Dare (The Blades of Acktar Book 1)

by Tricia Mingerink

  She choked on the bile rising in her throat. She couldn’t even give him laudanum to dull the pain because he needed to be alert to press his knife to the gash.

  Shadrach handed Leith a piece of leather. Leith clamped it between his teeth while Shadrach pinned Leith’s left shoulder and arm down to keep them steady.

  Renna drew the knife from the fire, wrapping its hilt in a cloth to keep from burning herself. The blade glowed with a hint of dull orange, the same color as the coals puffing in the fireplace. Swallowing hard, she handed it to Leith.

  He hesitated for only a fraction of a second before he touched the hot metal to his skin. A cry gurgled from his throat. His back arched while his left arm stiffened in Shadrach’s grasp.

  He dabbed the knife against the wound two more times before he dropped the cooling knife to the floor. When he squeezed his eyes shut, tears leaked from the corners.

  Tears burning the corners of her own eyes, she pressed the damp cloths to his shoulder, hoping the coolness would take some of the sting from the burns. Applying the poultice, she wrapped his shoulder with bandages.

  When she’d finished, she picked up her vial of laudanum again. “Now will you let me give you laudanum?”

  Leith gave a short nod and spit out the piece of leather. A half circle of white marks marred its surface. Lifting his head, she gave him a spoonful of the painkiller.

  By the time she had cleaned her hands and picked up her supplies, Leith had slipped into sleep, though his jaw remained clenched, his chest shuddering with each breath.

  Shadrach slumped onto his heels, his face nearly as ashen as Leith’s. “Father and I will move him to a room where he can rest.”

  Nodding, she swiped at a strand of sweaty hair that had fallen across Leith’s forehead. What would she have done had Leith not stumbled into their kitchen during that blizzard?

  Trust. She hadn't trusted in God’s control when she'd saved Leith, but saving him had saved all of them.

  Something shifted in her chest. Something deep. Powerful. More than admiration for his courage. More than the safety he provided. She wasn’t sure what it was, but her heart already ached with Leith’s leaving.

  45

  Sunlight warmed Leith’s face. Blankets weighed on his legs and chest. He would’ve been comfortable except that his shoulder was hot…too hot. No, it burned, spiraling deeper and deeper. Coals touched his skin.

  He jolted and pressed a hand to his shoulder. Blinking, he stared at the small room around him. He lay on a narrow, brass bed, a tiny window beaming a square of light onto the wall by his feet. No rugs covered the wooden floor.

  How had he gotten here? He couldn’t remember anything after pressing his glowing knife to his shoulder…the searing agony…the swirling blackness beckoning him.

  How long had he slept? His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, but his head only pounded a little behind his eyes. He must’ve slept off most of the effects of the laudanum Renna had given him.

  The door latch lifted. He glanced around the room but couldn’t find his weapons. He tensed and prepared to launch himself at whoever stepped through that door.

  Brandi skipped through. When her gaze locked on him, she grinned. “I guessed right. I told Renna you’d wake up soon. Do you want breakfast? Sausage? Eggs? Toast?”

  He relaxed onto the pillow. “All three.”

  “All right.” She spun on her heels but skidded to a halt as Lord Alistair stepped inside. “Leith’s awake. I’m fetching him food.”

  When Brandi disappeared down the hallway, Lord Alistair closed the door and sank onto the wooden chair beside the bed. Lines radiated from the corners of his eyes while dark circles pooled beneath.

  A pang shot through Leith’s chest. “It’s my fault the First Blade got so close to Renna. I shouldn’t have tried to talk to him. I knew it was useless. I should’ve stuck to the plan.”

  Lord Alistair bowed his head. “You have nothing to apologize for. The nobles were right. I have become wrapped up in planning and forgot that we’re fighting a war of resistance, not of rebellion. We’re fighting to worship God freely and share His Gospel freely. If we fight only to save our lives, then we’re missing our true cause.”

  Lord Alistair was apologizing to him? Leith shook his head. What kind of strange dream did he wake up in?

  “Shadrach tells me you intend to return to Nalgar Castle.” Lord Alistair pressed his fingertips together and leaned back as much as he could in the wooden chair. “Our original deal still stands. I can claim both you and the First Blade were killed last night, and I can get you to a place where you’d be safe. You could leave the Blades like you wanted.”

