by Ann Fisher
She crossed her arms over her chest. “When were you planning on telling me?”
“Soon.” He took a step toward her, stopped. “I couldn’t seem to find a good way to do it. I didn’t want you to hear it like that.”
He hadn’t wanted her to hear it, but it was the truth. He wasn’t taking it back. He wasn’t going to apologize for the decision.
“You’re leaving me alone here. All of you—you, Dev, Dani and Cinn.”
“I’ve given that a great deal of thought,” Janek said, his voice annoyingly calm. “I want Mira to stay with you. When I spoke with her about sailing east to Noregh, she became distressed.”
“Well, we wouldn’t want to distress the empress now, would we?”
Janek’s eyes flickered with irritation. “Mira is little more than a child, and she’s been hurt. I’d like to shield her from further injury if I can.”
“You expect me to shield her, you mean.”
“It’s a lot to ask, I know. You, Conri, and Mira will sail with us to Risis. You’ll be safer in Asara than here. I have friends there who will shelter you.”
He had it all planned out—how she would live with strangers in a foreign land. She wondered if he’d already spoken to Cinn to arrange for their passage. She lifted her chin. “Take Mira south with you. I’m not leaving Erys.”
His shoulders stiffened. “I don’t want to leave Mira alone with anyone, not even an ally, not in her current state. You’re smart enough to recognize if the situation changes and it becomes too dangerous to stay. You’re clever, resourceful, and loyal. I trust you.”
“You have far too much confidence in me.”
“I don’t believe that.”
She pressed her lips together, holding back a curse. He was leaving her as a guard dog to watch over his precious empress while he sailed off to Noregh.
“Bran will figure it out eventually,” he said in a low voice. “He’s a smart man. Once word comes to the island that the empress is missing, he’ll fit the pieces together.”
She shrugged. “The Order will probably put it about that she’s dead in order to save face.”
“But Bran will know different. He’ll try to use that knowledge to benefit the rebellion. He’ll punish you for lying to him.”
“You think like a Ghadrian. Even if Bran figures out who Mira is, he won’t throw her to the wolves.”
Janek held her gaze. “You’re wrong about him.”
“I know my own people.”
Ignoring that, he said, “I’ll bring Mira with me if I must, but that still leaves you and Conri.”
“We’ll be fine,” she said. “We’ve been fine for a long time without you.”
He flinched, and she didn’t feel an ounce of triumph at having cut him. All she felt was a cold, spreading numbness. But numb was good. It was certainly better than the ache in her chest now.
“You can’t stay here with Conri,” Janek said. “There are too many people in Haxon who know that Conri is my son.”
He was right. They knew, but that didn’t mean that any of them would kill a child. “We’ll all go then. Together.”
He scowled. “You want me to bring Conri to Ghadria? Do you know what Serat would do to my son if he found him? To you? Don’t you remember?”
“I remember.”
His expression darkened. “I forbid it.”
“You forbid it? The Raven’s not your ship. Cinn is my friend, not yours. If she escorts you off the island at all it will be as a favor to me.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “You must see that it would be madness to take Conri on a mission like this.”
She did see that. Of course she saw it. He was the one who didn’t see things clearly. “The whole mission is madness. You don’t owe Ghadria anything. Caden and Mira can stay here. If you don’t want to join the rebellion, we can travel inland, away from Bran, and apply to the Keepers for sanctuary. Caden might not be emperor if he stays on Erys, but at least he’ll be alive.”
Janek gave her a hard look. “You expect me to believe that you’d give up your rebellion to hide in the woods with a Ghadrian prince? You risked your ship for Caden’s promise that he would release Erys after he regained the throne.”
He thought she’d risked her ship for Caden’s sake alone? He was an idiot. “Tell me you truly believe he can reclaim the throne.”
“Does it matter what I believe? Demir won’t stop hunting him. Caden either waits for capture or he fights for his birthright. I won’t send him off to do that alone.”
“That’s what it all comes down to then. Loyalty to Caden and none for me or your son.”
Anger lit his blue eyes and a muscle leapt in his jaw. She fought the urge to take a step back. She’d never once seen Janek so angry, not even after he learned she’d betrayed him. “I can protect you and Conri by taking Caden away from here.”
“What about you?”
“I can’t protect you from the whole of the empire.”
“That’s not what I meant. What about you? You throw yourself into danger again and again.”
He stared at her, unmoved and unmoving. He wasn’t going to change his mind on this. It was like fighting a brick wall. Finally, she sighed.
“Fine.” She threw up her arms. “Why not? I’ll keep the girl out of trouble and Conri too. Maybe Mira will be of some help while I figure out a way to feed us all. But I’m staying on Erys. Conri and I will be safer among our own people than we would be among strangers. Besides, I need to travel to the grove to present Conri to the Keepers and claim his heartstone. It should have been done months ago.”
Janek’s shoulders relaxed slightly though his expression remained closed. “The grove is inland?”
“All of the groves that survived the invasion are inland. It may be we’ll find a village on the way where we can comfortably spend the winter. In the spring, I’ll send word to Dev to see where things stand.”
