Taste of Darkness (An Avry of Kazan Novel - Book 3)

by Maria V. Snyder

  I joined the others.

  “Our door leads right into the training ring. So we’ll check the converted stables first, then the smaller buildings,” Loren instructed. “We’re only saving Estrid. Most of the guards should be by the front entrance, but the first sign of unfriendlies, we retreat. Understood?”

  Nodding, I found it interesting how Loren had stepped up to take the lead on this mission. He went first, followed by Quain, Flea, and finally me. We crept to the complex. Built of large barn doors tied to thick posts, the solid fence loomed over us. Keeping to the fence’s shadow, we traveled a few yards to the west.

  When Loren signaled a halt, Quain pulled a thin metal pick from his pocket. He ran the edge of the pick along small cracks in the wood. Then he hooked the pick into a divot and pulled a three-foot-high panel away from the fence. Ah, the back door.

  “Clever,” I whispered to Flea.

  “Remember when the POWs escaped and Prince Ryne’s men helped fix the fence?” Flea asked.

  “They added this then?”

  “Yup.”

  Wow. Ryne had really been thinking ahead.

  Loren shushed us and climbed through the opening. Quain gestured for Flea and me to go next. He entered last, closing the door behind him. We stepped on the soft dirt of the training ring. No longer used for horses, this area had been the exercise yard for the POWs when Estrid had been in charge. The roof overhead blocked most of the moonlight.

  After pausing to let our eyes adjust to the darkness, Loren continued. To me, the guys resembled darker blobs against the blackness. I wondered how we would find Estrid without light.

  Before entering into the main stable area, Loren dug in the loose dirt off to the left. A faint metallic jingle sounded. Then he reached up along the wall and this time a clang rang out. Quain passed me, joining Loren. He muttered and cursed under his breath. Eventually a small yellow glow filled a bull’s-eye lantern. Loren slid the shutter until only a thin beam of light pierced the darkness.

  They’d left a back door and an escape kit. Handy. We crept into what had once been stables. Now the stalls all had metal bars and thick locks. As Loren swept the light over one empty cell after another, I considered. Why would Cellina bother to lock up people who couldn’t move? Who needed no care?

  I caught up to Loren. “She’s not here. Is there a storage shed inside the complex?”

  He glanced at Quain and Flea.

  “There’s that hay barn,” Flea said. “There wasn’t anything inside it except a couple straw bales.”

  “Show us,” Loren said.

  Flea took point and we stayed close behind him. He slipped from the stables. Loren closed the lantern, hiding the light. We scanned the area for any guards before crossing the open space between buildings. A creepy sensation raised the hairs on my arms as I imagined hidden gazes watching us.

  Leading us to the smaller barn, Flea paused outside the entrance. Was another ambush waiting for us? He pulled on the door. The hinges squeaked. We hunched over as if under attack.

  “Sissies,” Quain said as if he hadn’t flinched, as well. He entered first.

  We filed in around him.

  Loren moved the lantern’s slide, letting the light out. “Bingo.”

  Prone forms lay on the bales and were piled on the floor. They appeared to have been tossed without care. They all wore yellow POW jumpsuits. We spread out, searching the bodies for Estrid. Except Flea. He stood near the door, almost pressing against it. His arms were wrapped around his stomach and he had a panicked look on his pale face.

  “Found her,” Loren said.

  Estrid had been placed on a stack of bales near the back.

  Loren waved Flea over. “Come on, Flea, we’re running out of time.”

  “I...” Flea swallowed. “Can you bring her over here?”

  “Why?” Loren asked.

  “He’s going to be sick if he gets too close,” I said, moving to join Loren. “Quain, we need your muscles.”

  Stepping on a few of the others, the three of us managed to carry Estrid to Flea. With a queasy grimace, Flea crouched next to her. He touched her forehead then spun to heave, spilling the contents of his stomach in a wet plop. I placed my hand on the back of his sweaty neck, sending him energy. After a few moments, he stopped.

  “What—” Estrid started.

  “We’ll explain everything later,” Loren said. He helped her to stand.

