Sheered Rock Hills. Harding appeared in front of Shad. Shad wheeled and angled toward his right as if seeking escape.

  As Leith and Jamie entered the foothills, only a few tendrils of moonlight wiggled through the pines to touch the ground. Leith picked up his pace, following the sounds of rocks clunking and branches rasping.

  Ahead, Shad stumbled and slipped. Daas drew his knives and crept closer. Leith waved to Jamie and gave a small flick of his hand toward Daas.

  Jamie nodded and dashed forward. He stumbled into Daas, throwing both of them off balance. Daas shoved Jamie away. “Watch where you’re going, boy.”

  By the time Daas looked up, Shad had regained his footing and disappeared around the boulder above them.

  Leith hurried to their side. He swiped his hand at the side of Jamie’s head in a move that in the dark would look like he’d hit Jamie. “Follow orders.”

  Jamie bowed his head and nodded. When Daas resumed following Shad, Leith patted Jamie’s back. Jamie glanced up at him and grinned.

  At the base of the boulder, Leith gave a low whistle. Daas, about to round the boulder, glared at him, but he turned around and headed back to Leith. He crossed his arms while they waited for Harding.

  Harding broke through the tree cover. Leith glared at each of them. He needed to give Shad a few moments alone, but he couldn’t dally too long here without the other Blades growing impatient. “The cliff’s up ahead. He’s cornered. Harding, head to the right and come up this ridge from that direction. Daas, circle to the left. The boy and I will work our way in from the center. Don’t try to engage Vane by yourself. Wait until you see the rest of us closing in.”

  Leith met the gaze of each Blade in turn. They nodded that they understood the plan. With a flick of his hand, he sent them scurrying to their positions.

  Leith pulled two knives from his belt and crept forward. Hopefully he’d given Shad enough time. He crested the ridge and eased around the boulder. Shad crouched with his back to the cliff. The knives in his hands sliced the shafts of moonlight.

  Daas stepped from the trees to Shad’s right. Shad’s hand blurred. A knife thunked into a tree six inches from the Blade’s stomach. Daas dove behind a tree.

  Leith slid into cover behind a large rock. As Harding emerged from the trees to Shad’s left, Shad threw another knife. It thunked into the ground by Harding’s feet.

  Shad’s knives were going too wide from their supposed targets. Daas and Harding would be dead now if they’d been facing the real Harrison Vane.

  A cloud piled across the moon, plunging this corner of ridge in darkness. Brandishing his knives, Daas leapt forward. Harding jumped out of hiding a moment later.

  Leith threw himself forward. Somehow, he needed to make sure that Shad didn’t get killed in the next few minutes.

  Shad parried two of the Blades’ knives and sidestepped a third. Leith nudged Harding to the side with his shoulder and pressed forward. Shad stepped backwards out of their reach. With another step forward, Leith crowded Shad towards the cliff edge. The narrowing ledge prevented all but him and Daas from attacking Shad.

  Leith swept his knife towards Shad’s head in a move Shad parried easily. Shad backed up, his heels grinding against the edge. Daas sliced at Shad’s leg. Shad knocked the knife away, its tip tearing through the fabric of his trousers.

  Daas plowed forward and stabbed at Shad’s ribs. Leith saw the knife, saw Shad’s stance, and caught his breath. Shad wouldn’t be able to block in time. Leith lunged, but he wasn’t fast enough.

  Shad twisted, but the knife sliced through his shirt and into his skin. He cried out, stumbled backwards, and fell over the edge. He shouted as he plummeted down. Less than a second later, the air cracked with the sound of
a body slamming into stone.

  41

  Leith and the other Blades remained motionless on the top of the cliff for a heartbeat, listening to the still night.

  Inching forward, Daas peered over the edge. Leith leaned forward as well. A ledge jutted from the cliff a few yards down. The ravine was too deep and the night too dark to see the bottom.

  Daas backed away from the edge. “He’s dead. No one could survive a fall like that.”

  Nodding, Leith turned back to the Blades gathered on the cliff top. He crossed his arms to hide the sick feeling in his stomach. “Vane is dead. I’ll camp here tonight and climb down in the daylight. The rest of you return to the hollow. Leave for Nalgar at first light. The king will want a report as quickly as possible, and you don’t want to arrive late.”

