16. Kiera

Chapter 16

Kiera

The next few days began to take on a new rhythm.

Ruru and I ran messages and packages through every quarter but the Noble. Which was just as well, since very few people outside the upper class might recognize me. For once, my restriction to the palace worked in my favor.

We delivered things like cloth and thread for seamstresses, wood for carpenters, letters for soldiers’ wives, beer and food for tavern keepers. He even delivered a toe fungus powder to a jailer from the city prison while I watched from afar with my face covered.

Some of the items and messages came from Aiden, but many others came from the same ordinary folks we delivered to.

Under Ruru’s cheerful tutelage, I learned more of the city than I ever could’ve staring at maps in Renwell’s study. He showed me where to walk and who to talk to. We never ran at night to avoid the Wolves. But he told me plenty about the day guards, who seemed much less vicious—and therefore, less feared—than the Wolves. I worried what that might mean if I were to gain control of them one day as High Enforcer.

We walked past the city gate that I’d never been outside of—and neither had he—and past the Temple and the city prison that I gave a wide berth. The few memories I had of those places were painful enough.

But for the first time in a week, I didn’t feel so lost.

I handled every package, coin, and message with the utmost care, especially Aiden’s. He had no reason to suspect me of any wrongdoing.

That didn’t mean I didn’t lift the sealed envelopes to the light to discern what was written inside. But what I read was nothing more than business transactions for the items we carried. No mention of Garyth or the People’s Council.

We also ran errands for our landlady and personal cook and laundress, Sophie. A short, cantankerous woman with frizzy gray hair, she had yet to say a single word to me outside of barking orders. But she fed me, washed my clothes, and let me pay a pittance.

So, I ran her tea to Floren and delivered her food to pregnant mothers and fetched her deliveries from the market.

But the days were slipping by too quickly. I wasn’t gleaning any more of Aiden’s secrets. I didn’t know where he disappeared to or why he needed so much gold when it seemed his business was prosperous enough.

I had thought to ask him about the gold again—as one of my prizes during our game of Death and Four—but he’d already refused to answer that question once. I didn’t want him to get suspicious of my interest.

I’d asked Maz once, in passing, what he planned to do with his share.

He winked and said, “Buy myself a beautiful axe. Made by Dags, of course. The best there is.”

“Surely Aiden is letting you keep more gold than that.”

He shrugged. “Perhaps we’d just like to buy ourselves a new life of freedom. Same as you.”

Then he hurried out the door, claiming the heat was muddling his brain, and he needed to go for a good soak in a bathhouse.

Clearly, Aiden and Maz had much bigger plans for the gold than “a new life of freedom.” They wouldn’t risk infiltrating the Den or stealing from the High Treasurer if they didn’t. I just couldn’t figure out what those plans were. If he didn’t want to incite a rebellion, what did he want? And what would they do if their plan for the heist failed?

I needed to follow Aiden more closely instead of running errands for pocket change. But between working with Ruru and my daily rehearsals with Melaena, I had little time to spare. Which was probably part of Aiden’s reasoning for letting me work with Ruru. I had no time or energy to pry into his affairs.

The few times I saw him at night back in our rooms, he seemed distracted and worn out. Maz seemed similarly occupied, albeit in a less brooding way. More... eager.

I asked Aiden once if he needed any help preparing for the heist, and he said it was taken care of, that he would give me the details later. That all I needed to worry about was rehearsing with Melaena.

Which frustrated me, working so hard to prepare for a heist that would likely never happen.

Because once I told Renwell about it, he would put a stop to it. Ruru gave me enough leeway to easily slip away and leave my mark for Renwell. But I didn’t want to until after I finished tonight’s job.

Aiden had agreed to let me help deliver his ship’s goods to his warehouse, saying it should be easy for me with my skills as a “guard.”

I took that to mean my job would be to protect while staying quiet and out of the way. But I didn’t care. I wanted to see what cargo needed protection and what else was in that warehouse.

Perhaps he was smuggling weapons or poisons or explosives—things that might be passed through Melaena’s hands to Garyth and his shadowy allies. He might not want a rebellion of poorly armed Pravaran farmers, but a war? An assassination? He could also be making foreign allies with his shipping business.

But the ship was late.

Ruru and I sat on the sea wall—the quarter’s last defense against a heavy tide—while Aiden and Maz paced the docks. Other ships had docked and unloaded their cargo, and their bone-rattlers were already crowding the many taverns.

Another hour tolled by before a large ship sailed into harbor. Its white sails plumed like clouds against the purple twilight.

