But, dammit, even though we bickered, and he was deliberately giving me non-answers, using his tongue to alienate potential allies like my sister and friends, I liked his company. I wasn’t sure we’d ever be friends like Ciaran and Amahle, but I was sensing that I didn’t only need him to live so I didn’t die. Somehow, I wanted him to live.
Every hoofbeat on the forest trail echoed with unspoken questions, as if the trees themselves were listening. Shadows stretched long beneath the canopy, and with each passing mile, the weight of what awaited us pressed heavier on my chest. Something was coming. Something I couldn’t yet name, but it was there, lurking just beyond the edge of sight. Waiting.
Chapter 20
Rykr
Fighting in irons had its advantages, it turned out.
“You have to stop doing that.” Tara glowered down at me as I sat at the base of a tree, sipping from a waterskin.
I cocked my eyebrow at her. “And why’s that?”
“You’ve put five members of my squadron in the infirmary. We’re having to call up extra healers to the training field. You nearly crushed two of their windpipes, Rykr.” Her eyes narrowed. “Keep it up and no one will want to fight you and then where will we be?”
I stood slowly, not even slightly exerted. “You want me to train for this damned trial, where I may or may not have irons on while I fight the best warriors your people have to offer? Then this is part of what I plan to do. I can barely move my feet the way I want them to. Disarming them with my chains and strangling them is a good next move.”
“You’re an arrogant show-off,” she growled, crossing her arms. “And the Skorn aren’t going to fight like my squadron. They won’t let you get that close. I’m trying to help you.”
“I don’t need your help with fighting techniques,” I snapped. “You of all people should know what I can do—you’re Brogan Ragnall’s daughter. What I need help with is blocking the bond between your sister and me, for both our sakes. Sure, maybe talking to her with mind speak can be helpful, but feeling each other’s pain is not. You can’t help me with that.”
Tara scowled. “I know that,” she said, at last. “Which is why I sent for my mother.” Worry flashed across her face. “Seren isn’t a strong fighter, though. She did—does—need all the training she can get. She won’t last two minutes in the arena with the Skorn, Rykr. She’s smart and she’s fast, but she’s not skilled or strong enough to take on the best Vangar warriors in our territory. And she’s young. Darya is screwing her over by making her sit in the watchtowers all day.”
Her honesty was refreshing. In that way, Tara and Seren were similar. But her words also confirmed what I already suspected: Seren needed to learn more.
“I’ll train her myself at night if I can. It’d be good to have a proper duel with her so I can assess her weakness for myself. One where I’m not wearing chains.”
Tara’s lips pursed, her gaze distant as she stared past me. “Agreed. That would be helpful for Seren.” She paused, thinking. “There might be a way I can get Seth to agree to training you untethered, but it’ll be exhausting for you.”
“What’s that?”
“I could challenge the other squadrons to a sparring championship. It’ll pit the squadrons against each other in the ring, where the champion of each round keeps fighting until none remain.”
She flicked her eyes at me and caught the hint of a smile on my lips. “Wipe that grin off, Rykr. I already know you’re capable of winning. That’s not the point. The point is that Darya’s squadron will be challenged and Seren will have a chance to fight you. By now, Seth’s probably heard about your tendency to crush throats with chains. He won’t let you do that in a sparring championship, since we’re not supposed to kill each other.”
“Just tell me when and where and I’ll fight.”
“Was Father this annoying when he was young?” Tara asked, looking past me and deeper into the woods.
I swiveled my head to see Lucia approaching, a light blue hooded cloak drawn over her head.
Lucia gave a gentle smile, holding out a jar of healing honey toward her daughter. “Most of the Sealed are arrogant. They’ve earned their arrogance, though. Your father was uniquely humble among them, which was why I fell in love with him.”
I nearly rolled my eyes. If I had to hear anyone else extolling that hagspawn, I might actually hurt someone. “Yes, he very meekly slit the queen’s throat, right?”
Lucia averted her gaze, and Tara cleared her throat. “Good luck, Mother. He’s a real joy to work with.” She turned and strode off toward her squadron.
Gesturing deeper into the forest, Lucia glanced back toward me. Her voice was a low murmur, “Your mother was the kindest, loveliest woman in all Suomelin. And she loved you dearly.”
My heart slammed against my ribs. The pounding was all I could hear, deafening.
She knows …
“Yes, I know who you really are.”
Fuck.
My hand shifted to the hilt of the dagger Tara had given me. I didn’t want to kill Seren’s mother. Seren would never forgive me.
