by Chele Cooke
He lowered his gaze to his knees. A fist of fear grabbed hold of Georgianna’s chest, squeezing so tight she could hardly breathe.
Edtroka buried his head in his hands.
“We’re out of time.”
The darkness had swallowed them inch by inch. Dry grass licked at their legs and the breeze tasted their hair, wafting the scent into the wind. They walked between two rows of stone teeth, disappearing from sight.
You make sure that man of yours looks after you, my girl.
He had brushed under her eyes as tears gathered along her lashes. Even though he hadn’t wanted to leave without her, he had been stronger than she was. He had accepted her advice and given in to her pleas that they would be safer. He had hugged her so tightly—the way he always did—that she couldn’t breathe against his barrelled chest.
Georgianna couldn’t breathe.
“But what was the benefit?” Alec asked, stabbing a bent spoon at one of the stale packets of food. “The Cahlven are north. They haven’t even shown an interest in Nyvalau.”
They’d mostly waited out the countdown in silence. Edtroka claimed that it would be an hour before the southern Veniche city was destroyed. Dhiren joked that it would become an even bigger crater than it already was but when nobody laughed he gave in to the quiet. Keiran passed Georgianna a packet of food, but she didn’t taste anything other than sand in her mouth.
There were maybe only minutes left. She’d tried counting but her thoughts kept going back to her nephew Braedon asleep on the back of the cart as they’d left her. He’d been so excited to travel for the first time. His grand-father had told him about travelling for most of his life. Braedon’s giddy joy had made him so useless in packing that they’d sent him off to play.
“It was a show of power,” Edtroka said, his voice tired and dull. “The Cahlven destroyed the Adveni bases. They were probably proving that both sides could play that game.”
“But there was nothing of value. The Cahlven were destroying reserves, troops and weapons. What were the Adveni destroying?” Alec asked.
“Veniche.” Dhiren stabbed at the ground with his knife. “The Cahlven have claimed to be siding with us against the Adveni, so the Adveni took their numbers away from them.”
Georgianna set the food packet aside, propping it carefully against her bag so that it wouldn’t spill.
“You think?”
“Or they were taking away a place to run to. They know Adlai will be the main target, so get rid of the back-ups.”
She’d told them to run. She’d begged them to. Everything had been getting so complicated that she couldn’t worry about them as well. They’d wanted her to leave with them—they’d had the papers for it—but she’d said no. They would be safer outside of Adlai. Safer without her.
They would be safer. She’d promised that they would be safe, that she would be safe.
Georgianna got to her feet and turned away from them. The trees were thick in this part of the forest; large rough trunks she couldn’t wrap her arms all the way around. The branches, heavy with leaves, blocked most of the light from the moon and stars. Knots of bushes scratched at her boots. The tangles tore at her legs and hips. She didn’t push them away. She let them tear at her. Trudging through the undergrowth, she didn’t watch where she was going, she just walked.
We’re out of time.
They were out of time. Their time was gone. They were gone.
He touched her elbow first, bringing her to a stop. He circled her in the cramped space between the trunks, his fingers drifting up her arm to her shoulder. Breath wavered in and out of her mouth, unable to pass through the tightness in her throat. His blue-grey eyes looked like the closest stars, sad that the dawn was almost upon them. He didn’t brush the tears away from under her eyes. He let them creep down her cheeks and splash from her jaw. Without a word, Keiran wrapped her in his arms, pulling her tight against his chest. Georgianna dissolved against him, along with the barrier of anger and pride that had been between them for weeks.
Breath became harder and harder to come by, each gasp like swallowing fire. Her lungs and throat and body burned and the tears came thicker, faster, hotter. Still he clung to her and let her cling to him.
Gasps became sobs that echoed in the dark.
He drew her down onto the ground, leaning against a tree trunk and cradling her against his chest. She gripped his shirt so tightly that her knuckles whitened and her fingers ached. It was a good pain; the pain of hanging on.
“You don’t know,” he whispered into her hair once the sobs had given in to the silent flood. “They might not have made it that far.”
