‘Who’s asking?’ Ezer said.
‘Lordach,’ the knight grunted. He inspected her from head to toe and sighed. As if he were disappointed by what he saw.
But now her heart was racing. Because she knew what it was like when a summons came.
And there was only one person she knew that would bring a summons to her door. One person that had packed his bags and traveled north on a recruiting wagon, two years ago.
‘Read it,’ the knight said.
And pushed a worn scroll into her hands.
King Draybor Laroux’s sigil – a set of eagle wings topped by an arch of five small crowns – sealed the back.
Her legs felt weak. Her stomach was going to turn itself inside out, right here on the tower floor.
She opened the scroll and began to read:
Ezer of Rendegard, Ravenminder, has-
She glanced up, eyes widening.
The Sacred Knight only staredpast her, studying the birds.
So, she went back to the scroll and read it hungrily.
Ezer of Rendegard, Ravenminder, has been legally drafted into the service of the Lordachian Army on this 12th Godsday of Avane’s Month.
‘What …’ Ezer breathed out.
‘You’ve been drafted.’
‘But … I’m already in service here.’ She doubted he knew about the mountain of debt. ‘I can’t justleave.’
‘You can, and you will.’
She crossed her arms. ‘Says who? I’m contracted to work for the prison master until …’
She wasn’t certain exactly whenuntilwas.
The Sacred shrugged. ‘Your contract is paid off. Your mission is elsewhere now. It’s time to go.’
Her heart began to beat faster as she realized what that all meant.
‘The prison mastersold me?’ she asked, breathless. ‘Thatbastard.’
Heat rushed through her. For two years he’d kept her here, pocketing all the money for her work, only to accept payment for shipping her off to the warfront. To the place where everyone met death.
‘Your last Ravenminder,’ Ezer asked. ‘What was their name?’
‘It is not my duty to answer your questions,’ said the Sacred. But as he stared at her, he sighed and said, ‘He said his name was Ervos.’
She could have sworn the floor fell out from beneath her feet.
‘Tall man, red hair, booming voice?’ Ezer asked.
‘If memory recalls.’
Gods.