  Leith could ride into the vastness of the Sheered Rock Hills, guided to the safety of whatever secret hideout the Resistance maintained. Without the First Blade, Leith stood a good chance of disappearing

  But he’d known he had to go back the moment he’d watched Vane die. This assassination attempt would be paltry compared with Respen’s retaliation. And Leith had come too far and done too much to walk away now. He was in this to the end, whether that meant his death or his eventual freedom.

  It didn’t matter which. He’d already found the freedom he’d been looking for, and that freedom wasn’t going to leave him when he returned to Nalgar Castle.

  He met Lord Alistair’s gaze. Leith didn’t know what the Resistance might have planned or who its Leader might be, but he trusted Lord Alistair, and that was enough. “Yes, I’m going back. You need me there.”

  Lord Alistair clapped him on his good shoulder and held out a sealed letter. “Then please take this to Respen. Tell him I forced you to take it before we let you go, which is true enough.”

  The thick envelope rustled between Leith’s fingers as he took it. Was it a threat? An ultimatum?

  Lord Alistair tapped the letter. “As you reminded me, the Resistance is fighting for our freedom to worship. We don’t want to become a rebellion, even if what we’ve started turns into a war. This contains our requests for peace. I’ve outlined our beliefs and why we must be allowed to worship freely. If Respen continues to fight us rather than reconcile, that is up to him.”

  Leith placed the letter in an inner pocket of his shirt. “I’ll make sure he gets it.” How would Respen react? Especially when Leith delivered it on the heels of the news of Vane’s supposed betrayal?

  The door burst open again, and Brandi twirled through, somehow not dumping the tray she balanced on one hand. “Here’s breakfast.”

  Lord Alistair patted Leith’s shoulder one last time before he left the room. Brandi claimed his spot. “Want company?”

  A laugh shook Leith’s chest. He groaned and pressed a hand to his shoulder. Brandi leaned forward. “Are you all right?”

  Leith forced himself to grin. “Just hungry.” He wiggled upright but kept his left arm tucked against his chest. Even with that precaution, shafts of pain radiated from his shoulder.

  Brandi plopped the tray onto his lap, and he dug into the food. He finished the buttered toast, eggs, and sausage topped with maple syrup in a few bites.

  After he handed the tray back to Brandi, Leith settled down in the covers. Tonight he’d have to leave, and he might never see Brandi again. He needed to tell her he’d be all right even if the worst happened. “I think it’s my turn to tell you a story.”

  Her eyebrows lifting, Brandi perched on the edge of her seat. “All right.”

  Leith closed his eyes. “Once there was a Blade who found himself wounded and lost in a blizzard. When he thought he was going to die, these two girls rescued him. One of them told him stories that touched his soul. The other gave him kindness that touched his heart. Because of them, he couldn’t go back to the life he’d been living so he joined the Resistance. But even that wasn’t enough.”

  Leith opened his eyes. Brandi gripped the edge of her seat, leaning forward, a huge grin on her face. Movement dragged his gaze to the doorway where Renna stood, her hands clasped in front
of her. Her cheeks reddening, she ducked her head.

  Swallowing, Leith tried to ignore increasingly loud thump of his heart. “Their words wouldn’t leave him alone. One night in the darkness of Nalgar Castle, God showed him why their words were so powerful. The Blade found courage and a peace of heart he hadn’t had before so that even though his past hadn’t changed and the country still remained a dark place, he had hope.”

  Brandi bounced on the chair, her grin as wide as the open doorway. “I like that story.”

  “I thought you might.” Leith leaned his head against the pillows. His shoulder ached, but he didn’t care at the moment. “Not as good as your Daniel stories, but it’s all I have.”

  He heard swishing skirts, and gentle hands straightened the blanket around his shoulder. A strand of hair tickled his cheek as Renna leaned over him. “I think it’s a very good story. Now go back to sleep.”

  Even as he smiled, he had no trouble following her orders.

  Night wrapped around Walden. Leith couldn’t delay any longer if he wanted to return to Nalgar Castle in time for the Meeting of the Blades.

