Rider's Rescue (The Rider's Revenge Trilogy Book 2)

by Alessandra Clarke

  And then the Trickster was gone as if he'd never been there.

  K'lrsa slapped Badru on the arm. "What were you thinking, challenging him like that?"

  He shrugged.

  Before K'lrsa could say more, Herin stood. "No time for that. We need to leave."

  "Fine. Let's go." K'lrsa saddled up Fallion and grabbed her small pack, but she couldn't stop thinking about what the Trickster had said.

  Was someone going to die on their trip? And, if so, who?

  Chapter 62

  The horses had transformed and everyone was seated, waiting for K'lrsa, but she found herself hesitant to leave.

  "I'll be right back." She didn't wait for a response as she dodged through the rest of the camp past huddles of people tensely talking about what to do now that they'd sworn to the gods but were surrounded by their enemies with no way out and food enough for only another week.

  There was a lot of dark muttering about how they should've chosen the other option instead. She didn't blame them. She'd've probably been saying the same if she hadn't had a clear path forward.

  She found her brother in the center of the White Horse Tribe camp, surrounded by angry men and women, all shouting at once. He was trying to calm them, but no one seemed to be listening.

  She pushed through to the center of the group, ignoring the cries of those she shoved out of her way. "D'lan. We need to talk."

  "Can it wait?"

  "No. We're leaving."

  "What?" He stepped closer and said through gritted teeth, "We need the horses. They're our only chance of keeping everyone fed."

  He raised his voice so everyone could hear him. "I was just explaining that we can use the Amalanee to carry hunters so we'll have enough food to wait out the Daliph's troops. Because, as we all know," he glared at a man on his right, "we can't use them to leave because the Daliph's men would just follow and attack and we could never stand against them."

  He continued, looking to K'lrsa for confirmation. "We know that because we actually fought the Black Horse Tribe before anyone else arrived. And it wasn't easy."

  K'lrsa nodded. "Yes. If we can avoid fighting them, we should."

  She glanced around at all the scared and worried faces. They needed a plan.

  She raised her voice. "I'm leaving to find a weapon to help us defeat them. Badru and Vedhe are coming with me. While we're gone, you need to train. Badru showed us how to fight these men. Use this time to prepare."

  "Why do you get to leave and we have to stay?" the man D'lan had glared at asked.

  "Because Fallion is my horse. And he's the only way to find this weapon."

  "You could let someone else take him. He's just a horse."

  K'lrsa laughed. She turned to D'lan. "I have to go."

  He nodded. "When will you be back?"

  "Six days? I hope."

  He grimaced. "Okay."

  D'lan looked at her.

  She looked back. Her brother, but a man she barely knew. Still. One of the only two family members she had left. She hugged him.

  Neither one of them knew quite where to place their arms—having never really hugged before in their lives—but they managed an awkward pat on each other's backs.

  "Hurry back. We'll starve without you."

  "No pressure."

  She pushed her way back through the crowd, but didn't turn towards where the horses waited.

  She had one more goodbye to make.

  She found M'lara seated alone at the edge of the White Horse Tribe camp, in the shadow of a tent, staring out at the Daliph's camp.

  "M'lara."

  "K'lrsa." M'lara jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around K'lrsa's legs, holding on so tight K'lrsa staggered and almost fell.

  K'lrsa let her cling for a long moment as she stroked her sister's long black hair. But then she pushed M'lara back and knelt down in front of her. In the faint light of the moon, tears glistened on M'lara's cheeks, following the path of the many that had gone before them.

  K'lrsa brushed one of the tears away, regretting that she had to leave M'lara behind yet again. "I came to say goodbye."

  "Don't go." M'lara flung herself at K'lrsa, wrapping her arms around K'lrsa's neck so tight she could barely breathe.

  "I have to do this, sweetie. I'm sorry, but we need a weapon to defeat those bad men out there."

  "Why does it have to be you? Can't someone else do it?"

  K'lrsa almost broke as she stared into those big, brown eyes, so full of loss and need.

