Rose of the Oath

  Chapter 2: My Brother’s Life

  I flung the rose on the table, my breath coming in heated gasps as I sank onto the couch. Oh, Eldric. What had he done? Was he even—?

  No. He had to be alive. I’d know if he wasn’t.

  I shivered as cold drafts coiled about my feet like chains. Lamp-light flickered off my bow and arrows and I stared at them, unblinking. Rebels. Cloaked figures. Roses. Eldric.

  A howl echoed outside. I tensed until my shoulders ached. My fingers dug into my palms as I traced the jagged shadows flickering across the wall. I pressed my face into my hands. Breathe. Just breathe. I could do this. I always did.

  Soft steps padded across the floor and a hand touched my arm.

  I jerked and met Klara’s green eyes.

  Her gaze met mine. “Eldric isn’t home?”

  I bit my lip. “Not… not yet.”

  Klara shivered. I held out my arms and she clambered onto my lap, curling against my chest. I swallowed the ache in my throat and wrapped my arms tightly around her. The gray dawn seeped through the window. Her cool fingers slipped up my sleeve.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my face into her fair hair. The rebels were the ones who caused Eldric to leave the road in the first place. Were they still advancing? There were caves to take refuge in, but Eldric…

  We needed him back. I would get him back.

  Klara’s breathing slowed and I propped my chin on her head and stared at the rose. Its petals rustled in a soundless wind. Helene darted into the room, took one look at us, and leapt up to tuck herself against my side. As like as not, I’d dreamed up the whole event. How could I leave?

  How could I not?

  Outside, moisture dripped from the eaves. Birds twittered. A fist pounded on our door.

  I jumped, smothering a startled cry. Klara’s nails dug into my forearm while Helene pressed closer, staring at me with wide eyes.

  Holding a finger to my lips, I detached myself from the little ones. My hand wrapped about the comfort of my dagger.

  The hammering came again, this time accompanied by a loud voice. “Elissa?”

  I exhaled shakily. “It’s just Captain Dachs.” But… hadn’t he left?

  I released the latch and pulled open the door.

  The captain’s cloak was awry, his clothing covered with mud.

  “What’s happened?” I demanded.

  “Rebels…” the word slipped between ragged pants as he leaned one hand against the doorframe. “They’re less than a league to the south.”

  So close. My stomach twisted and my heart hammered in my ears. “They’re coming here?”

  “I don’t know.” Dachs looked over my shoulder toward the girls. “They may pass by, but…” his voice trailed off as his eyes met mine. He gave a small shake of his head. “I wanted to offer my services as an escort to the village, if your brother wasn’t present to offer is protection.”

  Protection? Escort? My nails dug into the wood of the door. I gave a short nod. “I thank you. If we could have ten minutes?”

  “Five.”

  “Five, then.” I spun toward Klara and Helene. “We have to leave.”

  “What about Eldric?” Klara protested.

  I met her eyes for a long second, then looked quickly away. “He’ll find us, never you fear.” Or I’d find him. We would get him back.

  I slung my quiver across my back and cradled my bow while the girls scurried for cloaks and boots. What little food was prepared, I swept into a small bundle.

  Eldric… There had to be a way to find him. Maybe Dachs? No. There was no reason to expect his aid. No way I’d be able to repay it.

  I seized the rose on my way out. My fingers tingled but the pictures didn’t return. Instead, a hum settled in the back of my mind, tugging at my feet. I frowned, handing up a bundle to the girls after Dachs swung them onto his horse. The hum persisted, dragging at my mind as we started toward the village. I drew a soft breath and glanced over my shoulder. Perhaps… I shook my head and tucked the rose into my cloak. Not yet. The little ones first, then I would focus on my brother.

  The sun was halfway up the sky by the time we reached the village. I inclined my head to Dachs as he lifted the girls from his horse. “I thank you for your trouble.”

