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Amira
Amira didn’t find the trail of the sorceress and Thadred. What she found was possibly worse.
“Daindreth!” she cried, dismounting her horse and kneeling over a print on the ground.
“What?” He crouched beside her, studying the shapes imprinted in the mud. “What is it?”
“These tracks,” she gestured to the marks left in the soft ground, “weren’t made by mules. They’re too big.”
“The kelpie?”
Amira shook her head, heart in her throat. “No, look.”
Daindreth leaned over to study the prints more closely. “This horse was shod.”
Amira nodded, biting her lip. “There were at least two horses. Maybe three. They rode single file.”
“To hide their numbers?”
Amira shook her head. “To leave a clear trail.”
Daindreth sat back on his heels. “What makes you say that?”
Amira was quiet for a moment. How to explain it? “They can’t be merchants or messengers this far north, not if they were on these backwater trails. Even if a courier or two did happen to pass this way, their horses would only be shod in the front, if at all. These horses have been shod on all four hooves. They’re from the central empire.”
Kadra’han. Neither of them said it, but they both knew.
“This is a trap,” Daindreth stated. “How did they get ahead of us? Why are they letting us find their trail?”
“I don’t know,” Amira muttered. “It’s possible they were able to ride faster. Maybe they’re just hoping we’ll turn back if we think they’re in front of us.”
“We won’t leave Thadred,” Daindreth said firmly, leaving no room for discussion, not that Amira had expected one.
“No,” Amira agreed with a sigh as she stood. “We won’t.”
Daindreth stood with her and the two of them made their way to their horses.
The rain had stopped and that was a small mercy. They’d been riding for six hours since leaving the farm.
She could only guess at how far ahead the sorceress might be. They couldn’t be moving fast off the main roads with two mules and a captive, but how far was the Cursewood from here?
If the sorceress made it inside the Cursewood, Daindreth and Amira would never be able to find their way. All the stories spoke of tangled paths and twisting, treacherous byways. What hope would they have against that?
Amira spurred her little bay mare onward, a hundred possibilities and dangers swirling through her head. “Cromwell.”
“What?” Daindreth asked.
“He gave the mules to the sorceress.”
“Yes?”
“That bead,” Amira said, mind whirring. “That tracker that Iasu tried to place in our saddlebags in Lashera.”
Daindreth cursed. “You think it came from the sorceresses?”
“It’s possible. It seems likely.” Especially because their enemies conspiring together was just the sort of misfortune Amira had come to expect from their travels.
“But why?” Daindreth asked. “If the Kadra’han and sorceresses were in league and Cromwell serves the sorceresses, why would Cromwell help us escape? You don’t know that’s what happened,” Daindreth reminded her. “They might not be tracking the sorceress. For all we know, we’re not even behind them. They could be following us and those tracks could belong to someone else.”
Amira shook her head. She always preferred to expect and plan for the worst scenario. “If the past is any indication...no. We can expect the worst.”
Daindreth let off a long breath. “So what do we do?”
Amira blew a strand of hair back from her eyes. “We keep following the sorceress. Once we find her, we free Thadred and persuade her to take us into the Cursewood.” Amira hated that plan even as it was coming out of her mouth, but there were precious other options.
Then again, they weren’t even sure they were following the sorceress. What if this was all just a fool’s errand?
Amira’s head ached. There was only one way to succeed—find the sorceress before she crossed into the Cursewood, rescue Thadred, then get Sairydwen to take them to see the Istovari mothers. At the same time, there were a myriad of ways to fail.
They could be captured by the Kadra’han, led into a trap by the Kadra’han, or fail to catch up with the sorceress before she dragged Thadred into the Cursewood. They could stumble straight into the Cursewood without realizing it and die in its maze.
Amira could be killed in an ambush on the road by the roaming kelpie and then Daindreth would be left alone and vulnerable to the Kadra’han without any hope of help from the Istovari.