  She held M'lara close. "I wish. I'll be back. I promise."

  M'lara pulled away, glaring at her. "You already promised not to leave me again."

  "M'lara. I have to do this."

  She sniffed, trying to hold back the tears that filled her eyes once more. "But you will come back? And then you'll never ever leave again?"

  "I will."

  "Okay."

  K'lrsa hugged her sister once more, not wanting to let go.

  But she had to.

  It was time.

  Chapter 63

  "Took you long enough," Herin muttered as K'lrsa threw herself into Fallion's saddle.

  "I had to say goodbye, Herin. And I'm not going to let you make me feel bad about it."

  Herin didn't respond, so K'lrsa turned to Badru and Vedhe. "Who wants to lead? How do we do this?"

  "I lead." Vedhe turned Kriger towards the desert. With one massive sweep of his wings, Kriger leapt into the sky, Vedhe and Lodie clinging to his back. Midnight followed right after with Badru and Garzel.

  As soon as they cleared the ground, they disappeared.

  But K'lrsa didn't follow. Not yet.

  She took one last look at the camp. She'd promised to come back. And she'd meant it.

  But, as simple as it all seemed—find the Hidden City, get the weapon they needed, and return—she'd learned that sometimes what seemed simple wasn't at all.

  She had to come back. M'lara needed her. She'd have D'lan but he was too distant and he had a child of his own on the way. M'lara needed someone who'd love her unconditionally like K'lrsa's father had loved her.

  K'lrsa shook her head. No time to dwell on that now.

  "Let's go, micora." She patted Fallion's neck and he spread his wings and leapt into the air. They quickly rose above camp and into that place that wasn't part of the real world, Midnight and Kriger far ahead of them.

  As they chased after, K'lrsa flashed back to the Trickster's visit.

  Did he know something they didn't?

  Or was he just playing another one of his cruel little jokes? Like when he'd showed her all those bodies staked to the ground?

  As they rode through the night, K'lrsa wondered what she'd do if one of the others was threatened. She cared for them, even Vedhe with her strange silences, awkward sentences, and scarred face.

  She didn't want to see harm come to any of them.

  But if it came to it, if it was her life or theirs, who would she choose? Especially knowing that if she died her people might never be saved?

  Herin, Garzel, and Lodie had been gone from the tribes so long, what did they care about going back to save them? And Badru wasn't part of the tribes. Would he carry on out of love for her? Or in honor of the new friendships he'd begun to form?

  She wasn't sure.

  And she didn't think Vedhe would.

  K'lrsa's people had never been kind to the girl. They weren't comfortable with difference or weakness. K'lrsa saw that now in a way she never had before.

  She cared for her companions, but others needed her more.

  It was horrible and selfish, but she realized that if she had to choose, she'd choose to save the tribes over saving the others.

  She almost wished they weren't there. That she was all alone like when she'd set out to avenge her father.

  Then it had been so simple. Continue or quit. Go forward or fall back.

  This…

  With so many lives at stake and so many things she didn't know�
��

  This was something entirely different.

  And she didn't like it.

  Chapter 64

  The horses seemed to gain strength with each beat of their wings, carrying them farther and farther into the desert.

  Soon the gathering grounds and the tribes were left far behind. All K'lrsa could see in any direction were sand dunes, wavy from the winds that continually scoured and shifted them into new shapes.

  There were no paths in the desert. No landmarks to follow. Just sand.

  But the horses flew on, moving steadily forward with each rhythmic beat of their wings. They at least knew where they were and where they were going.

  Around the middle of the night, K'lrsa grew tired of the sound of her thoughts. She turned in her saddle, but could barely see Herin; her face was in shadow, her eyes lost in the wrinkles on her cheeks.

  "What can you tell me about the Hidden City?"

  In this weird place that wasn't the real world she knew her words were easy to hear with no wind to snatch them away, but Herin didn't answer.

  "Herin. I know you can hear me. Tell me about the Hidden City."

  Herin sniffed. "Badru shouldn't go there. When we land, tell him and Lodie to go back."

  Like either one would listen to her. "Why?"