“About bloody time,” Maz grumbled, tossing another rock into the only empty berth.

Aiden didn’t cease pacing until the ship— Mynastra’s Wings —threw down the anchor. A gangplank slid down to the dock. Aiden all but ran up it and disappeared.

“Tell me, where did Mynastra’s Wings fly from this time?” I asked Ruru, passing him a bag of roasted nuts we’d bought from the market earlier with some of our wages.

Ruru tossed a nut in the air and caught it in his mouth. “Eloren, I believe. Skelly frequents several ports through the isles. Anywhere he doesn’t have hefty gambling debts.”

I frowned, watching as Aiden reappeared carrying a crate. Several barefoot sailors with their chattering ropes of bones passed down more crates and barrels while Aiden and Maz loaded them into two wagons pulled by two pairs of large horses. Floren had rented them to Aiden for tonight.

“Doesn’t that concern Aiden that his captain has money problems? Could his loyalty not be easily bought and sold?” I asked.

“Not ole Skelly’s. Aiden takes care of his sick wife, you see. And his daughter. Skelly wouldn’t turn against Aiden for all the money in Lancora.”

He had found Skelly’s weakness, as Renwell would say. Yet, instead of using his debts against him, Aiden cared for his family.

There it was again. That little flicker of warmth for Aiden. I’d felt it several times.

When he’d protected me. When he’d healed me. When he had spoken of my mother with kindness and sorrow.

Sometimes it was difficult to think of him as my enemy. As someone who might have gruesome plans for my kingdom. I’d seen him kill two Shadow-Wolves, but from what I’d seen and heard, those men had probably committed much worse crimes.

Even Aiden’s threats were born of a desire to shield others from harm.

I needed the truth, once and for all. To quiet the storm in my mind. To put the shadows back where they belonged.

A red-faced dock official hurried up to Aiden, who handed him a piece of paper. The man barely glanced at it before scribbling on it and scurrying off again.

I frowned. “Why didn’t the official check the cargo?”

Ruru shrugged. “We have a deal with him. We get our cargo off his docks immediately, and he doesn’t look too closely at it. For a few extra coins, of course.”

Of course.

“All right, catch this, and I’ll give you a copper,” Ruru said with a grin.

Without warning, he lobbed a nut into the air, and I flung myself backward to catch it. I lost my seating and barely caught myself from falling to the ground. My boots stuck up in the air with my ass sliding down the other side of the wall.

Ruru roared with laughter, spilling our nuts every which way.

“Be quiet,” I grunted. “Pull me up, you little monkey.”

He clasped my hand and helped drag me back up the wall. Cheeks flaming, I noticed Maz laughing at us, along with the sailors. Aiden’s face was shadowed by his hood, but it was turned in our direction.

Perfect.

“Give me those.” I snatched the paper bag from Ruru’s hands.

“Fine.” He smirked. “But I’m keeping my copper.”

“Stake it for another round of Death and Four,” I challenged.

His expression soured. “Not a chance. I’ll never understand that game.” His brown eyes brightened. “Teach me more knife-throwing?”

Ever since Maz had told him of that night at the tavern, Ruru had begged me to show him how to throw. In between deliveries and in quiet alleys, I showed him the basics. He was a quick learner. He told me he wanted to be a soldier one day. Maybe even High General.

My heart ached to think of him turning into someone as cold and ruthless as High General Dracles. But perhaps my brother would choose someone different when he became king.

A sharp whistle cut across the deserted docks.

Ruru and I both stiffened, looking toward Aiden, who waited next to the fully loaded wagons. The bone-rattlers had disappeared, either onto their ship or into the packed taverns behind the sea wall.

Aiden gestured to us, and we hurried over.

“We’ll drive as quickly as we can since we have little time left,” Aiden said grimly, then focused on me. “No one is allowed to move cargo through the city after dark. Once the Wolves are out, they will certainly stop us if they catch us. Ruru with Maz. Kiera with me.”

My heart beat faster. I whisked my fingers over the four knives tucked into my belt and the one in my boot.

Maz took the first wagon with Ruru, and I climbed onto the seat next to Aiden. The moment I was settled, he snapped the reins over the horses’ backs.

The streets were as empty as the taverns and inns were full. No one wanted to risk a run-in with a Shadow-Wolf. Even the sea was fairly quiet, just the gentle hush of waves. I’d overheard Maz telling Aiden last night that the Wolves had gotten particularly violent in this quarter since our escape. Perhaps they thought we might still be here.

