TWENTY FOUR

Miris wondered, for the thousandth time, about the change wrought in him during the last year of his life since his turning. He had been running for an hour through the forest on his way south, at a distance from the main road that led from Chainhome to the capital, and he couldn’t even feel it in his limbs. The strength that surrounded him and pervaded his body was still a constant surprise for him, but he was grateful for it, especially at times like the present when he sorely needed it.

When the captain’s estate finally came in sight, Miris slowed, since there were wolves milling around it and overflowing the outer walls surrounding it. He was obligated to approach slowly, though he understood there was no way for him not to appear threatening.

A few of the wolves present glared as he joined the group, but no one stopped him and no one condescended to speak to him as he made his way through the gathered crowd.

There was no way for him to even approach the house itself with the gathering of captains and other wolves who were packed into the great room. He could see Hassir and Daiva standing around a model of the capital that she’d formed from the stone of the floor, discussing strategy with the various leaders so that everyone would be prepared when morning came, but the guards outside the house weren’t letting anyone else close for fear they’d be some kind of spy.

He paced outside for a while until he caught sight of Kaia and her brother going around giving out food. He stepped toward them, shouldering past a few Earthborn near him who seemed affronted at his presence, but he didn’t pay them any mind.

“Kaia!” He called through the crowd, his fingers twitching at the clasp over the bag at his side.

Instead of ignoring Miris as most might have expected from Kaia, a wolf high above his class, she smiled when she finally saw who was yelling for her. Kaia made her way as the wolves parted for her, and she held out some roasted meat from the giant bowl in her arms. “You look exhausted and the battle hasn’t even started. Do you want to eat something? I can get you some water…”

“I need to talk to your sister and your new brother.” He refused the food, since he was still a little out of breath from his run and certainly not hungry given the news that he was bearing. “It’s about the captain. He went up to Chainhome to see Adriana.”

“We knew that he probably went to see her.” She handed the bowl of food to an Earthborn also glaring at Miris, but she didn’t look back. “I’ll take you to them.” She grabbed him by the arm so that no one would try to stop him following after her and she weaved her way back through the exceptionally large crowd.

“You shouldn’t be here.” He said in a low growl when they had to slow down to get in through the doors themselves. It was the closest he’d ever been to her besides his brief threat back at the shipyard, and when he came to a stop behind her, his voice came from well above her head. She came up to just beneath his shoulder, and he had to lean down just to make sure she heard him. “This place is going to be ripped apart by morning, and you along with it if you’re still here when the fighting starts.”

Kaia turned enough so that she could look up at him, which put their faces even closer. She was confused, though, since it sounded like he was actually maybe a little concerned for her life. Or maybe he just meant that she was weak and that she would get in the way, which was probably the real reason. “I’m just doing my part.” She said softly, but she knew he could hear her. “Taimon and I are going to leave to help with the children before long. We were waiting for Destin to come back.”

“Good. You’ll be safer with them.” He wasn’t looking at her as he spoke, but his hand remained on her shoulder as they made their way through the crowd. “Don’t wait for Destin to come back. You need to put as much distance between the children and the capital as you can before morning.”

She was even more confused by his warning, and she felt uncomfortable with the fact that he was telling her not to wait for Destin. “We’ll keep the children safe.” Kaia spotted her sister, finally, and she led the rest of the way through the crowd. She stopped short to look up at him again before he went ahead to talk to Daiva. “Thank you for fighting on our side, and for the warning. I’ll tell Leander what you said and we’ll get the children to safety. Try not to die, all right? My agreement still stands, if you ever want to work it out.”

“About that…” he took his bag off over his head and gathered up the strap to hand to her. “That’s yours. It’s not finished yet, but your family had to go and start a war before I got it done, so you’ll have to cut me some slack on that. If we all survive, there’d better be a lot more of that bread in my future.” He didn’t stay to wait for her to even look at what was inside, though, and moved away to talk to her sister, as the Stoneborn and her Fireborn mate both gave him dirty looks at his approach.

