CHAPTER 24

The storm rolled over the town, and the sheet of rain had turned the road into a blanket of mud. Vax kept his eyes on the frontier town in front of him, and the way it gradually grew larger as they neared it. The wooden palisades around the town were tall and proud, flanking the entrance and burrowing into the hillside, so the town itself was protected on all sides. Archers stood atop the palisades on either side of the gate, looking half drowned and miserable even with the cover of guardhouses. Next to the road stood two members of the Shadewatch, taking careful note of everyone who passed them by. They straightened when they saw the first group of guards make their way back from the hills.

His heartbeat picked up, anticipation wrapping itself around him. The sky brightened, with streaks of early-morning sunlight pushing through the clouds, but Vax’s mood didn’t.

He rode with his horse tethered to Vex’s, and his sister looked at him with so many questions in her eyes.

Thorn had disappeared. By the time the Shadewatch made its way deeper into the hills, all that had been left were the corpses that had crawled their way up from the deepest shafts. The guards had fought, with Vex and a handful of others providing assistance. At the same time, they’d been very careful to keep Vax out of the way. He’d been allowed to keep his weapons. He’d even been returned his thrown dagger. But he hadn’t missed their looks of disgust—or pity, when directed at Vex.

The fight continued for the better part of the day, from the initial attack on the miners to the struggle with the ash walkers. Derowen had said nothing else to him than that they would talk once back in Jorenn, before she sent scouts deeper into the mines, in the hope of finding Thorn.

Eventually, day made way for dusk, and every single one of the scouts came back empty-handed. None mentioned any trace of the miners who’d escaped with Sencha and Junel either, and Vax breathed a little easier.

Later that night, when the Shadewatch had set up camp in the hills, with bright fires and double guard shifts to ward off any remaining ash walkers, his sister and he sat around a campfire, and everything felt like it was the way it should be. The two of them, together against the world.

He’d run out of the cavern with the insistent knowledge that he could fix more problems than he caused, but the fight and the storm had washed away that confidence. He should never have brought them here. He should have found another way to deal with the Clasp. One sword hanging over him would have been better than the tangle of weapons he’d run straight into.

Gods, what a fucking mess. He understood all too well that Vex had questions, because he did too. He wanted to know about Derowen’s involvement with the Clasp. He wanted to know about the origin of the ash walkers and the miners’ culpability. The stories Sencha and Felric had skirted around. Thorn hadn’t lied about the Shadewatch hunting them down and slaughtering them, but what if the Shademaster had spoken the truth too? What had she done to earn his sister’s admiration, when neither of them trusted easily and she least of all?

He’d been too exhausted to figure it out. They were both too exhausted for the conversations they needed to have. So they’d sat together, leaning against each other, and he stared out at the bodies that had been brought out of the mines. A handful of fighters had been captured, but most everyone who’d followed Thorn into the fray had been killed.

“Who were they?” Vex asked, following his gaze.

“Tinyn. Felric. Whit. Lenda.” He named the other two halflings. The other miners he’d seen enter and fall. He couldn’t name all of them. They’d managed to hide safely for months, if not years, and still all of that could break in hours. “Yours?”

“Olfa. Nari. Beven.” Vex named almost a dozen guards. She swallowed past the hoarseness in her voice and stared out into the distance. “They all helped me try to find you.”

“Too many of them,” he said.

“Far too many,” she agreed.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, THE SHADEMASTER rode at the head of the column, and when she reached the gates, she halted to speak with the guards. From farther down the line, Vax couldn’t make out what was said, but he recognized the mixture of elation and grief that passed through the guards. A battle won, and lives lost.

Derowen turned and nodded at the first group of guards, who rode in ahead of the others and fanned out beyond the gate. No doubt to spread word of the fallen, to reassure everyone the guards on foot were still making their way home, and to prepare the healers for the wounded on the carts behind them.

Once they passed through, Derowen and her closest commanders followed, and so on. By the time Vax and Vex approached the gates, the guards didn’t give him a second glance, talking excitedly among themselves. One guard punched the other in the shoulder. “Does that mean we’re safe now?”

