Sebastian frowned. “It’s a big risk for him to come himself, but then it was a big risk to let me go.” He mounted his own valmare – a strong-looking chestnut. “I can hope.”
Kara nodded, and together they turned their mares towards Rooksnest.
And rode.
Tobias Thorne left Vallenna City at sunset.
The Council had summoned him that morning, the moment he arrived. To explain how Sebastian had managed to escape his supposedly impenetrable Keep. It had been tense, to say the least. Evelyn had made scathing accusations, Merrick had been furious at Thorne’s ‘incompetence’, Elias had tried to read him with his damn emotion magic. Tobias had shut that down.
You are not disappointed he escaped.
That’s what the Lyran had said. And it was true. Of course he wasn’t. But Tobias had spun a careful web of lies about how he’d underestimated Sebastian’s skill, that climbing that tower shouldn’t have been possible. He’d told them that he hadn’t been able to sleep with his son bound under his roof, how a father’s grief and struggle with dutyhad driven him from the Keep to a southern garrison. The delay in discovering the escape, in communicating it to the Council, had been unfortunate but understandable.
Some of them didn’t believe him.
But they couldn’t prove it.
And none of them wished to go against Thorne right now, with Sebastian and Kara also having escaped with the three Arcanth Shards. Tobias had been impressed. His son had always been a fine swordsman but it seemed his love for this girl had made him unstoppable. He regretted the loss of his men in the City. But his son’s life – and Vallenna’s only chance against Draknor – were more important.
For peace we sacrifice.
The Council had moved on to strategy quickly enough – debating guard rotations, fortifications, where Sebastian and Kara would strike next. The Fire Shard, they all agreed. Evelyn had insisted on Sorrel archers to accompany his men in the defence of the temple. Tobias had accepted graciously. Better to appear cooperative. Better to know exactly where every guard would stand.
Only hours later, as he was preparing his valmare to return to Thorne Keep, the hawk from his son had arrived – perfect timing, really. Now he knew exactly where he needed to be. Simone Navyr’s sharp gaze had followed him out of the gates of the City, her mouth pressed in that quiet, disapproving line she wore so well. It was a strange sight for a lord to travel alone, and he knew it. Lords did not ride without guard or banner. But Tobias had told them he now required solitude – ‘time to reckon with the failures of my House’.
They hadn’t dared question him openly.
But someone did not trust him.
He’d been followed since leaving the City. A rider had been behind him for miles. Getting closer. More bold. A tail set upon him by Simone, perhaps. Or Merrick.
He reined in by a stream and waited. Observed from cover. A brown valmare appeared, the man on its back clad in Sorrel yellow.
Ah. Evelyn, then.
He watched the rider grow more and more frustrated as he realised there were no more tracks to follow. Tobias stayed perfectly still until the man finally gave up, turned, and rode back the way he had come, defeat on every line of him. He avoided main roads after that. Even doubled back twice, crossing through the shallows of several more streams, ensuring his tracks had vanished.
It never hurt to be cautious.
He’d taught his son the same. And it was more important now than ever.
From his cloak he drew the crumpled parchment, smoothing it out across his knee. It was written in an old Thorne code that he could translate easily:
K and I safe.
Need your help for the final Shard.
Meet at Rooksnest in three days.
S
He read it twice more, even though he had long since memorised it.
Kara.
Hale’s daughter.
Tobias knew what Alaric had offered her. His guards had informed him. She could have lied. Could have claimed Sebastian forced her, coerced her into running. The Council would have believed it. She would have lived.
