“Take that side,” I said, jutting my chin towards the door.
I leaned towards the crack, listening.
“We have orders to check every carriage. It will only take a moment,” one of the men said, dismounting his horse.
As he slid out his sword, all the other men did the same.
“The king’s wish is my command.”
He knocked on the door and then proceeded to pull it open.
“Please step out,” the man ordered. Ashes pushed open the other door and stepped out. I followed. “Remove your hoods,” he directed.
Slowly, I reached up, pulling it back. The man leaned into my face, raising up my chin.
His eyes widened.
Before he could react, I ripped out the knife hidden in my cloak and buried it in his chest. All hell broke loose, horses rearing and men shouting. I pulled out my sword, ready to fight.
I stepped towards Lance, turning so that we were back to back.
“Where’s Phoenix?” he asked.
“She’s on the other side.”
“Alone?” he asked, worry coloring his voice.
“She’ll be fine.”
Lance ducked, pulling me down with him as a blade swiped above our heads. I kicked out, knocking over two men. Rolling out from between their legs I attacked from the back.
A sword clanged against mine and I parried the blow, spinning around and slicing his shoulder.
There were ten left on our side, Lance flying through the attackers, slicing left and right. I drove my sword through the chest of an attacker, right between the ribcage as he let out a strangled gasp.
I looked for Ashes, scanning the field. I spotted her fighting
off two guards at once, dodging and attacking faster than any warrior I’d seen. Maybe one day I’d put her up against Xavier.
Or Lance. Or maybe both of them.
Suddenly, I noticed a figure creeping up on her slowly, sword prepared to strike.
There was no time to warn her. I grabbed my sword, run-
ning towards the guard. He raised his sword, and I launched myself at him. He swiped but missed Ashes as we tumbled to the ground. A sudden stinging pain shot through my side.
I pulled back my fist, slamming it across jaw repeatedly until I was sure he was unconscious.
With a heavy sigh, I rolled my shoulders and then examined my bruised fists.
“You’re hurt,” Lance said, approaching me. He was covered in streaks of scarlet, his sword dripping. He pointed at my waist. “Doesn’t look too bad; he must’ve nicked you in the fall.”
Ashes turned around, bodies lying around her. There was a little smirk on her face.
“Do I get to add myself to the list?” She raised two fingers, and I knew she was referring to the list of “people I cared about.”
I rolled my eyes. “In your dreams, Ashes.” Sucking in a breath, I pressed my hand against the cut. I would feel pain after the adrenaline wore out.
Suddenly, I heard more hoofbeats.
I turned to see another group of guards galloping towards us. I took a deep breath, holding up my sword. Scarlet liquid dripped from the hilt.
As the guards got closer, I frowned. They didn’t seem alarmed to see the bodies lying on the ground, and none of them pulled out their swords to attack.
As they neared us, I squinted.
“It’s the Knights,” Ashes said and I let out a sigh, relieved.
Ripping a piece of cloth off of one of the soldier’s sleeves, I wiped the blood off the blade of my sword, sliding it back into its sheath.
“What took you so long?” Lance demanded when Batch and Galien dismounted their horses. Behind them, to my surprise, was a covered wagon. “How did you get that?”
“Same way you got that,” Galien said, nodding towards our
carriage.
Batch pulled off his helmet and held it under his arm.
“We got caught up right before the gates. They had a briefing and sent us after the runaway carriage.” He raised an eyebrow, glancing at our carriage. “That was you, I assume?”
“You assume correctly. I’m glad you made it out safely,” I said, addressing them all. “We have to get out of here before they noticed the reinforcements are doing nothing.”
“Where do we go?” Kay asked.
“They already have a head start on us.” I ran a hand through my hair, racking my brains for an answer.
“If we don’t leave now, Valentin and my mother will reach us and then we won’t have a choice. Let’s start moving towards Astodia,” Ashes said. “We already made a mistake coming here.”
