Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

A laric woke up, predictably, with a headache. At least this one was not as terrible as the one from which he had suffered the previous day, but rather a continuous, mild ache all around his head that he could ignore. When he blinked his eyes awake, light was already pouring in through the window, warm and golden, which could only mean it was a while past dawn.

Next to him, the bed was empty, and when he looked around, he realized that so was the room. For a moment, he wondered if the events of the previous day had been nothing but a bad dream. Then, Lucia’s presence through her personal belongings told her otherwise: a cloak and a bag, both of them carelessly discarded on the chair.

For a moment, their exchange in the middle of the night also seemed like a dream. Alaric remembered the way his body had reacted to Lucia’s sudden proximity when he had pounced on her, his first instinct being to protect himself. He was glad he had not hurt her in his sleep, armed as he was with that blade, but he was not yet entirely convinced she didn’t want to hurt him, even if she had claimed her goal was to reach for the cup.

But if she wants me tae help her, why would she hurt me?

It made no sense to Alaric, so he decided he was probably being too suspicious of her. A healthy dose of suspicion was always needed, especially since Lucia seemed to be keeping a lot secrets from him, but he doubted she wanted to hurt him. Besides, she could have let those brigands finish him if that’s what she had wanted, but instead, she saved him from them, even if she had her own, selfish reasons to do so.

If he were honest with himself, it wasn’t even the thought of Lucia hurting him which unsettled him. Rather, it was the warmth that had spread through his body when he had been pressed up against her, the desire igniting in him at the first touch of her skin on his. She was magnetic, there was no doubt about that. She was the kind of woman who could charm him with nothing more than a simple glance, and Alaric found it increasingly difficult to find reasons to stay away from her.

Of course, there was one he could never ignore: he was betrothed to another woman. Not only that, but Lucia was an enigma, a girl he was better off avoiding if he wanted to keep himself out of trouble.

If only that trouble wasnae so allurin’.

With a heavy sigh, Alaric stood and stretched, finding that his entire body still ached. It would be a long road to recovery, he knew, but at least he had gotten enough rest, even after the incident with Lucia, to continue on their journey.

He would not be going home, no matter how much he missed it. It had been a long time since he had been sent to his mission and just when he thought he would have the chance to return, all his hopes were crushed. How long was this going to take, he wondered? Lucia had told him to inform his brother he would be gone for quite a while, but Alaric didn’t know if that meant weeks or even months.

Did he have months to spare? Sooner or later, everyone would expect him home for his wedding. How long could he avoid that? When would the Sinclair Clan decide they had had enough and demand an explanation for his absence?

The sound of the door opening pulled Alaric out of his thoughts and he turned to see Lucia, all dressed and ready for the day. She stared at him for a moment, taking in his state of undress with a sour look on her face, before she stepped into the room.

“We should be on our way,” she said. “It’s already late. We should have left at dawn.”

“Why didnae ye wake me?” Alaric asked. If Lucia was so bothered by it, she should have, he figured, rather than blaming him now.

Lucia didn’t even spare him a look as she gathered her belongings. “I tried,” she said. “Ye were sleepin’ like a dead man.”

Alaric very much doubted that, especially since he had woken up when Lucia had leaned over him. He wasn’t so injured as to be sleeping so heavily, and he had never been a heavy sleeper in the first place. One couldn’t be, not when one had to keep one eye open at all times in case an enemy showed.

Still, he said nothing as he pulled on his tunic, tugging furiously at the fabric. The last thing he needed was a fight with Lucia when he hadn’t even broken his fast yet, and so he remained silent, grabbing his own things before the two of them headed down the stairs.

Predictably, Lucia dragged him away from the tables and to the door before Alaric could protest that he couldn’t ride on an empty stomach. When they got to the horse, though, and Lucia began to prepare the creature for the journey, his hunger made itself known with a rumble of his stomach.

Glancing at him over her shoulder, Lucia reached into her bag and brought out an apple and a bannock, handing both to him.

“Is this meant tae be enough?” Alaric asked, even as he bit into the apple, too hungry to make any more elaborate complaints.

“It’ll have tae dae fer now,” said Lucia. “We should reach the Ravencloaks by dusk, so I must keep some o’ the food from ye until then.”

Throwing his hands up in exasperation, Alaric began to pace around her, restless. “How dae ye even ken where tae find them?” he asked. “It isnae as though they tell everyone their location.”

