The Blood Forest (The Tree of Ages Series Book 3)

by Sara C. Roethle

  “Is this punishment for lying about my name?” she questioned in disbelief.

  Kai smirked, but did not answer.

  Finn had a feeling he knew exactly why Malida was punishing them, but instead of explaining, he took the list to glance over it once more.

  Finn crossed her arms as he stuffed the list into his breeches pocket, then set the lantern down beside a crate, crouching to examine its contents.

  She watched him clearly avoiding her gaze. Why was he suddenly so uncomfortable. Malida’s list obviously meant something more to him. She began tapping her foot impatiently.

  He glared up at her. “Yes?”

  She scowled, wishing he would take the hint. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  He observed her face for several moments, then sighed and rocked back on his heels, still crouched. “I told her everything,” he admitted. “She knows we were never husband and wife, and she knows why we lied to her. She does not know who you truly are, or what you seek, but she knows everything else.”

  She blinked at him for several seconds in the dim lantern light, utterly shocked. She couldn’t fathom a reason why he would have done that.

  “Oh don’t look so surprised,” he muttered, turning back to the crate.

  She crossed her arms. “I’m justified in being surprised. I’ve come to expect lies from you, and truth only when you have no other choice.”

  He glared at her. “That’s not true. As far as I’m concerned, the only lie I ever told you was who I was in the beginning, and you told the same lie yourself.”

  She felt her expression falter. Pursing her lips, she tried to think of the other lies he’d told her. Surely there were more. She had very good reason for being angry at him all the time, didn’t she?

  “Let me see the list again,” she demanded.

  He looked up at her, but did not offer the list.

  She shifted her weight from foot to foot, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

  He smirked, his eyes twinkling with sudden merriment. “I’d expected a few more insults.”

  Ignoring him, she bent down and plucked at the parchment sticking out of his pocket, soon tugging the list free to peruse. “You’re right,” she admitted. “I have no remaining reasons to be angry with you. You’ve more than made up for kidnapping me, and I suppose things have ended up alright . . . as alright as can be expected, at least.”

  He stood, looking slightly stunned. “Was that an apology?”

  She glared. “Yes, and I’ve given them to you before, so don’t look so surprised. Now please tell me why Malida would like us to spend the entire evening in her cellar.”

  His shoulders slumped in defeat, but he did not speak.

  “Go on,” she pressed. “You’re already brimming with truths tonight, so you may as well continue.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “She seems to think I’m in love with you,” he stated bluntly, “and I imagine this is all part of some grand scheme of hers to force us to spend time together. Time without any of the . . . others.”

  Suddenly she wished he was a liar. She opened her mouth to speak, to in some way make light of what he’d said, then a stack of crates crashed down in the far corner of the cellar. She met Kai’s gaze for a split second, then he snatched the lantern and rushed toward the sound with Finn hot on his heels.

  The cellar was like a maze, filled with rows of stacked storage receptacles. Finn tried to keep her breathing steady as she raced after Kai, telling herself that the crates had fallen on their own, and that no one had been in the cellar listening to them. Listening to what he’d just said to her.

  Reaching the source of the crash, Kai came to an abrupt halt. In front of him stood a small girl with sallow skin and stringy black hair, trembling in fear. The tattered tan cloth of her shapeless clothing showed patches of her frail flesh through numerous tears. She looked up at Kai and Finn with small, muddy colored eyes.

  Kai held his free arm out to herd Finn back away from the girl. “I don’t think she’s human,” he muttered. He aimed the lantern at the girl, illuminating her gaunt face.

  Finn pushed his arm aside. “She’s also terrified.” She lowered to one knee, bringing herself down to the girl’s eye level. She couldn’t have been more than seven. “What are you doing down here?” she asked softly.

  The girl took a deep breath, and Finn noticed gills, like those of a fish, flexing along the underside of her jaw. Not human indeed.

  “I’m hiding,” the girl croaked, her voice barely audible. She lowered her eyes to the ground.

