I waited until I was sure she was gone, then tried to sit up. The room spun and heaved, and my thoughts became disordered. I grabbed on to the pillows to keep from falling to the floor. My thoughts of escape faded as I fought a losing battle to stay above the waves of unconsciousness that pulled me under.
The hours that followed were a blur of nightmares and surreal visions, most of them set in a strange labyrinth. Light from invisible fires flickered against stone walls, and tentacle-vines reached up from the ground to wrap around my ankles and trip me. I thought I woke and saw Sara a few times, but I couldn’t be sure whether I was really awake. At one point she had snakes instead of hair, and dripping fangs sprouted from a grin that was somehow wider than her head.
I woke completely exhausted. I knew I’d had no reason to trust Sara, but still felt betrayed that she would drug me after she’d tried to heal me. Aren had been right about that one thing, at least. I was glad I hadn’t spoken to her.
Though the room was dark and the bed comfortable, I fought off my need for sleep and pushed myself up to sit. My ankle screamed with fresh pain when I put weight on it, and I leaned on the walls and furniture as I made my way to the door, dressed only in my underthings. Perhaps there was nowhere for me to go, but I had to try.
The room tilted slightly and I tumbled, slamming hands-first into the door. I breathed deeply through gritted teeth until my shoulder quieted, and I reached for the door handle. My heart leapt when it turned under my touch, then sank as I realized that the deadbolt above was locked again.
A lump formed in my throat, but I was done feeling sorry for myself. I would take Aren’s advice and trust no one, especially him. I’d just have to wait until someone came back, and see what was to become of me.
Chapter XII
Aren
WHAT THE HELL AM I doing?
I shrugged into the brown coat and leaned against the door that held her captive. I’d had to leave, but probably not for any reason she might suspect. I couldn’t trust my own thoughts in there, and I needed a clear head.
This wasn’t how Severn and I had planned it. He’d chosen his men, all of them strong and trustworthy, but accustomed to action. They grew restless on the road, and when we ran into the traveling merchants, Severn told our people to kill the men and take whatever they wanted from what was left. I’d kept my distance until Rowan came bursting out of that coach and took off into the woods with Morten in pursuit. Whether he counted Rowan amongst the “men” or the other items, I didn’t like her chances. I went after them, but wasn’t fast enough to keep him from harming her.
I tried to tell myself that it was a stroke of luck that we’d found her so easily, and sooner than we’d expected. We were far from any town, and the only witnesses were dead or dying. I was only a few steps away from securing my future. But when I saw how frightened she was of me, I wanted nothing more than to tell her that I would never hurt her. It would have been a lie, but I wanted to say it just to make her stop looking at me like that.
As if it mattered what she thought of me.
I considered letting her escape into the woods, but Severn had already seen us. I thought about lying and saying I didn’t know who she was, but he’d have had her killed if she hadn’t been the Sorceress we wanted. She was so terrified and so overwhelmed that I’d been able to use my magic to push her over the edge into unconsciousness, and I told Severn that was how I’d found her.
I brought her back and got Sara to fix her up while Severn covered our tracks. I stayed and watched over her, and kept telling myself I was doing the right thing in letting him have her. I was acting in my country’s best interest, helping to preserve or restore the balance of magic. Advancing scientific interests. Keeping Severn happy.
All of that paled, though, when I really looked at her. A Sorceress deserved better than to be beaten, chained, hurt, and humiliated. Even a Darmish one. Even for the good of magic.
Severn’s glee over the prospect of torturing her had finished it for me. That, and his satisfaction in bending my will to his. In that moment every reason I’d ever had for wanting to escape had come flooding back, filling me with the hatred I’d fought so long to suppress. It took all of my strength and self-control to continue the ruse, to make him believe I was still with him. Even as he walked out the door, I was beginning to make my plans. Get her away, leave her somewhere relatively safe, and find a new life for myself somewhere far from my brother.
I still had no desire to be a hero or to sacrifice everything I’d worked so hard to gain, but here I stood preparing to do just that.
I sent my awareness out to search for him, but Severn was gone. “I’m not yours to control anymore,” I whispered. “Damn you. Damn the consequences.” I’d lost my balance at last, and fallen from the wrong side of Severn’s favor. It felt surprisingly satisfying.
Sara approached with her basket of supplies in one hand. She didn’t look up or speak, only stood waiting for me to move so she could enter the room. “You might as well leave the basket there,” I told her, and she nodded.
I made contact with as many people on the ship as I could, suggesting to their minds that they wouldn’t think anything of it if they saw me leaving with the prisoner, helping Severn’s guards realize they had somewhere else they needed to be, and arranging for our departure. The ship was still moored in the choppy waters of the little harbor, and I made my rounds in the shipyard as well. It was a far larger group than I’d ever attempted to manipulate at one time. It took the entire night for me to do my work, and with every person I affected I felt the magic draining from me.
At least most of them were too afraid to put up a fight when they felt me enter their minds.
Sara was leaving when I returned to the room at dawn. Rowan still lay in the bed with the blanket pulled up over her, a small breakfast of toast and stewed berries untouched on a tray beside her. She looked better, but her cheek was still marked by scrapes and bruises, and fresh bandages covered her shoulder. She watched warily as I paced, as though someone had released a wolf into the room with her.
