3. Sage

CHAPTER 3

Sage

"Should I gather the men?" Pylos asked, pushing away from the wall, his gaze flickering to Sawyer before returning to Edred.

I wasn't sure from that look if he knew what was going on or not, but given the timing, it was obvious Edred had somehow arranged for Sawyer's name to be drawn in the lottery even though he was still a season too young and the heir to Herstind March.

It was the perfect way to get rid of him. The summons would force Sawyer to go to the Black Tower by tomorrow or the next day at the latest, and the magic binding him to the Tower wouldn't allow him to return unless he was given special permission.

It didn't matter that his name shouldn't have been in the lottery. I had no doubt Edred was betting on the rigors of training and defending the Gates of the Realms on killing him before anyone realized the truth. Sawyer could even claim he shouldn't have been called, but anyone looking for dispensation had to have his lord petition the king on his behalf, and Edred was Sawyer's lord. Given that I was sure this was Edred's doing, I doubted he'd agree to Sawyer's petition.

"Only gather those young enough to make the sacrifice," Edred said, carrying out the pretense that he didn't really know whose name was going to be on the summons. But his lips curled back in a wicked grin, his pleasure and the truth obvious.

Pylos gave a curt nod and hurried toward the keep to summon everyone not patrolling the area who was between sixteen and twenty-six years old to gather in the great hall.

Edred kicked me again, the half-hearted thump making my already bruised chest ache and stealing my breath for a moment but thankfully not adding to my injuries.

"Get up, girl, and greet our guest. And you—" He turned his almost gleeful expression to Sawyer. "Hurry and clean up. You're Herstind's heir. Don't embarrass me in front of a fae lord."

"Yes, my lord," Sawyer gasped as he staggered to his feet, his breath wheezing, each inhalation strained and wet.

Edred strode toward the keep and Sawyer held out his hand to help me up, but his breath rattled in his chest and a coughing fit bent him over.

"Are you… all right?" he forced out between gasping breaths.

He looked afraid, but not with the fear of being forced to leave everything never to return. It was the fear that Edred could have finally snapped and killed both of us. He hadn't figured out that he was the sacrifice or if he had, he thought there was a way around it.

And maybe there was. Maybe he could survive long enough in the Gray to convince someone to let him petition the king without going through Edred.

"I said clean up," Edred barked from halfway across the bailey, making Sawyer flinch.

"Go." I jerked my chin after Edred, urging him to follow.

If, for some reason, Sawyer's name wasn't on the summons, then it would be bad if he wasn't presentable in front of the fae.

Even if the fae was a member of the Black Guard, he was still a fae, and fae were far more powerful than humans. Not only were they stronger and faster, and potentially had centuries worth of experience because they lived longer than humans, they had magic. And while it was possible for humans to possess magic — and more powerful magic than fae — a human sorcerer hadn't been seen in almost two hundred years. That, and even if it was just a little bit, every fae possessed some kind of magic, and no one wanted to risk upsetting a fae just in case his little-bit-of-magic was deadly.

I rolled to my hands and knees so I could sit up, my chest and left side throbbing in protest. It wasn't the worst beating Edred had given me, but I was still going to be sore and black and blue for days.

Udara's boy, Dodd, stared at me with enormous brown eyes. His small body trembled, and I didn't know if it was fear from having interrupted Edred or fear over the way of our world.

Every boy, unless he was a nobleman's heir or unable to wield a weapon, spent ten years in the lottery.

That was the deal we'd made with the fae five hundred years ago after the Shadow Gate had opened, and a great evil had threatened both of our realms.

The fae and the Five Great Kingdoms of Man had banded together to push back the monsters that had rushed out, and after many horrible battles, the Shadow Gate had been sealed and the three towers had been formed. The White Tower in the fae realm, a place of knowledge and learning for human and fae scholars, the Gold Tower in the human realm, where humans and fae gather to discuss political issues among their kingdoms, and the Black Tower in the Gray, the first line of defense if the Shadow Gate ever opened again.