  Kai moved to kneel beside Finn, bringing the lantern along with him. The girl’s skin shimmered in the light. It took Finn a moment to realize it wasn’t skin at all, but scales.

  “Is she a Merrow?” Kai whispered, gazing at the girl in awe.

  Finn nodded. “I think so. They live in rivers and ponds, don’t they?”

  “Yes,” Kai replied, “and don’t they also entrance humans, much like the Sirens?”

  Finn took a moment to scowl at him, then turned back to the girl. She was only a child, not some dangerous Siren. “Where are your parents?” she asked softly.

  The girl shrugged. “We came in from the river to hide from the Dair, but I think my parents were taken. I’ve been down here a while. There’s lots of salty fish in that barrel over there.” She pointed to a nearby receptacle that seemed mostly empty.

  “The Dair?” Finn questioned, forcing her voice to remain even. She knew others of her kind had returned to the land along with her, but what could they possibly want with the Merrows?

  The girl nodded. As if reading Finn’s thoughts, she answered, “The Dair control the earth. The Faie are the earth. We cannot resist them.”

  “What do the Dair want?” Finn pleaded. She didn’t want to scare the child into going quiet, but she could sense she was close to the answers she desperately wanted.

  The girl shook her head. “I don’t know. No one knows where the Dair came from, why they left, or why they have returned. We know only that we must fear them.”

  The girl tensed at the sound of someone walking across the wooden flooring above. The footfalls stopped somewhere near the cellar stairs, then began to descend.

  Finn and Kai both looked over their shoulders to see who approached, and when they looked back, the girl was gone.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “We need to leave,” Iseult stated, ignoring the slightly stunned expressions on Kai and Finn’s faces. His heart was threatening to leave his throat. If he had not overheard that man . . .

  Finn continued to glance at the empty space behind them for some reason, but there was no time for explanations.

  “An Fiach is here,” he explained, hoping to get them moving. “They are looking for someone fitting your description,” he looked at Finn, “and yours,” he turned to Kai.

  “Me?” Kai asked, slack-jawed. “I haven’t even swindled anyone recently.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he growled. “They outnumber us three to one. We cannot risk remaining in Ainfean tonight. Maarav and the others have already gone to purchase horses. They will meet us on the road.”

  Kai sighed. “Let’s go.” He put his hand at the small of Finn’s back to guide her onward.

  Iseult resisted the urge to part Kai’s hand from his body. For now, they needed to focus on escaping unseen.

  He followed the pair back toward the stairs, then grabbed Kai’s arm before he could follow Finn up. “The bar mistress suggested you would guide us out the back entrance.”

  “Yes,” he replied simply, “but we need to fetch Naoki first.”

  Iseult took a steadying breath, then followed Kai up the stairs. He’d forgotten about the dragon. An unfortunate complication when their objective was stealth.

  He reached the landing to find Finn already in a room across the hall, trying to calm the frantic dragon down enough to bundle her in a cloak. It wasn’t going well. Kai moved to help her, and got a talon across his palm. />
  “Try to be calm,” Iseult instructed as he approached. “It will soothe her in turn.” He imagined the same principles would apply to dragons as horses. They could sense their master’s moods. If you wanted a calm, obedient horse, you had to be calm and in control . . . qualities with which Iseult rarely struggled.

  Finn nodded frantically, clutching the writhing dragon in her arms. Naoki grunted and squirmed, but at least seemed to be aware of her mother’s delicate skin. She incurred no scrapes as Kai had.

  Finn’s chest beneath her blouse and corset rose and fell with deep breaths. Her eyes drifted closed and the dragon began to calm. Iseult forced his own breathing to slow, though he knew they were running out of time.

  Kai tip-toed further into the room and lifted a cloak off the small bed, then helped Finn gently wrap it around Naoki before guiding them both out of the room. Once they were all in the hall, Kai took the lead, stepping lightly on the wooden flooring as he guided them past the entrance Iseult had come through and down a narrow hall, ending in a door with a heavy wooden bar across it.

