"This is no idle threat, Kestra. This is real." Tenger flicked his eyes and Gabe stepped forward, the sharp tip of the lever blade facing her.
Tenger would say it was a shame, that he had given her the chance to save herself, that he'd had no other choice. He would say she was a necessary sacrifice. He would give the order.
I had to stop it.
"She didn't fail." I refused to look over at Kestra as I spoke. "She's hidden the Olden Blade out of reach of the Dallisors, and out of our reach if we harm her. Kestra knows where it is--only she knows."
Everyone turned to Kestra for a response. Except me. From the corner of my eye, I saw her hand on the table, clenching and unclenching.
"Is this true?" The fact that Tenger wasn't screaming was proof of miracles.
Kestra wasn't answering, and even if she tried, it'd likely be laced with curses at me. Let her be angry. I'd just saved her life.
Tenger quickly lost patience with her silence. With a snap of his fingers, Gabe disappeared through a different door in the room and returned a moment later half-carrying Darrow, who could not have stood otherwise. I gasped when I saw him. His cheeks were sunken in and his eyes, which bore evidence of laugh lines, had hollowed out. The wound had torn free from its cauterization and was covered in a bandage that had bled through. Why had they let him get this bad? Any respect Kestra might have had for the Coracks would be lost now.
"Kestra?" Darrow tried to say something more, but no sound escaped his lips. I doubted he had enough strength for it.
Her face tense with worry, Kestra started to get up, but I pulled her back into her chair, whispering, "Don't make this worse."
"You'd know all about making things worse," she snapped. Yet she remained in her seat, her eyes seeing nothing through her anger but Darrow.
A third person came through the door, our physician. Loelle had been with the Coracks since long before my time, and I knew almost nothing about her except that if you could get to her alive, no matter what condition you were in, she could probably heal you. Trina once told me that Loelle had some Endrean medicines, miraculous treatments that made cauterization powder seem like roadside dust. Now I wondered why she had these treatments. What if Kestra was not the only Endrean to have survived Endrick's wrath?
"This is Loelle," Tenger said to Kestra. "She's kept your servant alive until now, but what I order her to do next is entirely up to you. In Loelle's hand is the medicine Darrow needs to survive. If he gets it, by morning he will be healed and returned to your service, as promised. In Gabe's hand is a lever blade, capable of stopping Darrow's pain in an entirely different way. Who would you have me give orders to?"
Darrow shook his head at Kestra and mumbled, "Let me go. Don't trust them."
"Where is the Olden Blade?" Tenger asked. "Tell me before the count of three, or trust me, Darrow's fate will be decided. One--"
"Heal him first! Please!"
"Two--
"Don't do this!"
Tenger lifted his hand and pointed to Gabe, giving him the order. "You've disappointed me, my lady. Even worse, you disappointed Darrow here."
"I have disappointed him, but for different reasons than you think." Beneath the table, Kestra had already raised the skirts on one leg. She reached down and I heard the quiet snap of her garter against her thigh. Inwardly, I groaned. I'd forgotten about that.
She lifted an object wrapped in a thin cloth and set it on the table, unfolding the cloth enough to let everyone see what it was.
"The Olden Blade is here."
Everyone rose to their feet upon seeing the Olden Blade. It seemed a moment frozen in time, with no movement from anyone, other than turning to Tenger for further orders. I remained in my seat, drawing the rewrapped dagger closer to my body, preventing anyone from trying to take it. If I could touch it without being burned, I'd gladly introduce them to its point.
"Enough!" Tenger finally whispered, keeping his eye on the Blade. "Take your seats, all of you!"
I was still in my chair, but I was the only one. Gradually, everyone else returned to where they had been before, with one exception. Simon. When everyone else sat, he merely walked out the door, back up the stairs from where we had entered. I called his name, but the door had shut behind him. It was clear he wasn't coming back.
Well, maybe he shouldn't have revealed to Tenger that I knew where the Blade was. Tenger had been bluffing with the lever blade before, or ... maybe he hadn't. Either way, Simon should have trusted me with my lie.
