“Answer me!” Soros screamed in the man’s face.
The man flinched, his sweat-soaked black hair dripping down the side of his neck as he closed his eyes. Soros’s men surrounded them, leaning in to get a better look at the cypher.
“He can’t speak with your arm at his throat,” Rydon barked.
A rustling behind him made Rydon turn his head, and he saw the men parting to let someone through. Terena pushed her way to the front with the rest of their friends close behind her.
“Are you all right?” Rydon asked, at her side in two strides as he lightly gripped her elbow. She nodded, her eyes heavy as she blinked up at him.
“I’m fine,” she whispered.
“What happened? Where’d the wolves come from?” Croak asked, looking between Rydon and Soros at the young man held against the tree.
Soros kneed the cypher viciously in the gut. He fell, and the captain called out for some rope.
“Caught ourselves a fucking cypher,” Soros said, flashing a crazed smile at Terena. “And a good one, too. He can call on wolves. Let’s find out what other animals he can control.”
The captain tied the man’s wrist, and the cypher cried out when Soros yanked his broken arm back to tie the other.
Terena moved forward, her steps halting.
“That’s not necessary. His arm’s already broken. Secure it to his chest until we get to camp. He’s not going anywhere,” she said, one hand out as if to stop Soros. “Tie the rope to his good hand and hold it if it makes you feel better.”
Soros shot her a disgruntled look but did as she said. Terena crouched down in front of the cypher. Rydon watched them closely as Terena and the young man stared at one another. Something flashed in the cypher’s eyes like recognition.
After an endless moment, Terena reached out and the cypher flinched. Looking into his eyes, her fingers cupped the amulet at his chest. She looked down at it for a long time, then back at the young man.
“Artemis has blessed you,” she said, and a hush fell through the group.
The cypher stared back at her, fear and frustration warring across his youthful face.
Terena regarded him for so long, Rydon opened his mouth to say something. Tearing the amulet from the cypher’s neck, Terena watched when he cried out as if she’d punched him in the belly. His face crumpled, and he screwed his eyes shut tight, sobbing, and hung his head.
Terena rose slowly to her feet and Rydon moved closer, worried she might still be weakened.
As she looked down at the cypher, Terena tied the amulet around her neck and tucked the stone beneath her tunic. The amber glow faded until the jewel was an ordinary orange color.
Looking around the small clearing at everyone gathered, Terena leveled a look at Soros. “He comes with us. And no one is to touch him until Hermes catches up.”
Chapter 25
ERMANEL
Lerek sat on the cold ground, the grass spiky from the winter frost. He swore under his breath as he brushed some twigs off his breeches. Settling once more, he pulled his legs up to rest his arms on his knees and gazed out at the silent stream, his mind calming after a day filled with revelations.
He knew Sonah had been hiding something when he’d questioned her, but he’d no idea it was anything like what the Imperial Guard had shared. When Captain Xoran had caught up to them, Lerek had questioned him, too. The news was the same; Terena was a god. And according to Xoran, in love with the Liodari commander.
That Terena had hidden her true nature from him rankled. And he’d thought of the many times over the years he’d reasoned away things that now made sense. How fast she moved. Her strength. Her fighting skills that had nothing to do with her father, the previous Captain of the Imperial Guard.
What bothered him the most, though, and what kept him from sleep, was her relationship with Daris Antonius.
Lerek sighed and lay back, hands clasped at his stomach as he gazed up at the sky between the swaying branches high above. Many times he’d sat companionably with the Commander of the Liodari and thought him a good man, a strong leader. They’d formed a relationship of sorts over the months he’d been in Sparta, and Lerek had even looked forward to the times they’d sit together playing Tavli and talking about everything.
But they’d only spoken of Terena once.
Lerek recalled that evening, when Daris had dined with Lerek in his rooms shortly after their arrival in Sparta. It had been Daris who’d asked about her. Lerek had dismissed it as idle curiosity about the woman who was to be executed the day the Liodari had spirited him and the firstborns out of the White Palace.
Not wanting to share the depths of his feelings for Terena with the Liodari commander, Lerek had denied their relationship. He’d even pretended ignorance about knowing Ren as anything other than his father’s Royal Tracker. Daris had stared back at him long and hard, but made no comment. Soon after, they’d moved on to another topic.