  “Who—”

  I turned so she could see my face.

  “Oh, Avry.” She glanced around. “My staff?”

  “No time,” Loren said. “Let’s go.”

  With Estrid in the middle, we retraced our steps back to the stables and out the back door. Estrid tsked over the hidden exit, but otherwise remained quiet. Impressive. My anxiety increased as we entered the forest. Would Kerrick still be here?

  We returned to the location we’d left Kerrick and Eva. Sounds of moving soldiers filled the forest around us, but that wasn’t why I panicked. Kerrick had disappeared again.

  “Now what?” Quain asked.

  Loren scanned the forest. “North?”

  “You asking or telling,” Quain said to Loren.

  “Kerrick said north,” I said before they could launch into an argument. “We go north.” And hope we’d find Kerrick and Eva on the way.

  This time, I took point, moving slowly to compensate for Estrid’s noisy inexperience. Dawn’s rays helped with our progress, but the sunlight reflected off of Estrid’s bright yellow jumpsuit. I worried the garish color would make her visible for miles. Digging into my pack, I removed my cloak and gave it to Estrid. The gray color didn’t clash as much against the browns, reds and yellows of the forest. That thought led right to Kerrick as all my thoughts had since we rescued Estrid. Had his eyes changed color with the season? Where was he?

  After a few hours of dodging patrols, Loren asked, “Where are we going?”

  Good question. If we turned to the northeast, we could reach Ryne’s headquarters. If we went east, we could rendezvous with the others and return to the infirmary. But without Kerrick’s forest magic, I’d no idea how many of Cellina’s troops were between us and either destination.

  “I’m open to suggestions,” I said to Loren.

  He glanced at Flea. “I think we should find a safe spot to rest.”

  A good idea, except I didn’t know where we would be safe. I considered my options. A cave? Perfect if we could find one. The trees? I gazed into the canopy. No low limbs and the coverage would be thin. A cluster of Lilys? They would keep any sane person away. I pulled off my pack and found the Lily map.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “North of Zabin,” Quain said.

  “Really, Quain? Do you think that’s helpful?” I snapped, then regretted my irritation. “Sorry. Any idea how far north?”

  “Six miles,” Eva said, surprising us all.

  Just like his namesake, Flea jumped a foot.

  “Where’s Kerrick?” I asked.

  “He should be here soon.”

  “Why didn’t you wait for us?”

  Eva frowned at my harsh tone. “A patrol came through and we had to move. Since then we’ve been clearing a path for you.”

  “And you couldn’t tell us this?” I demanded.

  She put her hands on her hips. “We didn’t have time to come back and tell you what you should have figured out on your own.” Eva gestured to the surrounding forest. “Why else would there only be a few patrols around?”

  I bit back my reply. With all my other worries, I hadn’t thought about the ease of our travel.

  “I’m sorry, Avry,” Kerrick said into the silence. “I know I promised to stay, but we had the opportunity to lead the enemy on a merry chase, enticing them farther away from you.” Lines of exhaustion marked his face. He all but swayed on his feet.

  My anger dissipated. “We need to find a safe place to rest. Any ideas?”

  Kerrick smiled. “There’s a cave ne
arby.”

  I groaned. “I had a feeling you’d say that.”

  Nearby to Kerrick didn’t match my definition of nearby. We hiked four miles to the northeast. I held his hand and shared my energy with him. His magic vibrated up my arm with a pleasant tingle. He squeezed my fingers in gratitude, which alarmed me. Normally, he’d have shaken off my efforts, claiming he didn’t wish to sap my strength.

  He must have depleted his energy luring the enemy patrols away. Guilt over my earlier anger surfaced. Even though he had a legitimate reason, I still felt...bereft.

  We reached the cave system by midafternoon. Kerrick and Eva collected firewood while we gathered stones to build a fire pit. Flea supervised. He’d refused my offer to help him during the trip and had plopped onto the ground as soon as we arrived. Estrid sat next to him. She huddled under my cloak. I studied her expression for a moment. She hadn’t said anything all day and I worried she might be in shock.