And maybe I should have trusted him with the truth.
For as far as he and I had come, nothing between us was so different from that night he attacked my carriage. He was a Corack.
I was his enemy.
"How long--" Trina's teeth were gritted together so tightly that I barely understood her. "How long have you had it?"
"I found it a few hours before we left Woodcourt, right before I was confined to my room."
"That's why you gave me the trousers to wear. You needed a dress."
"That's why a lot of things, Trina."
"You will give me that dagger," Tenger said.
"First you will give Darrow his medicine." When Tenger hesitated, I added, "You'll take the dagger from me anyway, so you have nothing to lose. But I do. Give him the medicine, I'll give you the weapon, and then you will all leave the room and let me talk to Darrow alone."
Tenger considered my offer with a raised brow, entertained by my boldness. After a long silence in which I was sure he would refuse me, he finally nodded permission at Loelle, who poured the vial of medicine into Darrow's mouth. I hoped what Tenger had said before was true, that this would heal Darrow by morning. Getting him back alive had always been most important. I had to remember that.
"Now the Olden Blade." Tenger held out his hand.
"One word of caution," I said. "If you try to touch it directly, it will burn the skin."
"I could do it," Trina said.
"If you wore gloves, maybe," Gabe put in.
"Yes, after pouring his life force into this dagger, I'm sure that Lord Endrick overlooked that tiny detail." I scowled. "Only a Halderian can touch the Blade, and only someone worthy of it can claim it."
Trina leaned forward. "Who would you consider worthy of the Blade? Someone like you? For a while, I thought we might become friends, that maybe you weren't the spoiled, selfish girl I had expected to meet. But I underestimated you. You are pure Dallisor, cold and calculating and with a soul more dead than the Ironhearts. You lied to us--you lied to me, despite knowing everything I risked to get that dagger! Never ask for my help again. Never ask me to care for you. Because if you do ask, I will turn my back and remember that you only think of yourself."
As recently as three days ago, I would have responded with every cruel thing I could think of to say, including an insult to her grandmother or a comment on the angle of her nose. Three days ago, I'd have made sure the last word was mine, as all Dallisors did.
Which was her point. My ears rang with her accusation, that I was pure Dallisor. I had been raised by them, my opinions and attitudes shaped by their prejudices and desire for power. Yet within my veins, I was Endrean, bearing the same blood as the wicked man to whom the Dallisors kneeled. Both in body and in spirit, I was irredeemable.
Which meant I could hardly deny Trina's accusations.
But Tenger felt differently. He stood, seeming to tower over her and intending it that way. "Kestra Dallisor is not our enemy, Trina. Obviously, there must be consequences for what she's done, but we want her on our side."
Trina might've missed her captain's meaning. "Consequences? I'll take that dagger from her, sir, and run her through with it!"
Which, I noted, was a fine reason not to give her the dagger.
I stood as well, putting the wrapped Blade behind me. To Tenger, I said, "You'd trust the Olden Blade to someone who hands out threats like sugared treats? This weapon will doom our country if mishandled. Do not trust this responsib
ility to her."
Tenger sighed, and nodded. At least we agreed on that. "Trina, you will leave us."
"But I--"
"You need rest. Now go."
Trina shot me a glare that could cut stone, and probably confirmed her accusations against me. I had gotten the last word, after all. With a pronounced frown at Tenger, she stomped up the stairs and left. A cold silence followed in her wake, none of us entirely sure what should happen next.
"Much of what she said about you was true," Tenger began.
"Much of what she said was not," I countered. "For example, I never wanted her for a friend."
A grin tugged at his mouth. "Join us, Kestra. It will take some time for us to trust each other, but you would be a valuable addition to the Coracks."
I looked over at Darrow, not at all subtly. "Let's make a bargain. Choose a Halderian who has the spirit and the skill to defeat Endrick. If it's someone I can support, then I will join the Coracks and help your Infidante succeed."
Tenger tilted his head. "My choice will succeed, I assure you. Give me the Blade."
His choice wasn't Darrow. Surely he meant himself. The thought that all of us might be forced to follow this man into battle turned my stomach.