Suddenly, I wished Aiden would urge the horses into a gallop.

“Steady, little thief,” he murmured as I looked over my shoulder for the tenth time. “We’ll make it.”

The horses strained as we mounted the cliff road and began the long, back-and-forth journey up the cliffside. I clung to the edge of the wagon seat, forcing myself to keep my eyes open. But I didn’t dare look over the edge of the road as the wagon swayed and rattled. Our cargo groaned under the ropes that secured it to the bed.

I lifted my eyes to the sky, my heart sinking with the last ribbons of pink and scarlet that trailed after the sun I could no longer see.

“Gods damn it,” I breathed. “Why was Skelly late?”

“Storm. He lost two of his men.”

I winced. “May the gods find their souls.”

“May Mynastra collect their bones.”

“Is that what sailors say? When one of them dies?”

Aiden nodded as his eyes remained pinned to Maz’s wagon. “They sink the bodies to the sea floor, where it’s rumored Mynastra’s own bones lie.”

Death always won. It had even come for the gods and goddesses when they left this world to us humans. Thus began the Age of Peace. Although peace had dwindled in the centuries after the gods died. When those who weren’t alive to remember the wars became restless.

“Fucking Four,” Aiden cursed harshly.

A small box had worked its way free of the ropes mooring it to Maz’s wagon and fell to the ground. Aiden yanked on the reins, bringing the horses to a snorting halt. He whistled for Maz to stop.

I leapt off my seat and raced for the box before Ruru had even turned his head. I seized it. Something skittered inside, and I nearly dropped it.

A howl rose from the Docks Quarter below us. My stomach plummeted. I peered over the edge but saw nothing in the shadows. But they were there. They were hunting.

“Move, Kiera!” Aiden commanded.

Instead of trying to shove the trembling box back onto Maz’s wagon, I sprinted to Aiden.

“Go!” I gasped, jumping into my seat.

Aiden whistled again, and Maz’s wagon jolted forward the same moment ours did. Slapping the reins, Aiden urged the horses faster. Sweat shone on their dark coats as they strained over the last stretch of the cliff road.

I released a deep sigh of relief as we passed under the torch-lit gate. We weren’t safe yet, but we could lose ourselves in the labyrinth of the city before the Wolves reached the gate.

We didn’t speak again as the wagons rolled into the alleys of the Old Quarter. I knew where we were going this time. Aiden’s warehouse. But the likelihood of peering into a few of his crates was miniscule with Wolves snapping at our heels.

The wooden wheels scraped against the narrow alley walls, and I clutched the box in my lap tighter. Whatever was inside had quieted. Perhaps I could risk a peek once we stopped.

We drove directly to the warehouse this time. Aiden likely knew I had no trouble locating it by this point. We rolled to a stop in front of one of the many long, low buildings that huddled in the shadow of the high city wall. The same wall that cut off the Old Quarter from the Noble Quarter. The one Aiden tunneled under. No soldiers patrolled this wall—only the edges of the city.

We were alone. For now.

Aiden faced me, only his mouth and chin visible under his hood. “Keep a lookout with Ruru. Whistle if someone comes. If it’s them, run, hide. Don’t let them capture you.”

I forced a tiny smirk. “Can’t break me out of prison twice?”

“You would never make it to a cell.”

I swallowed hard, remembering the woman. Her brother.

Aiden disappeared into an alley where I guessed the door was. Maz started unloading crates from his wagon. Ruru waved at me from his seat, but my hands were locked around the box.

The box.

I pried my fingers away from it, noticing the holes cut into the sides. I carefully lifted the top. Something rustled inside. Whatever it was, I couldn’t risk it escaping. A thin, scaley tail suddenly whipped through the crack, and I slammed the top closed.

Some kind of lizard? Who in the deep, dark, wandering hell would smuggle in an exotic creature from?—

I nearly laughed. Garyth’s daughter, Isabel. So, this was the birthday present Garyth had ordered from Melaena. Aiden was Melaena’s—and therefore, the nobles’—supplier of illegal goods. But was that the extent of it? Or did he supply more than just unique pets?

Gods damn it, if only I could poke around the warehouse. I wasn’t even going to be able to get inside. All I’d managed to see was a girl’s lizard. Hardly a secret worth telling Renwell.

Aiden strode to Maz’s wagon and began wordlessly helping him unload it. Then they carried their crates toward the warehouse.

