The next day, Iryana trudged back through the abandoned city toward the fort. The buildings with their elaborate facades and colorful, chipping paint seemed to loom over her. The air around them seemed to swell with the pain of the past, of the horrors that had stalked these streets.
She had failed in today’s mission. The sack over her shoulder was too light.
She had seen the other soldiers heading back a while ago, their bags bursting. She was probably the last one to return. It was already mid-afternoon, hours after they had started their search early that morning. Her stomach was growling from having missed lunch.
When Darish had sent them into the city to look for forged tools, she hadn’t thought it would be difficult. After making her way through the third building, with only a horseshoe and a small chisel in her bag, she realized her disadvantage.
It had to be a common exercise; the others seemed to know exactly where to look, which buildings had already been cleared out. The whole team seemed disinterested in her. Except for Vaneshta, who was actively avoiding her.
Darish wasn’t going to be pleased with another failure. Perhaps he would kick her off his team, something she wasn’t sure she had time to recover from. It had been five weeks since the First shared the ultimatum with the Kleesolds, a month since she’d been at the fort. And she only had another week until she was supposed to meet Hadima again. She was running out of time, and everything was a mess.
Iryana trudged into the fort, through the utilitarian central square. It was dominated by large barrels of well water and soldiers handing out rations and supplies. Some children ran around between the workers, playing war games and mimicking sword forms. Through the gaps in the buildings, she could see farmers hurrying through the rest of the spring planting, filling the empty fields with turnips, barley, hemp, cabbage, and rye. Beyond them, sheep and cows filled the small pastures.
She turned down the wide, wood bricked road leading to the estate, her dragging footsteps muffled by the wood.
Iryana looked up just in time to see Vaneshta walking toward her. Her teammate raised a single brow at Iryana and then turned down another road, not even attempting conversation. Rejecting Vaneshta’s offer to help had been a big mistake.
Darish was supposed to be in the estate somewhere, but when Iryana entered the main hall, it was empty. The sky had been shrouded in clouds all day, and the dim light that made it through the tall windows didn’t vanish all the shadows.
In the far corner of the room, beside the dais, the door to the major’s study was partially open. The warm glow of lantern light seeped out. Darish was likely inside.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to admit her failure in front of Karvek.
Iryana walked between the empty tables, passing in and out of the rectangles of light laid across the room by the windows. She briefly considered leaving thefort then and there. It all seemed hopeless. But perhaps she was more stubborn than she’d thought, because Iryana didn’t turn around.
She knocked on the sturdy door as she peered inside. Karvek’s study was usually closed off, and she’d never seen inside.
Her heart was beating wildly.
Karvek stood at a great table in the center of his office. There was a sitting area to the left, and a wall of bookshelves on the far wall with a massive desk in front. The fabrics were fraying, but everything in the room was still grand. The wood was dark, still shining, the floor covered in hides and midnight-blue carpets.
Her eyes made their way back to Karvek, where he was watching her. His hands were braced on the table on either side of him. His hair was messy, as if he had been running his hands through it; his dark brown, gold-trimmed vest was partially unbuttoned.
Before him, the table was covered with maps and scraps of paper covered with scrawl.
She wasn’t sure why, but it felt like she was seeing something she shouldn’t be; that she should look away, retreat. But Karvek was now staring right at her, daring her to stay.
Iryana took a step into the room. “I’m looking for Darish.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I—”
“There was a reason I gave you that coin,” he cut her off, tilting his head. “We all have different purposes here, different strengths.”
Iryana frowned, trying to read him. “What are you saying?”
“You want to be one of my soldiers?” He leaned against the table, arms crossed. “Then prove you have what it takes.”
Her stomach dropped. “That’s what I’m doing. Or trying to.” And her failure that morning just put her one step further from that goal.
“By trying to impress Darish? Your team?” Karvek raised a brow. “It’s good to earn your place, but it isn’t the only way to help the 18th.”
Iryana stared at him. There was something about his posture, his expression. Like he was welcoming her to join him. To be bold. She felt challenged.
After setting her bag down by the door, Iryana grasped what confidence she could muster and walked all the way into the room, stopping at the edge of the table. “Then what are you suggesting?”
Karvek studied her, the lines of his face sharpening in the flicker of lantern light.
