Warrior's Dawn (Fire and Tears)

by Isabo Kelly

  “You haven’t asked what would happen with an elf,” he murmured.

  “What?”

  “If an elf bled to break the spell…”

  “Why would an elf do that? Even though the king and queen are trading weapons with us again, they’ve still made it clear this isn’t their war. They don’t send in soldiers to help us fight. They’d hardly ask one of their people to sacrifice their own lives—”

  “An elf stands a chance of surviving,” he interrupted her. “Our blood is different. It carries that natural magic we all have.”

  She rubbed at her eyes to keep the tears that had formed from dropping. “But they’d still have to allow themselves to be bled. Would any do that?”

  “There are some who would.”

  She considered that. “Ulric would probably volunteer.” Layla’s mate didn’t remain out of the fighting or pretend the war had nothing to do with him. He might be willing.

  A rough growl filled the room, startling Mina into facing Althir again. His brows were furrowed and his lips set in a snarl.

  “Of course you would think of Ulric. And why not? He’s the hero. He’s the favorite. Why wouldn’t such a paragon of virtue be willing to sacrifice himself for his beloved Sinnale?”

  “He fights with us where the rest of your people stand back. Or turn traitor.” She didn’t fully understand his reaction to the mention of his brother. Who else did he think would help them? Ulric was the only elf she knew who might be willing. She couldn’t imagine any of the others going to such extremes for her people.

  Althir stood so abruptly his chair tumbled backward, crashing loudly to the floor. She winced at the noise and checked the street. Not every building around them was empty. When she was sure no one had heard anything, she faced Althir again, ready to scold him.

  Her voice caught in her throat at the sight of him.

  He stood at his full, imposing height, glaring at her, his fists clenched at his sides, his jaw locked, and his angled eyes narrowed to slits. “You have your answers now,” he grated out. “I’ll go to my watch.”

  He stalked from the room, leaving her openmouthed in surprise. What had just happened?

  Well. Had she known all she had to do was mention Ulric and Althir would leave the room, she would have mentioned his brother earlier.

  Though, as she retrieved the chair to use for her watch, she felt a niggling of guilt and regret. For upsetting him? She didn’t want to believe that. He hadn’t shown any compunction about upsetting her since they’d first met. In fact, he’d gone out of his way to irritate and anger her. She shouldn’t care that she’d finally managed to upset him. He deserved it, after all.

  Still, as she settled in for her vigil, that hint of guilt stayed with her, adding to her already confused feelings for Althir.

  She’d already thanked him for saving her life. She was not about to apologize to him. Not all in one day. Especially since she wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to apologize for.

  Chapter Six

  Althir paced the room across from Mina’s, moving silently, keeping back from the window so he didn’t inadvertently make himself visible to someone on the street. But his irritation wouldn’t allow him to sit still.

  Ulric. Always fucking Ulric!

  His perfect, honorable, flawless fucking brother!

  As he paced, he glanced back toward Mina’s room and realized he was angrier than her comments really warranted.

  But she had thought of Ulric first. Turned to Ulric as a possible savior.

  When Althir was right here with her! Doing what needed to be done to end the war. Did she even for one moment consider that he might be willing to help her people? To help her?

  Why would she? his own thoughts mocked him. As far as she’s concerned, everything you do is selfish and self-motivated. She has no reason to think you’d bleed for her.

  Except that he’d just saved her life. And he was the one here risking his life to recover the List. Risking more than a simple bleeding if the Sorcerers caught him.

  He flexed his fists, and with a grunt of irritation, pulled his gloves off in a rough jerk and tossed them into a corner of the room. Mina’s lack of faith in him was infuriating. Yet the more logical part of his brain understood her reaction perfectly. Knowing that didn’t stop him from feeling betrayed. And that just made him angrier.

  Why should he feel betrayed by a woman he barely knew? One who hated him, even if she also wanted him. Just because he intended to fuck her before all this was over didn’t mean he expected her to suddenly trust in him.

  Did it?

  No, he was a fool many times over, but he’d hardly be that stupid. He couldn’t expect such a clever woman to be that stupid either.

  He slowed, easing from a fast stalk to a more thoughtful circuit back and forth across the wooden floor. Finally, he dropped onto the edge of the bed and scrubbed his hands over his face. He’d spent too much time in that damned cage. And before that, he’d been too long with the Sorcerers. He’d lost all sense, all perspective. That was the only explanation for this visceral reaction, this illogical sense of betrayal.

  He did not expect Mina to trust him. He did not expect her to believe in him. She had less reason to than anyone. When even his closest family thought so poorly of him, he would be a madman to think a stranger, a human woman, might see more in him than that. He’d hardly given her reason to, either.

  He did not need her to think well of him. He didn’t need anything from her at all.

  He lowered his arms, letting his hands flop onto his lap as he stared at the doorway leading back toward her room. Maybe he had gone mad. Just one more thing to berate himself for, one more idiocy to add to the growing list.