  Together Kai and Iseult moved the bar, and the three of them, plus one dragon, hurried out into the darkening night.

  Avoiding the main thoroughfare, they made their way toward the town gates where their companions would hopefully be waiting with extra horses. Iseult knew it was unlikely that Ainfean would have enough horses to suit everyone, but a few extras would do. Finn had already proven she was comfortable riding with her friend, Bedelia, and the other two women could double up as well.

  A million other thoughts ran through Iseult’s mind as they crept through the darkness. They had gathered enough supplies in the remains of Migris to last them roughly five days, seven at most. He would have liked to resupply more before leaving the port town, but it was not worth the risk. If An Fiach was looking specifically for Kai and Finn, everyone was in danger.

  That led him to another disturbing thought. Why would An Fiach be looking for those two in particular? It didn’t make any sense. The purpose of the Hunt was to track down the Faie.

  Distant shouts suddenly caught his ear, bringing his thoughts to the present.

  “It’s coming from the direction of the gates,” Kai whispered, his eyes darting about their dark surroundings.

  Iseult nodded. “More soldiers were likely waiting outside. They may have stopped the others.”

  “What’s our plan?” Kai questioned.

  “I’ll scout ahead,” he replied, hating the idea, but knowing it was the best one. “Do not leave Finn’s side.”

  Finn watched the whole exchange wide-eyed, clutching her dragon like a child.

  He hoped he was making the right decision.

  “We’ll continue on cautiously,” Kai whispered, more to Finn than to Iseult.

  Still, he nodded, then took off at a jog.

  Nearing the riverbank, he pushed his body to move faster. A row of buildings concealed him from the main road, but occasional doors opened in the backs of homes and establishments. To his left, the River Cair thundered, too wide and violent to be used as a possible means of escape. The shouting seemed to be dying down to be replaced by the low murmur of arguing voices.

  Nearing the final buildings and stables before the gates, Iseult slowed, his hand on the pommel of his short sword. He peered around the nearest building to see a dozen or so figures silhouetted in the moonlight. He recognized Maarav first, arguing with another man, though he could not tell if the man with whom his brother argued was wearing the customary dark brown uniform of An Fiach. Several more men stood in a line, near a row of horses tied to a horizontal post.

  “We are but simple travelers,” he heard Maarav explain, “hoping to make it to the next town before our caravan departs without us. The only way we will accomplish that is to travel through the night. We only stopped here to purchase more horses.”

  “No one leaves until the Captain approves it,” the man said in reply.

  Iseult sighed. Now that they’d drawn attention to themselves, there was no way Kai and Finn would be able to depart with everyone else. He was prepared to turn around to report his findings, when Maarav cocked back his fist and punched the soldier square in the nose. Chaos erupted, accompanied by the metallic sound of blades being drawn.

  He debated going back for Kai and Finn, but adrenaline and instinct took over. He drew his blade and launched himself out of hiding and into the fray. They needed to end this before the other soldiers could rush out of the taverns and inns. Hopefully Kai and Finn would see what was happening, and would use the distraction to sneak out on their own.

  Iseult’s blade met with another man’s, just before he could bring it down across Anna’s back. He couldn’t help but think, as he turned to knock another man in the head with the pommel of his sword, that he should have left Maarav and the others behind, escorting Finn to safety. A fainter, secondary thought coursed through his mind, that by the gods, it felt good to enter into battle again, for a cause that truly mattered.

  KAI COULD HEAR the sound of blades meeting, and the thudding of footsteps as the fight broke out. Since Iseult had not returned to them, he knew he must have joined the fray, which meant the rest of their party was also involved.

  “We shouldn’t go any closer,” he whispered, his back pressed against the wooden wall of a guard tower beside Finn’s.

  “They may need our help,” Finn argued, moving to peer around the building. Naoki was beginning to struggle against her grasp. Finn had shown no change in attitude at his proclamation of love, and he half wondered if she’d even heard him. He truly hadn’t expected her to return the sentiment, but she could have at least said something. Of course, he’d only said that Malida thought he was in love, not that he actually was.

