Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

NYRA

My palms were slick with sweat as I glanced around the training grounds, taking in every detail. Wren was to my right, her long legs stretching out before her, and I nodded at something she was saying.

“Did you hear me?”

“What?” I blinked and looked down at her.

“You should stretch more. I promise it will help with the soreness later.” She leaned forward and touched her toes, and I followed suit.

The soreness.The only soreness I could think of was the way I ached between my thighs with the memory of Dacre’s touch. Dacre, who had all but disappeared after I walked off with Eiran last night.

“Have you seen your brother this morning?” I stretched my arms over my head while I looked around.

“No.” She chuckled. “I’d say he’s probably sleeping off that wine if I had to guess. I don’t know what got into him last night.”

I bit down on my tongue because I didn’t know what had gotten into him either, but it wasn’t something I was ready to discuss with her.

He was her brother.

“Does that mean I can go back to our room and get some more sleep?” I chuckled because I knew that was never going to happen.

“Not today,” a deep male voice I didn’t recognize said from behind me.

“Dad.” Wren climbed to her feet and stood up straight in front of her father. She didn’t approach him or embrace him like I expected her to. Instead, she stood like a warrior before a commanding officer.

So I did the same.

“You must be Nyra.” Her father looked at me, and he looked so much like his son it was unsettling. He had graying hair at his temples, and his face was worn with his years, but his features were the same.

All except for his eyes.

I had seen him only once before when he pulled Dacre from training, but this was the first time he had spoken to me.

“I am.” I nodded and shifted on my feet, uncomfortable under his attention.

“I hear my son has been training you.” He looked around the grounds. “Any idea where he is now?”

“He wasn’t feeling well last night,” Wren answered before I could say anything. “I could hear him getting sick through the walls.”

I kept my mouth shut because her lies to her father were none of my business.

I had my own lies to worry about.

“Then you’re with me today, Wren.” His words were a command, and she simply nodded.

“What about you?” He cocked his head and studied me. His expression so similar to Dacre’s, but he unnerved me in a way that Dacre never had.

My spine straightened under his scrutiny. “What about me?”

“Have you been out on the field yet?”

“She’s only had a few days of training,” Wren answered for me, but her father paid her no attention.

“You’ll come with us then.” He turned away from both of us. “We’re leaving now.”

“Shit,” Wren cursed under her breath, and I widened my eyes.

Her father was already walking away from us, but she pulled two different daggers from their sheaths on her vest before tucking them into mine.

“I’m going to kill Dacre.” She looked over my shoulder as if he would suddenly appear.

“Should I be worried?” My hands were trembling at my sides, but I had no idea what going out on the field meant. But I couldn’t get the image of what Dacre had told me in that cave yesterday out of my mind. Those boys. I didn’t know how I would handle that. I didn’t know if I could.

I didn’t know what I’d do if he forced me to go anywhere near the palace.

“Just stick to my side.” She tugged on the straps of my vest before her worried gaze met mine. “You’ll be fine.”

She followed after her father, and I did exactly as she said and stuck to her side as we walked up to him, two other men, and Mal.

She opened her mouth as if she was about to speak before closing it again. I hadn’t seen her since the day I had arrived, and honestly, I had been thankful for that.

“Good. Let’s go.” Wren’s father barely spared us a glance before he was leading us down a winding path that led us away from the training grounds and deeper into the narrowing caves.

He was walking so quickly that I could barely keep up, but I stayed at Wren’s side as we reached the end of a massive cave and started ascending a winding staircase that was so covered in vines that I wouldn’t have known it was there without being shown.

When Wren’s father reached the top, he lifted open the circular rock that gave way and allowed the blinding sunlight to come in. I had spent so many days already in the hidden city that I had to shield my eyes as I let them adjust to the daylight.

Wren’s father and the others disappeared through the hole in the ceiling, and Wren and I followed after them. Wren reached her hand forward to grab mine and helped pull me up before the two of us shifted the rock back over the opening.

We were in the middle of woods, surrounded by trees and a thick mossy forest floor. I had no idea where we were, or how far from the palace, but I could hear the loud crashing water where the waterfall hit the surface. It was a sound I used to crave at night. I would open my window and let the familiar sound lull me to sleep after my mother was no longer there to do it.

