Terris turned to him. She didn’t speak. The sadness in her eyes and in her stance was overwhelming. It was if a ghost of her former self had inhabited her body.
Meres looked at her and back at Ciardis. Terris would be of no use to them, at least not today.
“Let her rest,” said Ciardis softly.
“She will not rest here,” he said.
“I’m needed here,” Terris pointed out.
A loud knock suddenly echoed from the door. They turned to see Barren carrying a bow and a set of arrows at his back with his hands holding the handles of two heavy brown bags.
“I brought the kits some food,” he said.
Ciardis eyed the growing bloodstain at the base of the bag and noted he must have hunted all morning for whatever was in those two big bags.
“Very well. Terris will stay here and watch over the kits,” said Meres, standing up and putting the kit back in the nest with the rest of the litter.
As he walked out the door and passed Barren, he whispered, “Keep an eye on her. She’s not to leave your sight, you hear?”
The boy nodded and Ciardis followed Meres outside to the saddled and waiting horses.
*****
As they rushed in a canter to meet the armed regiment at the edge of the Ameles Forest, Ciardis began to think over what she knew and what she’d seen.
The man had control over shadows—his own and others. He could also inflict pain at a touch and transport his victims from place to place unseen.
He was a mage. That much was clear.
He had said he had a brother—a brother he resented, but no other information had been forthcoming.
Meres hand reached over to slow her horse down before they jumped a short ridge.
“Ciardis,” he said, tightening his grip on her reins. “I need you to focus.”
“I am focusing,” she muttered absentmindedly as she flashed back over the memories.
She bit her lip while trying to remember everything. She was so focused on the past that she didn’t startle out of her memories until she tasted blood in her mouth.
Swearing at the pain caused Meres to look over. “Your mouth is bleeding.” Ciardis couldn’t think of the blood right then.
“It’s the brother,” she said. “His brother is the key. He’s trying to impress him—whomever he is.”
Meres raised an eyebrow. “He also said he was trying to protect the
Frustration settled in as Ciardis tried to puzzle over the mystery that was the Shadow Mage.
“War,” whispered Ciardis. “He said he wanted war.”
At that moment Julius came racing up. “Another village has been attacked. This one at least twenty miles east of here.”
“Is there ever any good news?” said Meres.
“There’s more,” said Julius, looking over at Ciardis. “One person was left untouched. He claims he has information and needs to speak to the Weathervane.”
Meres and Vana exchanged a look.
“Did he give his name?” asked Ciardis.
“Ciardis, you’ve not been this far outside the capitol since your hunt,” said Vana. “Do you know anyone there?”
“Not that I know of,” she replied.
“Julius, can you have him brought here? We’ll speak to him,” Meres said cautiously.
“Already done,” he replied, pointing to the tree line. “I have my men holding him there.”
“Have you left any of your warriors behind?” Vana asked.
“Four, to keep an eye on the perimeter,” said Julius.
“Good,” she said. “We’ll alert the emperor’s guard and have them send a detachment to secure the village.”
She hesitated before turning back to her horse. “Julius, have your men hold back. Here and in the forest.”
Julius’s gaze turned steely and cold, but he said nothing.
Quietly she explained, “Humans and
Looking eastward over the approaching regiment, he nodded. Julius said, “I understand. Human and
“Exactly,” Vana said.
Staring out at the troops lining the perimeter, Ciardis thought grimly,
Chapter 32
Prince Heir Sebastian rode at the head of the military formation with the head of the Companions’ Council, Regiment Commander Gabriel Somner, Commander Somner’s brother, Christian, and Stephanie of the Companions’ Guild by their side. His horse shifted under him as he commanded him to halt. They waited for the group of riders detaching themselves from a larger force of Panen warriors to lead their way.
When Sebastian saw that Ciardis was at Meres’s side a knot of tension released inside of him that he hadn’t known was there.
“Thank the gods,” he said under his breath.
Christian, upon hearing him, said in an aside, “Can’t imagine the gods had anything to do with it. That girl has the damnedest luck.”
A brief grin crossed Prince Heir Sebastian’s face.
He looked over at Madame Amber. The woman sat ramrod straight in the saddle with an indecipherable look on her face as she shaded her eyes from the bright sun with her hand. He cleared his throat to catch her attention, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted it when those cold eyes turned towards him. Sebastian had the strangest feeling that she didn’t like him. He was no stranger to animosity in the courts, though, so he let it go. Some people hated him for being born.
“Prince Heir,” she acknowledged with a raised eyebrow, prompting him to speak.
“I think there’s more here than meets the eye,” he said at last.
“There always is.”
As Meres, Vana, Alexandra, and Ciardis rode up to greet their party they dismounted to wait. Ignoring protocol, Sebastian ordered his men to set up camp on the perimeter and to give him the same simple tent and fare that all the soldiers would receive. As they built a fire and sat around, he took in the four who’d spent what felt like months in the forest but had only been a little more than a few weeks.
“My Lord Meres Kinsight, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” Sebastian said.
“And you, my Prince Heir.”
“How have you and your group fared?”
“The Panen people have been excellent and welcoming hosts, but I fear the events I described in my letter have only grown worse. We’ve lost over a hundred
“I’ve dispatched a group of men to secure the village of Borden,” said Prince Heir Sebastian.