  After we arranged the pit to Loren’s liking, Eva entered carrying an armload of kindling. “There’s another pile of thicker logs just outside.” Eva dropped the thin branches into the pit.

  “Hey!” Loren pulled them out. “You can’t just dump them there.”

  “Why not?” she asked, confused.

  “He has a whole system,” Quain explained. “Each branch must be in its proper place to construct a pyramid, which is the optimal configuration for wood-burning perfection.”

  “I don’t hear you complaining when you’re warming your fat a—” Loren glanced at Eva “—rear end.”

  “It’s not fat, it’s all muscle,” Quain said.

  As they argued, I retrieved the bigger pile, noting another one had been stacked next to it. I scanned the woods, searching for Kerrick.

  Eva joined me and scooped it up. “Are they always like that?” she asked.

  “Yes. Another friend of ours nicknamed them the monkeys.”

  “Fitting.” She returned to the cave.

  I waited, but Kerrick must have gone for another armload of wood. Inside, flames stretched toward the ceiling, merrily consuming Loren’s pyramid. Quain joked with Flea and it almost seemed like old times. Kerrick was no longer missing and we just needed to find our lost Poppa Bear.

  Eva ducked back outside while I placed my load of wood onto the growing pile next to Loren.

  She brought in another stack. “Prince Kerrick said he’d take first watch.”

  “Oh, no. He has lots of explaining to do,” I said.

  “So do you,” Estrid said.

  Glad she appeared to be snapping out of her funk, I didn’t look forward to filling her in on the events of the last two months. “After we eat,” I promised before dashing outside.

  Another pile of wood had arrived, but Kerrick wasn’t in sight. I waited for a few moments. Unable to keep still, I strode into the forest. The desire to yell for him climbed up my throat. Instead, I stomped through the fallen leaves, crunching them under my boots and not caring that I made noise.

  “Avry, settle down,” Kerrick said. He leaned against a tree trunk a few feet away.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Someone has to keep watch.”

  “Uh-huh. What’s going on?”

  He sank to the ground and rested his forehead on his knees. Alarmed, I knelt next to him. Touching his arm, I said, “It can’t be that bad. You’re alive! Whatever else is going on we can deal with it. What happened to you?”

  Kerrick lifted his head. Leaning back on the trunk, he pulled me close, wrapping his arm around me. I snuggled in, pressing my cheek against his chest, almost content to listen to him breathe. Did it matter what happened? He was here with me.

  After a few heartbeats, he said, “I promised you I wouldn’t die from the Death Lily toxin. Do you remember?”

  “Of course. I’ve thought of nothing else since that night. It’s what kept me going when everyone said you’d died.”

  “Your faith is what kept me alive.”

  Warmth spread through my chest, but I waited, sensing there was more.

  “But it came with a price.”

  KERRICK

  Avry pulled away from him. It was what he’d feared all along. Ever since they’d reunited, he wondered how they could be together when he couldn’t leave the forest, when he had to use magic to appear normal. Misery settled in his chest.

  “How bad?” she asked.

  He explained everything to her, from getting sick to waking in the forest and all the limitations he’d discovered so far. She remained quiet the entire time, and he knew she’d eventually put the pieces together. “And here I am, trapped out here while you and the guys are joking around inside. We’ll never have a normal life.”

  She laughed. Shocked, he stared at her as she struggled to control the fit of giggles.

  “Sorry,” she puffed. “But what made you think we’d ever have a normal life before?”

  His guts twisted. “Well...after the war...I was hoping for...you know...marriage...”

  Her sea-green eyes softened. “And it will be lovely. However, I’m a healer and you’re a prince—our lives will never be normal.”

  “Not now that I’m stuck in the forest.”

  “That’s a minor problem. We can live in an elaborate tree house or plant trees all around the castle in Alga. If Tohon can build a garden on his roof, we can make it work.”

  “I can’t travel to Alga.”

  “Who says? I can still share my energy with you and there are woods between the ridges.”