"Darrow and I need a horse and wagon. Once he's in it and I'm in the driver's box, I will give you the Blade."
Tenger smiled and nodded at Gabe, who drew his lever blade again. "You must know you've lost any chance to set terms."
The exact reason for my anger with Simon. Before Gabe came any closer, I put the dagger down on the table, then pushed it across to Tenger. "The master of the Olden Blade bears a terrible responsibility. I hope you understand that. Now, Darrow and I need that wagon."
Tenger picked up the dagger inside its cloth, examined it, then when he was satisfied, he stood and said to Loelle, "Find Simon and tend to his injuries. Gabe, you wait outside the door to be sure she doesn't try escaping."
"No, I'm free to go!" I bit into the words. "You lied!"
"As did you, my dear." Tenger gave me a polite bow, an insult really, then followed Gabe out of the room. The instant he closed the door, I ran over to Darrow, falling on my knees beside him. Nothing in his appearance had changed from the last few minutes, but he did seem to be breathing easier. "The medicine, is it helping?"
"It will soon, Kestra. They haven't been unkind. At her request, Celia was assigned to watch over me, and to bring me anything I need. She should be here soon."
She probably would be, if I had not frightened her and accused her of so many foul things. I had a temper too.
"Why didn't you tell me, Darrow?" Tears welled in my eyes. "Why didn't you tell me I'm Endrean?"
A slight gasp escaped him, though this seemed to come from emotional rather than physical pain. His whole expression softened when he looked at me, an unspoken apology. "Tell you such a cruel thing? And describe how you'd be hated, and targeted by every clan in the country? How you'd be compared to Endrick as if you were anything like him? How could I do that?"
"What am I supposed to do now? I'll never kneel to Endrick again, but he's my blood, maybe the last of my blood. Do I help these people kill him?"
Darrow shook his head. "I must tell you--"
"Am I meant to develop magic? If so, is it true that it will corrupt me?"
"You must avoid magic at all costs." Darrow's eyes were open wide, and clearer than they had been before. "Endrick can sense magic. If he decides to come after you, no one will be able to protect you."
"Except the Infidante. I intend to help him go after Endrick instead. Darrow, I'll help you do that." He blinked hard, as if he'd heard me wrong. I touched his arm. "By tomorrow morning, you'll be well enough to travel. You must go back to the Halderians, to your people. Captain Tenger will offer them the Olden Blade. You need to claim it."
He shook his head. "I'm no one, Kestra. Only a servant."
"A servant who has more talent with a sword than anyone I've ever known. You have access to the Dallisors, and thus to Lord Endrick. And you have me. Once you become the Infidante, I will do everything I can to help you succeed. Please, Darrow, you must go to that ceremony."
Darrow closed his eyes. "For your sake, I will do it. But I must go alone. You are not safe among my people. Not unless--"
From out on the stairway where Gabe still waited, footsteps pounded down toward us. Simon burst through the door, breathless and clutching his side. I guessed Loelle had started treating him, but she clearly hadn't finished. He crossed the room to me in three wide steps.
"That bump on the back of your neck, where Lord Endrick touched you. I need to see it."
I stood and pulled my hair over one shoulder. He whispered, "I'm sorry, this might hurt." And he pressed his thumb down on the bruise.
I gasped and reached up to my neck. He wasn't just pushing on the bruise, he was moving his thumb around it, each motion sending new sparks of pain through me.
"What are you doing to her?" Darrow attempted to sit up and failed. "Stop that."
Simon did stop, but his eyes were wild with fear. "We must leave immediately."
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Gabe's proximity alarms are going off." He grabbed my hand, taking me toward the doorway where Darrow had come in. Tunnels lay straight ahead but he was pulling me up a separate set of stairs, not even allowing me a chance to tell Darrow good-bye. "Do you trust me?"
"I'm furious with you!"
"Yes, but do you trust me?" He stopped on the stairs long enough to say, "The bruise on your neck is there because something is beneath the flesh, placed there by Lord Endrick. Tenger believes Lord Endrick has a kind of magic that allows him to track a person, to find them wherever they are."