  The sooner this mission was over, the sooner he could be gone. Putting clever, curvy, sharp-tongued Mina of No Family behind him for good. His discomfort at the thought of never seeing her would go away quickly enough too, he was sure. No reason to think otherwise. She was no one to him. Just another human woman. A possible fuck, but nothing more. A means to an end.

  And he’d do well to keep reminding himself of that fact, or he risked far more than he was prepared to sacrifice.

  The sound of a minion patrol several blocks away pulled Althir out of his light doze. Without moving from his perch on the bed, he listened intently to their movements. Heading this direction, he thought. Fast.

  He hurried to tell Mina, but she was already on the way out of her room, meeting him in the hall.

  “Minions approaching from the east,” she murmured.

  He scowled. “More are coming from the southwest. Fast.”

  “Toward us? They know we’re here? How?”

  “Someone saw us enter the building? I don’t know. But two patrols heading directly for us is too much of a coincidence. We need to leave.”

  She nodded but frowned as she glanced toward the stairs leading up from the tavern’s common room. “It’s still daylight. We won’t be able to hide well.”

  “The roofs? We can get away from immediate danger before we hit the streets.”

  She shook her head. “Too far away or too tall. There’s nothing close enough to get to. And most of the buildings around here have at least a few people in them—mainly Sorcerer servants.”

  He could hear the patrol she’d spotted just a few houses away now. The one he’d heard was only a block or two away and spreading out, covering escape in that direction.

  “We’re being surrounded,” he said. He cursed in his own language because the situation called for it. He was about to suggest another exit when they both heard the front door of the tavern creak open.

  On silent feet, he moved to the top of the stairs and crouched low, risking a glance at the commons. Four minion soldiers crept inside, swords unsheathed and held at the ready. Slipping back into the second-story hallway, he rejoined Mina.

  With a finger to his lips, he edged into the room he’d been using, retrieved his bow and quiver, dropping them ov
er his back, then took up his sword. He could kill four minions. Maybe even without alerting the approaching patrol. But that still wouldn’t give them enough time to get out of the area before the second patrol reached them.

  After collecting his weapons, he went into Mina’s room to check the direction from which the first group of minions had approached. If necessary, he could jump from the second floor without injury. He could carry Mina easily enough too. But when he studied the street below, he spotted the two minions left there to guard against just such an escape. By the time Althir hit the ground, set Mina down and pulled his sword, the minions would sound an alarm.

  Cursing silently, he hurried across the hall. The patrol from that direction was just beginning to enter the lower level of the tavern, through the kitchen. A creak on the stairs confirmed at least two minions had already started up to the second floor.

  The second patrol left a single guard, posted at the kitchen door, to watch the street while the rest disappeared inside. More footsteps sounded on the stairs. A quick glance around confirmed Mina was right. There were no rooftops within easy reach from here. Oh, he might be able to make the one just across the back alley from the tavern, even though it would require leaping up. But he’d have difficulty doing that with his weapons and Mina in tow without attracting attention. Alerting the patrols to their escape would defeat the purpose.

  More footsteps sounded on the stairs.

  They were out of time.

  Pulling Mina close, he set his lips to her ear. “We’re going to jump to the ground. There’s only one guard on this side. I’ll kill him as quietly as I can.” He felt her begin to pull back but he held her close. “I’ll hold you as we jump so you don’t get hurt, but you’ll have to release me the instant we’re on the street. Understand?”

  She nodded.

  He started to open the window, but a sound in the hall stopped him. Reacting instantly and on instinct, he turned to grab Mina and pull her under the bed. To his surprise, she was already disappearing beneath. He joined her faster than a human could move and they both held absolutely still as several booted feet entered the room.

  The minions searched without speaking, checking the single wardrobe, the small closet that served as a washroom and then the window. One even opened it and looked out. The second paused at the foot of the bed.

  Althir concentrated, calling up a magic he rarely used. He grabbed Mina’s arm and focused as he stared at the minion’s boots. A face appeared far enough back to avoid the swing of a weapon. The wash of that rotten-meat scent filled Althir’s nostrils, but he ignored it, continuing to concentrate, his fingers digging into Mina’s arm so she wouldn’t react. The minion scanned their hiding spot, his near-empty gaze skimming over them several times. Then he straightened.

  Holding his breath and his concentration, Althir waited until he heard them reenter the hallway. Then he let the spell drop. Exhaustion swamped him instantly, making his limbs as heavy as oak. He continued to keep a hold on Mina and forced himself to listen, to pay attention to their surroundings despite an almost overwhelming need to sleep.

  Several minions collected in the hallway, just outside their door. “No one,” one said. “They must have left already.”

  “She said they were still here. She’s been watching the building all day.”

  “Did you find anyone?”

  “Evidence someone was here.”

  “But no actual people.”

  “They snuck past her. She probably wasn’t watching as closely as she claims.”

  “Search the surrounding buildings. If the elf and spy are still in the area, we’ll find them.”

  The footsteps shuffled back down the hall.

  Althir remained motionless, breathing silently and slowly. His eyes drifted shut and he snapped them open as he listened to the movements from downstairs.