But now the sound made me shudder, and anxiety coated my veins. We were close enough to hear it, which meant we were also close to my father.

“Davian, we need to head east,” Mal said as she looked around. “We’re supposed to meet him shortly.”

Wren’s father looked over at us once before nodding his head. “Let’s get this over with.”

We followed behind them as they moved through the forest as if they were a part of it. Their steps were soundless, and they moved so quickly that my breaths were rushing in and out of my chest, trying to keep up with them. Wren was almost as stealthy as they were, but I could easily spot the years of training they had over her. Even Mal.

Sweat was dripping down the back of my neck by the time they finally stopped behind a cluster of large trees, and I tried to quiet my panting as they watched the small clearing before us.

I didn’t know what they were waiting for, but the tension in the air was thick and suffocating. I could hear my own heartbeat in my ears as I watched the men in front of us, their eyes focused on something in the clearing.

“Why would you bring her here?” Mal spoke quietly as she moved to Wren’s side.

“Davian demanded it.” Wren narrowed her eyes at Mal. “Would you like to be the one to tell him no?”

Mal didn’t answer her; instead, she crouched and looked out toward the clearing.

I gasped as movement in the nearby bushes revealed a tall, broad-shouldered figure with a strong jaw and short black hair. Faris.

We had known each other for years–ever since I was a tiny girl playing in the castle courtyards. He was one of the top commanders in my father’s army, and there was no chance of him not recognizing me. I felt lightheaded as fear surged through me, and I forced myself to take a deep breath.

Davian motioned for us to stay put as he and the other men disappeared around the trees. Wren grabbed my hand and pulled me closer to her, her grip tight and reassuring. We both crouched down near the base of a massive tree, near Mal, and I could feel the tension in Wren’s body.

There was no doubt that they could feel it in mine as well.

“Do you know who that is?” I asked Wren so quietly that I barely heard my own question.

She shook her head without taking her eyes off of Faris. “I’ve never seen him before.”

“He’s a commander in King Roan’s army,” Mal hissed without turning to face us.

I watched as Faris paced back and forth in the clearing, his eyes darting rapidly. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, his face drawn and gaunt.

I felt a chill run down my spine as I watched him. Faris was known for how ruthless he could be in battle. The stories my father used to tell about his great war efforts had been enough to turn my stomach, and I didn’t feel safe that he stood before us now.

“He knows me.” I spoke the words into Wren’s ear before I could think better of them, but if I was going to have to face this, I wanted to do it with someone I trusted at least knowing part of the truth.

The only truth I could give her.

Wren looked at me, and her eyes were assessing, but there was no judgment there. No hatred.

“We wait and we watch.” Her voice was steady and calm. “We stay hidden unless my father tells us otherwise.”

I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest.

“You’re the one who asked for this meeting.” Davian stood before the others. “What do you want?”

Faris’s eyes flicked toward Wren’s father, and he took a step forward. “I have information that could be of great use to you.”

Davian’s expression was unreadable as he stood there waiting for Faris to continue.

“I have information on the whereabouts of the princess.” Faris’s voice was low, and I felt Wren’s grip on my hand tighten.

“What makes you think we would be interested in that?” Davian’s tone was hard, but I saw the way he leaned toward Faris just a fraction.

“Princess Verena is a valuable bargaining chip,” Faris replied, his eyes darting around the clearing. “The king has had men searching for her for months.”

It was the first time I had heard my name in months, and I felt unsteady.

Davian rolled his shoulders back and shifted on his feet.

“Because she’s his daughter.” He almost sounded bored by the conversation, but he was watching Faris carefully for his answer. “That doesn’t make her valuable to me.”

“He doesn’t care about her because she’s his daughter,” Faris spat, and shame flooded me. “If she had been enough for him, he wouldn’t have spent years killing his queen by forcing her to try to bear him another heir.”

Guilt and grief were worse than any blade someone could throw at me, and my hands trembled as his words assaulted me.

“Then what does he want with her? He has a new queen now.” Davian’s hand moved almost unnoticeably, but I saw the way it inched closer to the blades at his side.