“The ship leaves in less than an hour. We need to be off by then.”
Her eyes widened, and she twisted her body to try to look out the window. “We haven’t left yet?”
“No. The sailors decided to wait for the tide, and Severn ordered them to keep distance between ourselves and the decoy ship he sent out.”
She frowned. “Wait—we have to be off? And where are we going? I thought you said you couldn’t let me go. I mean…”
I sank into the chair at the end of the bed. It occurred to me that it wasn’t too late to change my mind. Severn would never know.
Instead, I said, “You want to get out of here, right?” She nodded vigorously. “Well, I’m going with you. You need someone to help you get to a safe place, and I’d just as soon not be here when Severn returns.” I leaned back and closed my eyes to rest while I could.
“But your men attacked me,” she said. “You brought me here. Why would you help me now?”
I forced one eye open. She sat up in the bed and clutched the blanket to her chest. Her eyes searched mine, perhaps wanting to believe me. I had no way of knowing what she was thinking, or what I could say to make her trust me. It might have been easier to explain my actions to her if I’d understood them, myself.
“It’s your decision,” I told her. “You’re free to do as you please. If you insist on staying here and waiting to see what happens to you in Luid, I’ll stay, too.”
“But I—”
“You should know that this is the last time I’m going to offer to help,” I added. “It will be too dangerous later.”
Her mouth dropped open, and she winced as the raw skin on her cheek stretched. “How can I believe anything you’re saying?”
I didn’t let my irritation show. Heavy footsteps passed by the door. Someone hollered far down the corridor. The ship would be leaving soon.
“Maybe you can’t. But you saved my
life, even if you didn’t mean to. I don’t have time to explain more right now.” It was the reason I thought she’d be most likely to give if she were in my position. My family may have considered compassion and kindness the flaws of weaker people, but they ran deep in her.
I glanced at her breakfast. “The bread should be fine, if you’re hungry. I wouldn’t try the berries or the water.” Sara had no more interest in angering Severn than I usually had, and she’d be doing everything in her power to keep Rowan incapacitated. I poured a cup of fresh water from the pitcher on the desk and offered it to her.
She drank it all, and ate the toast. I turned away to retrieve my travel cloak from the wardrobe and pulled it on over my coat. When I turned back she was watching me. Making her decision.
“When do we leave?” She pulled the blanket tighter around her body, and I helped her sit up on the edge of the bed. She flinched when I touched her, but almost toppled over when I let go.
I nudged an old knapsack that waited on the floor. “Those are your things in the boxes. Get dressed quickly. Pack what you need. I suggest warm clothes, whatever you can manage. I have food and bedding. Stay here, don’t open the door until I return.”
“We’re just going to walk out of here?”
“I think riding would be faster.”
I collected supplies and food as quickly as I could and carried the bags one by one up to the deck, where I left them piled in a dark corner. When I returned to the room Rowan was dressed in trousers, brown leather boots that laced up to her knees, a heavy sweater and a jacket. Her pack was stuffed full, and Sara’s basket of ointments and potions sat empty on the bed. I handed her a charcoal cloak with a deep hood. It was Sara’s, the only one I could find that was small enough that Rowan wouldn’t trip over it. She ran her hands over the rough wool and the smooth, pink lining before she pulled it around her shoulders.
“Keep your face hidden until we’re clear of town, and don’t say a word until I tell you it’s safe,” I said. “When Severn comes looking for us, I don’t want anyone to have seen you.”
She looked like she was going to say something, but instead reached for her hood and pulled it over her head.
“We only have one chance to get away from here unnoticed. Keep your eyes down, and we’ll be fine.”
She limped toward the door, and reluctantly accepted my arm when I offered it.
Wooden boards creaked under our feet as we stepped into the passageway, and Rowan hesitated. “It’s fine,” I whispered. “Just keep moving.”
A door ahead and to our left creaked open. One of Severn’s uniformed guards stepped out, yawning, and turned toward us. I released Rowan’s arm and readied myself for a fight. He squinted, nodded, and turned to lock the door behind him. He saw us, but took no notice of us, which was as much as I’d hoped for. I released the breath I’d been holding as he passed us and continued down the passageway.
I took Rowan’s arm again and urged her to move more quickly. The sooner we got off of the ship, the better.
I took Rowan’s knapsack and went ahead when we reached the ladder that took us up to the deck. A cold wind blew in off of the ocean, and I pulled my cloak tighter as I offered a hand to help Rowan up. She looked around and blinked in the cloud-diffused sunlight, took in the sight of the men working to prepare the ship to sail, then looked down at her feet and waited for me to retrieve our supplies. If she was going to run, she was smart enough not to risk it yet.
A pair of gray horses waited for us at the bottom of the gangplank, as I’d arranged. I tied the bags to the saddles, then offered a hand to help Rowan up. She hesitated, but accepted. She took a few deep, shaky breaths as I mounted my own horse, but still said nothing.