"I'm being tracked?"
"If he finds you, he finds the heart of the rebellion. Tenger is getting as many people as he can out of Silven. We must get you out too. The Dominion armies are coming."
We weren't to the top of the stairs before an explosion outside shook the earth.
They were not coming. The Dominion armies were here.
I pulled against Simon's hand. "We have to go back for Darrow!"
He tugged in his direction. "As long as that tracker is in your neck, bringing Darrow with you is the worst thing we could do. Let's get as far from Silven as we can and hope to draw the armies away from him."
A cheerful thought. I would bring their armies to me.
We climbed a set of stairs, pushing up on a door built into the floor that took us into a humble family home with a cradle in the corner. Whoever lived here was probably on their way out of town already. Or, at least, I hoped they were. The Dominion would not spare them just because they had children.
We hurried out the door onto a road with hundreds of people who were already swarming southward. The armies must be coming from the north, where more explosions continued shaking the ground. Every boom surely represented deaths, of Coracks, their sympathizers, and far too many innocents who might never have guessed a rebellion was among them.
"I left a horse here." Simon looked up and down the road, his grip on my hand tightening. "It's gone. Wait here and hide."
"What about Darrow?"
"Someone else will come for him."
"I can help!"
He pushed me back into the gap between the home we had just come from and a neighboring building. "If you wanted to help, then you should have told me about the Olden Blade. Stay here and hide until I get back. Nothing gets easier if you're recognized."
I shook my head. "If you come back ... with this tracker, if you're with me--"
Simon met my eyes. "I'm coming back, and we're getting out of here together. Wait here."
Before I could answer, he ran off, moving against the direction of the crowd. These people would never outrun the armies, not all of them. Not even most of them.
"They're getting closer!" a woman cried.
The screams of others not far ahead of the crowd confirmed that. To the north, more e
xplosions rocked the town. The Coracks wouldn't plant ground mines here, so that was the Dominion armies at work. Black smoke rose in vast columns in the distance, thick and foul in its stench. I wondered if the Dominion was doing that as well, or if the Coracks had lit the fires to buy themselves extra time.
Where were the Coracks anyway? While growing up, I'd heard about their battles with Lord Endrick's forces. They weren't ones to run away, to hide.
They must be in the tunnels beneath the town.
As was Darrow. I had to give him time to escape.
My breaths came in bursts as I ran from the alley and climbed to the top of a broken wagon abandoned at the side of the road. I hesitated there, perfectly aware of the foolhardiness of calling attention my way. From here, I saw the chaos in the streets, heard the cries of the children being desperately hurried away, and choked on the bitter smell of smoke from the fires. Darrow never would have allowed me to take a risk like this. But he wasn't here to stop me, which was the point of climbing onto this wagon in the first place. I stood tall and shouted, "Don't run. There are more of us than them! Fight back!"
"And be slaughtered?" a woman shouted.
"If you are, then fall while facing your enemy, not cowering from him! If you can wield a weapon, whether it's a bow or sword, or a rock from beneath your feet, then wield it with pride. Fight!"
One such rock came hurtling through the air toward me, close enough that I had to duck to avoid it. "Then we fight against you, Kestra Dallisor!" someone yelled. "I know who you are. You would trick us into surrendering!"
Upon hearing my name, the crowd responded with stabbing glares, as if I had attacked the town. Or brought the attackers here. Did they know this was my fault?
I backed up, though on this wagon, there wasn't anywhere to go. "Will you be so foolish? To fight someone who has no weapon while those who do are bearing down upon you?"
"What weapon counters cannons and disk bows?" someone yelled. "What if they come on condor?"
If they did, Silven would be erased from Antora's map. I dreaded the thought of it.
Someone tossed a sword on the ground, near the wheels of the wagon. "If it's easy to challenge Lord Endrick, you do it!"
Challenging Lord Endrick. That was my role now. I was Endrean, but not evil. A rebel, but not a Corack. Antoran, but a traitor. Whatever that made me, I intended to fight.