  Leith was counting on the Blades’ fear of returning to Nalgar late. He couldn’t have them sticking around this cliff tonight.

  Harding nodded and headed towards the woods. Daas crossed his arms. “I’d like to see the body too.”

  Leith glared back. “And risk both of us returning late? Do you want another mark on your left arm?”

  Daas grimaced, spun on his heels, and marched after the other Blade.

  When Leith could no longer hear the sounds of their boots on gravel, he whistled, and Jamie popped out from his position behind the boulder. “Watch to see if any of them decide to come back.”

  Jamie nodded and slunk back into the woods.

  Leith knelt on the edge of the cliff. If he glanced to the right, he could just make out the rope running from under a nearby spruce and down the cliff’s side, hidden in the tree’s shadow. “Shad, are you all right?”

  Shad’s voice grunted from the darkness twenty feet below the rim, concealed by the ledge. “Well enough. That last one got me pretty good though.”

  “How bad?” If only Renna were here. Leith wasn’t sure he had the skills to tend Shad if he were hurt badly.

  “Hurts like fire and it’s bleeding a lot, but it’s not too deep. Just grazed my ribs.” A note of pain glinted in his voice. “Nothing’s broken.”

  “I’m going to pull you up.” Gripping the rope tightly, Leith hauled the rope upward. His muscles strained to pull Shad’s weight.

  Finally, Shad’s head, then shoulders crested the rim. With one last heave, Shad rolled onto the cliff top. Sprawled on his back, he pressed a hand to his side. “Hitting the cliff face hurt just as much as I thought it would.”

  “Thankfully none of them noticed your body hit the rocks a few seconds earlier than it should’ve.” Leith knelt and felt along Shad’s shirt. His hand came away wet, but the splotch hadn’t spread too far.

  The moon ripped away its veil of clouds, splashing the landscape silver once again. As their clearing beside the cliff brightened, Leith helped Shad untie and remove the rope looped around his waist. Leith pulled out a knife to cut the shirt away from Shad’s wound.

  An owl hooted in the trees. Leith froze. That was no owl. Jamie’s signal. “Someone’s coming. Get under the spruce.”

  Shad rolled under the spruce’s spreading branches. Jumping to his feet, Leith kicked the rope out of sight under the branches, rubbed his bloody hand against his trouser, turned, and strode away from the edge.

  Daas sauntered into the open space. His eyes darted around, as if looking for something suspicious. Leith prayed he wouldn’t notice the slight swaying of the spruce’s lower branches.

  Leith crossed his arms. “What are you doing back here? I gave you orders to head for Nalgar.”

  “I came to fetch a few of Vane’s knives. If we can’t return with the body, we’ll need something to convince the king that we killed the traitor.” Daas eyed Leith as if he wanted Leith to give him a reason to keep arguing.

  Leith waved at the knife sticking out of a tree several yards away. “Go ahead. Take them. You’re right. You’ll need to show them to the king.”

  Daas blinked at him. He strode over to the tree and yanked the knife out.

  Leith strolled over to another tree and jerked the knife free. He handed it to Daas. Daas took it wordlessly. Leith suppressed a smile. His easy agreement had taken the fire from the Blade’s argument.

  Tucking the knives into his belt, Daas nodded at Leith and headed back the way he’d come. Leith held his breath and didn’t move for several minutes. Even after all sound had faded, he continued to wait.

  After ten minutes had passed, he relaxed. “It’s safe to come out now.”

  Shad rolled out from the spruce and blew out a long breath. “That was close.”

  Leith knelt at Shad’s side once again. “I should’ve given him the knives in the first place.” A small detail, but it’d nearly cost them. If he made a mistake like that at Nalgar, none of them would get out alive.

  Drawing one of his own knives, Leith cut Shad’s shirt away from his wound. With water from his canteen, he cleaned it as best he could. It ran for six inches along his ribs, but not deep. Slicing another section of Shad’s shirt, Leith pressed the fabric to the wound. “Hold this.”

  Shad did as ordered. “You Blades must go through a lot of shirts. I was a Blade for only a few hours, and I’ve already ruined one.”

