33. Kiera

Chapter 33

Kiera

I gaped after her. A lone, tall figure with her staff, facing Renwell on horseback and his Wolves.

It couldn’t be true. Renwell was her brother ? He’d never mentioned family. Never said where he came from. And I’d never asked.

She would have to be out of her gods-damned mind to lie about that.

Renwell spotted her, and his face whitened. He yanked back on the reins so hard his horse reared, whinnying. His Wolves came to a whispered halt behind him.

He mouthed something. Her name?

She ripped a container from her pocket and strew its contents in a wide arc in front of her. She grabbed a nearby torch?—

“NIKELLA!” Renwell roared.

She threw it to the ground. A wall of fire roared up from the cracked cobblestones. I stumbled back with a gasp.

Hooves clattered behind me. Aiden rode toward me on a brown horse with another’s reins clutched in his hand.

He pulled to a halt. “Get on.”

The realization hit me like the heat wave at my back. “I don’t know how to ride!”

He thrust his hand toward me, and I grabbed it without thinking. I leapt, and he swung me up behind him on the scratchy blanket that covered the horse’s back. Nikella heaved herself onto the other horse.

With a kick of Aiden’s heels, we jolted forward. I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed my arms and thighs, trying desperately to stay on.

Guards shouted and flocked to the barricade of fire while someone rang an alarm bell. They were too busy to notice Helene, with Isabel nestled in front of her, galloping out of the gate, with the rest of us close behind.

I twisted around for one last look and saw nothing but Renwell pacing behind the fire. I couldn’t see his eyes, but somehow, I knew they were fastened on me.

The gods themselves wouldn’t be able to save me from his wrath.

I shuddered, every bone in my body already rattling from the strange, rocking movement of the horse.

I had left the city. The realization made me forget everything else. I tilted my head back to look up at the open sky. It was the same sky I saw every night, but there was more of it. I was flying beneath it, flying away, and there was still ever more. The walls that had encircled me my whole life were rapidly fading behind me. Smaller and smaller, like a child’s toy left by the sea. How had that city seemed so large before?

Miles of rolling fields stretched out before us. The road we galloped over curved and dipped toward a dark smudge on the western horizon. Woods, perhaps? Gods, I’d never been in the woods before.

A giddy laugh bubbled up in my throat, and I had to swallow it back. I was free . Perhaps this was why Renwell and Father forbade me from leaving. Because they knew I’d never want to come back.

I used to imagine what it would be like to leave Aquinon and explore the world. To be someone other than Emilia or Kiera Torvaine. Forsaking my name and legacy to roam the world with no expectations.

Like Aiden had.

Yet he’d come back.

Just like I would have to. I couldn’t leave Everett and Delysia behind. Not unless they were safe. And now I had Maz, Ruru, and Melaena to worry about as well.

No. This was a short freedom. But that wouldn’t stop me from enjoying it.

I breathed in the cool night air, scented with wet grass instead of the sea. What did the rest of the world smell like?

Mother’s voice echoed in my head from a day we’d been walking through her garden as she showed me her herbs and flowers.

A thousand scents in one garden, Kiera. Each one presses a new memory to your mind. Imagine, a garden of a thousand memories.

If her garden had held that many, then a multitude could have existed outside our small world.

My chest ached, and I leaned against Aiden’s back. He stiffened. I pulled away, but his hand reached back and gripped my knee. A silent reassurance.

I held him closer, inhaling his familiar scent. I wished I could tell Mother that a scent carried more than just memory. It could carry a whole heart’s worth of emotions as well. Like every time I was in her old room, an ocean of grief and longing, love and guilt enveloped me.

And how, whenever I was this close to Aiden, I felt the crash of something similar. Not as deep and wide as the ocean. More like a hidden pool under a waterfall. It was new and secret. Feelings, like water, kept pouring into it.

I didn’t know deep it went. I didn’t know what else awaited me there. But being near Aiden made me want to jump in and find out.

After a while, the horses slowed to a walk. No one pursued us.

Helene and Isabel looked limp with exhaustion, but Helene held her posture well, as though she’d ridden before. Nikella was shrouded in her cloak once more, carrying her staff like the spear it held within.

I had so many questions—about her and Renwell, and whatever she threw on the ground. About where we were going.

But it felt wrong to break the silence. As if breaking it would alert the guards to where we were.

We rode until my muscles ached and my thighs burned. The rolling fields ended in a thick glade of trees with twisted trunks and chattering leaves. The Hollow, if I remembered my maps correctly.

The creak of old wood and the muted clop of the horses’ hooves made it sound like we were alone in this dense, gloomy world.

Until light emerged ahead. Lopsided buildings of wood and thatch were clumped together under the trees. A carved sign out front said Fairglen. A small village I’d heard travelers mention as a stop on their long journeys.