  “Trouble?” He raised an eyebrow. “There was no trouble at all.” He lifted his hand in a quick salute, sprang on his mount and bent for a few hurried words with several of the village men. His gaze snapped back to me as he straightened, then he kicked his horse into a trot and spun away from the sturdy stone cottages of the village.

  He vanished and I crouched before Helene and Klara. Behind me, the alarm bell began to ring. “Can you be very brave?”

  Helene bit her lip and nodded.

  Klara stared at me. “You’re leaving.”

  “I’m going to find Eldric.” I locked my gaze with each girl in turn. “I’ll take you to Mother Karlin and you’ll stay with her until we get back.”

  Helene threw her arms around my neck. “You will come back?”

  My eyes burned. “Of course I’ll come back.”

  The village healer leaned against the doorpost of her house, watching the villagers already streaming up the road.

  “You’re leaving too?” she asked as I paused before her.

  I nodded. “Not with the others, though.”

  Her eyes flicked over our party and refocused on my face. “Eldric?”

  I bit the inside of my cheek. “I need… I am going to fetch him.”

  Mother Karlin nodded. “The girls will be safe with me.”

  “Thank you.” A thread of tension unwound in my chest. I let Klara’s small hands pull me down and cling about my neck for a long moment. She pulled a crimson ribbon from her hair and tied it around my wrist. “So you remember to come back.”

  Blinking, I nodded and pulled away. “I’ll find Eldric,” I promised them. “I’ll find Eldric, and I will be back.”

  I slipped from the village, avoiding the mud-churned roads and blocking my ears to the shouts and laughs of the children for whom danger was nothing more than an abstract reason to hike higher in the mountains.

  As I struck the main road again, well below the village, I drew the rose out. A chill raced up my arm. This was a foolish idea. Completely mad. And with rebels on the loose too.

  My steps quickened. I passed our cottage with nary a glance. The forest closed about me, branches tangling overhead like the meshes of a great trap. Mud and water drenched my skirt and cloak and squelched in the soles of my boots. No rebels yet. I pressed on warily—down into the valley, then up again, through woods covering the pass. I caught myself against a tree as my foot slipped. My breath rasped in ragged pants. The web of branches choked out most of the mid-afternoon sun, but the heavy air clung to my skin, plastering my hair against my neck.

  Closing my eyes, I slumped against the trunk. This was ridiculous. I would get myself killed and my sisters would be alone. I shoved the thought aside and took a quick drink from my waterskin. Pressing my head against the rough bark, I stared balefully at the rose. I ought to at least try tracking. What did it matter how many valleys there were? I’d walk all the way to where I’d seen Eldric leave the path, if I needed to, and track him from there. Clenching my jaw, I started forward.

  Thorns tore at my dress and a branch snapped underfoot.

  I jerked back. Why wasn’t I on the path? I spun around. The dark line of the road still stabbed through the Blackwood. The humming in my mind quickened and my feet dragged as I stepped in the direction of the road. The rose rustled in my hand.

  I glared at it and took a step deeper into the forest. The tension eased. I scowled at the blossom. “You do realize how completely… completely… I’m talking to a rose!”

  The petals winked between mottled shadows and green-hued light.

  Shrugging, I sighed and gave in. I’d come this far. My steps grew firmer, faster, choosing a path of their own whatever the reasoning
of my mind.

  Underbrush clawed at me. Branches snagged at my cloak. Vines wound about my ankles, tripping me. I gritted my teeth, shoving through briars and thorns. Wind rattled the branches like broken swords and last year’s moist leaves muted my steps.

  My chest compressed. If You are there, and if You care. I broke off the prayer with a scoff. As if the King had time for a ragged peasant girl during the confusion of a rebellion. I struggled through a net of undergrowth, then muffled a cry as the trees opened. One last vine caught my ankle and sent me tumbling to the smooth turf.

  I scrambled backward, pulling from the grasp of the forest. Stumbling to my feet, I spun around and retreated a step.