Georgianna squeezed her eyes shut and kept hanging on.
Cradled against Keiran’s chest, Georgianna stared at the patch where her tears had soaked through his shirt. Black gave way to moss green in a fuzzy ring. The material clung to her cheek, sticky and hot, but she stared at the blurred line and didn’t move, blinking against the soreness of her eyes.
At some point she had fallen asleep. The darkness had given way to the warm and unthinking black. He had held her, still held her, his fingers buried in her hair and his body as comforting as the quiet behind her eyes. She didn’t know whether he’d also slept, but if he hadn’t then he hadn’t complained about it.
The morning sun fought to pass the canopy of leaves above them, light winking through the gaps, disappearing with the slightest wind. Georgianna heard the soft trudge of footsteps through the moss, approaching with caution. She watched Alec’s approach out of the corner of her eyes. He stuffed his hands down into his pockets, shoulders hunched and head drooped, looking just like the boy who had once been told off alongside her brother, Halden. The scars of adulthood had taken their toll on the innocent face she had once known. The mark of the Adveni was as visible on Alec as it was invisible on her.
“You’re awake,” he murmured.
Keiran jerked beneath her and tilted his head to get a better look at her face. He gave her a tentative smile that she didn’t return.
“Hey,” he whispered. His fingers flexed in her hair, brushing the back of her neck.
Alec shuffled where he stood and scuffed his boots against the moss. He looked anywhere but at her. He swallowed and stared up at the canopy of leaves.
“We need to make a decision,” he said. “On what we’re going to do. Edtroka says he had the tsentyl on too long. If the Adveni haven’t realised already, they may do soon. We should leave.”
“Okay,” Keiran said. His chin brushed the top of her head as he nodded.
Georgianna peeled herself away from him. His shirt clung to her cheek as far as it would reach before falling back against him. He tried for another smile as he stood and took her hands, helping her up. Her body protested every movement.
“Can I have a minute?” she asked.
“Course.”
Stepping close, Keiran brushed his thumbs under her eyes and kissed each cheekbone before he strode back through the trees.
She rubbed her hands over her face, erasing the tears and the kisses. She pulled her fingers through her hair and hugged her body, trying to conjure that feeling of hanging on. There was nothing to cling to but her own flesh.
Tears began gathering again. She sniffed and tipped her head back, willing them to slide away behind her eyes so that she could hold on to them. She deserved them.
“Gianna?”
She gasped and lost the tears. Now there was just the sound of her name; the name only those who had known her as a child had used. It was a name that reminded her of her mother braiding her hair and of her father carving and telling her stories. She turned around. Alec was still standing there, still boy-like, his hair mussed and his gaze reproachful.
“Are you…” He cracked under her gaze and stared at the floor. “Are you okay?”
Georgianna took a deep breath that seared her throat. She straightened herself up. She would not look away, not now. Beneath the tears, beneath the fear and t
he pain, there was an anger that flared at his standing there looking so lost and forlorn. He had told her to send them away. He had tried to send her with them, getting the papers and convincing her it was best.
“No,” she said.
She walked past him without another word, picking her way through the trees and bushes, back to the clearing, leaving him alone with her anger.
Dhiren and Edtroka sat hip to hip with a small fire before them. The smell of cooked meat hung in the air as smoke coiled and bloomed above the flames. They both looked up but, upon seeing her, remained silent until she’d taken a seat. She picked up the packet of food she had left the night before and prodded it with the spoon. Dhiren reached around the fire and passed her some chunks of rabbit that had been left to cool in one of the empty pouches. She gave him her best attempt at a smile and moved her spoon to this new meal.
Alec returned a few minutes later and sat as far away from everyone as he could manage within the small space. In the flickering light, Georgianna could see thick lines of purple bruising around his neck. A flicker of guilt shot through her but as he glanced over and quickly averted his gaze to the fire, his lips pursed, and the guilt was licked away by new flames.
Dhiren drummed his fingers against his leg and frowned, before putting on a bright smile.
