“He sent one of his attack dogs after me. I was bathing, in King’s River. He surprised me. I should have been more vigilant. I was stupid. I was caught off guard.”
“Let me see,” Godfrey said, pulling back her hand from her scar.
He looked at her cheek, then turned and snapped his fingers at Akorth, who ran off behind the bar and returned shortly with a clean, wet rag. He handed it to Godfrey, who wiped her cheek carefully and thoroughly. The cold water stung as he did, but she was grateful for his help. He handed her the rag and she held it to her cheek.
She saw his genuine concern, and for the first time in her life, she felt a real brotherly love for him, felt proud that Godfrey was her brother, felt that he was someone she could rely on. It broke her heart that he stayed in this place.
“Why are you here?” she asked. “I looked for you everywhere, and I was told that you’d come back here. You promised. You promised your drinking days were over.”
Godfrey looked down at the table, crestfallen.
“I tried,” he said, crushed. “I really did. But the pull of drink was too strong. After today, after our failure in the servant’s quarters…I don’t know. My hopes got so high. I was sure Steffen would give us the proof we needed. But after that failed, I lost hope. I got depressed. And then I heard the news of Kendrick, and that pushed me over the edge. I needed a drink. I’m sorry. I couldn’t control it. I know I shouldn’t have come back here. But I did.”
“What news?” Gwen asked, alarmed. “What news of Kendrick?”
He looked at her, surprised.
“You haven’t heard?”
She shook her head, welling with anxiety.
“Gareth had him arrested. He’s been charged with our father’s murder.”
“What?” Gwen called out, horrified. “Gareth can’t get away with that! That is ridiculous!”
Godfrey looked down and shook his head slowly.
“He already has. He is King-he can do whatever he wants now. It is heresy to question the King’s judgment, isn’t it? And worse: Kendrick is set to be executed.”
Gwen felt a pit in her stomach. She didn’t think she could feel any worse than she had this morning. But now she did. Kendrick, who she loved more than anything, imprisoned, set to be killed. It made her physically sick to think of it, to think of him, such a fine man, wallowing away in the dungeon, and executed like a common criminal.
“We must stop it,” Gwen urged. “We can’t allow him to die!”
“I agree,” Godfrey said. “I can’t believe Gareth tried to harm you,” Godfrey said, looking really stunned.
“Can’t you?” Gwen asked. “It seems he will stop at nothing until we’re all dead. We’re all obstacles, don’t you see? We’re all obstacles in his mind. He needs us out of the way. Because we know his true nature. He is guilty of our father’s murder. And he won’t stop until the rest of us are dead.”
Godfrey sat there, shaking his head.
“I wish we could do more,” Godfrey said. “We have to stop him.”
“We both do,” Gwen answered. “We can’t wait any longer.”
“I was thinking, this morning,” Godfrey said, sitting up straight, eyes lighting with excitement, “of something that happened the other day. In the forest. I crossed paths with Gareth. He was with Firth. There is supposedly a witch’s cottage not far from there. I’m wondering if that’s where he was coming from. I was thinking of going to see if I could find this cottage. Perhaps I can discover something.”
“You should go,” Gwen answered. “It is a good idea. If not now, when?”
Godfrey nodded.
“But first, you need to stop all of this,” she said, looking around the bar.
Godfrey looked into her eyes and he must have saw her meaning, as she looked around the tavern. She meant that it was time for him to stop his ways. To stop the drinking, once and for all.
Something shifted in his eyes as he looked at her, and she could almost see the transformation happening before her eyes. She could see his resolve. It seemed real this time.
“I will,” he said, with a confidence unlike any she had ever heard. She felt it, and she really believed him.
“And I will go to our brother,” Gwen said. “I will find a way to get to Kendrick in the dungeon, and I will find a way to get him out. Whatever I have to do. I cannot let him die.”
Godfrey reached out and laid a hand on her wrist.
“Protect yourself,” he urged, “Gareth will come after you again. You are the weakest link. You cannot walk around unprotected. Take this.”
Gwen heard a clank, and looked down and saw him slide forward a small piece of wood on the table. She examined it, puzzled.
Godfrey reached over, and showed her the trick to it. He grabbed the wood and pried it open, an invisible crack down the middle, and both sides split in half, and there emerged a hidden dagger.
“It is the weapon of choice in the taverns,” he explained. “Easy to hide. Untraceable.”
Godfrey turned and looked at her meaningfully.
“Keep it close. And if anyone comes near you again, don’t ask questions. Plunge it into their heart.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“On your feet!”
Thor opened his eyes with a jolt and looked up, disoriented, trying to figure out where he was. Several Legion commanders stood over him and the other boys, all of whom lay scattered on the ground, deep in sleep. Hands on their hips, the commanders prodded the boys with their feet, and Thor felt a boot in his side, and looked over to see Kolk prodding him. Krohn snarled in Thor’s defense, and Kolk moved on to the next boy, screaming, taking his metal axe and slamming into his metal shield right above O’Connor’s head. There was a resounding boom, and O’Connor leapt to his feet, eyes open wide.
Thor stood, too, rubbing his head, trying to process it all. They were all in a cave, that much he knew. With him were about a dozen other Legion members, all in his age range. His head was splitting, and he could see from the mute light entering the cave that it was the crack of dawn. He tried to remember.
It was all a blur. He recalled the night before, climbing the cliff, finally reaching the island, laying there. Eventually, the other boys had made it up, too, and they had all been rounded up by the commanders of the Legion, who told them to rest for the night and prepare for morning. They had broken them up into small groups, based on their ages, and Thor had splintered off with Reese, O’Connor, Elden and the twins, along with four other boys Thor didn’t know. They had been directed towards small caves in the craggy mountainside of the desolate island. Night had fallen fast, and a thick fog settled in, so Thor couldn’t see more of what lay in store out there.
They had all barely made it to the cave, dripping wet, freezing, as dark settled in. Someone had built a fire, and Thor remembered laying down beside it, and falling fast asleep.
The next thing he knew, he had been awakened.
Thor’s stomach growled in the morning light, but he dared not say anything. He had slept in his clothes and boots, as did the others, and at least the fire had partially dried them out.
The commanders prodded one boy after another out the cave, and Thor felt himself being pushed from behind, and he stumbled out, into the strong light of the morning. The red mist still hung over the island, seemed to rise up from the island itself, but at least in the morning light Thor could see much more of this place. The island was even more eerie than he remembered-a desolate landscape of boulders and rocks, of small mountains and large craters. The horizon stretched forever and there were no trees anywhere in sight. Thor could hear the waves crashing, omnipresent, and knew that the ocean lay below, somewhere over the edge of the cliffs that demarcated the island in every direction. It was a fateful reminder that if one got too close to the edge, one would go hurling to one’s death.
Thor could hardly imagine how they would train here. This island was so empty, and there looked to be no training ground in sight-no targets, no weapons, no armor, no horses.