Hay-filled paddocks with horses, donkeys, and cattle looped around behind what looked like four inns and a tavern. Whoever lived here must run the only five businesses that made this a “village.”

Even this late at night, everywhere seemed brightly lit and full. No guards. No Wolves.

Aiden maneuvered us next to Nikella. “We should rest,” he murmured to her.

“No, we should keep going. They might not be far behind.”

“ If he comes after us,” Aiden countered. His head turned to Helene and Isabel. “He already snagged his bigger prize.”

Helene drew up near us. “We have a family estate. In the heart of Pravara. We could go there.”

Aiden shook his head. “That will be the first place they check. We need to get you somewhere safe they don’t know about.”

Helene seemed to wilt, her last familiar refuge gone. Isabel looked too tired for tears. She simply clutched Captain’s box and stared at me with hollow eyes.

“Food and something to drink,” I said, nodding to Isabel. “Then we plan.”

Nikella’s eyes cut to me. How could I have not realized why she seemed familiar? Hints of her brother stared back at me.

I suppressed another shiver.

“Agreed,” she said.

Aiden directed his horse toward a sprawling inn with glass windows and a sloping roof. The Twisted Tail , according to the painted board above the door. A running horse with a braided tail was painted next to the name.

Aiden slid off our horse, and I tried to follow, throwing one leg over and sliding as he did. But my muscles must’ve been beaten near to death by that gods-damned horse because I fell to the ground in a heap.

Aiden stretched out a hand to me, his lips pressed together as his eyes twinkled.

“Don’t you dare laugh,” I hissed, grabbing his hand and lurching upright. “Or tell Maz.”

His smile snuck out as his thumb stroked the back of my hand. “Never.”

The others dismounted much more easily than I did, with Aiden lifting Isabel to the ground. Perhaps I should’ve let him do the same for me.

A young boy sitting on the fence rails next to the inn took our horses for a tossed coin. We trudged inside to shouts of laughter and the smell of unwashed bodies and bean stew. A fire crackled in a stone hearth adorned with a wreath of cow horns. Roughly dressed men and women crowded the tables and the bar. No one looked up at our entrance, too busy eating, yelling, and playing Death and Four.

Helene hugged her daughter close, her eyes wide. But I was glad to be around strangers in a rowdy tavern. Much more comfortable than I’d felt in Asher’s ballroom.

Aiden sauntered over to talk to the bartender while Nikella glared our way to a table by the hearth.

He came back with a basket of bread and a bowl of butter that he set on our table. He sat next to me, our bodies touching from hip to toe. I didn’t move away.

Isabel snatched a brown loaf and bit into it like she was starving. Her box quivered on her lap. Helene stared at the bread as if she couldn’t imagine eating. She’d tucked her satchel between her dainty, muddied boots.

“Bartender said the inns are full tonight.” Aiden slathered a piece of bread with butter and ate it. “Cattle drive from Winspere and a host of farmers from Pravara for market day.”

I slumped in my chair. I’d rather sleep on the roof than get back on that horse.

“I’ll take them onward,” Nikella said, ripping off chunks of bread. “I have allies not far from here who will keep them safe.”

Aiden nodded. “Kiera and I will go back to Aquinon after dawn when the guards rotate, and the Wolves are gone. Maz and Ruru will be wondering where we are.”

So soon. Part of me wanted to run and hide. Evade Renwell as long as I could. But things might only get worse.

A barmaid thumped down five bowls of stew with wooden spoons and left. Steam curled from the thick brown soup, brimming with beans and chunks of vegetables. She returned moments later with a pitcher of water and a handful of mismatched mugs.

Nikella stopped her before she could leave. “Bring me a cup of fruit or wet greens if you have it. For the lizard,” she added to Isabel as the barmaid trotted off.

A glimmer of a smile appeared on the girl’s face. “Thank you, Teacher.”

Helene twisted her hands together. “I’d like to pay you all for this. For your help.”

“Not necessary,” Aiden said.

I looked away from the gratitude and grief shining in her eyes. I poured a mug of water and gulped it down. The barmaid came and went, dropping off a bit of lettuce and diced apple. Isabel slid a few pieces into the crate.

“Your husband is High Councilor Garyth?” Nikella asked.

My gaze shot back to her. How did she know that?

Helene nodded.

“Two months ago, I passed information to one of his men. Four days later, I found the man by the side of the road. Dead.”

Helene gasped and covered Isabel’s ears. “Please don’t say such things in front of my daughter.”

Nikella pressed her lips together, aligning her scar. She didn’t say anything, but her silence spoke loud enough. There was very little Helene could shelter Isabel from anymore.

“What information?” Aiden asked in a low voice.

Firelight danced in Nikella’s eyes. The dark blue was different than Renwell’s, but they held the same hardness. As if they had known nothing but brutality. Yet, Nikella had raised Aiden. She was a Teacher. There must be a softer heart in her body than the one that beat in her brother’s.