“Okay, so we have to leave here. We have two choices. We go back to Olless and receive a whipping for disobeying orders, or we go into Adlai and fight this thing.”
“There are five of us,” Keiran replied. “How are we supposed to fight?”
“We had small numbers to keep ourselves being spotted by the Cahlven. The same could work getting into Adlai.”
“And once we’re there?”
“We find some of Edtroka’s friends, see if we can convince them to help us,” Alec said.
Georgianna should have been surprised that Alec was open for help from Adveni, but she was focussing on chewing the meat. She thought through each bite, each movement of her jaw, anything to keep her thoughts from returning to her family. The meat was greasy and overcooked. It also tasted like sand.
“And if none of them decide to help, we have nothing and a city full of Adveni knowing we’re there,” Edtroka said.
“Why would they help us?” Keiran asked.
“You’re an idiot,” Dhiren said. “We’re not going to walk up and say, ‘Hey, we want to destroy your entire race. Could you help?’ You were playing both sides for two years and you didn’t learn how to convince people of something they didn’t want to do?”
Edtroka shoved his elbow into Dhiren’s ribs but it only made the hunter grin all the broader.
“We lie,” Alec said. “Edtroka tells them he knows the Cahlven have information on the Mykahnol. He’s worried they’ll try to destroy it, so he needs the information to change the protocol to something the Cahlven won’t be able to work.”
Dhiren chortled and leaned over to slap Alec on the shoulder. Alec flinched away from him.
“See! Cartwright’s got it. Milk the vtensu!”
“How did you learn to be so devious?” Edtroka asked.
Alec glanced at them and his worry melted into a smirk.
“I lived with Maarqyn.”
All four of them laughed. When Keiran glanced at Georgianna, he stopped and placed his hand on her thigh. She scooped up another piece of rabbit, stared at it for a moment, and dumped it back into the packet.
“We’re going to Adlai,” she said. “We’re bringing the vtensu down.”
“She was registered, even before becoming your favourite little house pet,” Dhiren muttered, not nearly quiet enough that they didn’t hear him. Georgianna guessed he wanted them to hear so that they could talk her out of her plan to go to her family home.
“That’s got nothing to do with it,” Keiran said.
“It’s got everything to do with it. They’re after E'Troke, or had you forgotten?”
Keiran glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes.
“Going to the Med’s house is almost as bad as us hiding out in his apartment.” Dhiren jabbed his thumb in Edtroka’s direction. “Do you think they won’t look because it’s too obvious? Like we wouldn’t be stupid enough to try that? That’s because they’d be right. It is stupid!”
Keiran stopped in his tracks long enough for Dhiren to catch up to him. He yanked him to one side and, though Georgianna was sure that Dhiren could have Keiran flat on his back within a matter of seconds, Dhiren allowed himself to be tugged away.
“She’s lost her family, alright, give her a break,” Keiran said. Like Dhiren, he tried to keep his voice low, but with no distraction bar the sound of their footsteps, he would have had to whisper in Dhiren’s ear to stop the others from hearing completely.
“The camps will be the most inconspicuous,” Alec said loudly. “They’ll give us the most covered path into the city and we’ll have time to plan so we know we have a place to regroup if needed.”
Keiran released Dhiren and hung back to join Georgianna as she trudged behind them. He reached out to slide his hand into hers but she pulled back, giving him an apologetic smile. He nodded.
Out in front, Edtroka was stubbornly ignoring the lot of them. He stormed ahead, as if eager to get the whole thing done as fast as possible. By the end of the argument in the forest he had been the only one who favoured returning to the Cahlven. Or, at least, who favoured the others’ return to the Cahlven. He had still planned on handing himself in to prevent further bloodshed. It didn’t matter that the clock had run out on the offer the Volsonnar had made; he was sure that his appearance would convince his father to reconsider.