Biting my lip and keeping an eye on the back of Ruru’s head, I set the lizard box beside me. I pried the lids off one, two, then three crates to see inside. Boxes of tea, casks of liquor, and tins of spice. Fat bags of rice with their weight and origin stamped on the burlap leaned against the barrels. All from Eloren.

Nothing from Dagriel. Nothing from Keldiket. No sign of weapons or armor or anything that might hint at whatever Aiden or Garyth were planning.

Why was Aiden so protective of his business then? Why did he keep so many secrets?

I quickly sat forward when Aiden and Maz came back for another load. I did my duty and studied every twisting alley within sight. There were no windows and doors along this alley, aside from the other warehouses. But all was quiet.

It took two more trips for Aiden and Maz to empty the first wagon. Then they started on mine, taking the lizard first.

Unease prickled at the back of my neck. I looked behind me, but nothing moved in the shadows.

I quietly clucked my tongue, making my horses’ ears twitch but also catching the attention of Ruru, who turned immediately. I beckoned him over. He hopped down and rushed over to my wagon.

“You see something?” he whispered, his owlish eyes blinking.

“No, but what’s the sense of guarding an empty wagon when we can stand watch together?”

He grinned. “I like the way your mind works. Got any more nuts?”

I picked a few from my pocket and handed them to him. “What was in your boxes? Anything interesting? I think I had a lizard in one of mine,” I said with a smile.

“We get lots of strange requests like that.” Ruru lowered his voice further. “Spices that make you see things. Berries that cost ten gold coins a handful. Jewelry that changes your mood.”

My nose wrinkled. I’d never heard of such things. “You jest.”

“I swear by the Four. Melaena gave a bracelet of yellow jewels to a woman who had lost her husband and?—”

“Quiet!” I grabbed his elbow.

Something was wrong. The skin on the back of my neck crawled once more. Just as I heard the barest whisper of sound. A soft boot brushing over stone.

I slowly turned my head, glancing around the edge of my hood. My breath stuttered and died on my lips.

Two dark figures walked in tandem, steadily approaching from behind. Moonlight glinted off their demonic masks.

“Wolves,” I choked out.

“Face forward,” Ruru whispered. “Hold on.” He snapped the reins and whistled a merry tune as we slowly pulled away.

“What are you doing?” I demanded. “Aiden said to run.”

“We can lose them if we make it to the southern end of the quarter, closer to the taverns.” Fear trembled in his voice. “Or at least give Aiden and Maz a chance to lock themselves in the warehouse.”

We slowly rounded a bend.

“Are they still following?” Ruru asked.

One moment. Two. My clammy palms gripped the side of the wagon as I darted a glance behind us.

“They’re gaining,” I gasped.

The two Shadow-Wolves loped toward us as if they could catch us easily but didn’t want to. Yet.

Ruru snapped the reins again, and the horses trotted faster. The wagon’s rattling shook my very bones, my teeth clattering together.

But still, the Wolves came closer.

“It’s not working.” I tugged on Ruru’s arm. “We need to abandon the wagon.”

Aiden’s words howled through my mind, Run, hide, don’t let them capture you.

“Not yet. Do you know how much this cargo is worth?” Ruru gritted out, turning the wagon down a narrow alley.

“Less than our lives,” I snapped. “We need to run. Now!”

Ruru glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened. I didn’t need to look to know how close they were. The light rhythm of their boots in a matched pace told me everything I needed to know.

They were close. They were faster. And they wouldn’t tire for hours.

“Fucking Four,” Ruru swore, then jerked the reins to the side, making the horses swerve.

The wagon careened sideways to block the alley. Ruru and I leapt out the other side and sprinted. Muted thumps signaled the wagon had only slowed the Wolves for a moment. They didn’t want our cargo. They wanted us.

Terror tore at my heart as we raced.

Ruru tugged me down one alley, then another. I was lost, my panic and the shadows rendering the city strange and deadly. Like my nightmare.

“No. No!” he shouted as he came to an abrupt halt.

Our alley ended in a pile of rubble. One of the buildings had collapsed and effectively crushed our exit.

Ruru leapt forward, trying to scramble his way up the loose rock and broken wood.

Behind us, the boots had stopped.

I turned, my heart a caged, thrashing animal in my chest. Two snarling metal masks faced me. Glittering black daggers rested in gloved fists. They stood utterly still. They knew we were cornered.

“Ruru,” I said in a hollow, unrecognizable voice. “Can you make it?”

He appeared at my side, panting. “N-no. There’s too much . . . I can’t . . .”

Blood snaked down his arms from where debris must have sliced his skin. But he pulled the pathetically small knife I’d trained him with from his belt and crouched low.