  He’d found his weapons tucked under the bed and strapped them on. The left shoulder strap pressed against his wound, but he gritted his teeth.

  Lord Alistair, Renna, Brandi, and Shad assembled on the front steps of Walden Manor to see him off, both Blizzard and Vane’s horse saddled and waiting.

  The darkness shielded them from prying eyes while the guards patrolled far enough away that they wouldn’t see more than a black blob. It didn’t matter if they did guess he was a Blade. If rumors got out that a Blade was working with Lord Alistair, Leith would use them to his advantage.

  Leith stared at them, not sure what to do. He’d never said farewells with friends before, not friends like these anyway.

  He shifted his feet a few steps closer to Blizzard. “You’ll have to be careful. This area will be swarming with Blades once Respen believes the First Blade has betrayed him.”

  Lord Alistair’s jaw tightened. “I’ll make plans with the other Resistance leaders. We’ll be prepared.”

  Leith knew better than to ask. The less he knew, the better. “And the First Blade’s body will have to be well hidden.”

  “We buried him in the town graveyard. I doubt any of the Blades will look for him there.”

  “And his horse mustn’t be found.”

  Shad held up the reins of Vane’s horse. “I’m taking him away from here. Don’t worry. We know what to do.”

  Leith glanced at Shad. The Blades wouldn’t be looking for a grave, but they would be looking for Vane’s horse. “You’ll have to hide the tracks carefully. A number of the Blades are skilled at tracking.”

  Shad nodded as if Leith was telling him something he already knew. Of course Shad would be careful, but worrying about the Blades was Leith’s job. They’d gotten this far without anything too major going wrong. He didn’t trust that it’d stay that way.

  No, that wasn’t right. He should trust. Whatever happened would be God’s plan.

  Brandi hugged Leith so tightly his knives dug into his ribs. “Take care of Blizzard.” Her voice caught, though he couldn’t be sure if the tears were for him or his horse.

  Leith patted her back with his right hand. A lump formed in the back of his throat. What was he going to do at Nalgar Castle without Brandi? How long would it be before he’d have a chance to see her again? If ever? “I will. You listen to your sister. It won’t be safe to wander far from Walden Manor for a while.”

  Brandi stepped away from him and trudged over to Blizzard to give the horse a goodbye that would probably last longer than the one she’d given Leith.

  Renna gripped a knife in her hands. As she held it out to him, the faint light caught on his initials in the hilt. “Here. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”

  He shook his head and gently pushed it back toward her. “You keep it.”

  “Thank-you.” She twisted her hands around it, her blue eyes flickering up at him before going back to the ground. The silence stretched on for a minute until the tension was painful.

  Leith wasn’t sure what he could say to her. So much had changed since the night he’d fallen into their kitchen during that blizzard. He was no longer the same Blade. Somehow, that didn’t make it any easier to say goodbye.

  She stepped forward and gave him a hug like Brandi had. Or, as Renna’s soft hair brushed against his cheek, not like Brandi had. He loved Brandi like a sister, but Renna…Renna was definitely not his sister.

  He swallowed, his hand hovering over her back. Perhaps he should’ve asked Shad for girl advice when he’d had the chance.

  After a moment, she drew back. “I’ll be praying for you.”

  “Thanks.” Leith choked out the word. His brain buzzing like it’d been dropped in the moat and struck by lightning, he stumbled to his horse.

  Shad held Blizzard steady while Leith placed his foot in the stirrup and swung himself into the saddle with one hand. He held his left arm close to his body, pain shooting from his shoulder.

  Taking the reins, Leith gave everyone a final nod and nudged Blizzard into a lope. Leith gritted his teeth. Each drum of Blizzard’s hooves jarred his shoulder.

  A minute later, Shad caught up with him, riding Vane’s horse. He didn’t speak as they cantered their horses across the prairie. They didn’t stop until they’d reached the foothills.

  Shad sidled his horse next to him. “How are you holding up?”

  Leith huffed a laugh, but it came out a groan. “About as well as can be expected.”

  He pushed the fabric of his shirt aside and touched the bandage. Only a spot in the center squished with blood. As bad as cauterizing the wound had been, it held up better than stitches.