The other guard grinned. “You heard the Shademaster, she’ll protect us.”

“With the miners out of the way, we can wipe out the other dangers in the mountains,” the first guard said, full of resolve.

Before Vax could hear what the other guard had to say to that, they’d passed them both. And without further ado, Vax was in Jorenn Village.

The dusty, muddy streets around him were empty, with only those who couldn’t avoid it venturing out into the rain. Inside the shops and homes, warm light glowed, as everyone who could hid in their bubbles of comfort. Two women with closed baskets ran across the street to get from one house to another. Outside one of the larger houses, a young dwarven boy sat playing in a puddle of water, while a dog twice his size stood watch.

It didn’t look like the hard place Sencha had made it out to be. It looked like any other place where people lived: complicated, dirty, and full of details he was curious about.

He wondered if the miners’ houses had looked like this.

He also wondered how many of these homes would be emptier tonight for the lives lost in the tunnels—or the lives lost to attacks by the ashen corpses.

He must have made a sound or let some of the questions bleed through in his expression, because Vex looked at him. They’d done that a few times during the ride—glance at each other to make sure the other one was still there.

“Where do we go from here?” he asked.

“The Shade Hall, first,” Vex said. “Derowen wants to talk to you, and after they helped me try to find you, I think you should.”

“Is it an invitation or an order?” he wanted to know.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be an ass. It isn’t like that. Derowen has been good to me. She wants to understand why you took away their best chance to capture the leader of the outlaws that have plagued them for years. Give her a chance, please?”

“She took care of you,” he said simply. Because despite everything he’d heard from Thorn, that was true too, and he owed her for that.

Vex didn’t react to that. “Trinket is going to be so happy to see you. He would never admit it, but he missed you.”

“Aw, I missed him too,” he replied. He smirked. “And his farts to keep me warm at night.”

“You shit.” She reached out to slap him, and he ducked out of her reach.

“Will you show me around the Shade Hall too?” he asked after a moment, noncommittally. Having a legitimate reason to be inside the town hall would make breaking into the Shademaster’s office so much easier. He had all the more reason to do so now. Not just to find evidence for Thorn and the survivors, or to get the ring he needed to find, but because he needed to know the truth. Derowen was someone his sister cared about, and he refused to see Vex hurt. Not if he could do anything to stop it.

Vex glanced around her. Something like concern flashed across her face, but he knew she’d tell him about it in private. And she nodded. “I’ll introduce you to Wick and Aswin. Give you a tour of the place.”

She nudged him like she was aware of the tangle of thoughts inside his head. “But promise me no rash actions.”

“I promise I’ll consider all my actions carefully,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow. “That’s hardly reassuring.”

“When have my rash actions ever gotten us into trouble?”

“Would you like an itemized list?”

“Hey!” He drew breath to argue, when a smile teased at her lips and this felt right too. Despite the days between them, and the ashen divide.

Some of the tension melted from Vex’s shoulders. “It’ll be better once you see this place. And if you don’t want to stay in the Shade Hall,” Vex continued, “there are other options around Jorenn.” She pointed to the square that spread out before them, right in the middle of town.

On the far side stood an orange-brown-brick building with guards on either side of the tall wooden doors. Another pair of guards lingered on the roof, half protected by the overhang. Closer by was a simpler building, with wooden planks across its façade, and a shingle that read THE SCATTERED BAR. The doors were closed and the shutters were too, but soft voices and music drifted out from the inside and Vax could smell the spicy warmth of a fireplace.

“This is where the Shadewatch brings in the travelers they rescue from the ash walkers—all the corpses stalking these hills,” Vex commented. “It’s a chaotic place, so I think you’d like it. Wick told me that the innkeeper earns a fair bit of coin providing lodging for stranded folk, but the man is so terribly bad he spends it on all the wrong things. The chairs miss legs and the tables wobble, but the silverware is beautifully wrought and he has nearly a dozen tapestries on the walls.”

She rambled, and Vax wasn’t about to stop her.

