by C. R. Pugh
“And what if she doesn’t want that?” My chest ached, thinking about not having her by my side.
Gunter slapped his hand on my shoulder and said, “Thorne, you don’t give yourself enough credit. She allowed you to claim her. Just be your charming self and she will begin to care for you.”
“I’m not charming,” I muttered. “I am surprised that she chose me with you strutting around here.”
Gunter grinned at my dower mood. “She thinks you’re plenty charming. I see the way she looks at you. You are more than fancy words and a pretty face, Thorne.”
We both snickered over our long-standing joke. It was Gunter that had the pretty face and fancy words. Even before that Howler had sunk his claws into me, I was not the male that women fawned over. Perhaps it was because I was too serious, as Gunter had suggested a few days ago. None of this seemed to bother Ravyn in the least; yet another reason I had reached for her.
As I stood there, joking with my friend, I could not imagine that he could be the one to betray us. Clearly I was overreacting. If there was an informant, it was not Gunter. I was sure of it.
“Enough of this talk,” I said. “I am going to check on Brock. We should be ready to leave soon.”
31
Ravyn
It didn’t take long for color to return to Brock’s face. His fever left him soon after I administered the serum. I sat beside him, watching him closely for signs of any side-effects. Within thirty minutes, he’d started opening his eyes.
Brock’s eyes blinked rapidly, trying to focus on his surroundings, but he was still dazed from his weakness. Finally resting his gaze on me, he stared for a long moment and then asked with a scratchy voice, “Am I dead then?”
“No,” I said. “Here, drink this.” I helped him to rise and handed him my water canister.
He took the bottle, but still stared at me with confusion in his warm, brown eyes. “I remember you taking out the bullet.” He paused to clear his parched throat and ran his tongue over his cracked lips. After taking a quick sip of the cool water, he asked, “Why don’t I feel any pain?”
I pinched my lips together, wondering if there was any way to get around the real explanation, but there probably wasn’t. Until it was absolutely necessary, I decided to leave out the part about my own gift.
“I gave you medicine that helped you heal faster.”
“How long was I out?” Brock inquired.
“About eight hours.”
“What is all this?” He reached for the unfamiliar needle in his arm, but I gently caught his wrist.
“That’s just to give your body some water and nutrients.”
Groaning from the effort, Brock ran his hand over his side where the gunshot wound used to be. It reminded me of how Thorne had reacted to watching my wound disappear right in front of him. It was difficult for him to believe at first, too.
“That’s some medicine.” He was surprisingly calm. Running his fingers over his skin once more, he added, “There’s not even a scar. I was expecting some stitches, but this ...” After inspecting his side, he raised suspicious eyes to me. “There is more to this than you’re telling me,” he murmured.
I swallowed nervously and had to fight the urge to fidget under his scrutiny. Brock seemed younger than Thorne, more around my age or younger, but I knew I could not underestimate his intelligence. Thorne wouldn’t have him out here with his team of Warriors if he were not one of the best in the village. Instead of answering, I began taking out the needle, careful not to hurt him.
He continued despite my silence. “I thought it was strange that you were able to take off on your own so soon after you’d been stabbed, but the commander didn’t say anything against you, so I let it go.”
He paused to give me a chance to explain, but I still refused to answer. Brock’s words were not angry or accusing. He was simply curious. He watched as I continued sorting through the supplies and repacking. There were still four other syringes of serum and a couple of pouches of fluids left. I hoped we wouldn’t need them again.
“I convinced Commander Thorne to go after you when you ran away.”
I turned to him with wide eyes. “You did? Why would you do that?”
“Because the commander likes having you around,” he replied. “He’s different when you’re near. He trusts you.”
I stopped packing up the medical instruments for a moment and knelt beside him. “Do you trust me?”
“I don’t know yet,” he said with an appraising look. “But I trust Commander Thorne.”
I thought it would be difficult for me to believe Brock’s words of loyalty. He could be lying, but I didn’t think he was. I searched his face for signs of deceit, but all I could see was concern and respect for Thorne.
“Where is the commander?” he asked, raising up on his elbows.
“He’s packing with the other Warriors.” I heard his sigh of relief and giggled. “Did you think I would leave him out there?”
The muscles in Brock’s jaw clenched as he raised himself up from his elbows to a sitting position. I thought he might be experiencing some pain from his wound. Before I could ask him about it or react at all, he gripped my arm and pulled me closer until we were almost nose to nose.
“It’s not a joke,” he said fiercely. “I would kill anyone who tried to harm him.”
I bit my lip to keep from grinning. His words were not funny. In fact, he was deadly serious. My joy came from having just discovered another ally. Thorne didn’t think it possible for Pierce to be his supporter. Brock’s loyalty would be easier to accept.
“I believe you, Brock,” I told him. “He will need your loyalty in the days ahead.”
“What do you mean?”
I patted Brock’s hand and then gently removed it from my arm. “I will leave it to Thorne to explain what’s going on. It’s not my place to tell you.”
“He can count on me,” he said matter-of-factly.
I nodded my head in approval. I liked this kid already.
