Of course.I’m on her back moments later.
“Make sure Elowen gets you stitched up.” Rauk’s words aren’t loud, but I hear them anyway.
I look down at his back. He’s walking through the bodies on the ground. “I really am sorry.” He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t turn around.Let’s go, Red.We’re in the air moments later. I turnaround and look over my shoulder, but both Rauk and Thorne are just tiny specks after a few moments. Noxlyn joins us in the sky, and we fly back to the city walls and soar over them. It’s a silent ride back to the castle. When we get there, Red lands on the landing area, and Nox lands right next to us.Thank you,I tell her before climbing off her.
Will you be okay?
Yeah.I open the door and head inside. When I turn back, I watch the two of them fly away. Something tugs at my insides, but I ignore it. I walk to my room and push open the door. Closing the door, I lean my head against it and give myself this moment to be weak. I squeeze my eyes shut as I think of the bodies, of the guy that lost his life because he was trying to help me by accompanying me.
I stay in my room for an hour or two, but the quiet eventually drives me to the kitchen. I’m not really hungry, but I need the distraction. I push open the door and walk in but halt at the expression on Elowen’s face. “Harper!” she gasps and then walks towards me. “What happened?”
I curse myself for forgetting about the blood on my forehead. “Nothing. I just—” I can’t think of anything fast enough. It doesn’t matter anyway because I can tell she doesn’t believe me. She puts her hands on my shoulders, even though I’m taller than she is, and directs me over to a chair at the table.
“Sit while I get you cleaned up.”
“You don’t need to—”
“Sit,” she orders, cutting me off. I obey, and she grabs a cloth and wets it. “Let’s get this cleaned up first.” She dabs at the cuton my face, and I wince. “Nothing, huh?” I don’t say anything. She works on my face for a little bit and then tips it this way and that. “I don’t think it needs to be stitched up.” She drops the now bloodied cloth into a bowl and then sits back against her chair. “Now.What happened?”
Chapter 25
I drop my head as all the events from the past few hours roll through my mind. “I messed up.” She pats my hand, and while I appreciate it, it doesn’t make it any easier. I finally cave and tell her everything. When I get to the part about the guys with black and three white marks on their cheeks, her face drains of color.
“Northerners,” she whispers.
That’s the second time I’ve heard that term today. “Who are they?” She shakes her head, her eyes wide. Her reaction doesn’t do anything to ease my own lingering fear from today. “Please, just tell me. Who are the Northerners?”
But it’s not Elowen that answers me. “Enemies of our kingdom, who would like nothing better than to kill every man, woman, and child in our kingdom.”
I turn my head and see Rauk standing just a few feet away. How he moves like that without anybody hearing him, I will never know. “Why?” I ask him.
He studies my face for a moment. I have no idea what it ishe’s looking for. “You saw how violent they were today. They’re a people group to the North of us. They’re cruel and violent and our greatest enemies. We’ve been locked in a battle with them for the last several decades, but lately they’ve been getting bolder.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Simply put—they want what’s ours.”
I take all this in. “What about the other men, the men they killed?”
“They're our enemies from the South, the Southmerians. They're not as deadly as the Northerners, but they mess with our supply trades routes, steal our goods. The more dangerous threat are the Northerners.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing, where you’ve been going?”
“Yes. Every time either group gets close, we move out to keep them from getting any closer to our walls. Sometimes, they leave; sometimes, we fight. Sometimes, we wage war for weeks at a time.”
Suddenly, so many things make sense. I sit back in my chair. “That’s why you won’t fight with the other kingdoms against the guivres.”
“I have my own battles to face; they have to deal with their own battles.”
The anger I’ve been trying to keep at bay starts creeping in again. “So, you just stay in your little kingdom up here and let the Wolf Kingdom and the Jaguar Kingdom fall to the guivres.”
Those dark eyes meet mine. “Did you miss what happened today, or do I need to remind you?”
“I didn’t miss any of it.” I shove my chair back in anger. “Youare so stubborn!”
He snorts. “Look in the mirror.”
“You can’t just stand by and watch as the other kingdoms are taken over by the guivres.”
