of the drunken celebrations from the night before. Some part of him had considered staying, just to see what they would make of their newfound liberation. But it was better he left before they remembered what he was.
Assassin. Sellsword. Killer.
As always, victory came with a price. Caim recalled the names of the fallen in his head: Liana, Hagan, Caedman, Killian, Oak, Vaner, and more. Too many. Ramon’s tale was being told throughout Liovard, how he’d met his end holding off a legion of foreign mercenaries while his men set fire to the city barracks and the homes of ducal sympathizers. Already his name had joined Caedman’s in the pantheon of martyrs to what was being hailed as a new era of freedom in Eregoth. But Caim remembered another man, long ago, who had also died following the banner of his nation’s freedom. His gaze touched a spot at the center of the estate’s courtyard. The black sword was finally back where it belonged. He didn’t want it. Its vengeance exacted too high a price.
A finch soared across the fields to settle on a green sapling rising through the snow and greeted him with a bright chirp.
“You’ll catch your death out here.”
Caim dropped his hand from his chest as Kit materialized beside him. The scandalous cut of her dress at the bodice and thigh was in a garish contrast to its somber purple hue. Her silver hair wafted against the breeze.
“Who would notice?” he asked.
“You’re in a glum mood this morning.”
“I haven’t slept in three days.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Nor bathed, evidently.”
Caim looked to the north, to the leaden gray sky above the ocean of trees.
Kit floated around until she was looking into his eyes. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ll live.”
The rage was gone from him, buried with the sword. Or so he hoped. All in all, a fair trade. But something was different. He could feel it inside him, like an itch he couldn’t scratch.
The shadow beast.
It was a part of him now. Kit said it always had been, but he just didn’t know it. Caim wasn’t sure what that meant. The dreams of his mother still lingered in his mind. She had sacrificed herself for him. That much he knew. As for the rest, there was only one way to find out.
“So you’re still intent on going north?” she asked. “And I suppose trying to talk you out of it would be a waste of breath.”
“Something like that. You coming with?”
She gave him an ethereal peck on the cheek. “What are we waiting for?”
But he saw the other question in her gaze, the one she’d asked as they held each other in the witch’s lair while the tiny electric pulse of her heart tickled his chest. “ What about Josey? ”
He still didn’t have an answer, but he was saved by the clop of hoofbeats.
“You’re a damned hard man to track down, Caim.”
Dismounting from a fine gelding, Keegan walked over to him. The youth was wearing the same bloodstained clothes he’d worn the night before. Aemon, Dray, and Malig rode behind him on similarly upscale steeds. Aemon’s leg was wrapped in bandages, but the brothers had both survived the night of chaos, which was amazing. If Caim were the pious sort, he might have called it a miracle. But he was content to chalk it up to dumb luck. Where would any of us be without it?
“Maybe I didn’t want to be found,” he replied.
Kit snorted.
Keegan looked at the others. “We don’t want you to leave, Caim. In fact, we’d like you to stay as-”
“No, thanks.”
Keegan’s grimace pulled at the black smudges under his eyes. The eyes of an older man. “You don’t know what I was going to say.”
“Sure I do. But I’m not the man for the job. Did you burn everything in her temple?”
“We tore the whole rotten place down,” Dray answered. “And I personally pissed on the ashes.”
Keegan flashed the ghost of a smile. “We did like you said, but there’s trouble in the city. Some of the celebrations have gone out of control. People are burning down buildings, fighting, and drinking themselves stupid.”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“But you’re nobility,” Keegan said. “That’s something none of the rest of us can claim. Eregoth needs-”
“This country needs a new beginning.” Caim looked down over the ruined estate. “Not another reminder of the past. Let the people work off their anger in debauchery for a day or two. When they’re done, they’ll be looking for a leader. A man like you.”
Keegan studied the snow between his feet. “But how can I lead a nation, Caim? I’m not even a thane. I don’t know…”
Caim felt for the boy. He was stepping into a new world he’d never dreamed of before these past couple days. Caim placed a hand on Keegan’s shoulder over the knots of blue ink.
“Remember the ones who have fallen to make it possible. Let their memories guide you. Being a leader isn’t about giving commands and making men kneel. It’s about winning their hearts. You’ve got your father’s strength, Keegan, and your sister’s heart. That’s a good start.”
Keegan bit his bottom lip and nodded. He took a long dagger from under his cloak and held it out, hilt- first.
“I want you to have this.”
A knot inside Caim’s chest loosened. He had seen the weapon before, from the other end.
“That’s your father’s knife. I can’t take that, Keegan.”
The youth pushed it at him. “He would want you to have it. It’s good Eregothic steel, not like that flimsy slag they make down south.”
Caim took the seax knife. The hilt felt good in his palm, and it had a nice weight, but the blade was half a finger broader than his suete knife. That would take some getting used to.
“You won’t reconsider?” Keegan asked.
“Not a chance. Go on before I get arrested for cuffing the new duke, or whatever they’re going to name you.” Caim lifted his chin toward the others, still on their horses. “And take these old war dogs with you.”
Keegan laughed. “I wish I could, but they’re not here for me.”
The men watched him like they wanted a piece of him in the worst way.
“What did I do this time?”
But Keegan was walking away. As the boy mounted up, Caim cupped his hands around his mouth and called out. Keegan looked back.
“You can trust the Empress of Nimea! She’s got a good heart, too.”
Keegan made a final salute as he started down the trail back to Liovard. The brothers and Malig waited until he was gone, then they urged their steeds forward. Caim waited in a neutral stance, hands resting by his sides.
Malig leaned over as they stopped a few paces away and spat into the snow. “We figure you’re headed out of here. Out of Eregoth, at least.”
Caim looked from one face to the next. “I might be.”
Aemon broke into a broad smile. “We want to come with you.”
“Fucking right,” Dray said. “It’s going to be damned boring around here, now that Eviskine and his witch are gone.”
Caim started to shake his head, but when he searched for reasons why not, he came up empty.
“All right.” He walked between their horses. “Let’s get moving.”
“Where we going, boss?” Aemon asked.
Caim looked past the men, to the dark forest bordering his father’s lands and the mysteries beyond. His mother was alive, somewhere out there.
“North,” he said.
With a shared smile, the outlaws clicked to their horses and trotted up the trail ahead of him.
Caim looked over his shoulder. “Are you coming?”
