The squad leader took a step back, as if he were going to give way, then suddenly slashed for Haern’s throat while crying out for his men to attack. Haern parried it aside as all around him erupted into chaos. Zusa avoided the first two strikes her way, and then Haern was there, guarding her flank. Neither went on the offensive, instead blocking and retaliating against those who struck against them. After killing a single soldier who had pressed too close, Zusa collapsed to her knees, pushing Haern to his very limits to protect her. But after those initial moments, the number of his attackers shrank, for the Wraith had fallen among them, his sword a whirling steel of death. The soldiers fell at his feet, no match for his speed or skill. Cutting a bloody swathe through their numbers, the Wraith appeared before Haern, a smile still on his face.
“Sometimes I wonder how much use you might actually be to me,” he said before directing his attention to the remaining handful who had fallen back. “Come! Face me! Or are you cowards and fools who can strike only the poor and destitute?”
Haern didn’t care either way. Zusa lay at his feet, and he pulled her into his arms. He used his foot to lift the heavy key ring from the squad leader’s belt, flicking it up so he could catch it. Sounds of combat came from behind him as he unlocked the gate and shoved it open a little.
“Stay with me,” he whispered to Zusa. “We need to get out of sight for awhile. I need you to run. Can you run?”
“Don’t…have much choice…” she said, and she gave him a weak grin. Overcome by impulse, he kissed her lips, then shifted more of her weight onto him.
“Some honeymoon,” he said. “Stay strong. Stay with me.”
They ran, leaving the occasional trickle of blood behind them. Given their outfits and wounds, they garnered many stares, but none interfered with their passage. Guards shouted in the distance, but they faded in time. Whether through their speed, the crowd, or the Wraith’s interference, they put Ingram’s dungeon far behind them. With each minute, Zusa grew weaker, until Haern at last lifted her into his arms and carried her. No more running then, just painful step after step. He felt his own delirium starting to grow, the city strange and unfamiliar about him. Forcing the streets to make sense, forcing his mind to push through the pain, he continued along. The further from the prison, the more people lingered, and several even asked if he needed help. He ignored them, having no spare thought beyond putting one foot after the other.
At last Haern collapsed to his knees, Zusa lying unconscious in his arms. Before him was a large gate. Never would Haern have guessed the incredible relief he’d feel seeing Torgar yank it open to greet him.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” the giant man asked.
Haern wanted to say that indeed he was. Instead he laughed even as the tears ran down his face, and at least fifteen passing men and women saw them brought into Laurie Keenan’s mansion.
10
Madelyn kissed Tori’s smooth forehead and then wrapped her swaddling blanket tighter as the commotion grew. Her husband had been in his study when the first shouts came from outside the front door, but while he no doubt rushed to investigate, she’d retreated further within her walls, clutching the baby to her chest. Her home was her sanctuary, her place of locked doors and safe walls. Already the Wraith had violated that sanctity. Would someone else be vile enough to do the same?
“Go see what is causing that ruckus,” she told her nursemaid, Lily.
“Of course,” said Lily, hurrying away. Two other servants were with her, and they stood patiently in the corners of the parlor, one tending the fireplace, the other waiting for orders. She tried to put them out of her mind, instead softly singing a lullaby to the already sleeping baby. After three lines, she stopped, for the commotion had grown louder, and Lily returned looking confused, yet trying to hide it.
“Well?” Madelyn asked.
“It’s Alyssa’s guests,” Lily said, the name immediately putting a rock in her stomach. “The newly married couple. They’re both bleeding.”
Madelyn stood, angry she had not been summoned. To have guests in her house injured, yet not brought to her attention? Still, something was off with how Lily was acting. It reminded her of when Lily had been sleeping with one of the guards, that slight hesitance, her unwillingness to stare her in the eye for long.
“What happened to them,” she asked. “Did they tell you?”
“No, but…they are wearing strange clothes. I cannot explain.”
Strange clothes? What nonsense was this?
“Lily,” she said, adopting a pleasant tone that she knew chilled all of her servants. “What are you not telling me?”
The nursemaid bit the top of her lip and held her arms against her waist. She was still a fairly young girl, though the last of her girlishness would be gone within another year or two. But she was young enough to have lingering instincts to obey a motherly figure, and Madelyn shifted her tone.
“Lily. You aren’t in trouble, now tell me what you’re hiding.”
“We were instructed not to speak of it to you.”
“By who?”
“Your husband, milady.”
Madelyn breathed in deep to hold back a retort. If Laurie was hiding something from her…
“His anger will fall on me, not you, now speak.”
Lily glanced to one of the other servant girls, and Madelyn’s ire grew. Their single look showed they both knew. How many kept this secret from her?
“The two have been sneaking out at night,” the third and eldest servant said, standing by the fire. Her face was lined with wrinkles, for she was their midwife, staying in the mansion to ensure all went well with baby Tori. “We’ve seen them using our door. They dress strange, and they got weapons with them when they do.”
“Strange?” Madelyn asked. “What do you mean? Dressed like what?”
Lily looked to the others for support, and she lowered her voice, as if whispering a curse.
“Like thieves.”
Madelyn was out of her seat fast enough to stir Tori, who softly groaned upon waking. Her servants trailed after her as she hurried through the mansion, heading toward the room they’d given Haern and Zusa for their stay. The room was crowded upon her arrival, Torgar standing before the door, several armed men milling about.
“My husband inside?” Madelyn asked, nodding toward the shut door.
“He is.”
“Open it.”
“It’s locked, miss.”
“I said open it.”
Torgar shrugged. Drawing his enormous sword, he used it was a wedge to break the flimsy lock, jarring the door open a crack. Through it, she saw her husband glance at her in the dim lamplight, Alyssa standing beside him. He had a hard look to his face, and she knew he’d been preparing for her discovery. That fact only infuriated her more.
“Will they live?” she asked as he stepped out to join her.
“I believe so,” he said.
“A shame.”
Laurie glared.
“They are guests in our house, Madelyn. Such a callous attitude is unwarranted.”
“Is it? Where’d they come from, Laurie? What is it that nearly got them killed?”
Her husband looked to the gathered house guards, then shook his head.
“Somewhere quiet,” he said.
She followed him back into his study. Only Lily remained when he shut the door, accepting Tori into her arms. Sitting down in one of the several padded chairs, she exposed a breast and began feeding. Even in feeding, Madelyn refused to ever let the baby out of her sight. Laurie glared at her, but was wise enough not to fight that battle given the larger problem with Haern and Zusa…assuming those were even their real names. Already she doubted their
