by Jill Cooper
“We both serve in different ways.” Penny nodded. “Let’s keep to our part.”
Had he overstepped? Sebastian was sorry for that.
“I saw the way you look at her,” Penny’s voice sang with accusation. “It’s different now than it was back at our museum. Your heart grows with affection for her.”
Sebastian grabbed the door jamb before turning back to face her. “I’ve seen her do many great things and overcome great odds. The magic she wields, the power she has… Tarnish doesn’t know how amazing she really is.”
“But you do.” Penny smiled sadly. “For the best, isn’t it? You are the historian, and she is the curator. Your union will be perfect, just as Markus predicted.”
“I haven’t told her.” He shook his head. “If anything, I’ve learned Tarnish Rose does what she wants. Damn be the prophecy and what we expect of her.”
Penny’s mouth parted as she exhaled. “Well… she doesn’t know what she’s missing, does she?”
“Penny,” Sebastian whispered, wide-eyed. She had gotten so close to saying it. He didn’t think he had the heart to hear it. He didn’t want her to go any further because he feared if she professed her love, Sebastian may never be able to leave. “I won’t be able to say goodbye tomorrow.”
She sniffed even though there were no tears in her eyes. Turning back to the chair, she unfolded a towel with a snap of her wrist, only to refold it quickly again. Her anger made the fold uneven. “Well then, best we get back to doing our parts. Good journey, Sebastian.”
“Good journey,” he whispered and stepped back into the hall. Sebastian pulled the door tight and spun around, gazing into the disapproving face of his father, Markus.
“Markus,” Sebastian sighed. “How much skulking have you been doing?”
His face twitched. “I don’t skulk.”
Sure, like he hadn’t heard that before. Sebastian tried to push past him, but Markus shadowed his movements. “Penny is a good girl. I’m sorry for the complications of life, my boy. However, the mission takes precedence. Your knowledge as a historian belongs at the side of the curator. The union of you two, the children you will sire—”
Sebastian shook his head. “Tarnish will not abide by this. She loves another.”
“Who is gone,” Markus whispered, “most fortunate for you so you may take his place. While the loss of life is never a joke, the curator marrying a simple man dilutes the line. It’s been diluted enough, boy.”
Had Markus always been so callous? “Not dead. He’s being held by Temptress. Once we find the remnants, Tarnish wishes to rescue him. She still pledges her love for him. Her bravery knows no bounds, even if she doesn’t understand it all yet.”
Markus shook his head. “Lies. I saw the way she looks at you, and you at her. The closeness, the bond you two share. It’s real, not manufactured, and it’s been destined to take place. Neither of you can fight it.”
Maybe they could. “Father--” Sebastian begged.
“You cannot rescue the boyfriend. I don’t care if they were to be married, the future of the world depends on it. Tarnish is yours. Whatever you do, you cannot bring her to the tower.”
Sebastian couldn’t believe the demands Markus would place upon him. “I’m the one fighting side by side with her. I’m the one who sees she suffers. Yet you’d have me cause more suffering for her?”
Markus’s lips quivered with rage. “Yes. A thousand times yes, if it’s what necessary not just to kill Creighton, but rebuild. She needs you just as you need her. The world isn’t worth one man, like it or not.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Tarnish Rose
The children’s bedroom was my first stop. They were all safe and sound asleep under their blankets with only their parted mouths and button noses exposed. Their windows locked tight, I drew the curtains to keep out the shadows and anything else lurking in the dark.
Once I left their room, I headed to Claire’s bedroom. There was a light on, and when I pressed my ear against her partially shut door, I heard humming. A gentle song reminding me of a mother’s song. I moved to leave her in peace, but she called out.
“I know it’s you, Tarnish. Please don’t go.”
I opened the door further and saw her bedroom. Cozy as the rest of the house, the rugs were a soft tan, and she sat in a rocking chair against the wall by the dresser. She rocked back and forth, a hand pressed to the side of her belly.
“I think if you stay a few more days, you’ll get to meet this baby.” She blew out a breath. “Any time now, a good thing, too. She, or he, is later than all the rest.”
Was that something to worry about? I tried to shake the notion from my head. “We can’t stay. Something hunts us. Henry and Markus—.”
“Markus is here?” Claire broke out in a wide grin. “What great news! I’ll have to make him pancakes.”
What was it with these pancakes? I wasn’t even sure what they were. “Henry and Markus think we should stay, but if staying puts you at risk or your children, I think we should move tonight. If you want us to go, say the word.”
“Oh, Tarnish.” Claire struggled out of her rocking chair and moved over to me. “The world is full of danger and risk, that’s part of what makes it worth living. If I sent you out there now in the dark with no sleep, I’d never forgive myself. No matter how rich and full my life is.”
“Maybe you should be the one leading this rebellion,” I said with a laugh.
Claire returned it. “I think not.” She grimaced and closed her eyes, gripping beneath her belly. “I think it’s time I get some rest. Soon, I won’t be getting very much at all.”
I helped her to her bed and threw the comforter over top of her as she lay on her side. Her head against the pillows, Claire yawned. “I will see you in the morning. We will see you off with supplies. Please come visit with us again. I wish to spend more time with you, Tarnish Rose. Maybe tell you a few stories of my own.”