“I’ve been plannin’ this fer a while,” said Lucia, tightening the straps of the saddle. “I have observed them an’ their ways. I ken where tae find them.”

That shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was, Alaric thought. Lucia was a woman with a plan, that much was clear, and she was skilled enough to observe the Ravencloaks without being caught. He couldn’t help but think she would have made a great scout under different circumstances—a great warrior, even, seeing as she could fight better than some of the men he had trained.

Hopping onto the saddle, Lucia gestured at Alaric to join her, which he did once he was finished with the last bite of the apple, tossing the core aside. It wasn’t the first time he had been on the horse behind her, but it may as well have been. When they had ridden to the inn, Alaric had been barely conscious, the pain and dizziness making it impossible to feel or think about anything else. Now, though, he was entirely aware of how close Lucia was—his chest plastered against her back, his hands holding onto her waist, wisps of her dark hair flying into his face with the wind. She smelled of lavender and citrus, and under that, a scent that was uniquely hers, and Alaric had a hard time controlling himself when all he wanted to do was bury his face in her neck and press his lips to her skin.

This was going to be a problem—a problem he could not afford. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted even for a moment, if for nothing else, then for the simple fact that distraction could mean death once they were near the Ravencloaks. He had to keep his wits about him. This was not the first beautiful woman he had encountered, nor would she be the last.

She may be the first an’ last who acts like this, though.

On the one hand, that was a blessing. Alaric didn’t know how many women like Lucia he could handle. On the other, it meant that he had no experience with women like her and so when it mattered the most, he didn’t know how to act.

The only thing that helped with his conundrum was the passage of time. As they rode down the path, the wind whipping their faces, Alaric’s eyes stinging with it, he became more and more comfortable with his position on the saddle right behind Lucia. He would have much rather been the one guiding the horse, but she was a skilled rider, much like she was a skilled fighter, and Alaric eventually found himself relaxing, taking the opportunity to enjoy some of the lush scenery.

A green valley stretched below them, right under the hill they had climbed. In the dying light of the day, it looked as though it was bathed in gold, the trees and the grass in the valley swaying with the wind. Alaric would never get used to such a sight, no matter how many times he had seen the likes of it in his travels. Every part of the land was different, every hill and valley holding its own beauty, and so it all took Alaric’s breath away like it was the first time.

“We’re gettin’ close.”

It had been hours since they had left the inn, and by then the sun was already setting in the horizon. Alaric had almost managed to forget what they were doing, where they were going, until Lucia spoke those words, pulling him out of his trance.

“Are they in these parts?” he asked.

“They are right over there,” said Lucia, pointing at a deep part of the woods they were overlooking from their hill. “They have more places around here, but that should be one o’ their camps.”

Alaric looked at what little he could see from their vantage point. There seemed to be a clearing indeed, deep in those woods, and Alaric could see wisps of smoke as they travelled up the air—a definitive sign of a camp where people still dwelled.

“Alright,” he said. “We should sleep here fer the night an’ then?—”

“We will attack tonight.”

“Attack?” Alaric asked, suddenly alarmed. Lucia had said nothing about an attack, certainly not one as careless and, frankly, foolish as the one she planned. “What dae ye mean attack? There are only two o’ us. How will we fight the entire camp? Didnae ye say ye wish tae infiltrate their ranks? Has the plan changed?”

“Nay,” Lucia said, drawing in a long, heavy breath. “Will ye calm down? The plan is the same as always. We infiltrate their ranks, we find the man who killed me braither. But in order tae dae such a thing, we must prove our worth tae them first.”

“What?” Alaric asked, leaning forward a little in an attempt to look at Lucia in the eye, even as she stared straight ahead at that forest. “What dae ye mean? How will we prove our worth?”

“I told ye,” she said. “We will attack them. We willnae hurt them, we’ll simply steal some o’ their supplies an’ incapacitate any guards we see.”

Lucia certainly made it sound very simple, though Alaric knew it was anything but. Surely, there was a better way to infiltrate the gang than stealing from them and tying up their men. That plan was bound to get them both killed before they had even properly set it in motion.

“I dinnae think this is a very good plan,” Alaric insisted. “We should wait an’ observe them, an’ then we can speak with their leader.”