  His dark mood lifted. “You know, you’re making it hard for me to sulk.”

  “Good.” She leaned in and kissed him.

  Desire shot right through him. At least that hadn’t changed. He deepened the kiss and drew her closer.

  She broke away far too soon. “I have to explain a few things to Estrid first and see that the guys are settled. I don’t want them disturbing us later.” Her gaze burned with promise.

  Kerrick didn’t want to wait. “They won’t disturb us now. Even they can figure that out.”

  “Should we tell the monkeys and Flea about you?”

  “Yes, they need to know. But not Estrid or Eva.”

  “Agreed.” She chewed on her lower lip. “Let me try something before I go.” Avry took his hand in both of hers.

  Her magic spread through him with a soothing warmth. He resisted soaking it in and reenergizing.

  “You’re not sick, just exhausted. Hmm... I sense the connection you have to the living green. Oh.” She released his hand.

  “What?”

  “I think if your link to the living green was broken...” Avry paused.

  Kerrick braced for bad news. He’d memorized her every expression, her every mannerism. The way her long graceful fingers worried the sleeve of her tunic said more than her words.

  “It’s just a guess, but that bond is keeping you alive,” she said.

  No surprise. “Break it and I die.”

  “Perhaps. This is...unprecedented. I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

  “Yeah, add it on the list right after defeat Cellina’s army,” he grumbled.

  “Remember when the Peace Lily saved me?” Avry took his hand again.

  A strange change in subject, but he trusted her. “Of course.” It had been the best moment of Kerrick’s entire life.

  “And I wondered why it saved me and how. Do you recall what you said?”

  “I said I didn’t know nor care. That I considered it a gift.”

  Avry pressed his palm against her cheek. “This is exactly the same thing. I consider it a gift.”

  He caressed her smooth skin with his thumb. “I also remember how we celebrated.” Heat built deep within Kerrick. He slid his hand to her neck, pulling her against him.

  She gazed up at him. “We were alone then.”

  “We’re alone now. No one within...” He concentrated, letting his senses extend throughout the forest. “A couple miles.”

  “Did the
living green tell you that?” she asked.

  “No. I’m part of the forest, I just...know.” It was hard to explain.

  “You told me before it has a voice.”

  “It does, but with this...” Kerrick gestured to the surrounding forest. “It doesn’t need to say anything.”

  “What does it sound like?”

  “It’s neither male nor female. I hear it in my head. Why?”

  “The Lilys speak to me the same way, and I wondered if perhaps it was the living green instead.” Her gaze grew distant. “No, it’s another consciousness. Otherwise the Death Lily would have known where you were.” Her forehead crinkled. “That means there are three living beings that can communicate. I wonder if there are more.”

  He loved watching her puzzle out a problem. “I thought you said the Peace Lilys didn’t talk to you.”

  Pain creased her face. “Twice now. Once after Noelle died.”

  “Sorry, I’ve forgotten.”

  Avry shook her head. “So much had happened while you were in the north, and again in the last month.”

  “When was the second time?”

  A mix of emotions flashed before Avry said, “I’ve done a horrible thing, Kerrick.”

  He wrapped his arms around her. “Impossible.”

  “But you don’t—”

  “Have you refused to heal someone in need?”

  “No, but—”

  “Have you put your well-being ahead of another?”

  “No, but I—”

  “Have you ignored a plea for help?”

  “Kerrick—”

  “Have you harmed a small furry animal?”

  “Now you’re being—”

  “Have you slept with another man?”

  “Kerrick!”

  Her face reddened in what he hoped was outrage and not guilt. “What? I’m thinking of horrible things. That’s one.”

  Avry straightened, breaking his hold. “Well, here’s another one. Have you animated the dead?”

  He searched her expression. No humor sparked in her eyes. He thought back to their conversation. They’d been talking about Peace Lilys. “Animated like Flea?”

  “No, like one of Tohon’s. Are you going to add that to the horrible list?”

  Torn between being impressed by her ability and wishing to comfort her, Kerrick chose his words carefully. “Tohon’s, yes, but not yours.”