“Fine.” I turned to Taj. “Are you fine with that?”
“It’s our only option.”
And so, with tired, aching bodies, we began our journey back to Astodia, the sense of betrayal hanging heavily over us.
TWENTY
“The winters are getting longer,” Taj said. We had slowed down as night fell. With the darkness of the night also came the harsh cold, and I could hear echoes of chattering teeth.
“This one is by far the longest.” I wrapped my cloak tighter around my shoulders. The whole horse must’ve been shaking from my shivers. I was sitting behind Taj—we hadn’t had enough horses, and I didn’t want to sit in the carriage beside a talkative Ashes.
“Is that an earthquake, or you?” Taj chuckled, and a let out what should’ve been a laugh, but ended up being more of a choked cough. “I think we should set up camp for the night.”
“No,” I said abruptly, sitting straighter. “No, they’ll catch up to us.”
“It’s either that, or we freeze to death overnight. The temperature is still dropping.”
With all the teeth chattering I was hearing behind me, how could I say no?
“Fine.”
We set up camp deep into the woods, away from the trail. Yes, it was more dangerous to go through the forest, but it would be worse to get caught by King Adrean’s men. The forest would allow us a shortcut.
I huddled next to the fire, so close I felt my skin would melt
off. The cuts and bruises on my body stung and ached as they
warmed up.
Lance sat beside me, handing me a blanket.
I wrapped it around my shoulders. I opened my mouth to ask him a question, and he cut me off quickly.
“Don’t worry, Batch and Asselin are on guard, no, you cannot switch with them, and yes, after you get rest, you may also keep watch.”
I closed my mouth. I opened it again, but he continued.
“Ashes is fine, she was the first one to get sleep, you are welcome to join her in the carriage if you’d like. It would really make her day.”
I rolled my eyes, bringing my knees up to my chest to conserve body heat.
“I’m fine here.”
Lance nodded and slowly reached forward as if going to touch my cheek, but then he thought better of it.
“Damn it, goddamn it!” I heard a gruff voice yell, waking me up.
I sat up, alert. I took in my surroundings, and I realized I was lying in a carriage. I couldn’t remember how I got here—I must’ve been exhausted last night.
There was scuffling outside. I lifted the curtain, peeking through to see—
Bandits.
I cursed under my breath, immediately looking for a weapon of some sort to protect myself. My sword wasn’t next to me; Lance must’ve removed it. But, I did have my knives. I reached down to grab one from my boot, but at the same time the door was pulled open and I was yanked out. I managed to
punch the man in the throat, but six of them tackled me at once.
“We underestimated the other girl,” the same gruff voice
said. His face was covered, blue eyes staring out at me from behind the mask. “Don’t do it again.”
They gripped my arms and legs, keeping them away from each other.
Each bandit held either a bow or curved sword in their hand, layers of scarves wrapped around them. They
had the Knights on their knees, and pushed me down next to Asselin.
“What happened?” I growled, scanning my surroundings. There must’ve been a total of twenty-six of them against eleven of us.
“It was Batch, he took a break and fell asleep. And then,” he flinched, avoiding my eyes, “so did I.”
The blue-eyed bandit leaned into my face, reaching out. He trailed a finger from the end of my eyebrow to my jaw. At the base of my jaw, he flicked out a knife, the cool metal blade pressing into the soft skin right behind the bone.
“And why might the two of you girls be traveling alone with these these men?” he sneered, pressing the blade deeper into my flesh.
I didn’t respond. He looked up at his men.
“Take everything. Then, kill them all.” As the bandits moved, he added, “take the feisty one,” he said, gesturing to Ashes. “She’ll be useful later on.”
They lifted her off the ground as she kicked and snapped
her teeth, struggling to break loose.
“Phoenix!” I shouted, a sudden burst of energy flooding through my body. Before Blue Eyes could see it coming, I had lashed out with my leg, slamming my boot into his sternum. He fell back, the air knocked out of his lungs.
