Page 15

“Same, I guess.” He sighs. “Look, you know that Anne still cares about you, right? The way she looked at you… but they had weapons and—"

“Yeah, I know.” I cut him off. “Thanks. You’re a good person, you know?”

He blinks at me, taken aback. I guess it is kind of a weird thing to say out of the blue, but I want him to hear it. It’s not something he gets to hear often.

Silence stretches between us, but it’s a comfortable kind of silence. As comfortable as it can be in this situation, at least.

A creaking sound makes me jump. The door. It’s opening. I expect to see a Raider walking in, maybe even Dornao coming to finally have his fun, but instead, I see Anne approaching, followed by Joy, the guard that first told me Reno was missing.

“Nasir? Reno? Are you okay?” she whispers.

I grunt in response, too surprised to say anything. Reno remains silent.

Anne produces a key from her pocket and proceeds to free us.

“Where did you get that?” I ask, rubbing my reddening wrists.

“The wall outside this room,” Anne answers. “They didn’t bother hiding it, and why would they? We were the ones who handed you over to them in the first place, after all.”

“But what about you?” I take her hand. “If they find out you helped us…”

“The council knows,” Anne smiles. “And the Raiders? Let’s just say that it’s going to be the least of their worries soon enough.”

“What are you saying?” Reno eyes her warily.

“I’m saying that the information you gave Nasir allowed us to form a plan of attack.” Anne beams at him. “There’s an army waiting to strike. Not just Elign, we managed to convince fighters from other villages to join us too. Drunk and high as Cirail and his men all are, they won’t stand a chance. We’re going to get rid of the Raiders problem once and for all.”

My eyes water, but I wipe them with the back of my torn sleeve. It’s too good to be true, and yet it’s happening. It’s truly happening.

The sound of gunshots fired in quick succession makes me jump, but Anne doesn’t flinch.

“They’re here.” She smiles.

“So, what about us?” Reno runs his hand through his messy dark hair under the fool’s hat he’s still wearing. “What are we supposed to do?”

“You return to the Elign and are welcomed as heroes.” Anne pats Reno’s shoulder. “Then you go straight to the medical ward. Mira is waiting for you. Beds have already been prepared, as well as hot meals.”

That sounds heavenly, but Reno looks at her like she’s grown a second head. “I’m not a hero.” He grits his teeth. “No one will welcome me back.”

“But you are,” she insists. “We couldn't be doing this without you.”

Reno doesn’t seem convinced. I take his hand in mine and give it a little squeeze. “It’s okay, we’ll be together, I promise. I won’t let you down. If anyone has a problem with you, they’ll have a problem with me too. Come on, we’re going home.”

This seems to get through him. He nods, his face softening. Then, it hardens again, something dark passing through his gaze. “Not yet. I want to see Cirail’s dead body with my own eyes.”

Anne looks at me, as if asking for confirmation. I’m not sure why I’d have any sort of authority over this decision, but I nod. If Reno wants to make sure Cirail truly is dead, I’m not going to stop him.

“Can you walk?” Anne asks.

“Yeah.” We both nod before limping out of the room behind her.

Fighters are swarming the hallways, methodically cleaning the rooms one by one. The floor is littered with Raiders’ corpses. Anne was right. They were in no state to fight back.

Reno Thiers

Bile rises up my throat as we stop in front of Cirail's room. I've been here a few times, tied up at the foot of his bed or strung to a hook at his ceiling. Those nights were always the worst, and the sight of his door is enough to fill me with dread.

Joy turns to face me. “I’m sorry for what happened. I really am. I should have done something when Wilson pushed you.”