“About the Calimber mine,” she said. “Garyth had his men poking around for months. They were raising suspicion, so I told one of them what I knew. That Dracles moved several patrols to guard the river where large shipments of wood float from Twaryn to the mine. Larger than usual. And they cleared out the village. It’s nothing but Dracles’ men now.”

It was the most Nikella had ever spoken, and several things became clear.

Nikella was a spy, not unlike me.

Delysia’s lover was telling the truth. Father was building something near the mine, taking more than his share of wood from Twaryn. I’d heard him say once that the trees grew back, so Viridana shouldn’t care how many he took from her forest.

But the kingdoms had signed a treaty before the gods disappeared, never to invade Twaryn and never to take more than their share of the goddess-grown trees. It was part of Garyth’s duty as Master of Commerce to see that the treaty was enforced.

Why was Father breaking it now? And why had he kept his Master of Commerce in the dark about it? Had he suspected his true—and treasonous—alliance already? Because of Renwell. Because of me and my own poking around.

No one spoke after Nikella’s news. Aiden scowled into his water as if more answers swam there. Perhaps he was hesitating to kill my father, not knowing what sort of nefarious plans Everett would be inheriting.

That could be my key to this particular lock. I could convince Aiden to capture my father and force him to tell us what he was doing. Get him to order Dracles and his men away from the mine. Maybe even replace Dracles with someone who would be loyal to my brother. Delysia’s lover, perhaps?

“Weylin’s plans will die with him,” Aiden said.

Helene gasped again, and Isabel’s mouth dropped open. I inwardly cringed. Nikella frowned.

Aiden sent Helene a piercing stare. “I’m only sorry it wasn’t sooner. Then I could’ve saved your husband.”

Helene’s chin crumpled, and her gaze dropped to her untouched soup. “I wish that as well,” she whispered.

Isabel snuggled into her mother’s side, and they held each other, mired in a grief so thick no words of comfort would penetrate.

“We should carry on,” Nikella said, dropping her spoon into her empty bowl. “We have a few more hours of riding ahead of us.”

Helene nodded and ate a few spoonfuls of her soup before pushing the bowl away. Nikella stuffed the extra bread in her pockets while Isabel dumped the rest of the lettuce and apple chunks into her lizard’s crate.

We all stood.

Helene stepped forward and awkwardly embraced me. “I will never forget your kindness and bravery. I pray the gods will protect you. All of you,” she added, inclining her head to Aiden.

Isabel rushed forward and clutched my hand, pulling me closer to her. “Save my father if you can,” she whispered in my ear.

I jerked back. Had she remembered me from the study?

But she gave no other hint of recognition. My chest burned as I squeezed her hand. “Take care of Captain and your mother. And yourself, Lady Isabel.”

She nodded solemnly and followed Helene and Nikella out the door. I sank back onto my chair.

“I need to speak with the bartender a moment,” Aiden muttered and disappeared.

I tried to swallow a few more bites of soup, but it felt like mud in my mouth. The clamor of the patrons that had been comforting moments before now felt like needles in my skin.

I stood abruptly, looking for Aiden. But I didn’t see him anywhere.

I staggered away, the room blurring as my emotions threatened to overwhelm me. I bumped into someone who spilled their drink and cursed at me. Finally, I reached the door and flung myself outside.

The humid night air soothed some of the tightness in my chest. But it was still tainted by the sharp smell of livestock and the ruckus from the inns.

Without thinking, I wandered off the only road and into the woods. The soft ground muted my boot steps, and the heavy trees drew a curtain between me and the village. I’d never been somewhere like this in the dark without being frightened.

But nothing sinister awaited me here. A few small creatures skittered in the brush, but the rest of the woods breathed peace.

Something I desperately needed, yet rarely found.

I had an almost inexorable urge to run. To flee through these welcoming trees and bury myself so deeply in their embrace, no one would ever find me. The world would move on. I wouldn’t have to face my guilt or my crimes.

I wouldn’t have to face those I’d failed, as I’d just faced Helene and Isabel. Acting as if I deserved any of their gratitude.

Delysia’s accusatory face surfaced in my mind. When she’d told me to leave because that was what I was good at. I’d wanted to argue with her, but now...

I’d always looked for a way out when things grew difficult. I snuck out of the palace to drink and gamble and have affairs with charming men. I’d wanted to leave Rellmira when Father began planning my tactical marriage before Mother’s death. And I’d disappeared into Renwell’s shadow after she died.

Had I truly helped anyone by spying for Renwell? My first mission concerning Garyth. And this one with Aiden. Both only seemed to bring more death, more guilt, more pain. He claimed I was doing my duty, serving the crown, protecting it.

But sometimes it seemed the people needed more protection from the crown.

“Kiera,” a deep voice said behind me.

No twigs had snapped, yet I’d known he would come for me.

Where would I go?

Nowhere I wouldn’t find you.