“They won’t take us, Kiera. I won’t let them,” he said.

My heart stuttered. I’d known this boy a handful of days, and he was willing to die trying to save us? There was no way he could fight two Shadow-Wolves and live. Even I would be hard-pressed?—

I froze.

I couldn’t fight them either. Renwell had been very clear— never interfere with my Wolves.

But had Renwell ordered them to spare me, should they happen upon me? Or had he assumed I wouldn’t be anywhere near them on my mission?

No. The Wolves had hunted us, cornered us. They meant to take us. But I refused to be that woman who died begging for a life. I would die fighting for it. For both of our lives. And this time, I had the knives to do it.

I exhaled slowly and untied my cloak before tossing it aside. The Wolves didn’t even seem to breathe as I unsheathed two knives.

“Ruru, when I say run, you run.”

His head swiveled toward me, taking in my knives. “Wh-what? No, Kiera! They will kill you! Or take you! They’ve taken my friends, my brother?—”

I thrust him behind me, flipping one knife to grasp the tip. My best chance was to take one Wolf down before dealing with the other.

“Ready?” I whispered to Ruru, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

The Wolves dropped to identical crouches, their blades lifted.

The left or the right?

Sweat rolled down my cold neck.

Whatever happened in the next few moments would stain my soul or take it.

The one on the left shifted the tiniest bit, tracking Ruru.

My arm lashed out like a whip. Silver streaked, and the Wolf fell backward, my knife in his throat.

The world suddenly felt made of glass, fragile and silent.

And the Wolf’s body hitting the ground shattered it.

Ruru shouted as the other Wolf charged me.

I barely avoided his first swing. He slashed at my ribs. I pivoted and seized his fist, driving my second knife to his neck.

But he whirled and kicked me in the stomach. I flew backward, landing in a heap. My knife clattered somewhere out of reach. But our positions had switched.

Ruru stepped forward as if he were going to take my place, but I struggled to my feet and shoved him. “Run, you idiot!” His footsteps raced back the way we’d come.

I pulled out two more knives as the Wolf attacked. I blocked his strike, and my knife shattered with that same sickening shriek of metal. Like Maz’s axe.

He stabbed again. I dropped and rolled out of reach. I flung my knife, aiming for his neck. The surest kill.

He twisted at the last moment, my knife simply grazing him. A low hiss came from behind the mask. My mind blanked with fear. I had one knife left.

My fingers plunged into my boot just as he charged. I wrenched to the side, catching his wrist. I slammed my elbow into his lungs and my heel into his groin. His grip slackened. I kicked his legs out from under him while using his weight and momentum to fling him over my shoulder.

I ripped the knife out of my boot and drove into the nearest bit of him—the wrist of his knife hand.

He screamed and thrashed. I backed away, defenseless. He tore my bloody knife from his wrist and flung it away from him. He transferred his sunstone blade to his good hand.

Gods damn it. I had nothing left. No more knives. I couldn’t?—

Something caught the corner of my eye. My knife in the other Wolf’s throat.

But my remaining enemy noticed it too. He charged. I dropped to my knees and spun under his slashes, ripping my knife out of the body. My stomach heaved, but I forced my fingers to grip the bloody knife tighter.

I brought the knife down to the Wolf’s chest, but he caught my arm, placed a boot on my chest, and crushed me against a wall.

I gasped, my ribs groaning, collapsing. The air shimmered around me.

Gods, I couldn’t breathe.

Use your knife.

I limply stabbed at his ankle until he jerked away, and I slid down the wall.

Get up. Get up! Do not die like this!

My mother’s body flashed through my mind. Stabbed. Lifeless. Unavenged.

Groaning, I shakily rose to my feet. The Wolf waited for me, blood leaking from his injuries.

Me or him.

Each breath rasped through my lungs.

“No,” I whispered. Then louder. “You—” I pointed the bloody knife at him. “—will be joining him.”

He didn’t make a sound. He simply stilled and slowly shook his head once.

We struck at the same time. I stabbed his shoulder. His knife sliced across my chest. Fiery pain drew a cry from my lips. I twisted backward, his next strike whistling past my cheek.

I slashed in a frenzy, barely scraping his arms and legs. But I couldn’t reach... he was too fast...

Gods, the pain.

There was no air. Anymore.

I clumsily ducked another swipe, but he swung backward, catching my temple with the hilt of his knife.

I collapsed.

Someone shouted. My name? It didn’t matter.

Darkness consumed my last sky. And that knife made of stars.