  "It'll be the death of them."

  "Why the death of them and not the death of any of the rest of us?" K'lrsa searched for clues in the woman's face, but it was too dark.

  "Pzah. Must you always ask so many questions?" Herin muttered.

  "I just want to understand. Why shouldn't Badru go but it's fine for the rest of us?"

  Herin shook her head.

  "Herin."

  "Just tell him not to go." She went to cross her arms and then hastily grabbed onto K'lrsa once more.

  "You know he won't listen. Why can't you just tell me?"

  "I promised him I wouldn't."

  K'lrsa sighed. "And you'll keep that promise even if it costs him his life?"

  Herin pressed her lips so tight together her face became a mass of wrinkles.

  K'lrsa turned back around wondering why she'd even bothered. Up ahead, Badru sat on Midnight, Garzel behind him, staring straight ahead, his jaw firm like he was riding to battle.

  Maybe it wasn't worth it, whatever this weapon was. Maybe they could find another way.

  She turned so Herin could hear her. "I don't want Badru to die for this, Herin. Is there another way to defeat the Daliph's troops?"

  "No. You need a weapon powerful enough to defeat Aran."

  "I don't care about Aran. Let him rot in Toreem."

  Herin clutched K'lrsa's arm, her fingers digging into K'lrsa's soft flesh. K'lrsa flexed her arm against the grip, realizing how weak she'd become during her time in the Daliphate, her arm as much flesh as muscle now.

  Herin leaned close, her breath the familiar stench of death and cinnamon. "Don't be a fool girl. If you don't defeat Aran all is lost."

  "All is lost? Please. He's one man. Let him have the Toreem Daliphate as long as he stays away from us."

  Herin gripped her arm tighter, the stubs of her fingers pressing painfully. "Aran will never be done with the tribes. Not until he's destroyed them."

  K'lrsa shook her head. "How can you say that? It's not like he's ever sent troops against us before."

  "Now that he has, he won't stop. He wants the Hidden City." She relaxed her grip.

  "Can't the gods do something about him?" K'lrsa rubbed her arm, wincing in pain.

  "I don't think so. There's…There are other gods and they don't…No. The gods can't directly stop him."

  "Not directly? But indirectly?"

  "Mmhm. Through you or Badru or me or Lodie."

  "It'd be nice if they told us these things."

  Herin shrugged. "It's not their way. Or, at least, not anymore." K'lrsa forced herself not to flinch away as Herin leaned in. "When I was younger, I was sent a moon dream and told to go with Garzel to Toreem. To kill Aran."

  "What?" K'lrsa almost unseated herself and Herin trying to turn to look at her.

  "He knew somehow. Before we ever met. He used to gloat about it when we were alone. I think…I think maybe our gods acted too directly, which let his gods act as well. I think that's how he got the death walker magic." She shook her head. "I paid for it, too, until you stepped forward on your own with a goal the gods could support."

  "They had to wait for me to decide to go after him."

  She nodded.

  "Well, I promised M'lara I wouldn't leave her again. So if you want Aran dead, you're going to have to do it yourself. I'll give you the weapon, whatever it is, after I use it to save the tribes. Deal?"

  Herin didn't answer.

  "Herin? Do we have a deal?"

  "We'll see how it goes in the Hidden City." She leaned back and ignored any further attempts K'lrsa made to talk until it was finally time to land.

  They found a shelter large enough for six people and three horses with enough stored provisions to feed them right next to where they landed. The food was plain—dried meat and nuts and fruits—but better than Garzel's travel bars.

  For the first time, K'lrsa wondered what hand the gods had in the creation of the shelters she'd taken for granted her entire life. Of course, if the shelters really were provided by the gods, she didn't see why they couldn't have provided a six-course meal complete with fresh fruit and hot bread. Honestly, if they were going to provide, why not provide well?

  But it seemed the gods had their limits.

  Chapter 65

  K'lrsa tried to talk to Badru after they landed, but he somehow managed to avoid her even in the confines of the cave. First he couldn't talk to her because he was helping Garzel start a fire, then he claimed he was so tired he couldn't keep his eyes open, and after he woke up he took Lodie aside for a long, private conversation.