“There’s a bar hidden behind a bookcase at the hill’s edge of town too, but it’s only old dwarves drinking away their sorrows, and there’s a dodgy chapel attic with far too many fairy lights strewn about it up near the miners’ gate that holds a tavern of sorts. No good drinks, and a whole lot of apprentices trying out potions and pipes and dancing to the tune of a fiddle and a song. I walked through to make sure you weren’t there.” Something soft and gentle flitted across Vex’s face.

“You’ve tried them all?” Vax asked.

She shrugged. “I couldn’t discount the fact that your questionable tastes would’ve led you there.”

“If I’d found a way out of the mines, I would have come to find you,” he said.

She stared out at the Shade Hall and swallowed. “Why didn’t you?”

“I couldn’t leave,” he said. “I couldn’t find my own way out and I … I promise I’ll tell you everything. Not right here and not right now.”

They rode up to the steps in front of the Shade Hall, where Vex dismounted first and then waited for him. She still had soot and blood from the mines all over her cloak and clothes, and she ran her fingers along the necklace she wore.

But they shared a look that told him, louder than words, it would be better now that they were together again.

THE ONLY WAY TO UNDERSTAND Jorenn Village was to uncover its secrets, hidden away behind cracked stones, in deep mines, and in the stories the Shadewatch told. By the time Vex had led Vax up to Shademaster Derowen’s office, he had a decent understanding of the Shade Hall. It was a maze not of tunnels but of bright and colorful hallways. Despite the storm clouds outside, it was light and warm here. He noted every door and every window, every lock and every opportunity. He’d mapped the path they’d took from the Shade Hall’s entrance, and he had a rough idea of the best escape route.

“Give her a chance,” Vex hissed, when she knocked on the door.

“No rash actions,” he muttered. Diplomacy had always been her forte far more than it was his.

Inside, Derowen was busy unbuckling the leather breastplate she’d worn. Pieces of armor already lay on a stack next to her desk, and her brown hair fell in tangles around her face, like she’d run her hands through her hair once too often. She’d peeled off her gloves and the overcoat in Shadewatch colors. “Come in.”

She dropped the breastplate on top of the rest of the stack when they walked in, and she straightened. She dismissed the apprentice in front of her, who picked up the pieces of armor and dashed out of the room, staring wide-eyed at Vax.

The Shademaster folded her arms. “I’ve heard so much about you, it’s like I know you already.” The words held a hint of venom.

Vex cleared her throat and stepped up to the desk. “This is my brother, Vax’ildan. Vax, this is Shademaster Derowen, commander of the Shadewatch and the person who’s helped me look for you since you disappeared.”

There was a soft warning to her voice, so subtle he knew anyone but him would have missed it.

Vax met the Shademaster’s gaze. From up close, she didn’t look like a monster either. She looked tired and frustrated, but that didn’t make her monstrous. “Thank you for taking such good care of my sister.”

“I believe we got off on the wrong foot. From what I understand, you spent days amidst the outlaws, and it’s only understandable that you’ve grown some attachment to them.” Derowen gestured to a table with chairs set up on the far side of her office. “Can we try to understand each other?”

“I’d like that,” Vax replied absently. He glanced at her outstretched hand and stared at the ring that flashed in the light of day. The bloody ring that started this entire mess in the first place. Desired by the Clasp. The bane of the ash creatures. Essential to the fight between the miners and the town. It was at the center of everything.

Next to him, Vex’s features tightened. A promise in her eyes. Later.

Not before he made his way through the maze of a conversation in front of him.

“You’ve been in the mines all that time?” Derowen asked as she moved to the table. She played with the ring on her finger, seemingly unconsciously. “How did that happen?”

“I didn’t choose to end up there,” Vax said carefully. He sat down next to Vex. “I fell to one of those walkers that tore through our camp. I couldn’t tell you the details. All I remember is being in the midst of a fight, a searing pain across my back, and stumbling face-forward into a pile of ashes. When I came to again, I was quite a distance away from the camp. A group of miners took me in to bring me back to health. The same miners your men killed.”

Next to him, Vex tensed, and something harsh flashed across the Shademaster’s face. She pushed it away with a casual smile. “If that’s the case, you were lucky to escape with your life twice. These miners—these outlaws—have long since been a threat to our community. They are responsible for introducing the ash walkers to our town with their carelessness, and it’s my duty to protect the people who’ve entrusted their lives to me.”

