“Good girl.” Auriel’s jaw clenched, his gaze searing into mine. “So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to get up, andwe’re going to calmly head to the door. We’re going to remain safe tonight, and stay alive—both of us. We’re going to go find him, but we need to be alive to do so. All right? Are you with me?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, and nodded. I was with him. But that didn’t make my decision any easier. If the akadim won— we’d have minutes before sunset, before all the fallen soturi rose again as monsters. And if the soturi somehow won—I’d heard horror stories of soldiers after battle. Finding women, and going into a frenzy. It wasn’t hard to imagine Ka Kormac in those shoes. I’d heard enough about them, and experienced enough myself to already know that a battle wasn’t needed to make them act like that. And there was only one woman here.
Me.
I wasn’t afraid of them anymore—they’d never hold that power over me again. But that didn’t mean the threat they posed wasn’t real.
I stood from the table, and tightened my belt, checking that all of my weapons were in place. My stave neatly tucked into the scabbard Rhyan gave me. And the straps of the sword belt carrying the shard were secure across my back and shoulders.
“Put your hood up,” Auriel commanded, taking my hand. “We’re going to run when we get out there. Away from the fight. As far as we can get.” His eyes locked onto mine. “Ready?”
“Ready,” I said.
We headed for the door, taking quick, measured steps, and immediately turned away from the fight, walking briskly from the town, back toward the woodland. The sun was setting rapidly, the sky darkening with every step we took. The trees loomed overhead, not far from us now.
Auriel picked up speed and I matched, my calves burning. The hill had begun to slope up, the incline growing steeper. We passed by two lone suntrees, their trunks thick. They’d grownapart from the rest of the woodland. And in the fading light, their golden leaves had turned bronze. Auriel shifted, his stride pushing just ahead of me.
Just as I was about to pick up my pace, I was hauled back as someone grabbed me. Foreign hands wrapped around my waist. I screamed. Without hesitating, I pushed out of the hold, scrambling to break free, but I was caught again and fell onto my ass, knowing only that the hands that grabbed me weren’t akadim.
“Get the fuck off her!” Auriel snapped, already rushing back, brandishing his sword.
“Came back for what’s mine,” said the soldier.
It took me a second to recognize the soturion who’d caught me. But once I heard his high-pitched voice I knew. The rider from this morning—the one we’d left unconscious at the top of the hill.
And sure enough, his friend emerged from the edge of the woodland, right where we were heading.
“Finally came to,” he said.
The two ashvan we’d stolen were still waiting in the woods. Grazing right beside the soturion. With a snarl, he rushed at Auriel.
My soturion dragged me to my feet, his knife at my throat.
“Been looking for you,” my captor crooned, shaking his head. He pressed the blade harder, and I sucked in a breath, feeling the pressure intensify. But I remembered his knife was dull—and I’d left it behind. Had it been sharpened, he would have sliced me open with the way he was pressing it into me. But even so, he could still do unthinkable damage. And the position I was in meant I couldn’t reach for any of my weapons—not if I didn’t want to get hurt.
Auriel’s sword met the other soturion’s. It wouldn’t take him long to win the fight. But then my captor yelled out again.
“Submit. Or I cut her throat.”
Auriel froze, eyeing us carefully, his neck turning red. Nostrils flaring, he dropped his blade, his hands up in surrender.
“Don’t hurt her,” he said, just as the other soturion picked it up and grabbed hold of him, forcing his head back. The soturion’s lips curled as he drew Auriel’s blade along his collarbone.
I tried to calm my breathing. The soturi weren’t a true threat to us. We could get out of this—even if we got injured—we’d survive. But our ability to keep our identities secret could be compromised. How much fucking danger were we in? It was bad enough being in Korteria—but with all these rumors about New Korteria, and my aunt’s further betrayal, I had a bad feeling.
Auriel’s chest heaved, and he scowled, trying to keep his eyes on me. I could see it in his expression. He wasn’t going to play their game much longer.
“You idiots. You should have flown,” my soturion said proudly. “All we had to do was track the hoof prints. And what did we find? Our stupid ashvan, all wandering and lost in the woodland. And then, coming right back to us, our new little toy.” He jerked his hips from behind me.
Auriel growled. But all I could see was red. If Auriel’s patience was lost, mine had combusted.
“Let her go,” Auriel shouted. “There’s no fucking time for this. Akadim are attacking your men in the square.”
“Our men? Not yours?” his soturion asked.
Auriel gritted his teeth. “They’re being attacked right now!”
“Is that so? And you two were what?” his soturion asked. “Running away from your duties? Fleeing? Never faced one before now, have you?”