  But after he and Lodie just sat there, neither one saying a word for a long time, K'lrsa knew for sure he was just doing it to avoid her. She shook her head in disgust and started across the room, determined to have it out with him.

  Lodie scrambled to her feet and quickly intercepted her.

  "Move. I need to talk to Badru." She stepped to the side, but so did Lodie and the cave wasn't so big that she could keep going.

  Lodie blocked her against the wall. "Not until you've listened to what I have to say."

  "Fine. But make it quick."

  "Why do you want to talk to him?" Lodie asked.

  K'lrsa laughed. "Uh, isn't that obvious? Herin told me going to the Hidden City will kill him. I'm going to convince him not to go."

  "Do you trust him?"

  K'lrsa frowned. "I don't see what that has to do with anything."

  "It has everything to do with this. Do you trust him?"

  "Yes."

  "And do you trust me?"

  "Yes." K'lrsa watched Badru over Lodie's shoulder, determined not to let him slip out of the cave while she was distracted.

  "K'lrsa, look at me."

  K'lrsa kept her gaze fixed on Badru.

  "K'lrsa…Look. At. Me."

  K'lrsa sniffed in annoyance, but she turned her attention to Lodie. "Happy? Now that you've distracted me so he can run away again?"

  She shook her head. "Badru will still be there when we're done. But I want you to think about something before you go over there." She held K'lrsa's gaze with her own. "Badru is perfectly capable of knowing a situation is dangerous and still facing it. And just as you have every right to choose to risk your life, so does he."

  "Is Herin right? Will he die if he goes there?"

  "It doesn't matter. What matters is whether you love and trust him enough to let him make his own decision about this."

  "Not if he's wrong!"

  Lodie stared her down. "Tell me something. If he is going to die there and you only have a couple days left together, is this how you want to spend it? Avoiding each other? Arguing?"

  "If it would give us more time to
gether. Yes."

  "It won't. You won't change his mind on this." She leaned closer. "I've lived most of my life without the man I loved. And the last few days we spent together we weren't even speaking. I've regretted that every single day since."

  K'lrsa let out a deep sigh. She understood what Lodie was saying, but she wasn't sure she could actually listen to her advice.

  Lodie smiled as if she could read K'lrsa's mind. "You didn't listen to me when I warned you about going to the Daliphate, at least you could listen to me now."

  K'lrsa chewed her lip as she studied Badru.

  She wanted to know what the danger was in the Hidden City. And to tell Badru to stay if it really was going to cost him his life.

  But Lodie was right.

  If the situation were reversed and K'lrsa knew the risks and had made a decision, she wouldn't want Badru telling her not to make it.

  She turned back to Lodie. "Okay. I'll listen. This once."

  Lodie patted her on the arm and stepped aside.

  K'lrsa made her way across the cave and settled down in front of Badru. He was tensed, ready to fight.

  She smiled. "Don't worry. I'm not going to ask you to stay behind or ask what this danger is that could kill you but not me. Lodie's right. We shouldn't waste the time we have trying to avoid one another or fighting."

  He smiled back. "Good."

  "Well, then…Tell me something about yourself that I don’t know. Tell me about growing up in Toreem. Who raised you if your mother was gone? Herin?"

  "Oh no. Not Herin. And my mother would've never raised me even if she'd lived. The Daliph's children and grandchildren were raised by poradoma, the boys kept separate and trained in combat from the time they could toddle."

  "They were?"

  "Mmhm."

  He launched into a detailed description of the wing of the palace where the children lived, telling her about all his training, his childhood friends, his favorite and most hated poradoma, and the tricks he'd played on them.

  It was funny.

  But sad, too.

  Because Sayel—the man who'd befriended K'lrsa and ultimately given his life to save Badru—had been one of those poradom. And while she smiled to hear Badru tell how he'd snuck his way into the kitchens with Sayel's help, she was also reminded just how fragile life was.