The sudden movement confused my captives and I used that
moment against them.
I ripped my arms out of their grasps, elbowing one in the
nose. I heard a crack as my elbow connected with the center of his face and ducked behind the other, ripping the sword from out of his sheath.
I drove it through his back. He fell to his knees and I pulled it out, spinning and slicing it through Broken Nose’s stomach.
With a gasp, he sank to the ground, gripping his bleeding wound.
Another bandit appeared behind him. He managed to get a good grip on my hair, pulling my head towards him. The movement sent waves of pain through my scalp.
I reached back and grabbed his wrist. With a quick movement I swung my body through his legs, standing up behind him and twisting his arm behind his back. He let out a grunt of pain, which turned into a shrill scream as I twisted harder, hearing a satisfying pop.
At the same time, a man with deep, dark skin reached for me. I raised my leg, letting my boot crash into his jaw. As I turned to walk away, he grabbed my ankle, yanking me to the ground. I was on my stomach, scrambling to reach the curved sword lying a few inches from my outstretched fingers.
He was big and could probably lift me with his pinky finger.
With one yank he pulled me towards him, pulling his fist back. I rolled onto my stomach, raising my arms in the shape of an
X to block his blow.
The bandit took that chance to bring his knee into my stomach. I let out a grunt of pain, my mouth forming an O. Two bandits appeared to help on either side of him, grasping my wrists. He sneered, his teeth a bright contrast against his skin, malice in his eyes.
He pulled back a fist again, this time successfully connecting it with my jaw. My head snapped to the side, and with the second blow, I felt my teeth cut into the skin of the inside of
my cheek.
“How do you like that, you—”
I spit into his face, blood spattering on his skin.
“Eat. Shit.”
A look of fury appeared in his dark eyes, his lips pulling back to reveal his teeth as a deep snarl sounded from his throat. He leaned down. “I am going to rip you apart piece by piece, and give you a fate worse than death.”
I jerked my head forwards, slamming it against his forehead. He let out a yelp and I brought up my knee, aiming it at his groin. The man doubled over. I kicked up my legs, wrapping them around one of the men who was holding my left wrist, and pulled him forward. He did a roll, slamming into bandit who was still leaning over me.
Curling my free fist, I let it crash into the other man’s temple, freeing my right hand.
I flexed my fists and, just as one of them regained consciousness, I grabbed the back of his head and smashed it against another’s.
By then, Taj had broken free and tackled a bandit into the snow. I stood up, watching the chaos unfold, Blue Eyes lung-
ing for Ashes as she wrapped her legs around the neck of the man who had dragged her away. She twisted her body, break-
ing his neck.
Ashes punched him repeatedly. Blood splattered from his mouth as his head knocked to each side, coloring the snow. He grunted with every blow, but she didn’t stop until I shouted, “behind you!”
She spun around, but not quick enough.
Thankfully, Asselin was. He dove forward, pulling the sword from Ashes’s victim’s grip. Before the bandit behind Ashes could slice her head off, Asselin brought up the sword. With a sharp clang, the attacker’s blade crashed into Asselin’s. At the same time, I ripped my knife out of my boot and sent it flying towards him with my good hand.
The knife buried itself in his shoulder. With a cry of pain, he dropped his sword, clutching his wound.
Batch took that opening, beheading him.
“Thanks,” Asselin breathed as Batch helped him up.
Suddenly, an arm locked around my throat, squeezing. I gasped for air, clawing at. As I struggled to breathe, I could see stars dancing in front of my eyes. I felt my legs lift off the ground just barely, my feet kicking at air as they tried to get a firm foothold on the ground.
I managed to plant my boots into the snow and with all my might, flipped the man over my back. Taking the knife, I stabbed it into the side of his throat.