Kaia was clearly surprised as she took the bag into her hand, and while Miris continued on his way, she stayed put to open it up. She looked inside the bag as if something was going to jump out and bite her, since she wouldn’t put it past Miris, but instead she pulled out something dainty and beautiful.

She smiled as the bracelet laid out across her fingertips, and she didn’t know what he was talking about when he said it was unfinished. Intricate loops of silver and gold had formed themselves into thousands of tiny flowers, on a dozen strands that would hang off the bracelet itself to catch the light. It was beautiful. Kaia put it on her wrist and slung the bag over her shoulder. “You have to survive to get the bread!” She yelled out, but then took off running so that she could show Taimon and help with the children.

Daiva watched her sister disappear, and though she wanted to ask Miris what in the world he was giving her sister, there were bigger things on her mind. “You better have something important to tell me, Miris.”

“The Captain just got himself locked up in Chainhome by the princess.” He said bluntly, since if there was one type of wolf he was familiar with, it was Stoneborn, and he knew she would prefer things direct and to the point. “Important enough for you?”

She was quiet for a moment before she glanced over at Hassir. “It sounds like our plan is going to change slightly.” Daiva looked at Miris again and raised an eyebrow. “You decided to support us instead?”

“I’m here because I despise you people slightly less than I despise the royal family. I was turned by the crown prince and then dumped right back in the shitpile I grew up in. All Destin ever did to me was threaten to kill me once. I can deal with that.” He didn’t back down from Daiva or the glare from her mate, he just waited to see what she would do with him. “I passed a lot of Stoneborn on my way south, along with a few of Chiara’s usual guards. Chainhome isn’t going down easy, and unless you want to flatten your brother, you need to keep the fighting away from the prison itself.”

Daiva growled softly and the model of the castle in the middle of the floor started to crack and crumble. “We’ll…” She looked over at Hassir “We’ll focus on the palace and deal with Chainhome later. They aren’t going to kill their own slaves, even with Destin in there. And with his human there, well, that’s where he would want to be.”

“Let me deal with Chainhome, then.” Miris volunteered. “Give me a dozen Stoneborn and I’ll hand the place to you on a plate by noon, and your brother along with it.”

The rest of the model of the castle crumbled before she looked at Miris. “And why should I trust you, Chiara’s own toy, to free my brother and to open the doors of Chainhome?”

“Because toys eventually get tired of being played with, and slaves are born pissed off about being told what to do.” A few of the wolves who first sneered glanced at Daiva instead, every eye in the room curious about what she would do. “I’m going back up there either way. I’m supposed to be on watch. So either I do this alone and most of the slaves die, your brother included, or I get some help, and only some of them die. Or you kill me just for being here. Your choice.”

Daiva took only a moment to consider, and she thought about the information he gave. She also thought, briefly, about her sister. While she never would trust Kaia or Taimon in battle, and she didn’t know if they had their wits about them for anything else, she did trust her sister as a judge of character. If Kaia led Miris to them because she knew he had something important to say, then Daiva could trust him just a little further.

“There’s a group of Stoneborn gathered by the front entrance.” She picked up a piece of the broken castle and shaped it so that her fighters would know she had given her command when Miris went to find them. Daiva tossed him the small piece of stone and nodded toward the door. “They’ll follow you if you show them that. If they die because you have betrayed my trust, I will take great pleasure in making you pay for it afterward.”

“One thing all you nobles have in common.” He looked over the piece of stone she’d given him as he turned away. “You all love the sound of your own threats.” He shoved his way out of the room, and Daiva could hear him barking orders at the group she had put at his command. The shouting only lasted a few moments before Daiva could feel the group run out of the compound headed north, and the rest of the room settled back into their own conversations.

“No one trusts a Heartborn.” Hassir said beside her, but he wasn’t second-guessing her choice. “Depending on Chiara’s interest in staying alive, we may have just sent her another dozen fighters to defend Destin’s cell.”