“Let’s go let Thorne know that you are well and that we can go home.”
When I exited the tent and motioned to Thorne, he was busy talking with Gunter, who grinned at me and then walked away. I hadn’t had much interaction with Gunter, but he seemed to be a close confidante of Thorne’s. I needed to spend more time with him to know if I could trust him. It would not go well for Gunter if he turned out to be our spy.
“How is he?” Thorne murmured once he reached my side. Before I had a chance to even answer Thorne, Brock stepped out of the tent behind me to answer his question.
“I’m good as new,” he announced, his eyes gleaming.
Thorne eyed me warily and asked under his breath, “What did you tell him?”
“I left it for you to decide,” I whispered. “He knows there’s a connection between me and that serum, though.”
Thorne nodded and then turned back to Brock. “It is good to see you looking so well. We were all concerned.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Brock said, half bowing out of respect. “I, uh, hope you will trust me enough to tell me what’s going on.”
Thorne nodded. “We will talk later. I swear it.”
“Yes, Commander.”
Brock walked away from us to help with the packing but was bombarded by the other Warriors. Thorne and I stood silently, side by side, observing them as they interacted with the quickly-healed Brock.
“Are you watching their reactions?” Thorne whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine.
Of course, he had to stand closer to me to speak privately, but it was distracting. “Yes, aren’t you?”
“What do you see?” he asked.
I watched closely for the exchange between the Warriors. “Those two that have just approached -”
“Archer and Max. Archer is the one with red hair,” he clarified. “Archer has been teaching Max about his tripwires and explosives. Max and Brock were ranked in the same Warrior class together and Archer was only a year a
head. I think they are good friends with Brock.”
“You think they are friends?”
Thorne huffed. “I am not familiar with what they do outside of Warrior business. I am their commander only.”
I jabbed my finger into his chest. “Don’t take that high-and-mighty tone with me, Commander. Why don’t you know more about these men? Aren’t they your friends?”
“Gunter is my friend,” he replied.
“But not the rest of them?”
He merely shrugged. “We work and train together. There’s not time for much else.”
I pinched my lips together to keep from pushing him about his lack of companions. Just from my observations during my short time with him, I could see that Thorne was in desperate need of trustworthy friends. If not for Gunter, he would be just as alone as I was.
I thought of Laelynn and her village. If things had been different, if I hadn’t been on the run, would I have stayed? In my heart I believed I would have. She was a kind, honest soul and there were so few of them in the world.
Then the images of her lying brothers coursed through my mind. One of them attacked me for reasons I couldn’t fathom. Regardless, I wouldn’t believe Laelynn was a minion of the General, especially when she had warned me of the danger coming and helped me escape.
Thorne’s words of caution in placing my trust in her helped me focus on the task at hand.
“Archer is the one who went missing with Pierce for a while,” I recalled. “He’s asking a lot of questions, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is, but I would be too in his position,” Thorne reasoned. “They are not going to understand the serum because they do not know about you. Only Gunter knows.”
“Gunter knows?” I didn’t recall Thorne mentioning that. That was interesting. “How?”
“He was there when I brought you into the camp. As far as I know, he has told no one. No one has approached me about it.”
The fact that Gunter knew about my gift but had not badgered me with questions was odd, but he was Thorne’s friend of many years. Thorne could be keeping him informed.
“It looks as if Brock is trying to explain what he knows about the medicine, but I didn’t tell him much,” I said. “The other one, Max; he’s staying pretty quiet.”
“He’s always been a quiet one. I would not be surprised if either of those two are in league with the General,” Thorne stated. “Only …”
“Only what?” I urged him to reveal his thoughts to me.
“I would think they are too young to be tainted against Peton,” he admitted. “I do not want to believe it is one of them.”
“Have they had opportunities to slip away?”
“He set up the perimeter wires with Archer,” he replied. “They do not always stay together to do this, and they are out of sight of the camp. But Pierce and Brock have both been away from the camp as well. I had them spy on the village.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Before we started tracking Two, I saw Archer and Pierce arguing about something after they returned to the camp. I didn’t hear what was said, but they stopped suddenly when they saw me coming.”
“I thought you were adamant that Pierce was my ally,” said Thorne, quirking his eyebrow.
“Well, I’ve been wrong about people before,” I confessed, glancing up at Thorne. “Maybe he’s just not a friendly person. We don’t know what he and Archer were talking about.”
“I still don’t trust him.”
I shrugged. Thorne had known Pierce longer than I had. The history between them was still a mystery to me and, until I was able to get to know each of the Warriors, I wouldn’t be able to make a clear judgement. My opinions were based on their actions over the course of the last three days.
I turned my gaze back to the other Warriors and found Pierce glaring at the two of us with his arms crossed. The anger in his expression made me think he’d overheard us talking about him. But that was impossible. We were thirty feet away and speaking in whispers.
“He does not look very pleased with Brock’s recovery,” Thorne remarked.
“You don’t know what he may be thinking, Thorne,” I said, still hoping that we were wrong about Pierce, though he did seem to be the most likely informant.
“The expression on his face makes me think that he wants to kill the two of us.”