  Golden light spread a thin sheen over grey cliffs that soared to meet the sky. Roses spilled across the stone wall opposite me, winding about yawning windows and a great door. A cloying scent rippled with the wind and my gaze stuttered at a pool of crimson spreading from the center of the valley. More roses, rising upward, spilling downward, catching the gleams of the setting sun in velvety splendor.

  Roses—red as glowing embers. Red as…

  I swallowed hard, my gaze again rising to the house—a fortress, rather. Eldric wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. I tucked the blossom inside my cloak and nocked an arrow on my string instead. The windows gaped like wide, unblinking eyes, frozen in breathless waiting.

  Pressing my lips in a tight line, I strode across the valley and tromped up the shallow steps. I hesitated the fraction of a second before yanking the doors open with my free hand. Whoever had done this; whoever had made me trek all this way to find my brother, and all because of a stupid rose… I blinked, my gaze flitting back and forth through dusty shadows, searching for movement or any sign of life.

  Nothing.

  I scowled. “Not ready to face me?” I muttered. The words echoed through the room, bouncing along the arched ceiling in hoarse whispers. My fingers whitened over my bow. Well then…

  Where would Eldric be? One sweeping staircase led up. Another corridor stabbed inward, straight as an arrow’s shaft. Blocks of warmth glinted from hidden windows and a single lamp cast a soft glow. I bit my lip and turned toward it.

  The light spilled from its central stand to curved walls. Blue and gold tiles spread outward as I stepped into the circle. A corridor opened on each side of me and another continued straight on ahead. I turned, my frown deepening. This would take forever.

  “Hello!” My voice echoed, reverberating off the stone. I inhaled deeply, every muscle tensed. “Face me, whoever you are! Face me and tell me what you have done to my brother!”

  A whisper replied from behind me. A sigh or a step. When I spun around, there was nothing.

  “Face me!” I shouted. My fingers fumbled inside my cloak and I held out the rose. “Is this what you want? Take it, and have done. Just give me my brother back!”

  Nothing. No, wait…

  Something thudded distantly. A faint shout. My pulse quickened and the blood rushed through my veins. I sprinted to the left, leaving the echoes to mask my absence as I flitted along darkened corridors. The shouts grew louder.

  Eldric. My chest tightened painfully.

  A staircase wound into darkness.

  The pounding on wood and another shout met my ears as I stumbled down the steps.

  “Eldric?” I called the name out loud this time.

  Silence crashed over me.

  “Elissa?”

  I choked back a sudden sob. “Eldric.” I sprinted toward the voice. A single light spilled from a torch and bars covered the upper half of a thick door.

  “Elissa, what are you doing here?” Eldric demanded. His hands seized mine as I clutched the bars.

  “I came for you, of course.” My eyes roved the door, searching for a lock. There it was. A great iron hole. “Do you know where the key is?”

  “Key?” Eldric stared at me. A large bruise stained the side of his head, but his eyes were clear. “You have to get out of here, Elissa. Now!”

  I blinked. “What in all of Aslaria do you mean? I just got here.”

  “And now you’re going to leave.” Eldric’s hand tightened over mine. “If you are even able to. You’ve not seen the master of this place. He’s…” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I don’t know what he wants, but the girls need you.”

  “No, the girls need you,” I said. My eyes fastened on his. “The rebels are advancing.”

  Air hissed between Eldric’s teeth. “Still?”

  “Yes. We all need you and I’m not leaving without you. Where is the master of this place, because I fully intend—” The hair on the back of my neck prickled.

  Eldric stared past me. “Run, Elissa. Run and don’t come back.”

  “Never.” My breath tore at my throat and I turned around.

  The figure I’d seen in the vision looked even taller in the confinement of the corridor. A cloak of gray and white fur swept about his frame and a hood shaded his face. One leg was cocked behind the other as he leaned against the wall. A glinting sword hung from his hand.

  My fingers clenched over my bow. “You’re the master here?” I asked.

  He inclined his head ever so slightly but didn’t make any move to approach. Or speak.

  I lifted my chin and motioned to the cell behind me. “This is my brother, and I want him back.”