“Chiara supported this cause once. She’s just as much a slave to her parents as any of those humans, or even Miris for that matter. I don’t trust her, but I trust my sister. If she trusts Miris, then I will give him one opportunity to prove himself. Destin is trapped regardless, but at least this is a sliver of hope.”

“It’s a shame. Asira was very much looking forward to destroying something alongside him.” Hassir sighed and turned his attention back to the gathered captains, Dola in particular. “You can assume Destin’s command in the seaward side of the attack?”

Dola nodded, since before Destin’s return, she believed she was going to lead the attack in the first place. “It will be greatly helpful to have your sister there in Destin’s absence.” She shook her head as she looked back at some of the members of her command, and sighed. “I’m beginning to wonder if that human woman is going to be the death of him after all.”

Daiva nodded slowly. “I’ve assumed that all along. Enough about that, let’s alter our plans so that we can compensate for this. Melyssa and Cadmos are waiting for our attack. We have no reason to delay.”

Hassir obviously agreed, and turned to give orders to his own commanders, as they prepared to leave the estate and take their positions around the city. Daiva’s force was larger and more threatening, but Hassir intended to burn the Isles to the ground. That called for some subtlety, at least at first.

“It looks like our contest for the right to kill Melyssa will come down more to a race than a fight to the death, my lady.” The challenge was a low, self-satisfied growl as they walked out of the house, wolves scattering in every direction. “May the worthiest wolf prevail.”

She looked back with a smirk before she grabbed his robes and pulled him in for a violent kiss. Normally they would be given time to spend alone, for days, weeks even, after a mating. Instead, only hours later they were already throwing their lives at a war instead of at each other. “I will.” She teased as she let him go. “I will see you on the other side.”

* * * * *

“What are we waiting for?” One of the Stoneborn beside Miris growled. None of them were happy about being led by an ex-slave.

“I know those wolves standing by the gate.” Miris answered without looking away, inwardly cursing. Takas and his mate were on the ramp itself, and there were two dozen other wolves milling about keeping watch. All of them Stoneborn, by the way they stood completely still and almost faded into the foundations of Chainhome itself. “I’m curious. Do the lot of you prefer fighting your own kind, or would you rather mix it up a bit and keep things interesting?”

His companions weren’t amused by his light-hearted tone, but they answered the question, even if they were scowling the entire time. “Fighting our own kind is easier. We know how they work, how they move. The same as I’m sure you would prefer to fight another rat instead of a true wolf.”

“Actually, you’re right about that. Rats are much easier to kill than we are.” Miris had to concede that point, and he shrugged as he started walking forward. “Wait here. You’ll know what to do when the time comes.”

“What?!” The wolf moved forward and growled angrily. “What are you doing?”

“Your mistress put me in charge of the lot of you.” Miris shot back as he turned around, glaring at each of them present. “Spread out in these woods and stay alert. The point is to kill our enemies, free your captain, and take Chainhome. That’s what I’m doing. Now do as you’re told.”

None of the fighters were happy about being spoken to in such a way, but they were soldiers, and they had fought with Daiva for a long time. They were accustomed to taking orders. As soon as the first few wolves dispersed through the trees, the others followed, all of them laying low and watching the other wolves hundreds of yards away.

Miris shook his head at the stubbornness of Stoneborn and walked casually out of the trees toward the main road, where he turned and headed back to Chainhome’s entry ramp.

Every wolf on the ramp turned and watched him approach as soon as he came in sight, but Miris didn’t stop. He was a guard there, he had a right to come and go as he pleased. “Is the princess still inside?” He called out to Takas and his mate at the top of the ramp, walking without concern between the Stoneborn standing guard all around him.

Helana, Takas’ mate, looked incredibly confused when Miris showed up, since they assumed he’d been sent off by Chiara. “No. We all assumed that you ran off because she wanted you ready and waiting for her somewhere.”

