Shadow's Voice

by Natalie Johanson

  “I travel alone.”

  “I know,” Nico stated with such confidence Rose frowned at him. There was a look in his eyes, a knowledge that made Rose hesitate for a second.

  “I don’t know you.” Rose said instead, and turned away. She resumed her trek down the road and when the slow sound of clopping horse hooves started Rose groaned. She slid her eyes to her right and saw Nico walking even with her. She glared at him, but he merely grinned back and continued to walk, his horse following behind.

  Rose ignored him for most of the day. She wasn’t sure what annoyed her more: his presence or his silence. Or, as the sun was cresting past high noon, that she began to enjoy the comforting sounds of another person.

  The sun started its downward dip and Rose’s stomach growled. Nico held an apple in front of her and Rose grumbled to herself before taking the apple. “Thank you.”

  “Why are you alone?”

  Rose bit into the apple. She spoke around the fruit in her mouth. “Why are you?”

  Nico chuckled softly and didn’t answer the question, sensing Rose didn’t care for an answer. “I’m traveling southwest for the capitol. I have business with the king. You’re welcome to come along as long as you wish.”

  Rose finished off the apple and tossed the core into the bush. “Why didn’t you stay longer in town?”

  She felt Nico’s eyes on her, but she watched the road in front of her.

  “If you’re so deprived of conversation and company . . . why did you leave so quickly?”

  Nico sighed. “A . . . situation . . . presented itself.”

  Rose watched him with wary eyes before turning back to the road. She had no intention of staying with him. She worked alone, traveled alone, lived alone. It was how she stayed safe. How she ensured her secrets stayed secret. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her short coat, content to resume the walk of silence, when movement in the woods to her left made her pause. Rose searched the tree line and saw nothing. Ahead of her, Nico paused and turned back to her.

  Rose dropped her eyesight into the shadows, let her magic fill her eyes. She looked through the darkness, saw everything touched by shadow.

  “What’s wrong?” Nico called to her.

  Rose searched further into the woods. Something was there, something . . . different. She didn’t know what it was or how to describe it, but there was something.

  Nico stopped next to her, watching the forest. “Are there two of them?”

  Rose ground her teeth. “Who is hunting you?” She found two strangers riding slowly through the woods, their features distorted by the intermittent light streaming through the canopy.

  Nico was stiff beside her. “We need to leave.”

  Rose dropped the magic from her eyes and whirled on Nico, her fist wrapped around her dagger. “What have you gotten me into?”

  Nico looked at her with eyes that seemed to know too much. “Nothing you can’t handle. But we need to leave. Now.”

  Rose heard the urgency in his voice. The tightness between his eyes and the strain in his shoulders. She knew that urgency. Questions could wait until later. “Fine.”

  Nico ran for his horse and leaped on it with practiced ease. Rose raced after him and gripped his offered arm which pulled her into the saddle. Rose barely had her arms around his waist when he kicked the horse into a gallop to the tree line. It took all of Rose’s concentration to stay in the saddle as the horse skipped over the uneven ground.

  Nico eventually slowed but continued to weave through the thick forest. Rose shifted and groaned. Dusk had arrived during their mad dash through the trees and the crickets were starting up again.

  “Tell me,” she demanded in a hushed voice. She’d been hunted enough in her life to know when she saw that fear on someone else. She’d done enough hunting herself. Nico was being hunted.

  “Mercenaries,” was Nico’s short response.

  “Why?”

  “That’s complicated.”

  Rose ground her teeth.

  “I’m sorry. I never meant for you to be involved in this. But if you’d stayed—”

  “I know,” Rose cut him off. “I would have been in as much danger if they found me alone on the road. I know.”

  Nico was quiet, and Rose sighed. Those few weeks of peace had been so nice.

  “There should be a road, a day’s travel maybe, south of us. If we get to that road, we should be safe to part, and you’ll have a well-traveled road to follow to wherever you’re going.”

  Rose would rather jump off this horse and go her own way right now, but she knew it was better not to. A populated road was safer, and the horse was faster. “Fine.”

  “I know—”

  “No more talking,” Rose snapped. “Please, just . . . no more talking.”

  Nico nodded slowly. They rode silently as the sun continued its downward dip. Nico’s back stayed rigid and Rose’s teeth clenched hard enough to give herself a headache. Only once the sun dipped past the horizon and darkness fell did Nico stop in a small clearing. They were deep in the woods, and the thick trees blocked nearly all of the moon’s glow. Rose dropped into her magic, and the world came alive in the darkness. The world was alight in gray and blue hues. Rose always loved the night the most. Her magic worked in the shadows cast by light, but at night everything was dark. It opened a whole new world to her.

  Rose slipped off the back of the horse and groaned at how stiff she was. She wandered over to a tree, dropped her pack with a sigh, and leaned against the trunk. Nico watched her while slowly pulling the saddle from his horse.

  “How are they tracking you?”

  Nico sighed and grunted as he dropped the saddle. “I think one of them is a Tracer.”

  “Shit,” Rose swore softly.