  The man studied me.

  I pulled the rose from under my cloak. “Is this what you want?” This time I had the satisfaction of seeing the figure stiffen, accompanied by a quick inhalation. “Take it.” I hurled the blossom at his feet. “But let my brother go. We need him. His younger sisters need him.” I took a step forward. “Let. My. Brother. Go.”

  The figure bowed his head, but when he looked up, the flicking torchlight glinted in his eyes. He shook his head sharply. With a flicking motion of his arm, he pointed to the stairs. Long, white scars gleamed across his skin.

  I shook off the constriction of icy thorns. “What is it? Why do you even need a prisoner?”

  The eyes still watched me.

  I crossed my arms with a sigh. “If you need someone, how about an exchange? Let me stay here and let my brother go.”

  “What are you thinking?” Eldric hissed. “I’m not leaving you here with that… with that thing.”

  I glared at him. “If the rebels come, the twins need a protector. You can keep them safer than I.”

  “At your expense? The danger here is very present, not some rumor of rebels.”

  “The rebels are on the move and if they reach the village…” My throat constricted as a blur of movement jerked my gaze. The figure’s strides were almost too swift to see, but now he was on my side of the corridor, the width of the cell door between us. His blue eyes bored into mine. I stared back. They were icy, intense. An ancientness lurked there, veiled in layers of hardened pain.

  “Well?” I demanded.

  “No,” Eldric breathed out. His hand squeezed painfully over mine. “She has nothing to do with this.”

  I scowled, still staring at the cloaked figure. “I’m not leaving, so either you let my brother go or you’ll be saddled with both of us.”

  “Don’t you even dare.” Eldric glowered at the man. “My sister leaves—”

  The man sighed and his hand slipped through the bars, closing about Eldric’s neck, just below his throat.

  “Eldric!” I sprang at the figure, but his other hand caught my shoulder and held me back. Eldric slumped to the ground.

  I jerked away as the figure produced a key. “What are you… what have…? You could have the courtesy of answering me!”

  The figure shook his head and pulled the door open with a squeal.

  “Wait!” I blinked. “You can’t talk, or you won’t?”

  I followed the man as he strode into the cell, crossed his arms and stared at Eldric, who now lay sprawled on the ground. I didn’t wait for an answer as I dropped to my knees beside my brother. He still breathed softly and I glared at the
man.

  “Mind telling me what is going on?” I asked. “Are you letting me stay instead of Eldric, then? Is this really about that rose? Do you even care you are splitting up a family?”

  The figure’s gaze pierced my own. He jerked back his hood. Disheveled hair hung over pale scars that covered his skin. One creased his cheek. Another curled the edge of his bottom lip at a strange angle, slicing downward through his jaw. His lips formed a single word.

  No.

  Stooping, he threw Eldric over his shoulder, then strode from the cell, slamming the door behind him.

  “Wait!” I sprang forward and grabbed the bars. “You can’t leave me here! Where are you taking Eldric? Let me out.” I kicked the door, jerked my foot back, and winced. “Come back here, you renegade. You traitor. You… you beast!”

  The figure didn’t turn as he vanished around the corner leading to the stairs.

  Of all the ways for the day to have gone… He scowled as he strode into the forest through the growing dusk. The inert figure of the young man hung limply over his shoulder.

  The brother would have worked better. He could have fought. He could have been left behind. He might have even come around and seen sense. How had the girl even found his valley? Or the rose? It hardly mattered. But those eyes…

  He scowled as he deposited the body near the path. The girl be hanged. She’d not have left, and he’d not have laid a hand on her to force her off, however much he should have. It was Tauscher’s doing, like as not, but she’d be safer there. Safer.

  A wolf howled as he turned away. He paused. A low growl rumbled in the back of his throat and he glared at the figure sleeping where he’d left him. Another wolf howled. Closer.

  With a scowl, the figure pulled the cloak back over his head, loosened his dagger in its sheath, and waited.