  “Trust a lord’s son to be worried about his fancy clothes.” Leith picked up a scrap of fabric and headed into the trees. Thankfully, Shad’s wound wasn’t deep enough to warrant stitches or cauterizing, but it’d need something to keep it sealed.

  Leith halted at the base of a white pine. Hacking into the trunk with his knife, he collected the sap that spilled from the tree’s wound with the scrap of fabric. When he judged he had enough, he returned to Shad’s side.

  Shad raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s that?”

  “Pine pitch. It’ll close the wound.” Leith nudged Shad’s hand aside, pulled off the bloody cloth, and spread the pine pitch over the wound.

  “Better than cauterizing it, I guess.” Shad grimaced and clenched his fists. “Can you at least try to be gentle?”

  “If you want gentle, you’ll have to ask Renna to look at the wound after we rescue her.” Leith tried to keep his tone light as he placed a bandage over the pine pitch. They would rescue her.

  He couldn’t fail this time.

  Leith roused them shortly after first light. As they made their way out of the Hills, he checked the hollow. Thankfully, the Blades had followed his orders and already left for Nalgar Castle.

  Walden bustled with a grim focus. No more drilling. No more preparations. Only one aisle through the sharpened stakes and tangled rope remained open and only one set of planks, propped up by supports in the center, spanned the ditch, now so deep and wide it formed a dry moat.

  All of the women and most of the men had left last night. Only a few volunteers remained behind for what would probably be a last stand to buy the others time to get away.

  When Leith watered Blizzard in the trough outside the stables, he spotted only empty stalls through the open doorway. Those left behind would have no means of escape except by foot. A few yards away, Lord Segon paced behind the barricade, a sword buckled at his side.

  When Blizzard had his fill, Lord Alistair met Leith by the front step and clapped him on the shoulder. “In the past few months, I’ve asked a lot from you, more than I’ve asked even of my own son.”

  “Nothing I wasn’t willing to do.” Leith bowed his head. He couldn’t deny his own part in the tangle he’d lived for the past weeks.

  Lord Alistair scrubbed a hand across his beard. “I know you understand duty. You understand better than anyone else here why I’m staying behind.”

  Leith nodded. He did understand. Lord Alistair knew that anyone who stayed behind in Walden would most likely die. He wouldn’t watch his children grow into adults. He would miss his daughters’ weddings, his sons’ courtships. He wouldn’t be there to hold his grandchildren.

  The heart might demand that Lord Alistair leave Walden with his family, but duty demanded he stay. Someone had to
stay behind, and Lord Alistair couldn’t ask the others to make such a sacrifice without sacrificing along with them.

  Leith met Lord Alistair’s gaze. “If I could, I’d stay also.”

  “And your help would be greatly appreciated. But you know you can’t. Renna and Brandi need you alive.” Lord Alistair shot a glance toward the stable where Shad let his horse drink. “And my son will need you. He’s never experienced loss like you have. He’s still unprepared for the burden he’ll now have to carry. He’s going to need you at his side.”

  “I’ll be there.” Leith let the weight settle onto his shoulders.

  “I’m thankful he has you for a friend.” Lord Alistair clasped Leith’s shoulder again. “Protect my family.”

  Leith straightened his shoulders and widened his stance. “As much as in my power, they will be safe.”

  Lord Alistair’s grip relaxed. He slapped Leith on the shoulder one last time. “God go with you.”

  As Lord Alistair strode towards Shad, Leith bowed his head. How many more would die in this war?

  Lord Alistair gripped both of Shad’s shoulders and said something too softly for Leith to hear. Shad hugged his father tightly.

  Leith turned away and swung onto Blizzard, his throat tightening until he could barely breathe. Jamie nudged his horse next to Leith’s.

  A few minutes later, Shad joined him. His eyes gleamed with an extra brightness, but his jaw set. They rode across the wooden planks and past the sharpened logs. Behind them, ropes shooshed as soldiers tied off the last opening. The planks thunked as they were pulled back.

  They headed north, back the way they’d come that morning, to avoid running into the approaching army.

  After climbing through the foothills and into the Sheered Rock Hills, Leith halted Blizzard at the top of a tall promontory that overlooked the valley where Walden lay. To the south, a line of black smudged the horizon, growing larger and more distinct with every moment. The black line expanded, circling to engulf Walden Manor in its arms.