“The miners I met tended the wounds on my back and fed me,” he countered. “They didn’t say much, but they did well by me when they had no reason to. I would hesitate to call them dangerous.”

Derowen narrowed her eyes, taking him in. “You’re right. My experience with these men is vastly different from yours, and I’m certain they acted compassionately toward you. I shouldn’t expect you to judge them so harshly. It speaks well of you that you would think of them so kindly, especially considering they were ultimately responsible for your pain.” She had a lilt to her voice, a discomfort that he couldn’t entirely place, and he recognized the challenge in her words. “I regret your actions were to the detriment of our mission. I can’t fault you for trying to help. Knowing your sister, I should’ve expected nothing less.”

To any outsider, their conversation might appear innocent. Sharp, perhaps, but innocuous. But Vax felt increasingly torn between her words and the various stories he’d heard tell about her.

He felt Vex’s eyes drill holes into his back.

Vax kept his voice level and even. “I couldn’t stand by and see them hurt. No more. Your guard was very thorough in their duty to protect the town.”

The corner of her mouth tipped up. “Not just their town, but their livelihoods. Their families. There is no one among us who hasn’t lost something or someone to outlaws or ash walkers. We were all different people before they brought danger to our homes.”

He nodded. “I believe that.” And he did. It was the itch of the last few days. Of the ash walkers in the mines, and the dwarven boys who’d run into the tunnels prior to the fight. Of the honest relief on the guards’ faces. What if Derowen’s comments and observations were genuine? What if the miners were the monsters all along? He’d believed Thorn—but he trusted Vex.

“The man you helped escape is their leader. The most dangerous of them all. Surely you must know that,” the Shademaster said, and it was more of a statement than a question. When he nodded, she sighed, and she got up to pour them all a drink.

The second she’d turned her back to them, Vex punched him hard in the arm. She’d gone pale and tense at his side.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting to know her,” he whispered back.

The Shademaster returned with two cups of wine in one hand, and a third in the other. She held the drinks out to them. “I am curious, Vax’ildan, when you stayed with these outlaws, where in the mines were you? How many of them were there? We’ll have to decide on our next steps. We cannot let this man Thorn go without facing justice, and it would be helpful if you shared your information with us. Is there anything of use you could tell me and the Shadewatch? Did they introduce themselves? What did they tell you about their plans? What did they tell you about Jorenn Village?”

The questions were rational, reasonable. But the cautious part of him was certain he could hear the unspoken question: what had they told him about her? It was the question of someone who’d been running a con for far too long.

He scratched his head, like he had to give it considerable thought. The conversation itself took on a cadence, like one of the endless dances he’d been taught at school. Once upon a time … “Well, those first few days, I drifted in and out of consciousness. They told me little more than that I had to try to keep drinking and that they’d patched up the slash marks on my back.” He shifted, like he was still in pain.

The Shademaster’s eyes softened and she showed genuine concern. “I’m so sorry. We should get those wounds seen to. We couldn’t have it if they got infected so shortly after Vex found you.”

“Thank you.” He didn’t know what was truth anymore. “As for the other days, I’m afraid I won’t be able to tell you much of use. We were in the tunnels you found. There were maybe two, three dozen of them? They mentioned they were in an underground system, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you where it was if I tried. Apparently I wasn’t the first to spend a night there after an ash walker attack, and they’ve learned to blindfold their guests.” The only thing he could do was hedge his bets. He’d laced his lies with as much truth as he possibly could. “And you’re free to ask my sister. I’m far more comfortable in cities. The rocks just looked like rocks to me.”

“Of course. Although the circumstances of our meeting were not ideal, please know I’m not interrogating you,” Derowen said. “Anything you may remember could be of use to us. Any stories about Jorenn? Surely you must have had some conversations?”

“We talked about sisters,” he said. He cast a smile in Vex’s direction, whose stony expression did not budge. “I know Thorn was their leader, but I really only ever spoke to him as a brother. About family and how important it is to take care of your loved ones. I’m afraid that’s not particularly helpful to your cause.”

