“Discomfort,” I scoffed. “I’vemaimedyou. Your words.” My thoughts turned to Tio, and a new roaring wave of regret crashed over me. Tio was a good person, one of the best hearts I’d ever met. He hadn’t deserved the brutal injury inflicted upon him. IfI’d known which soldiers had done it, I would have hunted them down. I started to suspect Dae fell in that category too, one that didn’t deserve what had been done to him. Which meant that I was no better than the monsters that hurt Tio.
“Maimed? Nah. You’ve just left your mark on me, that’s all.” His lips twisted in that wicked way again, like he was too pleased with himself for cracking a joke. I tried not dwelling on how endearing he was.
“Now, every time you look down, you’ll be reminded of our time together. Aw,” I mocked.
“If anyone asks though, I’ll tell them I survived an encounter against Taia, the Forest Goddess herself,” he spoke with false marvel in his voice.
I chuckled. “I told you I was the Sky Goddess, remember?”
He straightened, then said on a relaxed exhale, “Close enough. I went with the one most likely to carry arrows.”
The light in the sky dimmed to a purple-blue. My body cried with exhaustion, but Dae hadn’t slowed his pace once, so I sure as hell wasn’t going to ask for a break. If he could tough it out, so could I.
In the distance, a faint trail of smoke lifted toward the darkening horizon.
“We’re here,” Dae said, his tone and face grimly set. For the first time in literally hours, he stopped.
All my muscles tensed, ignoring the weariness that craved sitting down and resting for days. “Now what?” I asked, almost breathlessly. The moment of truth. My fingers prepared to reach for the bow across my back. If Dae made a move to betray me, Iwouldn’t hesitate. I couldn’t. Too many people depended on me making it out of this kingdom alive.
“I’m not sure who’s here. I’m going to get a better vantage point,” he said before composing himself to the best of his abilities to creep silently into the trees.
“I’m coming with you,” I blurted out. I didn’t wait for him to confirm or reject my statement, only followed swiftly behind.
He didn’t say anything, as if it took all his concentration to quiet his steps, to gain control over the broken parts of his body that no doubt screamed for him to rest. The sky faded to the deepest shades of blue, freckled with bright stars by the time we scaled the slight elevation. They must have picked this spot for an outpost because the landscape formed a wall.
Sequestered behind a cluster of trees, we gained a view of the campfire down below. I nearly sobbed when I beheld what they’d done.
Alba had been tied to a post, both of her wrists held above her head, secured with rope. Her entire left side was drenched in blood beneath where the knife still protruded from her abdomen. A calming rage filled me, heating my skin as if a fire had been kindled beneath. All memory of soreness or exhaustion faded from existence, my vision becoming predatorial, taking in every detail of the group of three sitting before the flames.
“There was a fourth with them today,” I whispered.
“He must be in his tent.”
“I’m going to tear their throats out with my bare hands.” Speaking of which wouldn’t stop trembling, but I would use each vibration to tear them apart.
“Ro…” Dae might as well have slapped me in the face for how tenderly he said my name. “You’re outnumbered.”
“I don’t care. I’m getting her out of there.” My bottom lip quivered as I returned my gaze to Alba. Her skin held a sheen of sweat, her head propped against her raised arm. She barelylooked conscious, her eyelids fluttering sporadically. She’d lost a lot of blood, too much blood.
“Ro. They’re not going to let her go.”
Spears of anger flew from my eyes to his. “You said you would help.”
“Look at her.”
I couldn’t bring myself to do it, my eyes turning glassy as I watched him. “What are you saying?”
“They’ve incapacitated her. She’s easy prey, and the one thing standing between them and death. I’ve tried coming up with a scenario in which I convince them, or we trick them, or distract them. But with my leg, and the number of them with your limited arrows…”
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from screaming at the heavens. “So what, we just let them take her?” A tear slipped free.
“Ro, if they take her back, if she manages to survive the trip, she’ll wish she had remained tied at this campfire. What they will do to her will be painful, and long, and they’ll siphon her magic and arm their soldiers. That’s why, under no circumstances, can I let you try to save her. They’ll do the same to you.”
I wanted to scream, and cry, and throw up all at the same time. I’d failed her.
Dae told me what members of The Order do to their own people, let alone their enemies. If I had fire magic, I’d raze this entire forest, then I’d return to Windguard’s castle and do the same. But I had no such magic. I was just a woman with a bow. A woman who carried the fate of her entire camp on her shoulders. A woman who had been betrayed and blackmailed, who had been consumed by rage. But all that had done was lead me here, to this horrific nightmare scene before me. Alba deservedcompassion, and my heart cleaved in half over what I knew I had to do.
In a steady, smooth motion, I gripped my bow and withdrew a single arrow. I could have sworn even the wind held its breath as I pulled the arrow back, string taut, hand level with my eyes. My lungs filled with the dull humidity of a sleeping and terrified forest. The last inhale I would take with my soul intact.