  “It is the only explanation for how they keep finding me. I have been doing this for a long time and never have I been tracked this easily.”

  “A real one? Are you sure? They are very rare.”

  Nico walked over to her, tripped on a root, and fell onto the ground, where he stayed with a disgruntled look. “No, I am not sure. But I believe so. How familiar are you with Tracers?”

  Rose rubbed her face. “Their magic works by tracking a part of you, like hair or clothes. Once they have that,” Rose shrugged. “They’ll follow you until the coin runs out.”

  “Does their magic have a limit?”

  “I’ve never met one with a limit and only one who can track without a Tool.” Rose sighed and slid down to the ground. “Now tell me why they are hunting you.”

  Nico rubbed his mouth. In the darkness, with her magic, Rose could see every frown line on his face. “I told you earlier I have business with the king.”

  “That doesn’t answer my question.”

  “That’s the best answer you’ll have unless you’re going to swear an oath of silence and come with me. This is king’s business. And it’s more important than either of our lives.”

  Rose grunted and folded her arms. “I have enough secrets; I don’t need yours.”

  “I know.”

  Rose palmed her dagger again and glared at the man, even though he couldn’t see it. “Why?” she hissed. “How do you know, what do you know? You keep saying that. I don’t know you, so how do you know so much?”

  Nico scooted back to lean against his own tree. He was close enough if she stretched her dagger would reach. Keeping her magic in her eyes was making her a headache worse, her eyes were starting to hurt, but until she knew this man’s story she wasn’t going to drop her advantage.

  “I am an officer in the Light Horse. Have you heard of us?”

  “No.”

  “We carry messages for the king. Sometimes we carry out special assignments because a lot of us have abilities, magic
.”

  Rose snorted. “Special assignments from the king? Magic folk?”

  “Haven is not like the other provinces. We aren’t scorned and hated like in the eastern provinces. We are valued by the king.”

  “We? And what magic do you have?”

  “I can see and give memories.”

  Rose stiffened. “See . . . memories? How?”

  Nico turned to her. “By touch.”

  Rose rolled onto the balls of her feet, pulled her dagger free, and held it low at her side. “My memories?”

  “Wait! Before you react, wait.” Nico raised his hands at her. “I did not intend to see your memories. Sometimes it happens without my control.”

  Rose stood and took a step back. Nico stood but didn’t follow.

  “You should come with me. Come to the castle with me and see what it is like, to live somewhere people accept you. You could find a place with the Light Horse.”

  “And be hunted by mercenaries the whole way?”

  “You know more about Tracers than I do. I need your help. And I think,” he paused, and Rose waited in her slow retreat. “I think I could help you.”

  Rose shook her head and took another step back. “No. There is no stopping a Tracer once they’re tracking you unless you destroy their Tool.”

  “Tool? See, I didn’t know they use a Tool.”

  “You’re using me. That’s all this was. You saw my memories and you’re using me to save your own hide. I don’t need your help.”

  “No, that’s not. . . . No!” Nico took a step. “I honestly was just checking on you. And then I saw . . . I thought to help only. You could be happy, I think, with the Light Horse.”

  “You think because you saw some memories you now know me? You don’t know me.”

  “We could help protect you,” he paused while he seemed to consider his words. “From your father. We always take care of our own.”

  Rose heard her pulse in her ears and her hand shook. She took a deep breath, her rage and fear making the sound sharp, and dropped into the shadows. “You have no right to those secrets,” she hissed at him and hid in the world between worlds. The cool mists in her tunnels helped to calm the rage heating her skin. She wanted to scream.

  She brought her hands to her head and let out a long breath that ended in a groan. She just wanted to be left alone. She wanted her past to stay in the past. She walked through the dark tunnels. The mist swirled around her legs and brushed across her cheeks.

  Her head hurt. Her eyes ached. She stepped out of the shadows and into the darkened world. The pounding in her head increased once Rose dropped her magic, and an ache started in her shoulders. In the morning, once Nico was on his way, Rose would need to back track to find her pack and be on her own. She was too impulsive sometimes.

  “I always travel alone,” she muttered before closing her eyes and tucking her arm under her head.

  Her eyes snapped open, her heart in her throat and pulse loud in her ears. Rose strained to hear what had woken her. It was still dark, very dark, so she doubted much time had passed. A sound echoed through the night, but it was soft and too quiet to hear details. Rose dropped her eyes into her magic and winced at the sharp pain that shot across her temple. She ignored the pain and pushed through the darkness.

  Rose stretched her senses through the dark. She heard a squirrel claw its way up a tree and heard the flap of an owl’s wings. The press of sound was overwhelming. Rose clenched her teeth against the pain and onslaught of sensations and focused. Slowly, she started picking up sounds of shouting, a clash of steel, and a whinny of a horse. She followed the sounds to their source.

  Nico, back in that small clearing, was limping backward with his sword held defensively in front of him. A strange man paced back and forth in front of Nico, a sword held in one hand and a dagger in the other.