It was a risk that paid off when something sharp flashed over Derowen’s face once more. A crack in her mask. Her fingers tightened around her cup, causing the ring to sparkle in the light streaming in from the windows.

The ring was an intricate piece of work. The silver filigree was finely made, while the gems were storm clouds made tangible.

When Derowen noticed Vax staring, she turned the ring around her finger so the stones were on the side of her palm, protected from prying eyes.

Vax shook his head. “It’s a thing of beauty, and it reminded me: we also talked about mining and silver and what a profitable trade it can be. I don’t know the first thing about any of that, of course, but I listened carefully. Is that ring from around here, Shademaster? It’s beautiful.”

This time, it took longer for the ice in Derowen’s expression to melt. She smiled thinly. “It was a gift, actually. Since you mentioned siblings before: my brother gave me this ring, many years ago.”

“Is it an heirloom?” he pressed. He felt Vex’s annoyance radiate off her in waves, and hadn’t there been a table between them and the Shademaster, his shin would’ve been bruised and battered by now.

The Shademaster didn’t blink. “It’s a treasured family possession.”

Right at that moment, someone knocked on the door, and before Derowen could bid them enter, a tiny whirlwind burst into the office, brown hair flying around her face, and her dark-blue dress tangled around her legs. She crossed the room without so much as glancing at Vex and Vax, and crashed into the Shademaster. “Mama, you’re back! You’re safe! I knew you’d be okay!”

A second later, a far bigger and furrier whirlwind crashed into Vax. With two large paws on top of his sternum, he struggled to breathe. Trinket didn’t care and he happily licked Vax’s face.

“Gross,” Vex muttered.

Vax threw his arms around the bear’s neck and pulled him closer, grateful for the relief. “Trinket’s just happy to see me.”

She shook her head. He angled his head so he could press his cheek against Trinket’s fur while simultaneously looking at her. “He was with the little girl?”

“Aswin likes him, and he can’t come with me into town.”

They’d left Trinket in clearings and even caves before, when taking a bear into cities and towns would draw too much attention or be dangerous for them. But Vex had never left Trinket in someone else’s care. She found him a place where he could fend for himself or where Vax or she could mind him. Those were the only options. But now there was a little girl.

He raised an eyebrow. She raised one in return.

Trinket slumped back, pulling his weight off Vax and plopping his head down on the table between the twins, looking at the two of them with big, droopy eyes.

On the other side, Derowen untangled herself from Aswin’s fierce grasp. “This is Vex’s brother, Vax,” she said, nodding at Vax. “You should say hello.”

Aswin barely turned. “Hello.”

Derowen frowned. “You can do better than that, little miss.”

Vax bit back a smile when Aswin’s shoulders slumped and she rolled her head back, like she’d already done her lessons and it was outrageous of anyone to demand more. Still, she straightened her skirt and she turned to Vax with a look of absolute disinterest. “Nice to meet you.”

Once that was over with, she turned back to her mother and pulled on her sleeve. “Mama, you’re boring me and Vex and Other Vex too. Can we go play with Trinket?”

Derowen ran a hand over the girl’s hair. “Not yet, darling. I still have more work to do and guards to visit. If Wick says you’re done with your lessons, you can go play for a while.” She winced. “And Uncle Culwen is coming tomorrow. Remember he promised to bring you back a present last time he was here?”

“I remember. I love it when he brings me presents. I wonder what it is! Do you think it’s my very own bear?” Aswin brightened and she skipped around the room to the chants of “A present! A present!”

Trinket yawned and followed the girl’s movements wearily.

Derowen watched her go with a soft smile. Then she got to her feet. “I do have work left to do. I need to visit with the wounded, but I’m sure we’ll talk later.” Her smile warmed when she nodded at Vex, and tightened when Vax rose too. She stared at him. “Aswin is why I do what I do, Vax’ildan. That little girl is my everything.”

“I understand that,” he said, and he did.

“I think we understand each other quite well,” she replied. “So keep that in mind while you enjoy our hospitality.”