I ignore him and face Thorne. “We can fight; we’re good. We’ve trained to take down guivres; this will be even easier.”
“I said no.” Rauk’s harsh voice whips through the room.
I turn to him, but before I can say a word, he storms out of the room. The other guy that came with Thorne follows him. Thorne turns to me. “Auri, let’s get out of this room until the men get things taken care of,” Elowen says quietly. She pushes Auri from the room, leaving me in the bedroom with two dead guys and Thorne.
“They came right here tonight. They knew to come here for Auri,” Thorne says, his voice hard. “They know that she’s the key to getting the kingdom. They take Auri, they will have Rauk right where they want him.”
I stare up at him, feeling sick. “It’s my fault. I started taking her outside.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t go down that road. You don’t know that. Rauk’s always thought he could keep her safe by keeping her hidden.” He shakes his head sadly. “That was never going to work. I’m sure they’ve known about her for a while.”
I take in his words. “We can protect her. Keep guards on her twenty-four seven.”
Thorne stares at me for a long moment. “As long as she’s here, she’s a threat to our entire kingdom because she controls the heart of the king. Rauk will never leave his people behind tofight on their own.” He seems to be waiting on something, and it finally dawns on me.
“You want me to take Auri away.”
He stares down at me with one eye. “I never asked that.”
I nod, understanding where he’s at with all this. “You never asked me. It was all my idea.”
He lowers his voice. “But if you were to take her away, you’d have to do it when he doesn’t know, so he can’t stop you. And you’d have to go somewhere safe.”
My heartbeat is picking up again. “The Wolf Kingdom,” I say softly.
“Do you know the way?”
I do,Redara says in my head, letting me know she’s been paying close attention to our conversation.
“Redara does,” I tell him.
“She can’t tell Noxlyn,” he warns in a low voice.
Redara?
I won’t,comes her response.
“She won’t,” I tell him.
He stares down at me. “You will be doing our kingdom a great service; we won’t forget. Don’t tell me when you’re going to go. Don’t tell Elowen; don’t tell anyone. And you can’t let Rauk get even an inkling of an idea of what you’re planning.”
I take a breath. “I won’t.”
He nods. “Be safe.”
“You too.”
And then he’s gone. Not wanting to stay in the room with the dead men, I quickly follow. My mind is a whirlwind as Iwalk down the long hallway toward the main room. In the main room, several guards have gathered. Rauk is giving orders. I start towards my room, wanting to be alone with my thoughts; but Rauk stops me. “Harper, don’t go to your room yet; it hasn’t been checked.” He talks to the soldier in front of him and then turns to me. “I’ll go check it.” He walks ahead of me, and I follow. When we get to my room, he pulls out his halberd and looks over at me.Wait,he mouths. Then he pushes the door open. When I’m certain nobody is going to jump out, I follow him in. “I told you to wait,” he growls at me.
“I did.”
He checks every possible hiding spot, and I’m grateful. “Pack a bag.”
I turn to him in question. “What?”
“We can’t stay here tonight; it’s been compromised. We’re going to another place tonight. We’ll get things fixed tomorrow, so we can stay here tomorrow night hopefully.”
A thousand questions flood my mind, but I’m sort of numb right now. So, I grab a bag and pack a few items. I’m ready minutes later. I follow him wordlessly out to the main room. “Auri and I are packed,” Elowen says as she comes to stand with us.