Janek would probably be dead by then. Stupid, stupid man. Throwing his life away on a hopeless cause. Her heart felt like a rock in her chest.
“Lorel,” he said softly. “I will return if I’m able.”
She nodded sharply and walked from the cottage. “Conri is sleeping inside,” she said. “Watch over him.”
She needed to clear her head.
16
It was always easier to be the one leaving than the one being left behind. Lorel hadn’t planned to see the ship off, but she found herself unable to miss it. Neither she nor Janek had slept much the night before. She didn’t try to talk Janek into staying again. He knew what she wanted, but he was leaving anyway. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing else to say.
When he’d first told her he intended to leave, she thought she’d make a clean break of it. Send him to the Raven for those final weeks, bar him from her bed. But she’d never found the strength to do it. She’d told herself it was for Conri that she’d allowed Janek to remain with them at the cottage, but that was only part of the truth. If she was going to lose Janek forever, then it was stupid to deny herself their final days together.
They spent their last night in each other’s arms, communicating without words, every touch a promise bound to be broken by morning. When dawn came, Janek crept from her bed like a thief.
Janek brushed the fine hair from Conri’s forehead and kissed his cheek. Conri rubbed his eyes and buried his face against her shoulder, still half asleep.
Janek’s gaze lifted to her face. He opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to reconsider and simply studied her face as if trying to memorize it.
Across the cottage, Cinn hefted her pack onto her shoulder and grimaced. “We’ve no time for long goodbyes, you two. The tide waits for no one.” She cuffed Caden’s shoulder as she headed for the door. “Not even for emperor’s brats.”
Caden shot Cinn a murderous look, but then looked immediately contrite. Caden had strange views on the fragility of women. Lorel had noticed the way he watched Dani when h
e thought no one was looking and wondered what might come of it. That was Janek’s problem though, not hers. Lorel was stuck with the empress, the aloof and impossible to please empress who clearly felt as surly as Lorel did about being abandoned.
Janek drew her into his arms, and she pressed her face against his chest just as Conri had done to her.
“I’m tempted to hit you over the head again,” she said, meaning it.
She felt the rumble of his laughter beneath her cheek. “I won’t let my guard down around you again.”
He wouldn’t have the opportunity. She closed her eyes. “Don’t get yourself killed.”
“I’ll do my best.”
His hands smoothed down her back and then he let her go.
Before he turned, she said, “Wait a minute. I have something for you.”
Setting Conri on his feet, she lifted the worn leather band from her neck and slipped it over Janek’s head. She placed the stone beneath his shirt and pressed it against his heart. “It should touch your skin.”
He touched the stone and looked at her sharply. “This is your heartstone. I can’t take this.”
“You will. If we have to leave here and I can’t send word, the stone will lead you to me. Just hold it by the chain and use it as a divining stone. If I die, it will go cold and the color will fade. If that happens, I hope you’ll come for Conri. At least send Dev. I have no other family.”
He might be the one sailing directly into danger but the world was a dangerous place. She didn’t want to risk Conri losing both of his parents.
Janek pulled her abruptly to him and kissed her deeply. When he set her back, he said, “You will not die.”
It was just like him to order her to survive when he was throwing his own life away. He stepped back before she could respond to the ridiculous command.
Turning away, he grabbed his bag and passed through the door of the cottage without a backward glance. Conri made to follow, but Lorel grabbed his hand.
Conri removed the thumb from his mouth. “Boat.”
“Not today, love.”
From the doorway, they watched Janek disappear down the path leading to the cove. His shoulders were tight, but his back was straight as he walked resolutely away from them. His limp didn’t slow him down at all.
When Janek disappeared from sight, Conri tugged free. Before he could make a run for the cove, Lorel scooped him up and carried him inside. Mira stood in the little alcove they’d made into a sleeping area by hanging a curtain from hooks on the wall. Her nightgown was a rumpled silk shift with a tear in the hem. Her feet were bare and her hair was a tangled mess. Mira had probably never sewn a stitch or braided her own hair in her life.
What was Lorel supposed to do with an empress?
“Are they gone?” Mira asked, her voice soft.
Lorel felt a pang of pity for the girl. “They’re on their way to the ship now. The rain is cold and heavy. We’re staying here. I don’t want Conri to catch a chill. But you can go see them off if you want.”
Mira’s brother had said his goodbyes last night, not wanting to wake Mira so early. Lorel thought he’d probably wanted to avoid a tearful scene.
Mira looked toward the door. She didn’t look sad. She looked scared and angry. Lorel could relate to that. Mira simply nodded and let the curtain drop. Conri started to cry, and Lorel sighed.
It was going to be a very long winter.
About the Author
Ann Fisher writes fairy tales for adults. She loves dragons, brownies (edible and mythical) and long walks through enchanted forests. She lives in a very ordinary town in the Midwest with her not so very ordinary husband and three extraordinary children.
