15. Serak

SERAK

“ Y ou will not be allowed in our borders again, young Zellum.”

I froze with one foot in the stirrup of the horse I’d just purchased from the innkeeper. He hadn’t wanted to sell it to me, but I’d given him the rest of the Rimholtian coins I had. I’d been shocked that Ratter hadn’t taken my coin purse when she stole the dagger from my waist. But she was a clever thief; she knew the value of what she wanted.

And I knew her value. Infinite. I’d shared as much in the letter I left in Vilkurn’s private dungeon, along with the yellow diamond she’d given me.I hadn’t stayed to explain what had happened, though I knew Vilkurn would be vexed to know I’d accessed his most protected room.

I had to admit, I’d broken into that one on purpose. I’d wanted him to know his security wasn’t as strong as it could be. As it needed to be, with children, and Omegas, inside his walls.

I hadn’t had time to speak to him, in any case. My blood was turning to fire in my veins, my masters forcing me back to our island to face judgment. The persistent, growing agony was making my hands shake even now on the saddle.

I didn’t turn, but acknowledged the man in the shadows of the stable. “General Vilkurn, that won’t be an issue. I’m almost certain I won’t be allowed to live for more than a few days after I return to Pict. I return empty-handed, after all. With no dagger, and no bride for my god.”

He was quiet for a moment, then said, “Not entirely empty-handed.”

I thought for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“You have my thanks, and my trust, Zellum. If you call on me for assistance, I will answer.”

“You would send an army to Pict? Don’t. The order would only feed them to the maw.” I wasn’t exaggerating; I’d watched hundreds of men from other, far more powerful countries march into the molten core of the Alldyns Vug without slowing. There was no fighting the Lord of Fire.

Vilkurn’s laugh was unexpected, and almost as terrifying as the memory of my god’s anger. “Why would I send an army, when all it would take is one spy?” He sighed. “Though that spy may turn up even without an order. Such a brat.”

A brat? He couldn’t mean…

“Wait!” I turned to see his face, but he was already gone.

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Need more Ratter? She appears in the following books in The Lost Lines Series, in timeline order: The Queen’s Nest, The Guards’ Haven, The Duchess’s Designs, The Spy’s Solstice, The Leviathan’s Debt, and The Wyvern’s Redemption . Her own full-length story will be the final one in the series, The Goddess’s Spy .