Layala’s head throbbed, and her vision was so blurry everything looked like dark blobs of paint around her. She thrashed about, fighting whoever held her legs and upper body. It smelled like a carcass mixed with a musty aroma of moss and pine. Water trickled and the feet of her captors quietly splashed in it. Were they in a river, a stream? She’d been near one when sparring with Thane. Where was he? Did they get to him too? She bit at the cloth tied around her mouth, but it would take much too long to chew through it.
The moment she climbed down from the boulder, she was knocked on the temple with a rock that dropped her to her hands and knees. Black spots took the place of the scenery around her. Although she didn’t completely lose consciousness, she was dizzy and disoriented. Immediately after, someone wrapped a rope around her upper body and jabbed a barb into her arm. The effects of whatever poison it had been laced with seeped through her veins quickly and rendered her magic completely null. She couldn’t even feel its fight to get out, let alone release it now.
She blinked several times, finally clearing the blurriness away and got a good look at the captor holding her legs. A pale one; the inky black around her eyes and lips, the pure white hair and skin. Layala screamed, fighting even harder. She kicked so hard it sent the dark female flying back into a cavern wall. Her feet fell into the shallow water and hit her calves. They’d carried her into a cave and Maker above. What did they plan to do? The one holding her upper body gripped her harder. His fingers dug in on her arms enough to leave bruises.
“Calm down, sweetness,” his gravelly voice sent shivers down her spine. “Master just wants to talk. If I wanted you dead I’d have skewered you already for a nice juicy kabab. I bet you’d taste good.”
Layala drove her head back, catching him on the chin hard enough he let go. With her legs bound she couldn’t run so she worked to loosen the ropes around her arms to get the dagger at her belt. Arms wrapped around her again and the pale one put his lips to her ear. “Mathekis wants to see you. Stop fighting or I’ll bite you right now and that pretty black hair can be as white as mine.”
Her blood chilled enough to freeze her into stillness. His mouth was dangerously close to her, his breath smelled like death, and she forced a gag down. The female pale one pushed herself up and balled her hand as she charged and drove her fist into Layala’s gut. The pain had her gasping for air as she bent over. She gagged on the cloth in her mouth and forced herself to breathe through her nose. The creature may as well have had a brick in her hand. It landed so hard.
“Master said not to hurt her.”
“She’ll be fine. You’re the one who threw the rock.” The female grabbed Layala’s face, squeezing hard enough that jagged nails bit into her flesh. She forced Layala to look up and meet her black eyes. She could still hardly drag in a breath. “You’re what all the fuss is about?” The second she released her hold, a fist clopped Layala’s cheek from the other side and sent her crashing to her knees, and shortly after her face hit the water. She was jerked up within seconds; the pain radiated down her body then throbbed where the impact hit. Water streamed down her face and neck.
“That’s enough!” the male screeched, his voice echoed loudly off the walls of the damp cave. He held her firmly against him. “Mathekis will know it was you who marred her face, not me.”
“A few bruises never killed anyone.”
“And if you killed her, it would be both our heads. Now stop fooling about and help me.”
Finally, Layala got her hand on her dagger and angled it to saw at the rope. The female abruptly started screaming and slammed her hands to the sides of her head. “Ahhh, make it stop! Make it stop!” She threw herself into the wall with a sickening thud and dropped to the ground. A whistle and a glint of metal shone just before a knife went through the dark female’s temple.
Layala jerked her head to the cavern’s entrance and there stood Thane in all his raging glory. His swords glinted in the light; his hair billowed in the breeze. His face was onyx shadows and furious seas. The pulse of his magic hit her like a tidal wave. He unleashed its hold and although it was powerful, it oozed over her like warm honey. A protective shield of some kind.
The pale one holding her trembled. He must have felt something different.
Threatening.
Wrathful.
Layala finally cut through the rope pinning her arms down and drove the dagger into the gut of the pale one behind her. She stabbed wildly over and over as he howled. Swinging around, she slashed the blade across his neck.
Thane grabbed Layala’s arm and pulled her away from the pale one as he fell to the side, gurgling black blood. “Are you hurt?” he asked frantically. “Did they—”
“They didn’t bite me,” she finished, which made her wonder why. He had every opportunity.
Thane jerked her into him, and wrapped his arms around her in a tight squeeze. “I thought you were gone.”
Layala melted into him and returned the embrace. “I’m still here.” Something flowed into her; foreign emotions she always repelled not knowing what they were. Thane’s relief flooded her like a broken dam.
Scowling, he pulled back and looked around. “Are there more?”
“I’ve only seen two, but he mentioned bringing me to Mathekis.” She frowned. “I never realized they were so aware, so intelligent. I thought of them as mostly mindless beasts following their instincts. More like an animal than like us.”
Thane moved for the cave opening. “They don’t lose their cognition when they turn but their instincts to kill, maim, and feed are strong. I think what they lose is their conscience. They’re emotional intelligence of right and wrong. Osric didn’t care that I’d been his friend for all our lives. He wanted me to be like him.”