  It is not my problem, she thought to herself and started to pull back, but stopped. When did she become this callous? She’d done terrible things in her past, more to stay hidden from her father, but when did that make her soulless? She watched Nico struggle to stay on his feet. He had been kind to her, had tried to help her, and Rose had been about to leave him to his death. When had she become so cold?

  Rose growled at herself and dropped into the mists of her shadows. She would not let herself become that person. Her head pounded, and Rose grit her teeth against the ache. It was a few quick steps through the darkness and Rose was back in the clearing with Nico and the mercenary.

  Rose stayed in the shadows, a shapeless form flowing in the darkness, looking and waiting. Two were following Nico but only one was here. Where was the other?

  “Where is it?”

  Nico shook his head and adjusted the grip on his blade.

  “The information you stole, where is it?” the man sneered. “I’m killing you either way, but if you could save me the time of hunting down any partners you have . . .”

  The man raised his sword, and Rose saw her moment. She emerged from the shadows, saw stars as the pain in her head exploded, and kicked out hard with her foot. The clearing echoed with the man’s scream as her foot crashed into his knee.

  “Rose—”

  “Run, now!” she yelled.

  Nico turned to do just that, but his leg gave out and he sunk to his knee with a groan. Rose groaned and rushed to him. She pulled at his arm, tried to pull it over her shoulder, when shuffling sounded behind her. Rose tried to turn but Nico shoved her to the ground. She landed with a grunt, the rocks digging into her shoulder. Nico cried out above her, and when Rose turned, the mercenary had his dagger buried in Nico’s chest.

  Nico sagged, his grip on the mercenary’s wrist loosened. Rose gripped the rock under her shoulder and surged upward with it. She put all her strength and momentum behind the rock and slammed it into the man’s face. He fell with a thud and Nico crumpled to the ground.

  Rose dropped the rock, her breath coming fast and sharp. She sank down next to Nico, her hands shaking as they moved to the dagger still buried in his chest.

  “Why?” she hissed at him. “Why did you do that?”

  “Was going to . . . kill you,” he gasped at her.

  “You shouldn’t have saved me.” Tears gathered in her eyes. This man was dying because of her. He didn’t know her, didn’t owe her anything, and now he was dying because of her.

  “Everyone deserves . . . to be . . . saved,”

  “Not everyone,” Rose whimpered. “Not me.”

  “Even you.” His voice was wet, his breath was haggard and fast. “You reminded me . . . of someone . . . worth saving.”

  Rose sighed, and tears slipped down her cheek.

  “Please go to castle,” he panted. “Please finish . . . my . . . assignment.”

  “I don’t—”

  Nico touched his hand to the side of her face and her words died in her throat.

  The moon and forest vanished from her sight and were replaced by the bright sun and a dirty alley squished between to rickety buildings. She could feel the sun on her shoulders and smell the grunge. Her vision moved to the left and she glimpsed the Penish flag in the square. Her legs moved, and she found herself walking down the alley. She came to a corner and she put her hand on the wall before peeking around the corner. However, the hand that was on the wall was not hers. It was thick, broad, and calloused, and Rose recognized the cuff of Nico’s coat at the wrist.

  Rose peeked around the corner through Nico’s eyes and saw a man hidden by a hooded cloak speaking with a man, dressed in rich cloth. Rose could hear Nico’s heart pounding in her ears and had to concentrate on the men’s voices.

  “Why do you need me?”

  The well-dressed man shifted his weight on his feet. “We need you to kill the king. Our last man didn’t get close.”

/>   “What’s in it for me?” the hooded figure growled.

  “My master would pay you handsomely.”

  “Money isss not enough,” hissed the other man. “He is well guarded. It will be difficult to just get close to him. Your own man has already failed. Money will not make it worth my time.”

  Rose frowned at the memory. The man’s words, his accent . . . it was off.

  “If not money, then what?”

  The hooded man rasped a laugh. “You wish me to give you a throne and your master thinks mere gold is all I’ll require?”

  Nico’s hand fell away from her face and the sun filled alley disappeared into the dark forest. Rose was panting and blinking as her eyes adjusted.

  What in all the hells . . . She cursed to herself and tried to take a breath.

  He grunted and ended up coughing. “There’s more . . . no time. Have been more attempts . . . but this. . . .”

  “This is different?”

  “Yes.” His voice was soft, and Rose didn’t expect he had long left. She recognized the rattle that preceded death.

  “Find a home,” he panted, “and tell Mariah I’m sorry.”

  Rose pressed her lips together against a sob. Nico was silent, and Rose sent a short prayer to the gods for him.

  Rose swallowed and felt a moment of envy so strong tears ran along her cheeks. If she ever went missing, there was never anyone left behind to care. She didn’t make ties so people wouldn’t search her out. Marg was the closest thing to a friend Rose had made in years. What must it feel like to know someone was missing you?

  Feeling around his pockets, Rose pulled out the few bits of coin he had. Groans made Rose jerk and spin around to face the fallen mercenary. “Shit . . .” she cursed softly and reached for her forgotten pack. “All right.” Rose spoke quietly to the angry horse as she walked up to him.

  The horse puffed a great breath through his nose, and his ears perked up.