  He sighed, knowing now was not the time to dwell on it. Glancing down at the bundled dragon, he gently pushed Finn’s shoulder back against the wall, then moved around her to assess the fight.

  It was difficult to tell in the darkness, but Anna, Maarav, Iseult, and Sativola seemed to be doing most of the fighting, while Ealasaid and Tavish had snuck off to a row of horses tied near the gates. Bedelia and Rae where nowhere to be seen, though they could have just been fighting outside the gates.

  Taking in the short expanse between the horses and the gates, and hearing doors slamming open and shut down the main road as others heard the fight, Kai made his decision. He turned back to Finn and motioned for her to follow.

  Still struggling with her dragon, she jumped at the opportunity. Together they hurried forward, keeping to the shadows near the city gates until they reached the row of tethered horses where Tavish and Ealasaid were covertly untying reins from the post. Ealasaid glanced at them, her eyes wide and startled, then relaxed.

  With a smile and a wink, Tavish handed Kai the reins of a horse he’d freed. “They’re looking for the two of you,” Tavish whispered. “Use the distraction to escape.”

  Nodding to Tavish in thanks, Kai helped Finn and Naoki onto the horse’s saddle, then climbed up behind them. He would have liked to stay and aid in the fight, but Finn’s safety had to be his priority at that moment, lest Iseult kill him later.

  With one arm around Finn’s small form, and the other gripping the reins, he jabbed his heels into the horse’s side and galloped toward the gates, skirting around the fight.

  They sped through the gates without interference, only to be met by three guards on horseback, barring their way. Finn screamed as Naoki escaped from her arms, tossing the cloak aside to fly past Kai’s head and onto the ground.

  Letting out guttural squawks, Naoki took flight, then spiraled down through the air toward the men. Their nervous horses pranced and bucked, throwing one of the men while Naoki dove in and out, pouncing to the ground, then springing erratically upward. Bedelia and Rae appeared from the darkness, drawing the soldiers’ attention away from the dragon.

  While Finn shouted for Naoki, Kai urged their horse forward, taking off into the dark trees away fr
om the road.

  FINN GRIPPED onto the saddle’s pommel for dear life, while Kai’s arms trapped her on either side. She could hear the thundering of hooves behind them, but did not know if it was their companions or some of the soldiers. She tried a few times to glance back, but it was too dark to see much of anything.

  “We’ll find them once we’re safe!” Kai shouted, pressing the insides of his arms more firmly around her to keep her from turning.

  “What about Naoki!” she shouted back. She couldn’t see her little dragon anywhere.

  Kai’s arms did not slacken, and instead he flicked the reins to urge the horses on. “She’ll find you! She can track your scent better than any wolf!”

  Finn’s heart shuddered. She wanted to tell him to go back, but what could she do if they did? She wasn’t sure she could survive another incident of her odd powers running amuck, melting the skin from a man’s bones, or swallowing them up with the earth. It was probably better for her to be far from any fight. She trusted Iseult to find her again, but of Naoki, she was unsure. What if one of the soldiers harmed her? Most men would run the other way at the sight of a Faie creature, but some would be brave enough to fight.

  “We have to go back!” she shouted finally, making up her mind. Branches whipped at their cloaks, threatening to pull them from their mount, yet Kai did not allow the horse to slow.

  “They are after you and I,” he cautioned, his voice near her ear. “Everyone is safer without us.”

  Tears streamed down Finn’s face, but she could not argue. This was all her fault. Everyone was attacked because An Fiach wanted her. And Kai, she reminded herself . . . though they likely only wanted him because of her. She was a danger to everyone.

  They rode on for what seemed like ages, until their horse tired and slowed to a walk. Kai had kept them away from the road, which was likely wise if An Fiach was looking for them specifically. He now guided their horse deep into a copse of trees, near a rocky crag mostly obscured with vegetation. The deeper shadows within the foliage seemed ominous to Finn, or perhaps it was just her mood.