He let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head. “No, she sent me south to make sure the Oceanborn wasn’t followed on his way here. He has incredibly annoying friends.” He got up to the top of the ramp, breathing heavily, and leaned on his spear as he gestured back at the tree line. “There’s a dozen or so Stoneborn out there, they didn’t think I saw them on my way by. There could be more. You lot are pretty much invisible at night. The ones I saw look like his sister’s people.”

She looked over at Miris and shook her head. “You better stay here, then. He’s in there with a baby, and a wet nurse. We’ll take care of the trouble out there.” Helana looked out at the rest of the Stoneborn and motioned toward the trees without saying anything. The sooner they could clean up the mess, the sooner they could get back home and be done with it.

Miris shook his head as the Stoneborn wolves ran off, and he watched for a moment just to make sure Daiva’s people did their jobs well. Helana and Takas’ friends had expected scared rebels when they ran into the trees. From the screams that resulted in the clash, Miris could tell they had encountered much more than that, and it made him smile as he turned back into Chainhome.

Some of the humans woke at the commotion outside as the sound of stone and screaming filled the darkness, but Miris didn’t pay it or them much attention. The bars on each cell he passed bent outward to leave enough room for their occupants to leave. As he went, he picked pieces of the bars and scraped them against the stone. The edges filed off like wet clay to form crude daggers and spears. He let each one clatter to the floor behind him as he went, and he didn’t hurry along the way, making weapon after weapon for the occupants.

People began filing out of their cells behind him, picking up their weapons with confused looks on their faces, but he’d already rounded the first turn in the maze of hallways before someone finally grew bold enough to speak to him.

“Miris? What’s happening?” Malcom’s voice was almost shrill in the cold night air, and when Miris turned around, the boy was standing in the middle of the hallway with a small, crude knife in each hand, though the iron was almost too heavy for him to use effectively.

“You’re leaving.” Miris said with a laugh, the utter ridiculousness of the moment washing over him in waves. “All of you are leaving. Take your things, take yourselves, and those of you who are capable of picking up a weapon, take your pick and put it to good use.” He ripped off a few more doors, the bars twisting and clanging on the ground like snakes until they formed wicked flat cleavers and spears for the humans to arm themselves. “Make for the docks. If any wolf tries to stop you, kill it.”

There was a crowd of humans behind him already discussing what he’d said among themselves, and he could hear them asking themselves whether or not they could trust anything Miris said, given who he was. He didn’t care. He was telling the truth and no one would believe him, but that was fine by him.

He moved to the cell that recently belonged to Adriana and removed the metal from the doors completely, shaping it into half a dozen small shields hastily behind him as he stepped inside. Destin sat with his back against the far wall, his eyes on the ground, and when Miris saw the baby nearby with a wet nurse, he put together quickly what happened.

“Come on, Captain.” He said quietly. “There’s still a war to fight.”

Destin looked up slowly, his eyes glazed over with half-frozen tears after the past few hours of darkness he had lived through, and he couldn’t bring himself to get to his feet at first. Miris got closer and helped him up, but still he stood in place catching his breath, trying to bring his focus back to the present moment.

What returned him to reality was the sight of Malcom outside the bars, standing with a few dozen other humans as they waited on him. They didn’t trust Miris, but they would trust him. At least that was what Adriana had said once.

What had her trust in him gotten her? Only death.

“Malcom.” Destin said quietly, his voice still shaky from hours of disuse and grief. He looked back at the wet nurse holding Sheena, and gestured the woman forward, though she looked fearful with Miris standing close by. Sheena was awake and crying, but Malcom stuck his knives into his frayed belt and took the baby from the woman’s arms, rocking her gently as he looked up at Destin for his orders.

“Gather up the other children and the elderly, keep them close. Everyone else who can hold a weapon needs to gather around them to protect you as you move south. Don’t let anyone stray, or run. Keep them all together, and get to the shipyard. The fighting in the capital shouldn’t be anywhere near there. Some of my other people have taken all the wolf children who belong to us there already and hidden them near there. You find them and you stay with them until the ships arrive. You understand?”

