“Dura.” Even through the stone, Rymark’s voice held a growl of disapproval. “You seem to be cutting a wider swath than usual. Tell me, Lord Dura, just how many bodies have you left in your wake?”
Erendella’s eyes flashed, but she held up a hand to Herregina who appeared on the verge of yelling at Rymark through the stone. “Lord Dura’s presence during the king’s passing was my father’s doing.” She glanced at me. “My father hoped Lord Dura could heal him of his affliction.”
The scrying stone didn’t do much to lessen Rymark’s derision. “Dura is hardly a healer.”
Erendella nodded. “As it turns out, King Rymark, you are correct, but that fact didn’t prevent him from trying to cure my father of the Darkwater’s evil.”
“Boclar went to the forest?” Rymark and Ellias said together.
“I was taken,” Erendella said. “Father thought to outwit Cesla by bringing solas powder to keep the effects of the Darkwater at bay. It almost worked.”
“Foolish,” Rymark said. “He should never have risked the forest.”
Erendella’s mouth tightened. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t agree. I didn’t contact you to offer justifications, Your Majesty. We encountered soldiers today, returning from the cordon you placed around the forest. They were the sole survivors of an attack on their outpost by men and women who then took clothing off the dead. Lord Dura thinks they’re coming for the Vigil and the monarchs.”
Intermittent sounds of Rymark’s swearing came through the scrying stone. In between we could hear orders being given in staccato bursts. “My compliments to Lord Dura’s insight,” Rymark said. “He’s a fount of welcome news. If they’re stealing uniforms from the dead, we have to suspect our own. Where are you now?”
“A few miles north of the city of Leogan,” Erendella said.
“Queen Erendella, Lord Dura, meet us in Treflow as soon as you can,” Rymark said.
The scrying stone went silent. “It’s difficult to decide what troubles me most,” I said to Gael. “I’ve got a long list to choose from.”
Bolt spoke into the pause. “If Cesla has enough men and women to put this plan into place all along the border of the forest, it’s going to be impossible to tell friend from enemy. There’s no way for you and the rest of the Vigil to delve every threat.”
I sighed. “That’s one.”
“Cailin and Queen Ulrezia didn’t answer the call,” Gael said. “Where are they?”
I nodded. In the silence my fear had conjured the worst. If Cesla had taken even one of the rulers captive, we were beaten. “That’s two,” I said. “There’s one more.”
“Where are Fess, Toria, and Pellin?” Mirren asked.
“And that’s the list,” I said. “I thought Fess and Toria would be back with Rymark and Ellias by now.”
Rory cleared his throat. “Whoever heard Rymark knows where we are.”
Everyone turned to look at our thief in the last charcoal light of dusk. “If I were Cesla,” Rory said, “the easiest way to find you would be to place a spy in Rymark’s camp.”
I didn’t want to admit that our situation could be so precarious. “There’s no way for them to know exactly where we are,” I said. “And our camp is dark.”
Rory shrugged as if my argument didn’t really matter. “If he’s got enough people, he’ll find us. They can see in the dark.”
I looked around, the stand of cedars no longer comforting me. Cesla’s soldiers would slip in and out of the woods like ghosts. Most of us would be dead before we knew we were being attacked. “Get everybody down,” I said. “No sentries. A man patrolling the perimeter might as well be waving a torch.” I turned to Rory. “If there is a spy, and they’re coming after us, they’ll expect us to be near the road. Can you hide close enough to spot them?”
He grinned as he nodded at me. “There are trees near the road. People never think to look up.”
His words put a sudden itch between my shoulder blades, the expectation of a stroke I wouldn’t see coming. I checked the branches of the cedars above us, sighing with relief when I found them empty.
“You see,” Rory laughed. He took just long enough to check his knives and sprinted away.
Bolt grimaced. “We’ll have to put the horses on the far side of the trees. That should keep them hidden from the road.” He shook his head. “‘Never ask how things could get any worse . . .’” he quoted.
I didn’t bother to finish it for him. I didn’t want to hear it out loud.
C
hapter 59
We spent the night huddled on the ground, hoping the trunks were thick enough to hide us. Gael lay beside me. If we were found, my safety would depend on my betrothed, a thief, and a Vigil guard who’d been put out to pasture nearly six years ago. The soldiers Erendella had brought with her, gifted and semi-gifted guards, were tasked with keeping the two queens and Mirren safe.
I’d given Mirren all the memories she needed to call the Fayit. Deep in my chest, I hid the certainty that I wouldn’t survive the attempt to destroy Cesla’s power. He knew I was a threat. The best use I could make of myself was as a decoy, allowing Cesla to expend his energy against me while the rest of the Vigil brought about his downfall.
My throat tightened. I’d really wanted to marry Gael. Months earlier, she’d offered me herself in marriage. I’d refused, citing my need to focus on my fight with the Darkwater. That decision seemed foolish now.
Sometime in the deep of night I started awake, unsure of where I was, but knowing darkness had drawn near.
“What is it?” Gael whispered. The crisp words communicated that she hadn’t slept.
I resisted the urge to stand and point. “They’re here.” I couldn’t hear anything, and the sliver of moon in the sky couldn’t alleviate the night for a gnath, a physically ungifted person like me.
Slowly, I watched Gael shift, sliding away from me until she could peek from behind the