“Ye dinnae ken how these things happen,” Lucia said, craning her neck to look at him over her shoulder. “I dae. So I suggest that ye listen tae me an’ dae as I tell ye.”

Alaric couldn’t help but wonder how, exactly, Lucia seemed so confident, how she knew what would work and what wouldn’t when trying to infiltrate the ranks of a gang of mercenaries. How much was she hiding from him? How much more did he have to uncover to reveal her real self?

The more he thought about it, the more he realized he truly knew nothing about the woman in front of him, while she seemed to know plenty about him. Would she answer him if he asked? Would she tell him the truth? Alaric couldn’t possibly be certain about anything.

“We wait fer nightfall,” Lucia said, in a tone that implied the matter was decided, as she led the horse farther down the path, this time leisurely. “An’ then we attack.”

Lucia’s breath fogged in front of her in the chilly night air. The sky was filled with thick, dark clouds that concealed the moon and the stars, along with her and Alaric’s presence in the camp. Just as she had expected, the men in the clearing were Ravencloaks; she could tell by their signature black cloaks, the uniform all of them bore at all times—and by the fact that she recognized some of their faces, having seen them before.

A part of her wanted to make them all pay for her brother’s death. They all deserved the same fate, after all; none of them was innocent. But she reminded herself to be patient, to take all her grief and pain and use it in more productive ways.

If she killed those men now, her brother’s true killer would never get what he deserved. The rest of the Ravencloaks would kill her and Alaric, and her brother would never be avenged.

Patience. They will all pay fer what they did tae him.

Tucked behind thick bushes, Lucia and Alaric observed their targets. There were three men who guarded the camp, standing watch, and the odds seemed much better than Lucia would have thought before getting to the clearing. Three men were nothing. With Alaric by her side, they could have taken on twice as many.

And now Alaric was truly by her side, the two of them plastered together once more. It was strange, she thought, how often they ended up so close when they hardly even knew each other. Had it not been for the mission, she would have welcomed this closeness, perhaps even sought it out on her own, but now it was only a distraction.

This is fer Ronan. ‘Tis nae fer me.

Ronan was watching her, she knew, and she had to make him proud. She had to make this one shot count, because there wouldn’t be another one.

Silently, Lucia gestured at Alaric to deal with the man who stood nearest to them. She was shorter and slighter, so creeping to the back of the camp to attack the one standing watch there would be easier for her than it would be for Alaric. That would only leave the one standing watch near the first line of trees, and as long as she and Alaric were quiet with the other two, she doubted he would manage to subdue them both.

Nodding, Alaric slowly moved towards his target, while Lucia made her way towards her own, her footsteps silent in the night air. She didn’t have the luxury of time and so she couldn’t wait and see if Alaric would follow her directions and do as he was told. She simply had to trust that he would, and that he would succeed.

Lucia approached the man from behind, holding her breath as she got closer and closer. By the time she raised her knife in the air and hit him on the back of the head with the handle, he hadn’t spotted her. There was nothing he could do to avoid the aftermath. The hit was so hard and well-placed that within seconds, he was crumbling in Lucia’s arms, and she struggled to keep him upright before laying him down gently to avoid any commotion.

When she looked over her shoulder, she saw that Alaric had already dealt with his target and was slowly moving towards the last guard. Curious to see what he would do, Lucia remained hidden and watched him as he used the same technique to subdue the last man, promptly hiding him behind another thicket. When Alaric looked up to search for her, Lucia popped out of her hiding spot and approached him silently, the two of them grabbing two sacks of supplies each.

“We should tie them up,” Lucia whispered.

“Why?” Alaric asked, voice just as quiet.

“Why nae?” she asked. “Just tae show we could.”

Alaric gave Lucia a disbelieving look, but she only shrugged and rummaged through the sacks, her hand soon emerging in a victorious arc with a length of rope in its grasp. In a rush, she abandoned the sacks and walked over to the three men, dragging them closer to each other on her own, until Alaric finally gave in and helped her. With the two of them working together, they had the men tied up against each other and gagged in no time, and they returned to the sacks, Lucia rummaging through them once more in search of something for them to eat, only to come back empty-handed.

“What now?” Alaric asked, still whispering. “What dae we dae?”

“Now,” said Lucia, as she sat by what remained of the fire, the last embers glowing bright orange, “we wait.”