Faris shook his head and his gaze fell to Davian’s hand then back to his face. “He is desperate to find her.”

My father hadn’t even looked in my direction when the rebels raided the palace. His new queen was protected, but me? I wasn’t a thought on his mind, and it was the only reason I was able to escape without any of them finding me.

Faris leaned in, his voice lowered to a whisper, his gaze still erratic as it searched around him. “She is his only heir. It is rumored that his new queen is failing him just as the first one had.”

My breath caught in my throat and the pressure in my chest threatened to cave in on me. He had always been cruel, but he was still my father.

I was still the only child born from the queen he once loved.

My hand shot out before me, pressing into the tree and catching myself before I fell. Wren’s hand squeezed mine, trying to get me to look at her, but I couldn’t think past what Faris had just said. If my father wanted me dead, there would be no stopping him.

“What was that?” Faris’s hand went to his own dagger as he shuffled backward and his gaze darted in our direction. “Is someone else here?”

Davian’s eyes shifted in our direction, and I felt Wren pull me closer to her. The tension in the air was suffocating, and I had already barely been able to breathe.

“Who’s there?” Faris called out, his dagger now fully drawn as he scanned the area.

Davian stepped forward, his hand resting on the hilt of his own blade as he blocked us from view. “Stand down, Faris. It’s just two of my trainees.”

“What are they doing here?” Faris sidestepped Davian and tried to get a better look at us. “Show yourself.”

Davian nodded once in our direction, and Wren stood. She pulled me with her, but I hesitated.

Fear, pure and relentless, raced through me, paralyzing me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I felt Wren pulling on my arm, but I couldn’t bring myself to face Faris.

“It’s alright, Nyra.” Wren’s voice was calm and reassuring, but she didn’t understand.

I watched as Faris turned his dagger over in his hand, and I was eager to reach for my own. But even with how much Dacre had been pushing me in training, I wouldn’t stand a chance in fighting him off, let alone the others.

“Faris,” Davian warned, his hand still resting on his own blade as Wren stepped out from behind the shelter of the tree.

Her hand still tightly gripping mine, she stood tall and proud, her chin held high. Her eyes never once left Faris as I took in a harsh breath and stepped out behind her.

Faris’s eyes flickered between the two of us, his dagger still held tightly in his hand, before his eyes widened as he stared at me.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded, his voice low and dangerous.

I could feel Davian and the others turning to look at me, but I didn’t dare take my gaze off of Faris.

“Faris, please.” I lifted my hand toward him, hoping to calm him down.

But his eyes narrowed only a second before I saw the blade leave his hand.

My heart raced as I watched the glint of the blade fly toward us, aimed straight at Wren who was still blocking me from Faris’s full view. Time slowed to a crawl, and everything around me seemed to blur together.

My grip tightened on Wren’s hand, and I jerked her behind me forcefully. The blade was moving so quickly that I hardly noticed it as the sharp tip lanced through my shirt, grazing my arm, and a fiery pain bled into my arm before the dagger buried itself deep into the tree behind us.

Wren’s father had his sword drawn, but not before Faris had yet another dagger in his hand.

But Wren didn’t flinch, didn’t waver.

She already had her own blade drawn in her hand that didn’t tremble as mine did.

“How do you know her?” her father asked Faris, pointing the tip of his sword in my direction, but as Faris growled, Wren was already moving.

I couldn’t believe the speed with which she had reacted. Her movements were graceful and fluid as she threw her blade with practiced ease.

Her blade was lethal as it caught Faris in the side of his neck. Blood spurted from the wound, and Faris stumbled back, his eyes wide in shock.

“The princess.” Faris’s words were muffled as he struggled to breathe, but there was no mistaking what he had said.

“What about the princess?” Davian demanded, his voice booming and chaotic.

“He will kill you all for her.” He didn’t take his gaze off me. “He will kill you.”

Faris fell forward, his knees slamming into the hard earth with a loud thud as his dagger dropped to his side from his lifeless fingers.

As he stared at me, his body seemed to weaken, and he collapsed to the ground, his face landing on the damp earth overrun with patches of moss. I stood frozen, my heart pounding against my chest as I watched him struggle for breath in the grass.