Malcom shook with fear and not with cold, but he nodded and bounced a little with the baby, shushing her to tell her that everything was going to be alright. As soon as Destin said something, that meant it was really happening. Which meant they were really going to go free. “I understand. We’ll get there.”

Destin nodded. “Miris. Get the others. Make sure everyone is out, then stay with them.”

Miris gave a salute and headed out of the cell, hastening his progress through Chainhome. He ripped the bars out of every cell in the prison, arming the slaves with their own cages as he went.

He finally got up to the highest level of the prison and sighed as he pulled the final door off its hinges. He wasn’t looking forward to the birthing rooms. He didn’t want to see Adriana’s dead body if she had died giving birth to that weakling boy’s child. She had died only hours before going free. But if she was dead, he intended to make sure her body made it out of Chainhome before the place was smashed to bits. Destin would want her buried at sea.

At first Miris was greeted with an eerie silence, but once he took a few steps inside of the birthing room, he could hear Adriana cry out while several nurses tended to her by wiping away the sweat from her forehead and supporting her while she suffered through a harsh contraction.

As soon as it passed, she was the first to notice Miris, and she did not look happy about it. “What…are you…doing here?”

“Shit.” Miris said breathlessly as he looked her over, Shian still seated beside her holding a waterskin and attempting to tend to her, but he looked just as exhausted as she did.

Miris actually stumbled over himself once on his way to run back out the door and down the stairs, but by the time he got outside, a large group of human men had gotten out of Chainhome and were standing guard while they waited for everyone else to arm themselves inside.

“Destin.” He asked some of the men in front near the ramp. “Did Destin already…”

One of them pointed to the ocean, where Miris could see Destin walking over the rocks by the shore. Before Miris could even cry out, though, he had jumped into the surf, and Miris knew he was on his way south in the freezing water to help play his part in the plan, but that didn’t stop him from swearing fluently as he turned back into Chainhome, returning to Adriana’s room at the end of yet another contraction.

“Get her up.” He said roughly as he started giving orders to some of the midwives in the room, grabbing some blankets and some of the remains of the iron door he’d torn off the hinges on the way in.

Shian got up from where he’d been sitting beside Adriana for most of the day and rounded on Miris. “You can’t move her right now, are you an idiot? She’s about to…” He was cut off by Miris’ hand clamping around his throat and his back hitting the stone behind him, hard enough to hurt but not hard enough to do permanent damage.

“Listen to me. The Isles are about to get turned inside out, and this place along with them. Once the captain’s people finish with the capital, they’re taking the fleet and we’re all going elsewhere. So if you want your woman left behind when all that happens, that’s your problem. I’m not going to be the one who answers to Destin and tells him she was actually alive, but she missed the boat.”

He threw Shian aside and turned some of the iron into poles so as to make an impromptu stretcher on which they could carry Adriana to where they were going. He had started his outburst trying to keep Adriana from hearing him, but her cries had ended just as he’d started losing his temper, so he was sure she’d heard just about everything he’d said. One more thing he didn’t have time to worry about.

Adriana was about to respond when her face contorted with pain again, since her contractions were so close. She was about to give birth, and he wanted to haul her out into the cold. “Hurry up!!” She couldn’t think straight, and she certainly couldn’t think about how to help Destin when it felt like her insides were going to rip apart. “Just hurry up! I don’t care…” She growled like a wolf as pain ripped through her again, and she wanted to hurt Miris most of all, especially since he’d thrown Shian up against a wall. “I don’t care where you take me, just hurry!”

Miris hesitated for a moment at her growl, then shook his head and started ordering around the midwives, who were humans as well and were part of the night’s excitement whether they liked it or not. “You heard the woman. Get her on the stretcher and get every blanket you can find. It’s going to be a long walk to the shipyard.”