And while the gate had been sealed for centuries, that didn't mean life in the Black Guard was easy. They were a force that needed to be ready at a moments notice and were constantly training. As well, the Gray, where the Tower stood between the Three Gates of the Realms, still had monsters lurking in its mists, remnants of the creatures who'd poured through the Shadow Gate all those years ago.

Those called to make the sacrifice had to leave everything behind, even if they were already married and had children, and they were bound by magic that wouldn't let them run away from their duty. Which made a part of me furious.

I understood we needed to maintain an army in the Gray, but my father had died shortly after Sawyer had been born, my other brother — between me and Sawyer — had died from the sweating sickness a few winters after that, and my mother died just over eight summers ago. I knew what it felt like to lose someone, knew how hard it was to overcome that loss, and didn't want anyone to suffer that. But then, if marriage and children got you out of the lottery, men would rush to marry, and all the newest Black Guard sacrifices would be boys barely past their sixteenth birthday.

I stood and tried to dust myself off, but with sweat dampening my clothes and slicking my face and forearms, I only managed to smear it. My hand brushed the pendant my mother had given me for my twelfth birthday and my throat tightened with the grief I always felt when I thought of her. It wasn't the sobbing heartache it had been when she'd first died, but there was still an ache that I didn't think would ever go away.

I resisted the urge to pull it out from under my bodice and check on it. For some reason, Edred had forgotten about it, and I wasn't going to draw his or anyone else's attention to it. The pendant was small, but it was still an emerald wrapped in gold filigree. I kept it on a string so it didn't look like I was wearing anything of value, because if he thought it was valuable, he'd take it and sell it, just like he'd sold the rest of Mother's jewelry and everything else that had belonged to her.

My heart ached. I missed her so much. I missed her warm smile and bright laughter, and I missed climbing into bed with her and Sawyer and listening to her read adventure tales to us until we fell asleep. She wouldn't have wanted Sawyer to have suffered Edred's temper just to keep our family's land. Of course, she would have also understood Sawyer staying to keep his claim on the land so he could take it back.

And now all that suffering had been for nothing, because even if I stayed, I wouldn't be able to hold his claim on Herstind March. Edred would most likely kill me — inquisitors weren't sent for women who died mysteriously — or he'd push the king to pronounce my betrothed dead and marry me to someone else.

No, if Sawyer was leaving, so was I. I wasn't going to stay, and while I'd dreamed of travelling to the far south and becoming a Sayorian Swordmaiden — because they were real, they had to be — that plan could wait until I'd figured out how to free Sawyer from the Black Guard.

"Come on," I said to Dodd, jerking my chin toward the gatehouse.

Dodd continued to stare at me and tremble.

"The fae lord isn't here for you," I said, smoothing a hand over my hair in an attempt to look more presentable.

If I really cared, I'd find a mirror, but this fae lord wasn't a potential husband Edred could sell me to, so he didn't care if I looked like a nobleman's daughter or not. I wasn't his daughter, so I didn't matter. "You don't even have to speak to him, just tend to his horse."

I held out my hand and he took it and we walked to the gatehouse.

The guard on duty was one of Edred's staunch supporters who'd come with him from the King's army to join the Herstind forces. Sawyer's lesson had been out in the open and close enough to the gate that the guard had to have seen Edred kicking me, but the man just gave me a dry look and turned his attention back to the road.

Of course, I didn't expect much from him or anyone in the castle. There were only a few men left from when my mother had been alive, and they kept quiet for the sake of their families. Everyone else was loyal to Edred and while he'd made it clear no one was to touch me or Sawyer without permission, he'd also made it clear, no one was to help us, either.

A few seconds later I heard the thud of hooves on the hardpacked dirt road, the rhythm a quick trot, indicating the fae wasn't racing to Herstind but also wasn't on a leisurely outing. Then the horse and rider crested the hill, drew closer, and my breath caught in my aching chest.