  Shad gazed into the mountains. “I guess this is where we part.” At the wistful tone in Shadrach’s voice, Leith guessed he was thinking about Jolene Lorraine. To preserve Leith’s cover, Shad had to leave without knowing if she’d survived.

  “Yep.” Leith’s gaze traveled along the edge of the hills and scrub brush he’d have to skirt as he headed for Nalgar Castle. Every muscle in his body screamed at him to turn and run the other way.

  Why was he stepping back into Respen’s clutches? A whiff of Renna’s scent, a floral something he couldn’t name, drifted on the breeze. That’s why.

  Leith shrugged and extended a hand. “Be careful. Respen will have the Blades combing these hills looking for that horse.”

  “I’m a lord’s son. I can handle myself.” Shad shook Leith’s hand. “You take care of yourself, Blade. You’ll be face to face with Respen himself.”

  “God is with me even there.” The words brought a confidence Leith hadn’t fully felt before they hit the air. God would be with him, even in Respen’s dark fortress.

  “Godspeed.” Shad wheeled Vane’s horse and pointed its nose northward. It surged as it climbed its way up the twisting trail deeper into the mountains.

  Leith watched until he was out of sight. When his last link to his peaceful life in Walden had vanished, he nudged Blizzard and headed west toward Nalgar Castle.

  46

  The gray towers of Nalgar Castle loomed over the horizon. Leith’s heart thudded in time with Blizzard’s hooves drumming against the cobbled ramp leading to the front gate.

  To his left, the Blades’ Tower rose in its five-story splendor, as if reminding everyone who entered the castle why they bowed beneath King Respen’s might.

  Inside the cobblestone courtyard, Leith handed Blizzard’s reins to a stablehand and headed into the dark passageway below the king’s apartments. Turning left, Leith strolled over the wooden bridge to the Blades’ Tower. The moat reeked of stagnant scum and refuse.

  As soon as he stepped inside the common room, Martyn jumped up from a bench. He wore a bandage around his head and walked with a limp. But he was alive. A lump in Leith’s chest eased. He hadn’t killed his friend.

  Reaching Leith’s side, Martyn clapped L
eith on the left shoulder. Leith sucked in a breath and took a step back. “Sorry. I took a knife in that shoulder.”

  Martyn blew out a breath, running a hand through his curly, blond hair. “You survived. I wondered when you didn’t return last night or this morning.”

  Leith clenched his jaw at Martyn’s admission. Martyn had worried about him. Guilt stabbed into Leith’s chest. Martyn’s injuries were his fault. He clapped Martyn on the shoulder as well, trying to keep his voice steady. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

  Martyn glanced past him. “Where’s the First Blade?”

  “He’s the one that put the knife in my shoulder.” Leith winced at the words. They weren’t a lie. Vane had been the one to throw the knife. But they still led Martyn to believe something other than the truth.

  Martyn’s eyes flared. “That scum! He sold us out? No wonder this happened!” He waved at the room, where only ten Blades gathered, not including Martyn and Leith. “Unless more straggle in, we’re all that’s left. Almost half of us were killed.” Martyn ground his teeth. “I’m going to make Vane pay when I catch up with him.”

  A bitter weight sank into Leith’s stomach. Martyn would be furious if he ever learned that Leith had been the one to set up the ambush.

  Leith closed his eyes. He was going to lose Martyn’s friendship. Deep down, he’d known he was going to have to choose—had already chosen—between Shad and the friendship of the people at Walden and Martyn and the friendship of his fellow Blades. He couldn’t have both.

  Martyn grasped Leith’s elbow and steered him to a seat. “Sit down before you pass out.”

  Leith did as he was instructed and took stock of the Blades assembled in the dining room. Many of the lower Blades were missing. They wouldn’t have been skilled enough to escape when ambushed. The Fifth Blade was missing, but the Fourth Blade hunched in a corner, nursing a wounded arm. The Second Blade was also missing. Hopefully the Lorraines were all right.

  A chill jolted down his back. With both the First and Second Blades dead or believed to be a traitor, Leith was the new First Blade. The First Blade was Respen’s right hand man. He was called in to private audiences with Respen and expected to give recommendations on the activities of all the Blades.