Georgianna watched him, wondering what he was now scheming. If Edtroka intended on throwing his life away, she feared there was nothing they could do to stop him. He might suddenly disappear or walk them headlong into an Adveni patrol to ensure his capture. No. While she wasn’t sure that Edtroka was willing to save himself, she trusted that he would do everything in his power to keep them safe. He already had. He was travelling with an escaped convict, a known Belsa, and a commander’s drysta. All three would face death if they were caught and Georgianna didn’t know what the Adveni would do with her. They knew about Edtroka’s involvement in the destruction of Lyndbury Compound and so surely they knew about her, too. She would probably be killed with the rest of them. Edtroka wouldn’t risk their lives even if he was willing to give up his own.
The rain came down in earnest as they neared the city, plastering their clothes to their skin and their hair to their faces. Dhiren shook his head every minute like a wet dog, sending water flying in every direction. They’d taken a wide route around the north of the city to reach the camps in the west, and through the sheets of grey the houses on the outer ridges came into view, dark under the slate sky.
“Now or never,” Alec said.
Dhiren didn’t look happy but he nodded just the same. Edtroka extended his already long strides, almost disappearing through the dark cloud of rain. This time Georgianna let Keiran take her hand as they set off at a run after him, bags bouncing on their backs.
Water poured from the rooftops, splattering mud. The houses spotted along the ridge became more frequent until two waterfalls of overflow splashed down on the alleyways. Edtroka ducked into a gap and let them pass. Georgianna took the lead with Keiran and Alec behind her. Edtroka and Dhiren—who were less familiar with the camps—brought up the rear, Edtroka hunching himself over to disguise his height, a trait of the Adveni.
Weaving around the backs of the houses, Georgianna ran the familiar path until she spotted the one she wanted. Releasing Keiran’s hand, she vaulted over the fence into the small patch of garden. Skidding on the wet grass, she caught herself just before she tumbled face first into the mud. It caked the bottom of her boots and the hems of her trousers, making her feel like she were wearing the large sled shoes they used for trekking across snow. Her clothes were soaked and hung heavy, splattered with dirt.
The ba
ck door of the house stood open; a large pool of rainwater spread across the kitchen floor. Alec settled his hand on Georgianna’s shoulder, urging her back. He drew his knife. Keiran and Edtroka raised their weapons and followed him inside. Dhiren nodded to Georgianna and held out his arm for her to go first. He closed the door behind him.
The large cooking pot lay on its side in the middle of the kitchen. The chairs were gone and the table-top lay in two pieces on the floor, its legs broken off. Georgianna braced and walked further inside.
The rain drummed against the walls of the small house, echoing her heartbeat and with the anger at what she was seeing. Any belongings her family had left behind were strewn through the rooms. All valuable and useful items had been stolen.
She stood in the doorway of what had once been her room. Her trunk, built by her father while her mother had still been pregnant with her, was gone. Her mattress had been split open and the grass and straw pulled out. Her clothes were ripped and trampled. The frame of her bed had been taken; there was nothing left but the splinters where they had broken it apart.
“I’m sorry, George,” Dhiren murmured from behind her.
“People here knew my father. They knew Halden. They’d probably seen Braedon every day of his life and they still—”
“I know,” was all he said. He squeezed her shoulder, sending a stream of cold rainwater from her shirt cascading down her back.
He left her alone in the doorway and followed the others through to the front room. Georgianna searched around for anything salvageable before moving on to the room her brother shared with Braedon. The sight was much the same. Furniture had been stripped and broken apart. What clothes remained were torn and useless. A rag toy of Braedon’s had been left behind untouched and she gathered it up and clutched it against her chest.
This time, there were no tears. She wandered through the house, observing the destruction of her family’s lives but not truly seeing it. Her father’s room had been turned upside down and if he had left anything of value behind, it was gone now. Georgianna clung tight to the rag doll as she thought about the bag of belongings she had taken with her to Edtroka’s apartment, now lost to her as well. The Adveni had killed her family but it had been the Veniche who wiped out almost all trace of them. She brought the doll to her nose, inhaling deeply through the worn material. She wanted nothing more than to recognise a scent, for it to bring happy memories, but there was nothing but dust and cold rain air.