“I would love that.” I squeezed her hand and leaned over to blow out the candle by her bedside, only to see there wasn’t one. It was a lantern with no fire, no oil at all. A wire went from it to the wall.
What kind of magic was that?
“Electricity,” Claire whispered sleepily. “A marvel of the old world. I think we’re the first to get it back. It’s such an exciting time to be alive. So exciting.” Her head turned to the side as she drifted into sleep.
I sat with her for a moment, whispering a small prayer I hoped would keep her and her baby safe long after we left.
****
All the bedrooms full, I found Sebastian in a loft on top of the barn stuffing hay beneath a blanket. I yawned as I made it to the top of the stairs and took a deep inhale of the manure as down below the pigs and horses called out with a whine and a nay.
Sebastian took off his robe and lay it across the wooden beams keeping us from rolling off the ledge. It wasn’t often I saw him in just his white shirt and pants, and I was struck with how much older it made him appear. Somehow, he was taller, his shoulders square, and his presence filled the space in a way I couldn’t.
He glanced at me with a smile and slid off his boots as he got comfortable on the hay. The knife he kept off to the side but never out of reach. “Thank you for doing that. It was nice to talk to Father privately and see Penny.” He said it so simply, but his posture went rigid and his jaw tightened.
Something had upset him. I wondered what it could be.
I grinned. “Did you tell her how you feel?”
Sebastian shrugged. “I could never, but it was still nice to see her. My place right now is with you. Seeing us through our mission. I wouldn’t want anything to jeopardize that, but maybe in the future…”
I crawled across the blanket beside him and rested my head on top of a pile of hay. He rolled over to look at me. We lay too close, but I felt like I was with an old friend. Nothing more. “I’ve gotten used to you being around. I’m glad you’re here, Sebastian.”
“Some good it’s done us.”
“I don’t think I would’ve gotten this far without you.” When Sebastian rolled his eyes, I continued. “It’s true. Having a partner is better than not. I wouldn’t know where to go or how to make my food last. I wouldn’t have someone to talk to when I get scared…”
Biting my lip, I realized I was scared right then.
Sebastian slid down onto the blanket and propped his head up on his hand. “What are you scared of that isn’t a death hunter?”
“This place,” I admitted. “The will of these people and their strength. It’s something I’ve never seen before. In the city, the ministers control us; we’re scared of them, but they keep the cities running. They provide basic comforts for us like food. What do we do without them? What if we can’t get by?”
“You can get by,” Sebastian said with such absolute power and conviction that it made me tremble. “Absolutely, you can. Sometimes it might be scary, things might be tough, but people excel at helping each other. The biggest lie the ministers have convinced you of is that you need them, but you don’t.”
“They need us?” I asked.
Sebastian nodded. “Without a population to terrorize and manipulate, they have no power, and they’d have no one to work product and industry for them. They might have to work.”
“Work?” I said with a cocked eyebrow.
Sebastian laughed. “A hard day’s work is what awaits us. Henry promised enough rations to get us to our next objective, but to do that, we’re going to need to rest.”
I nodded. “Thanks for making me feel better.”
“Did I? Make you feel better?”
“You did.” Slowly, I blinked as sleep began to take me. “You always make me feel better, and I’m sorry I’m not what you expected.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows furrowed, and a laugh escaped him. “Whatever gave you that idea?”
“The way you looked at me when we first met. The way I don’t always do what you want, I see the look on your face.” I couldn’t help a small smirk as I shrugged.
“I don’t know what I expected. Someone older maybe and someone more experienced in the world perhaps, but I’m glad you are who you are. You surprise me with how kind you are to these people and these children. I think maybe this is the way it’s supposed to be.”
He relaxed as he crossed his legs in front of me. “We don’t always get what we expect, but maybe we get what we need, Tarnish, even if it isn’t easy.”
Words to live by, and words George embraced. My eyes started to close, but the sound of dirt bikes racing in the distance brought my attention. With a snort, I lifted my head and gazed around. From how Sebastian held himself stiff and glanced out toward the window, it was clear I hadn’t dreamt it up.
“Do you think it’s our friends?” I asked.
“Hard to say,” Sebastian whispered as if a louder voice would reveal where we were. “You sleep. I’ll keep watch. If there’s something to worry about, I’ll let you know.”
I thought to argue, but sleep was overtaking me even if I didn’t want it to. I lay my head back down on my arms. Sebastian let out a deep breath and rested his hand on the tendrils of my hair, and I took in the sight of him as I slowly drifted off to sleep. Was this what beginnings were made of?
Or were we racing toward the end of the cliff and didn’t even know it?
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Shadow
Rebecca’s stomach growled, eating at itself from hunger. The female rider and her army pushed on tirelessly across the terrain. No longer in need of food or water, they had no need to stop for it, but Rebecca wasn’t like them.
Her lips were parched from thirst, so dry she could barely part them to moan as the horses galloped along. It was a day later. They arrived at an old encampment ground from back before the wilds were free from the ministers. The dark rider slowed her horse right before the ridge that descended into the pit.