We passed a few workers in the shipyard, all of whom ignored or seemed to look right through us as though we were ghosts. As we passed the fence a sailor staggered out of a dingy bar and looked at us with bleary eyes. When I reached out to take in his thoughts I found him struggling to remember some instruction. Something he was supposed to watch out for, to alert someone if he saw someone… something. He squinted at us.
“Say, you’re not… um,” he mumbled.
Shit.
I’d hoped that manipulating so many people would create a group effect that would draw in anyone I’d missed, but this one seemed unaffected.
“No,” I said. Had I been alone I might have taken care of things differently, but I glanced at Rowan and saw her watching from under her hood. Her hands gripped the reins tight, ready to take off at the first sign of trouble.
I reached out to change the sailor’s mind, to make him forget his instructions. I felt the magic go, leaving me weaker. The magic here near the border was stronger than it had been elsewhere, but I needed to get back to Tyrea soon to replenish.
The sailor’s drunkenness worked in my favor. He took a step away, stumbled, and went back toward the ship without further comment.
We went on, Rowan riding beside me down the hard-packed dirt road that led through town and toward the nearby mountains. We wouldn’t be safe until we’d left the obvious path and put distance between ourselves and the ship. Even then, Severn would be after us long before I was ready for him.
I gritted my teeth and urged the horse to move faster.
Chapter XIII
Aren
ROWAN STAYED CLOSE BEHIND ME as we climbed steep, winding roads, crossed the square and continued up a side street. The little town was packed into the foothills of tree-covered mountains, and the streets twisted back on themselves and met at strange angles with whitewashed buildings packed into every spare bit of space.
Few people were out so early, and those that were gave us no more than a look. They knew to mind their business and no one else’s. Not all of the Darmish were loyal to their own country, and my people used this particular harbor frequently. We were generous with the people, and they repaid us with safe passage and with information when it was available.
They were Severn’s allies, though, not mine. If he came asking questions later, they wouldn’t hesitate to answer.
A curtain twitched in a kitchen window, and an elderly woman squinted down at us. I looked away. As long as we got out of town, it didn’t matter what she saw. Severn would find out soon enough that we were missing, and one old hag noting which direction we’d headed would make little difference.
I closed my eyes to sharpen my focus and sent my awareness back in the direction of the ship, searching for chaos, confusion, or any sense of someone following us. There was nothing yet.
We rode without speaking, accompanied only by the sounds of a far-off pair of crows, the twittering of a few birds, and the sound of our horses’ hoofs as they scuffed through the drifts of pine needles that covered the long-unused logging road we followed toward the mountain. Late in the morning Rowan rode up beside me, looking like she wanted to ask a question, but I shook my head and she dropped back without a word.
Perhaps it would have been polite to ask how she was feeling, but it didn’t matter. We weren’t stopping, no matter how uncomfortable or frightened she was, or how badly a part of me wanted to haul her hack to the boat and insist that I’d caught her trying to escape.
I glanced over my shoulder. Rowan had let her hood fall, and she was watching a raven that flew overhead. My stomach turned every time I saw the bruise on her face, a reminder of how ill prepared I was to protect anyone. She looked calmer now than she had when she was trapped on the boat, though, and for a moment I felt as though I’d made the right choice in helping her.
Hours passed and the sun broke through the clouds. As we moved away from the immediate danger of the ship, doubts crowded my mind. In a moment of irrational anger I had thrown everything away—my family, my future, my identity. If I’d wanted to leave on my own, I could have planned a better escape. What I’d done was stupid and impulsive. But there was no changing the past. I locked those thoughts away and focused on keeping Severn from finding us. Worrying about what I�
��d done would only distract me from that.
After several turn-offs the road became little more than a path. We crossed a slow-running river shortly before noon and I turned my horse off of the road, letting him pick his way through the sparsely wooded forest for a few minutes before we stopped. “Do you want something to eat?” I asked Rowan, and swung down to the ground.
She opened her mouth, but didn’t say anything for a moment. Perhaps she was becoming as accustomed to the silence as I was. “We can talk now?”
“We could have hours ago. I just didn’t want to.”
She shot me a look that would have frozen a dragon’s insides, but it disappeared almost instantly. I wondered whether she expected an apology. She’d have to get used to going without.
When I offered my hand, she refused to take it. “I’ll manage on my own, thank you.”
It took her longer than it should have, but she made it safely to the ground. She limped past me into the woods as I tethered the horses and pulled fresh fruit and dried meats from the bags, eating as I offered the horses a little grain. When Rowan returned, she sat in a sun-lit clearing and devoured her meal. I’d have offered more, but we’d have to make our supplies last. We wouldn’t be going anywhere near a town as long as I could avoid it.
She sat with her knees tucked up against her chest and winced as she bit into an apple. The bruises had faded over the past few hours, thanks to Sara’s impressive gifts as a Potioner. Still, there was only so much her ointments could do. Morten certainly hadn’t showed Rowan any mercy. I had occasionally regretted killing people in the past, but I certainly didn’t this time.
Her gaze darted away from my face every time I caught her looking at me.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
“No? Where I come from abductions don’t usually end well.” She winced at her own words. “Sorry, I’m just…” She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes.
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