Page 133 of The Boy Bride

Lill had thought it odd at the time that Lord Davanu would send his foster son up into Hawakhurta for something like that, when a hired messenger could do the job—probably more effectively. But that had been when he thought the mission came from Lord Davanu. If it was all Arsha’s own plan, it made sense that he would come himself. Who else did he have to send?

Arsha’s plan. That Vanu Urártu should die at the hands of his beloved wife, who was also, as had been “accidentally” revealed to him, the only surviving son of his old ally-turned-enemy. Arsha’s revenge by proxy, repaying betrayal, as he imagined, with betrayal.

If Lill ran down the road, he might still catch up to Arsha. He could explain that there was no use sending that signal now, because the mission had failed. That thing that was supposed to have happened to Vanu Urártu, that Lill was meant to have ensured before he struck the fatal blow—it had happened to Lill instead.

“Make sure he falls in love with you,” Arsha had said. “That part is crucial.”

He had spoken as if everyone should know what that meant and how to tell when it had happened, and Lill had supposed that he did and he would. Probably clear statements to that effect would be made. It hadn’t troubled him that he didn’t understand why Arsha wanted it to happen like that.

He understood now, as he stood in the rain under the trees and looked down the dark path where Arsha had disappeared. He knew how Arsha wanted Vanu to feel, so that Lill’s betrayal would cut like a death wound all on its own. It was a feeling as if the other person was your shelter and your reward, the only mission you ever needed, the source of all the honour you could ever have.

He knew because that was how he felt. He had fallen in love with Vanu.

Lill dropped to the damp earth and hugged his knees. He felt broken, cracked down the middle, as if he might fall into two pieces at any moment.

He had survived all his life not feeling things like this, building up an armour that prevented him from feeling things like this, and now that was gone. He had no idea how to love anyone; he had never been trained for that.

Draw breath and let it out. Steady. Calm. He was on a mission now; Vanu had given him a mission, and all he needed to do was think about that.

The rain pattered to a stop, the moon came out from behind a cloud, and Lill got to his feet. He continued on down the path.

Chapter 36

The Signal

Lill could see the walls and roofs of Dukka down below him, just visible in the moonlight, past a sharp drop and bend in the road. He heard the sounds of men and dogs ahead. A search party?

If that’s what they were, he couldn’t hope to pass them in the shadows on the verge of the road; the dogs would bark at him, arousing suspicion. He had to decide quickly between dropping back further into the woods, trying for concealment, and walking out into the middle of the road to approach the village openly. Maybe his mind was clouded—emotion was supposed to do that—but he thought he was acting rationally when he chose to step out of the shadows onto the open track.

There were four men, with two torches and two dogs, and they were stopped at the bend in the track because the dogs couldn’t agree on which direction to take. The men were arguing over which dog was the most trustworthy. They looked up with surprise when Lill appeared.

“Hey! You there, have you seen anyone on this trail?” one of them addressed him in Zashian.

“Oh yes,” said Lill eagerly, “there was a boy about my age on a horse—he must have passed you already. And a man walking, with a pack on his back, and another man running like the Hounds of the Dark Valley were on his heels.”

“That’ll be him!” one of the men said excitedly.

“What’d he say?” another asked in Hawada.

“Tall young fellow, brown hair, bushy eyebrows?” the man talking to Lill elaborated helpfully, as if he wanted to be lied to.

“Yes, yes,” said Lill, nodding at this description of Khatu. Was it Khatu they were hunting? That would be a piece of luck. “He’s got a head start on you, though.”

“What’s he saying?”

“He says he saw the hostage running up the trail.”

“But we saw him run into the woods. And Fang’s nose is never wrong!”

Fang seemed to be the dog who was straining at his lead toward the woods on the north side of the trail. The other dog was currently chasing its own tail, so Lill would have put his money on Fang, too. He pretended not to understand what they were saying in Hawada and to be impatient to get on his way to Dukka.

“I’d get going, if I was you,” he said breezily. “Just like I’m gonna get going on my own way, if you don’t mind.”

Maybe the cheeky attitude was too much. One of the men, who hadn’t spoken so far, put out a long arm and clamped a heavy hand on Lill’s shoulder.

“No, you don’t, lad,” he drawled.

The dog that had been chasing its tail looked up excitedly at Lill as if it had met a new friend.