  “Watch the two exits while we search the area,” one of the minions who’d been speaking in the hallway ordered.

  Moments later, silence descended over the tavern, but Althir could still hear the sharp strike of their boots on the cobbled streets. He glanced at Mina. Her eyes were wide, her breath barely audible even though his head was so close to hers, but she didn’t move so much as a lash as she stared at the slice of floor they could see from their hiding spot.

  From his grip on her arm, he could feel her pulse racing. She controlled her body outwardly, though, keeping a careful stillness that wouldn’t alert those below to even a hint of sound.

  It felt like they held their positions under the bed for hours, waiting as outside Althir heard the search move from building to building. There was an argument in the street, one female voice raised in outrage and threat. The male voice of what Althir assumed was one of the patrol leaders carried a calm, almost disinterested tone. Althir could detect a few of the woman’s words but none of the man’s.

  “I will tell her of your failure,” the woman shouted. “They are still there! How could you miss them?”

  A scuffling sound from the front of the tavern sent Althir’s already alert nerves into overdrive. He was too exhausted now to utilize the camouflage spell again, so exhausted only adrenaline and knowing Mina was in danger kept him from dropping into a deep sleep. If the minions searched the tavern again, Althir wouldn’t be able to hide himself and Mina. They’d have to fight their way out. And he wasn’t sure how well he could fight while still suffering the aftereffects of that casting.

  Another argument sounded from just inside the tavern, this one more easily heard.

  “Mistress, we have searched the building thoroughly. There is no one here. They have already left.”

  “It was that elf, that Althir who turned himself over to the Sinnale. I know it was,” the woman hissed. “Do you know how much he’s worth to them? We must find him.”

  “He is not here. He is not in the surrounding buildings,” the same calm male voice from the street assured her.

  “Did you check the closets? Under the beds upstairs?”

  “Yes.”

  “How could they get away? They couldn’t have known I spotted them, couldn’t have known I was watching.”

  “You could not monitor both exits by yourself. They left through the one you weren’t watching.”

  The minion’s voice was so reasonable it was an almost comic contrast to the woman’s rising screech.

  “No! I would have noticed. I would have seen. He’s worth a fortune. She would have ensured I lived as well as they do for the rest of my life.”

  “He is not here.”

  “He’s an elf. He could have used a spell.”

  Althir didn’t move or make any outward sound, but he did feel Mina’s arm muscles flex beneath his touch, just once.

  “We can see through elf magic,” the minion said with absolute surety and no real emotion.

  The woman cursed loudly, her voice echoing through the tavern. “It’s not fair! I know I saw him. I know it was Althir. The woman… She was human but maybe she has magic? Maybe she’s keeping them hidden. Something she got from the elves. The king and queen have started trading in weapons again. Maybe they’re trading in more now.”

  “No spells. Elf magic doesn’t work that way.”

  “How would you know, you mindless slave? Who are you to tell me anything? Take me to the mistress. She will listen to me. She will believe me and punish you for your failure.”

  There was a long silence. Then the sound of a dull thud, like a body hitting the floor.

  “Carry her,” the man who’d been speaking so calmly with the woman ordered.

  More scuffling and grunting and then the same man ordered, “Back to the Citadel.”

  Marching boots echoed out into the streets. The minions made no effort to be quiet or conceal their movements.

  Even when Althir was sure they were several blocks away, he remained perfectly motionless under the bed, his hand on Mina’s arm. She didn’t move either. They remained that way for what felt like a long ti
me, and to Althir’s horror he did drift off to sleep once. He blinked his eyes open to see Mina staring at him.

  She whispered, “I think we’re safe enough for now. But we need to stay here until sunset, in case the woman left someone to watch the building.”

  He nodded.

  “I think we can come out from under the bed,” she continued. “Stay away from the windows.”

  He followed her as she agilely rolled out from their hiding spot. His movements were stiffer, less graceful as exhaustion continued to drag at him.

  Mina didn’t bother to stand but propped herself against a nearby wall, watching him through narrowed eyes. He remained sitting on the floor too with his back against the bed. He mustered enough energy to remove his quiver and bow, keeping them close, opposite the sword he still held in one hand, then settled against the mattress again. Unable to hold his head up anymore, he let it fall back against the side of the bed and closed his eyes.

  “What did you do?” she murmured.

  “When I’m not in danger of falling unconscious, I’ll explain.” He swallowed hard and tried to clear his throat quietly. His voice sounded rough and gravelly.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Need sleep. Hard to stay awake now.”

  “Sleep, then. I’ll wake you if the patrols return.”

  “Can’t. You need my help.”

  She snorted. “You’re no good to me in the state you’re in. Rest. We still have a few hours before the sun sets and another hour before full dark. I’ll keep an eye on things. Will those hours be enough for you to recover?”

  He moved his head in a bare nod and finally let go of consciousness.

  Chapter Seven

  Mina studied Althir’s face as his breathing deepened into obvious sleep. His cheeks were hollow and there were strain lines around his eyes and mouth. Whatever he’d done to keep them hidden, it had cost Althir dearly.