Worst of all, it was still possible that even if everything succeeded, even if Amira and Daindreth rescued Thadred, persuaded Sairydwen to help them, and reached the Istovari mothers safely—after all that—those crusty old hags might still refuse to help them. The sorceresses might even kill Amira and Daindreth on sight, Thadred, too.
Amira squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, wishing she could push away all the possible failures and disasters that whirred through her head.
The assassin cocked her head to the side, hackles rising. Her heart sped up and she turned to the left, realization dawning on her.
A shadow moved at her back, a shape that stood out incongruous in the surrounding forest. It was more an outline of ka, a faint glow of light that hovered at her back.
Amira wanted to reach for her weapon, but couldn’t with both hands on the reins. “Daindreth—”
An arrow buzzed over them, narrowly missing Amira’s back. She dropped low in the saddle and spurred her horse.
Daindreth wasn’t far behind as arrows zipped past them, missing, but loosed in such rapid succession, there seemed to be ten archers.
Amira searched the trees for the telltale ka, but could find nothing beyond the smog of life created by the forest.
She and Daindreth rode as fast as they dared, horses kicking up clods of mud and bits of vegetation in their wake. A branch whipped Amira’s cheek, but she kicked her horse faster.
The hammering of hooves echoed behind them a moment later. The Kadra’han archer had somehow managed to conceal himself and his horse in the woods without her noticing.
Perhaps that trick she’d figured out in the warehouse to disguise ka wasn’t so special after all.
“There’s just one,” Amira shouted to Daindreth over the whipping of the wind and the thunder of their horse’s hooves. “I think,” she added.
“Where are the others?” Daindreth shouted back. There had to be more. There had to be.
“I don’t know!” She ducked as another arrow skidded for her.
Daindreth swung his gaze back behind them. “He’s only aiming for you!”
“They need you alive,” Amira reminded him. That was the bargain with Caa Iss. Since Daindreth had no other living relatives—on the male side, at least—the demon needed Daindreth to keep using the curse of the Istovari.
“In front of me,” Daindreth ordered. He checked his mare’s reins just enough that she pulled back a stride. “You lead!”
Amira hated that idea, but it was a tactical decision. Crouched low, she spurred her mare on faster, shouting at the small horse as they ploughed through the wild forest.
“Come on, girl.”
Her mare was spirited, but had been worn down by days of travel, same with Daindreth’s horse. The Kadra’han horse seemed better rested.
Amira caught a glimpse of the enemy horse and rider as they rounded a thick copse of trees with the roots tangled together in a snarl on the ground.
The Kadra’han was a dark figure in a leather jerkin and the light armor of an archer. His archer’s hood was flung back as he rode, but at this distance, she could make out little of his face. He had the broad shoulders and muscular arms of a bowman, but also the lean, litheness to him that most Kadra’han had. They were trained for stealth, speed, and swift kills, not brawls on the battlefield or for swinging axes.
It wasn’t Iasu. This man was too tall.
He rode with the reins lashed to the pommel of his saddle, steering his horse with his heels and bodyweight. He straightened and drew back for another shot, but Daindreth saw the man’s arm recoil and swerved his horse between Amira and the archer.
Amira’s heart leapt in her throat, but the archer held back. Just as Daindreth had thought, the man wouldn’t risk striking the archduke.
Amira turned her attention back to the front. Could they outrun the Kadra’han? Maybe, but not likely.
Amira kicked her mare on faster and faster, but there was only so fast they could move in the dense underbrush.
The ground began to slope, gradually at first and then more noticeably. Amira made a quick decision and veered her mount toward the slope, down the side of the hill at an angle.
The Kadra’han stayed in hot pursuit, his dark bay horse barreling after them, keeping pace easily.
Amira’s mare wobbled, skidding and stomping awkwardly on the uneven ground while weaving between the trees.
Daindreth kept his horse between Amira and the other Kadra’han. Thankfully, the Kadra’han’s own horse jostled and jerked down the slope, making it all but impossible for the rider to get a clean shot.
Amira’s small mare swerved around a tree and tripped over an exposed root, but regained her footing and continued on with a snort.