I sighed in frustration. “I’m not completely convinced, but I will keep my guard up.” I tried to put the question of Pierce’s innocence out of my mind for the time being and turned my eyes to the young Warrior I’d just healed with the serum. “What about Brock? I feel confident he is on your side.”
Thorne snorted. “Since you opened my eyes to this betrayal and trade between Peton and Wolfe, I have been suspecting everyone … including Gunter!”
I turned to him and placed my hand on his arm. “We don’t know anything for sure. All Two said was that there was an informant. Maybe the informant doesn’t know that the General is an enemy? Perhaps the true traitor is the person who’s been in charge of Peton’s trade with other clans?”
Thorne scoffed and tousled his hair again. “That would be me and the Elders.”
“Okay … well, are you the traitor?” He snorted at my attempt to tease him. “No? Well, I’m not the traitor either, so that’s two people that are not on the list of suspects.”
Thorne’s lips twitched in amusement and I found myself smiling up at him. He cupped my face in his hands, and his blue eyes glittered from the fire that was still blazing in the middle of the camp.
“You are a barrel of laughs, woman. I would like to believe that none of these Warriors would put another’s life in jeopardy.”
“So you’re not convinced it’s Pierce, either?”
Thorne pinched his lips together, then said, “I don’t want to believe it’s him.”
After all of our discussions about Pierce’s possible guilt, his response astonished me. “Why not?”
“Hawke raised him as his son,” he explained quietly. “And I trust Hawke more than my own father.”
“A person’s upbringing doesn’t always account for how they turn out.”
“Yes, I’m a prime example of that,” Thorne muttered to himself. “I truly hope it isn’t any of these men.”
“Me too.” I ran my hands up his arms, trailing my fingers over the thorn tattoos.
“We need to get going. You will ride with me.” He dropped his hands as abruptly as he spoke and turned for his mount.
I stared after him, anxious and excited about moving on to Peton; to my future. And I was even more excited about riding my first horse. In Terran, we learned in our history classes about people who used to ride horses during wartime, to travel to different clans, and even for recreation at times. That was before the fences were constructed for our protection. Our teachers had said most of the horses were killed by raiding clans and the rest were killed for food. Since leaving Terran, I wasn’t sure what to believe, but it didn’t matter now. Where I was going, there would be horses! Maybe Thorne would even teach me to ride one on my own. The thought of it made my heart quicken.
The familiar tingle on the back of my neck interrupted my thoughts. Instinctively, I reached for my pistol, forgetting that I’d lost it in the river when I’d fallen in earlier. I searched the soon-to-be-empty camp but saw nothing in the darkness.
Someone was watching me. I scanned the woods again, looking for signs of anything that could be a danger. The bustle of packing behind me was the only noise I heard. Turning back to the Warriors, I caught Pierce staring at me again. His glare was unnerving, especially considering that I’d been sensing a threat. Was it the soldiers I was sensing or was Pierce the danger now? I was quickly losing all confidence in my first reaction to Pierce. Could I have misunderstood his warning yesterday afternoon? Maybe he was Thorne’s betrayer, because at this moment Pierce looked ready to kill me.
Before making my way over to Thorne, I sought out Archer who was crouched down, cleaning so
me rifles by the supply wagon. According to Thorne, he was the man I needed to talk to about weapons.
“Archer?” I asked tentatively.
He looked up from his work, but his hands continued. “That’s me,” he grinned. “It seems we owe you some thanks for helping our friend.”
His friendly manner made me nervous. I wasn’t expecting it.
I waved my hand in dismissal and replied, “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Well, I think we were all a little troubled by Thorne’s attachment to you, but -”
“I would have done it anyway,” I interrupted.
Once Archer had packed the weapons away in the cart, he turned and gave me the once-over. His intelligent eyes probably didn’t miss much.
“What can I help you with?” he finally asked. “I assume you came to talk to me for a reason?”
“I lost my pistol,” I said. “I wondered if I could get a replacement.”
I expected to see a smug look in his eyes. It would be just like a man to lord his superiority over a woman, but surprisingly his eyes lit up and turned to the cart. He rummaged through the supplies and then pulled out three pistols.
He grinned like a mischievous boy. “Which one would you like?”
Archer convinced me to take two of the pistols and gave me a rifle, too. Now that I was armed, I strode over to the horses to find Thorne. The tingle in my neck was a constant reminder of some unknown danger. Whether it was a threat from one of the Warriors or from the General remained to be seen.
Thorne glanced at the rifle slung over my shoulder. “Packing some heat, are we?”
“We need to leave,” I whispered, glancing back over my shoulder. Pierce was working with Archer, packing the rest of the supplies onto the wagon and loading weapons with ammunition. He wasn’t staring at me but it didn’t lessen my doubts about him. “I feel like we’re in danger,” I whispered.
“We are leaving now,” he said, taking the rifle from my shoulder and strapping it to his stallion’s saddle. It would be easy to access if we needed it.
“Thorne, will you have someone watching behind us?”
“Pierce is riding with Archer in the wagon and Gunter will ride behind them,” he assured me. “Gunter will watch our backs.”