I sucked in the cold air, regaining my balance. A few feet in front of me, I noticed my sword lying in the snow, emerald hilt glinting. I walked towards it, snatched it up, and slid it back into its sheath.
I patted it.
“Welcome home.”
I brushed loose locks of hair behind my eyes, looking for my next target.
And then, I noticed one.
One of the bandits had a bow and was aiming at Simon. His
back was to me.
I ran.
As he pulled back the string, I leaped onto his back. He let go of the arrow as it sailed, piercing through the chest of one of his own.
He stumbled back, slamming me against a tree. Holding on,
I held his jaw with one hand and the side of his head with an
other, whipping it to the left. With a sickening crack, all the life left his body.
I rolled off him, picking up his bow and knocking in an arrow.
“Adalia!” Phoenix shouted. My eyes locked with hers, and she pointed.
Blue Eyes had Galien on the ground, a blade pressed to his throat.
“If anyone moves, he’s dead,” the bandit growled. Beads of blood appeared against the edges of the silver blade.
I pulled back the arrow, the string taught.
I cursed under my breath.
My hand was shaking.
No, no, no!
I swallowed. Ashes’s eyes rested on my hand as it trembled, the arrow quivering unstably along with it.
Well? What are you waiting for? My mind told me. Shoot him!
“I can’t,” I whispered under my breath, only loud enough for me to hear. “If I miss, he’ll kill Galien.”
Kay, Lance, Ashes, Taj, Simon, Asselin, and the bandits. They were holding up their swords, prepared.
If I moved, so would they.
All of their eyes were on me.
I steadied my breath.
“Give me the wagon,” Blue Eyes said, his gaze trained on the arrow. “Let me have it, and we’ll let you go.”
The longer I held the arrow back, the worse the tremor got.
What do I do?
Do it!
I’m going to miss him!
For a split second, my mind flashed back to many, many
years ago.
King Sadim stood behind me as my arrow pointed at a commoner, an apple sitting on his head.
“What if I miss?” I asked the king, arrow pulled back
. The man trembled, sweat dripping down his forehead. He didn’t dare move.
“Don’t overthink it. Do the first thing your mind tells you to do, Adalia.” I did what he said. The man was lucky that day; juices from the apple splattered as the arrow pierced the center of the fruit. He fell to his knees, crying out prayers.
I looked at Blue Eyes.
You’re the apple.
I let go of the arrow.
It took me a moment to register what exactly had happened. When Kay yelled out a painful “No!” lunging forward, I let the bow hang to my side.
I frowned, shaking my head.
King Sadim smirked.
“You’re nothing without me.”
The arrow had pierced the tree behind the blue-eyed bandit. Galien lay in the snow, his eyes wide as he stared up at the sky, scarlet blood running from the open gash in his throat.
I dropped the bow.
With a cry of anger, Batch ran forward, swinging his sword.
The few remaining bandits watched as he decapitated their leader.
Ten of us, nine of them.
“What are you waiting for?” The words ripped from my throat. “Get out of here!”
Failure.
You utterly useless thing.
I slid my sword out of its sheath.
They raised their hands, retreating slowly.
“Get out!” I yelled, my chest rising and falling.
“Do it,” King Sadim said.
I didn’t want to kill him. The man had done nothing wrong.
“There’s no difference between that man,” the king pointed at the sobbing commoner, “and that apple.” He shifted his hand towards the remains of the splattered fruit. “Kill him.”
I hadn’t killed anyone before.
“He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Fine.”
He stepped back, and I breathed out a sigh of relief, lowering the bow.
“Lock her away.”
My eyes widened, panic rising up my throat.
“No. No!” I shouted, reaching for the bow. “I’m sorry, I’ll do it, I’ll try again, please don’t take me there—”
“It’s too late. Next time, you’ll think twice before questioning my order.” He picked up the bow, handing it to the guard standing behind him. “Do it.”
The guard took the bow from the king, nocking in an arrow.
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