“Good girl,” Amira panted, shooting another glance over her shoulder. “That’s a good girl.”
They reached the bottom of the hill and the horses scrambled onto gravel, then splashed into shallow water. A bank of tiny stones skittered under their hooves as they came out onto a clear tract that cut through the woods.
“Come on,” Amira shouted, jerking her head to Daindreth and spurring her mare along the path of the riverbed.
The Kadra’han burst out after them and checked his horse to a stop. The animal planted its hooves firmly, heaving like a plough horse at the end of the last furrow.
The archer straightened, raised his bow, and pulled back his arm in one smooth motion. Amira almost envied the easy grace of his movements. He had probably spent a lifetime perfecting his art. She respected him as much as she wished she could punch a knife through his eye right now or even send a bolt of ka through him. Try as she might, she couldn’t gather enough ka to herself for another attack.
Her heart was beating too fast, her focus scattered. She needed to stop and reorient herself before she used magic at that strength again.
Up ahead, the river forked, one branch taking a sharp turn. Amira’s first thought was that it would be the perfect place for an ambush. She almost steered her horse straight ahead, away from the turn, but she’d picked this route and she didn’t sense any other large sources of ka ahead.
She turned her horse toward the sharper, rockier outcrop. Pebbles and mud skidded under her horse’s hooves as the little mare careened into the open.
Daindreth followed, his horse galloping after her. He cast a glance over his shoulder and Amira guessed that the Kadra’han was probably a horse length or so behind them.
Up ahead, the rocks grew larger. Boulders dotted the sides of the riverbed and Amira had to weave her mare between them.
The little mare panted, sweat lathering her neck and shoulders. Amira gave the mare more rein, and dropped lower over the saddle. “Come on,” she muttered against the wind. “Come on!”
They pressed on with the Kadra’han still in hot pursuit. The trees swept back and the riverbed opened up, rocks and stones panning out around them.
Amira craned her neck, searching for something to use, something to give them an advantage over their pursuer. She spotted a jutting ledge to the left, rising up and curving out from the side of the incline. She had barely a handful of minutes to make her decision. She swerved her mare toward the edge of the cliff so that they were sheltered under the rock overhang.
No sooner had she put the stones between her and the Kadra’han than she swerved her mare around. The little horse pivoted with surprising speed, whirling in a full about face.
Amira had to grab a fistful of mane to keep from flying off. She leaned back, calling the mare to a stop.
The horse jerked to a halt, all four hooves planted at odd angles.
Daindreth overshot past them before pulling his horse back around. “Amira! What is it?”
Amira dropped her reins, facing the direction they’d come, the direction the assassin would have to come if he wanted to keep chasing them. “I’m done running.” She raised her hands and closed her eyes, focusing.
She heard Daindreth move up beside her. “Amira...” His horse shifted and she heard him draw his sword.
Amira pulled ka to her in wisps and threads and streamers. It took several moments for her to gather enough to form a shape. Then she spooled it, wrapping and tightening it into a bolt in the air in front of her, just as she had done with that soldier back in Phaed.
Breath coming in gasps and her mare heaving under her, Amira forced herself to focus, snatching at as much ka as she could muster.
Her heart thundered in her ears, but she called on every bit of discipline pounded into her over a lifetime as a Kadra’han.
She drew the bolt of magic tighter and tighter. The other assassin might have a means of deflecting her spell for all she knew. He certainly seemed to have had some way of masking his own ka back there in the forest.
It didn’t matter. Amira and Daindreth couldn’t outrun him forever, an ambush was their only chance.
They waited. Nothing happened.
Amira cocked her head at a sensation from above. Her eyes flew open, and she tilted her head back.
“He’s above us,” Amira whispered. She twisted in her saddle, but she and Daindreth were shielded by the overhanging rock.
Unless the assassin wanted to send a rockslide down on them both—and risk killing the precious archduke—there was nothing he could do.