When they stepped out into the daylight Layala’s eyes burned with tears. The stark contrast from the darkened cave to the brilliant sun hurt. “But these two didn’t want to kill me. They were following orders.”
“The older ones have more control. Osric was freshly turned. If I had let him live, he would have found others like him and eventually he would have been able to follow orders.” He glanced over at her as they ran back toward camp. “And why didn’t you use your magic? I know it could draw more but if your life’s in danger like that you must. No hesitation.”
“They dosed me with katagas. I can’t feel my magic right now.” Pulling up her sleeve revealed a swollen red mark on the flesh of her left forearm.
“It’s only temporary.” His eyes lingered on her a beat longer than usual. “You need to see a medic.”
“I’m fine.” She reached up and touched her cheek; it was sticky. She thought the wetness she felt was from the stream but when her fingers came away bloody, her stomach ached. The rock that knocked her down must have done some real damage or when the female punched her in the same spot.
“You’re not fine.”
“I don’t want anyone to see me like this. I don’t want them to know how close the pale ones got.” A worrisome thought stirred in her. “Somehow, they keep finding us. I don’t trust your soldiers. I hate to say it but one of them may be leaking our location.”
Thane shook his head. “No. No way.”
“Do you have another explanation? How did they know where we were after leaving Briar Hollow? Or if they were the ones to trash my house, how did they know it was mine? It wasn’t anything I did.”
Thane’s mouth formed a hard line. “You’re suggesting that one of the three people closest to me in the world betrayed me. That’s not possible.”
“Did anyone else know where you’d gone?”
Thane shook his head. “Not unless we were followed.”
“Piper, Aldrich, or Fennan might have told someone without malicious intent, or one of you could have been overheard. Tifapine may not be the only gnome or small creature hiding within the castle.” Layala clenched her teeth. Either way someone is a traitor.
He darted around a tree and then swept back to her side. “Anyone in the city could have seen you leaving with us. It doesn’t mean it’s my friends or Ravens.”
“That doesn’t explain the first encounter with pale ones outside of the Brightheart Forest. That wasn’t a coincidence. They had a leader. The one who spoke to me called me a dark mage. He knew what I am just as these two did.”
Thane went quiet until they reached camp. Most of the elves were sparring in pairs or talking in groups on one end, allowing them to slip mostly unnoticed into Thane’s lone standing tent. A few sentries dipped their heads as they passed but they weren’t stopped.
Throwing the tent flap aside Thane stepped in and held it open for Layala. Holding her now-throbbing head, she slipped inside and plopped in the chair. Thane opened his trunk and dug through it cursing and grunting as he did.
“What are you looking for?” Layala asked, closing her eyes, and leaning back. Her head felt like it might split in half.
“Ah, here it is,” he said. Layala opened one eye to see he held a brown satchel. He flipped open the flap. “It’s my med kit.”
She sat taller and held out her hand. “Just give me a cloth and I’ll clean myself up.”
After setting the bag down, he drenched the tan cloth with whatever was in the green glass bottle he had in hand. “Do you ever allow anyone to help you without pushback? Pearl and Reina have told me stories.”
Traitors. Letting out a huffy breath, Layala snapped, “You literally just helped me in the cave. I didn’t complain.”
He shot her a scowl. “That’s different. And you haven’t seen the cut. It needs stitches to stop the bleeding, and healing balm.”
Layala stood and stepped closer to him. “Then give me a mirror and I’ll do it.”
He shoved the cloth against her wound and held it there firmly. “Sit,” he commanded.
Much to her chagrin, she complied. She gripped the wooden handles of her seat as he pressed and dabbed the cloth. It smelled strongly of plant oils, perhaps peppermint and pinegrout which smelled similar to lavender. It also burned with astringent, but the pain began to subside. She stiffened when he slowly and carefully wiped down her neck. His concentrated face was inches from hers, and Maker above, had she stopped breathing? Although she knew he didn’t mean for it to be, the gesture felt sensual. The hairs on her body prickled when he gently sponged the blood that stained along her collar bone.
His eyes lifted to hers and the intensity that passed in those brief moments sent a tingle down her spine. He pulled his hand back and cleared his throat. “I got most of the blood but there’s still some in your hair. You’ll have to wash in a stream,” he tugged on the collar of her top, “and there’s blood all over this too.”
She didn’t realize she stared at him like a doe at the other end of an arrow until she dropped her gaze to her shirt. “That’s more than I thought.”
“Exactly as I’ve been saying.” He held a needle in hand. “Now this part hurts the worst, but you must hold still.”
The cut was near her eyebrow, a sensitive area. She gave a curt nod and an unnatural wave of calm filled her. Grabbing his wrist before he could press the needle into her flesh, she asked, “Did you do that?”
“What?”
“It is you,” she breathed, heart stuttering a beat. “How do you send that calming feeling to me?”
“I do it through our magic bond.”
“How?”
“I don’t know how it works entirely.” He bent to eye level with her wound. “I just know I can connect with you, in the same way you send your emotions to me without meaning to I suppose.”