“What the fuck was that?” one of the men with Wren’s father cursed just as Davian turned in my direction.

His brow furrowed and his jaw clenched, anger and confusion etched on his face. My hands trembled uncontrollably at my sides, and the pain shooting through my arm intensified with every passing second.

Blood trailed down my arm until it dripped from my fingers and hit the ground, but I didn’t dare take my eyes off the men in front of me long enough to check the damage. Davian’s expression twisted into one of pure rage, his muscles tensing as he charged toward me. I braced myself for the impact, knowing that my own injuries were nothing compared to what he would do.

I stumbled backward, tripping over the thick moss and roots that were breaching the surface as if trying to grab my ankles. I barely managed to catch myself against the trunk of the large tree behind me, and I winced as I put weight on my injured arm.

Davian was on me before I could think or even breathe, and even though I could hear Wren as she told her father to stop, he was all I could see.

His hand wrapped around my neck as his other pressed into the wound on my arm carelessly, and I cried out in pain, even though I was struggling to draw in air.

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded, and his spittle landed on my chin.

I raised my other hand, clawing at his hand that was cutting off my air. I couldn’t speak, but even if I could, I could never tell him the truth.

My mind raced, panic setting in as he pressed harder into my wound.

“How the hell is she supposed to answer you?” Wren yelled from behind me, but I could only see Davian’s face that resembled his son’s so much that it was startling.

Davian’s gaze dropped to his hand on my neck for a moment before he finally loosened his grip, but only enough to allow me to sneak in enough breath to be able to speak.

“I’ve told you all who I am.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me. I’m not my son.” His hand flexed against my neck, and his gaze was reckless as he searched my face. “How does Faris know you?”

“I lived in the palace my entire life.” It was the truth.

Give him truths.

“And the princess?” Both hands pressed harder, and a whimper I tried to stop slipped past my lips.

“What about her?” Blood was coating my fingers.

“We need to find the princess.”

“You heard him. That is asking for death.”

The hand on my neck tightened, and he jerked my head until the back of my skull slammed into the bark. My vision blurred, and I fought for air once again as I felt him move even closer to me.

Wren was yelling, but I could no longer make out what she was saying.

I felt the shadow of Davian’s beard scratch against my cheek, and I wanted to push him away, to draw my dagger from my vest as Dacre had been trying to teach me, but I couldn’t focus on anything other than blinking away the dark smoke that seemed to cloud my mind.

“Traitors have no place in this rebellion.” His mouth was so close to my ear that I could feel his lips move as he spoke only to me. “You know more than you’re telling. You will help us find the princess, or you will die trying.”

I had no air. My eyelids were heavy, and that dark smoke was reaching every corner of my vision. I blinked again, attempting to wash it away, but its lure was too intoxicating.

Davian’s grip fell from me, and as the air rushed back into my lungs, my legs gave out beneath me. I crashed to the ground, and I was thankful for the thick moss that softened my fall, even as tears escaped my eyes when the throbbing pain of my arm intensified.

Davian took another step back from me, and Wren was at my side instantly.

“Shit,” she cursed under her breath, and when I looked up at her eyes that were like warm honey mixed with a sea of green, I could see her own fear staring back at me.

“Get your trainee back underground, Wren,” her father spat, not sparing me another glance. “We have damage control to do now that you’ve killed our informant.”

He turned his back to us, and Wren’s trembling hands ran over my cheeks. “Nyra, I’m going to need you to help me get you to your feet.”

Nyra.

Gods, I missed her.

I tried to remember the sound of her voice, the look on her face when she would laugh, but it all felt hollow.

I missed her so damn much, and I could hardly remember her.

“Nyra, look at me.”

I blinked up at her, desperately wishing I could tell her my real name. I wished I could tell Wren everything.

“It’s okay,” she whispered with a nod. “Let me help you.”

“Let’s go, Mal,” Davian called, and I looked to my right to see Mal kneeled beside me, tying a thin white bandage around my arm.

She didn’t meet my eyes as she worked. “I’m coming,” she called behind her, but moved her head closer to Wren’s.

“Get her back underground,” she demanded. “Get her to Dacre.”