She pushed Rebecca off without mercy. Rebecca groaned, rolling on the ground. When the dark rider dismounted, Rebecca clawed backward in fear. She watched as the dark riders' metal boots kicked at the dry clay and rocks. The rider lowered her hood, and her decayed face was almost too much to bear.
“Please,” Rebecca begged, her voice dry and brittle as the ground she sat on. “Without food and water, I’ll die. Death is not far from me without water.” She nearly outstretched her hand but then thought better of it.
The female paid her a quick glance and nothing more. She pulled the sword she carried holstered on her back free, and the metal shone in the daylight. It glinted of the angles as she stepped closer to the old quarry pit.
“Don’t run off without me.” The female rider jumped down into the pit, her cloak fluttering up like the stretched wings of a bat.
The female rider headed through the quarry, searching through the gray fog that separated the living world from the dead. She could feel Abby’s imprint all over this place. She stopped, turned toward a cavern opening and felt what could be described as sweetness—like honey and pie. It smelled of cinnamon.
Cinnamon?
A memory flashed at her of two little girls. One had blonde pigtails, and the other had soft brown hair and uncommon green eyes. They sat in the little girl’s sleeping cove and peered out from beneath the sheet that hid them from view.
“C’mon,” the little girl whispered, “Momma is making a pie. We can snatch some apples if we’re quiet enough!”
The blonde laughed. “Oh Abby, do you ever stop?”
Abby.
What were those images? What was it she had just seen? Cursed place, putting things in her mind that didn’t belong there.
The female rider charged ahead, slipping just inside the cavern. The grayness of the place swirled like smoke, floating up from the floor to the ground. Ashes falling from the cave and the female rider’s medallion around her neck glowed a radiant blue.
Deeper in the cavern, a howl and then a screech like bellows of pain. The female rider hurried toward those noises, holding her medallion out so it’d lead the way. A few minutes of careful steps led her out onto a cliff with a steep drop on the far side.
The female rider’s foot kicked a chain buried under the rubble. She picked it up with her decaying hand, able to yank on it through the dirt, revealing a metal cuff. What had happened in this place?
The cavern howled, and an air of decay blew the female rider’s hood back. “Show yourself to me!” she called out and held her sword defensively. Just beyond her sight of the living, the female rider saw the forms moving like shadows.
People who had been hurt, tortured, and then killed here, all in the name of Creighton. The minister who drove them to their death had been trapped here, too. Together they withered, driven mad as they haunted the old quarry with no end in sight.
Pick-axes clanked in the dark. The female rider turned just as the ghastly minister lunged for her with his outstretched hands. She stopped him in his tracks by lifting her hand. Her amulet glowed, and the minister dropped to his knees.
“Forgive me, Lord Creighton, forgive me.”
So, he saw her as Lord Creighton, did he? The female rider smirked. “Do you command the dead?”
“Yes…” He wept. “I never allow them to rest. Forgive me, Lord.”
“You’ve done well,” the female rider cooed. “You fight for me now. You’ll follow and lead this quarry, and I’m going to need your friends to join us.”
The dead minister shook his head. “We can’t, my Lord. We are trapped here. There’s no escape in sight.”
The female rider held her medallion out so it would shine in the minister’s eyes. His skeleton face morphed back with muscle and flesh. Not alive, it decayed, and his eyes shone blue to mirror the shine of the medallion she wore.
He lifted his hands to inspect the withered, rotting flesh. “Oh no,” the minister cried, his fingers gripping at the mere air around him. “No… don’t do this to me, My Lord. Let me rest.�
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“There is no rest.” The female rider cocked her head to the side. “Bring me the others. All of them. You now fight for me and will aid me in my search for Tarnish Rose.”
The minister didn’t answer with words but disappeared in a ghostly haze, a contrail of fog left in his wake. It whisped away, the spirit of the minister groaning as it did so.
Pleased with herself, the female rider gave a small laugh. Abby Taylor might not have expected an army to oppose her, but that’s exactly what she was going to get.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Tarnish Rose
The bells gonging in the night woke me. I rubbed my blurry eyes and gazed around the dark, barely focused. I took in the sight of a horse moving down below. Memories of the previous day started to drift together, and I remembered we were on a farm and protected by a great wall, but if the bells were sounding….
Where was Sebastian? His robe was gone from the banister, but I couldn’t find him.
His crossbow was gone, too.
Searching around, I rose up to my feet and started down the ladder. Back on solid ground, I saw his form over by the window and hurried over to him. Back in his robe, he studied the landscape with a tight jaw, and his chin was pulled in as if he didn’t like what he saw.
His crossbow was in one hand and an arrow in the other. Sebastian was ready to launch a defense—or was he ready to attack?
“What’s going on?”
“Bandits,” Sebastian whispered and gave a nod of his head. I peered out the window so I could see what he did. Men and women were standing by the front gate, ready to protect their home and this farm from the attacking scavengers. They didn’t have much for weapons, and the creaking sound coming from the door meant someone was trying to break it in.
“You should go stand with them.”
“My job is to protect you.” Sebastian’s eyes turned cold, and it jarred me back. “As much as I care about them, my mission is to stay with you.”