So, she sent him all her bad emotions while he tried to calm her. This connection between her and Thane was more intimate than she ever thought.
With her teeth clenched, she dug her fingers into the chair as the needle pinched over and over until the wound was sealed shut. After dipping his fingers into a tin of balm, he rubbed it over the wound and lightly over spots on her other cheek where the pale one’s nails had dug in.
Thane began placing the items back in his satchel. “You should be healed up by tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” She lightly brushed her thumb over the smooth pommel of her dagger, admiring Thane for a moment more. He really saved her life back there. She slowly pushed up from the chair, waiting for him to say something more. He didn’t. She nibbled on her lower lip. “Well, I’m going to put on a new shirt and if anyone asks, I fell during training.” She hurried out of the tent before he could respond. The tent she slept in the night before was gone and with it her belongings. A group of five soldiers walked by with their horses in tow.
“Good morning, Fightbringer,” said the one with dark hair and a crooked grin.
“Morning,” she said with a quick wave. “Do any of you know where Piper is?”
Since she was one of the only females there, they’d know exactly where she was. “She’s over by that tree,” the soldier closest to her answered. “Are you alright? Looks like you got injured.” He tapped his temple.
“Oh, I’m fine. Thanks.” She turned before they could ask more.
Jogging over to where Midnight and Phantom were tied, she found Piper and Tif sitting nearby under the tree. Midnight greeted her with a nicker and was already saddled with her belongings.
“You two have held up the entire company for an hour longer than usual.” Piper stood and brushed the dirt off her pants. Her demeanor changed when she asked, “Why is there blood all over your shirt?”
“I hit my head on a rock. We were sparring and I tripped over a tree root.” Layala gestured toward the stitches.
“I didn’t take you as clumsy,” Piper said skeptically.
“I’m not.”
Waddling over with a handful of berries, Tif popped one in her mouth. She looked up at Layala. “That sounds like one of those things abused wives say when they get beat by their husbands. I know you don’t have a husband, but you have a king who is notorious for being ruthless.”
“The king didn’t hurt me.”
“Now that didn’t sound like a lie,” Piper said with a smirk.
Tif went on as if nothing had been said, “Although I do have a feeling, and don’t ask me why, but I bet he has gentle hands too. Sweet hands. Can you imagine them running through your hair?” She twirled a lock of her rich brown curls around her chubby finger. “Or rubbing your shoulders? Or—”
Layala grinned. “Are you in love with the High King, Tifapine?”
“Of course, I’m not. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” Her cheeks turned as red as a ripe strawberry. “More ridiculous than a squirrel loving a horse.”
“If you say so,” Piper teased. “He is nice to look at though, isn’t he?” Piper gave a quick wink at Layala.
“Oh my goodness gracious, he is so handsome. The most-handsomest elf I’ve ever seen,” Tif gushed, holding her hand over her heart like she might swoon. Layala and Piper burst into laughter. “Hey, you tricked me into saying that,” Tif whined. “I only said it because I didn’t want you to tell him I think he’s as ugly as a bridge troll. Never mind his muscles and those shiny green eyes and the fact that he looks nothing like a troll.”
Layala dug into her bag and pulled out a clean shirt. After setting it on Midnight’s back, she tugged off her sword and holster, unbuckled her corset and tugged her dirty top over her head. She peeked over her shoulder hoping none of the soldiers were watching. Midnight blocked most everyone from even getting a chance at catching her changing. “Why is it so hard to believe I tripped anyway?” She slipped the fresh shirt on quickly and finished dressing.
Piper bit into her apple. “Because the she-elf I saw fight last night against Aldrich would be aware of her surroundings.”
“He’s better, by the way,” Tif said. “I saw him this morning. Up and walking around like you didn’t bust him in the ribs with a sword.”
“His pride is hurt more than anything,” Piper said with a shrug. “But Talon and Fennan kept him entertained while the healers fixed him up.”
“What’s the situation with those three?”
“I don’t know. Talon liked Fennan for a while, but she gets bored easily. Aldrich has been spending a lot of time with her recently, but I never thought anything was there. But I could be wrong.”
She couldn’t see the attraction between them. Aldrich was bright and funny while Talon was cunning and vindictive. Fennan was too smart to fall for her wiles. But after what Talon did at the Summer Solstice, she still owed her retaliation and perhaps she’d use Sunshine or Fennan to do it.
Layala stepped on a raised tree root which gave her enough height to reach the stirrup and mount Midnight. From there she got a better view. Most of the soldiers were on their horses and lined up. She didn’t see Thane anywhere, but his tent was being taken down by a small group of servants. They didn’t wear uniforms like the soldiers but rather various traveling attire. “We better get going. It looks like we’re moving out.”
Piper lifted Tif up and set her behind Layala. She untied Phantom and her golden horse and took hold of their reins. “I’ll meet you over there.”
As if a sign from above, Sunshine and Talon crossed her path. “How are you two love birds?” Layala called and both of them turned as if they’d been whipped.