She frowned up at the rocks. Faintly, she caught the huffing of the assassin’s horse overhead. He’d ridden to the edge of the outcrop above them. He wasn’t trying for stealth, or he would have left his horse behind.
Amira craned her neck, squinting, shifting her magic bolt. She wondered if she could force ka through stone.
Something clattered and overshot above their heads. Amira ducked and pulled her horse closer to the cliff face, frantically gesturing for Daindreth to do the same.
The object landed some twenty paces or so away, bouncing a few times on the gravel before settling on the rock. Part of it glinted silver.
“We have the bastard,” a male voice shouted from overhead, the Kadra’han. “And the sorceress. If you want him, come and get him.”
Daindreth’s eyes widened as his gaze settled on the object thrown from above. His mouth tightened in anger.
It took Amira an instant longer, but she recognized the dark wood and the silver cap at one end. Thadred’s cane sword.
The Kadra’han’s horse wickered above them. Amira felt his ka gradually recede as he rode away. He didn’t spur his horse or gallop, he just walked the animal at an easy pace.
He must have been sent to kill her and, failing that, been told to make sure that she and the archduke were lured into a trap. The Kadra’han had been sent by Vesha and Vesha knew her son well.
Daindreth would never abandon his cousin. Amira knew it, too, and she hated the Kadra’han all the more for using that against him.
Amira looked to Daindreth. His eyes were fixed on the cane, a deathly pallor settling over his features. “Daindreth?”
“They have him,” Daindreth said softly. He looked to Amira and she saw fear, real and true fear in his face. “They have Thadred and I—”
“We’ll get him back,” Amira said, determination making her voice hard. “We’ll figure out something. I’ve taken on more than this and won.”
“You had the element of surprise then,” Daindreth reminded her. “And they underestimated you.”
Amira bit her lip, thinking. “Short of leaving Thadred behind...”
Daindreth exhaled a long breath and raked a hand through his hair. “We can’t.”
“I know.” Amira swallowed. They couldn’t leave Thadred behind, but they couldn’t rescue him either. They stood no chance.
Despite Amira’s bravado, Daindreth was right when he said she wouldn’t stand a chance against these Kadra’han. Any fool could see that.
“Do you think she’s in on it? The sorceress?” Daindreth asked.
Amira considered that for a moment. The past few days had made her as suspicious as anyone. Even she had to admit that seemed unlikely now. “No. There’s not a good reason to drag Thadred out here if she was working with the Kadra’han. They’d have captured us back in Lashera.”
Daindreth nodded. “Maybe we can count on her help when we go against the Kadra’han.”
“Maybe. If she’s still alive.” Amira hesitated. “That’s still two sorceresses and one and a half swords against four fully equipped Kadra’han.”
“One and a half?”
Amira shrugged. “I’m counting Thadred as a half.”
“He’s a good fighter, Amira.”
“In the saddle, maybe. He won’t have a horse. And need I remind you that we have to free both him and the sorceress first?”
Daindreth exhaled a long breath.
Amira rubbed her mare’s reins against her forehead with her free hand. “We should start tracking that Kadra’han now,” she said.
After carefully reaching out and confirming that the ka of the other assassin was still moving away from the cliff face, Amira walked her mare out of the shelter of the rocks.
Daindreth stopped his horse to collect Thadred’s sword cane—chipped and scratched as it was. He fell in line behind Amira with a dour, firm set to his jaw. Amira imagined she looked much the same.
If nothing else, her relationship with Daindreth had led her to take stupidity to new and exciting heights. A few weeks ago, she’d thought her idiocy had peaked with leading a one-woman raid on the imperial palace. Now it was about to peak again.
She looked back to Daindreth. For a moment, she remembered the heat of his kiss and the feel of his hands stroking her back. She remembered how he had protected her, cared for her, even when she’d been at her worst. Even when she had resisted him as an enemy and held nothing back in showing her hatred.
He was good. He was kind. And she would follow him to the ends of the earth. Even into a Kadra’han ambush.
“The things I do for love,” she sighed.