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The Reckoning Excerpt
It would be snowing in Erys this time of year, a blanket of white covering the pine and black rock, making even the stark landscape of the island beautiful. The straits would be half-frozen and too dangerous to pass. Everyone in Haxon would be huddled inside their homes under blankets and furs, gathered around the hearth fires for stories and song.
Erys wasn’t an easy land. Damp in the summer, frigid in the winter, windy all year round. Janek had never much cared for the place, but Lorel and Conri were there. Not in Haxon, but somewhere further inland by now. He pictured them in a small cottage protected by the mountains and wilderness, by the Keepers Lorel had gone to beg for a blessing.
For the first time in his life, Janek felt homesick. To a man who’d become a soldier before his fifteenth birthday and passed a lifetime in the service of a besieged empire, it was a novel experience.
He certainly didn’t want to be here.
Looking at the battlefield, Janek blew out a frustrated breath. Vultures circled above, blacking out the sun. The birds created a moving mass of shadows on the bleached earth. He supposed he should be glad for the shade at least, although it was difficult to be glad of anything with the sight before him—easily a hundred dead along with the horses they’d been riding.
He’d already examined the bodies. There was no blood, no burns, no sign of injury except for those made by scavengers. You’d think the entire patrol had merely fallen asleep if not for the stench and those damn circling birds.
“They were waiting to welcome us,” Caden said, shifting his feet uneasily. “This was the honor guard Taris sent to protect us through the pass. You’re certain that it was sorcery that did this?”
“I’m certain,” Janek said.
The energy trail was clear in the nexus. That had surprised him. There were ways to conceal such things. It was too carelessly done to have been unintentional. The trail had been left behind as a warning for him.
“They slaughtered a horse to power the spell.” He pointed toward the escarpment. “You’ll find the body up there if you want to see the proof for yourself. The men below died instantly and without warning. It was a merciful killing.”
“You call this mercy?” Caden’s skin was pale, and his expression was stiff. But, all considered, he was holding up remarkably well for a child who’d grown up sheltered from the world’s brutality. “Tell me who did this. I want their names.”
Janek raised a brow, wondering if Caden had started a list of men he wished to see punished when he reclaimed the throne. “I can’t tell you their names. It’s no one I recognize, and that alone is worrisome. There are very few sorcerers whose work I wouldn’t know.”
Caden’s glittering eyes flicked to him and then slid away. “Nonetheless, they are crows whose lives my father spared from the Temple’s cleansing. They repay him by supporting his murderer.”
Asil had spared their lives for a purpose, and he’d allowed a hundred crows to die by poison because it had been too politically dangerous for him to save them all. Not all of the sorcerers who’d been spared were unreservedly grateful. Still… Asif? Rone? Janek would have sworn they were loyal to Asil. They certainly had no love for the Archmage. What had become of them?
“We only know how it looks like from the outside,” Janek said. “I wasn’t able to speak to any of my brethren directly while we were at the capital.”
Caden gestured at the dead. “You have only to look at this to know where your brethren stand.”
Janek looked at the field in disgust. He couldn’t defend this. A hundred corpses. A fortune in horseflesh slaughtered as a lesson and a warning. They might at least have left the poor animals alive.
“Appearances can be deceiving,” Janek said, reminding himself as much as Caden. “Demir may have found a way to compel them into his service.”
Caden was silent as he thought through the implications.
“All of the major Houses have pu
blicly condemned the use of sorcery,” Caden said finally. “They can’t know that Demir has taken the remaining crows into the Order. The Temple wouldn’t stand for it.”
“They might not have a choice,” Janek said. “Serat sits on the throne, but Demir controls it. He’s crippled the army and seduced the Temple with his promises of funding their building projects. With control of the Order and the remaining sorcerers, who could oppose him?”
Caden acknowledged that with a slight nod. “If he had such a firm grip, he wouldn’t have allied himself with the crows in the first place. He wouldn’t have risked losing Mira in order to track me. He is uncertain of his position but bold, bold enough that it shouldn’t be difficult to tempt him to reckless action.”
Janek hid his smile. The boy was learning. “If the opportunity arises. And if we can eliminate him without throwing the empire into civil war.”
Caden lifted his face to the mountains. “Do you think the crows went on to attack Noregh?”
“We can’t travel there to find out. There are too few of us.” Janek glanced at the small landing party from the ship, waiting a short distance away. “And we can no longer be certain of our welcome in Noregh.”
Caden looked at him sharply. “The Noreghs have pledged support.”
Just as all of the nobles waiting attendance on Serat had once sworn themselves to Caden’s father.
“Demir chose his warning well. That man clutching the flag?” Janek pointed to the field. “That’s the young prince. Even if we could get through the pass safely, I don’t want to be the one delivering news of his death. If Taris wishes to honor his pledge, he’ll send word to us in Rasich.”
“Rasich?” Caden shook his head. “My cousin will not welcome me into her court. I still say you’re deluded to expect help from that direction.”
Oh? It was delusional to expect help from any direction, that was becoming increasingly clear.
“Aliri never had any quarrel with you, only with your father. She was once as close as a sister to your mother. You can’t afford to keep your father’s prejudices. She’ll help you.”