“That one,” Seraphina said, pointing at a young man kicking at a mound of hardened snow. He seemed cold and bored out of his mind. “Easy target.”
“All right.”
“Let’s get this done quickly. I want us to be back on the road in an hour.”
She hoped it would take them less than that, but she tried to keep her expectations reasonable. The thrall relic should ensure there were no obstacles, but one could never know. The bone vibrated gently in her pocket, as if sensing it was going to be put to work soon.
Seraphina straightened her back and stepped out of the shadows, approaching the sentry confidently. The man saw her and trained his musket on her.
“Stop right there. Who are you?”
Seraphina raised her hands and slowed her pace. Just a little closer.
“I said stop.”
He was being too loud. A few more steps, and she calculated she was at a serviceable distance.
“You,” she said as she wrapped her hand around the vomer bone. Its power slithered up her arm. “Lower your weapon.” The soldier did so. “Be quiet and lead me to where the revenant is kept.”
He nodded, turned on his heel, and just like that, Seraphina and Idris were on their way. No fuss, and very little danger. If anyone showed up, she would order them to go back inside and not say a word. No one had to get hurt.
Except her. The toll would punish her later with dreams of this man being made to give up his company’s greatest advantage. She wondered how much worse the nightmares would get once she had the revenant in thrall. And held him in that state.
They were led around the village, not across it, toward the outskirts where a farm stood isolated from the other houses, its windows dark. The walk took twenty minutes, and they didn’t encounter anyone. The soldier opened the barn doors and stopped there, not turning to look at Seraphina and Idris. He stood frozen, gaze fixed ahead, eyes empty. When she stepped in front of him and waved a hand, he snapped to attention, waiting for another order, but other than that, he was more compliant than her previous victims. This one wasn’t fighting her and didn’t look desperate, either. She wondered what was different. Was he weaker of mind? Easier to influence? A theory to be pondered later.
In the middle of the barn, there was a wooden crate, big enough for a bear. Seraphina remembered the show that had passed through her street in London when she was five or six, the bear inside a crate just like this one. She remembered the smell of the animal through the slats, sour and heavy, and the way the crate had creaked when the bear shifted its weight. She’d not been afraid of it. She’d wanted to touch it.
There was no bear inside this crate, though.
The hinged door at one end was reinforced with iron banding, secured by two padlocked hasps and a heavy iron bar dropped across the middle.
“Do you have the key?” Seraphina asked the soldier, not expecting an affirmative answer.
“No. The captain has it.”
Idris stepped closer and ran his hand over the iron bar.
“Why doesn’t he just break out?” he asked.
The man didn’t answer. Seraphina had to tell him to.
“I don’t know. He only responds to the captain and does what the captain says.”
“When the captain opens the crate, what does the revenant do?” Idris continued his inquiries.
“He stands there, waiting for the captain’s orders.”
Seraphina and Idris stared at each other for a long moment, considering this information. The soldier knew little, but he was still plenty useful. Seraphina instructed him to grab an axe or a crowbar, whatever he could find, and break the padlocks, while she and Idris stepped out of the barn. If the revenant was violent once he was freed, he would reach for the poor man before he even noticed them. Seraphina would have time to snap the first command at him, hopefully before he tore the man to pieces.
He struck the first padlock once, twice, three times before it bent and gave way. He moved to the second. No movement or sound from inside the crate. Seraphina wondered if the revenantwas even in there, but the soldier wouldn’t have brought them here if he weren’t. She rubbed the bone in her pocket. It wouldn’t betray her, would it? It gave a shudder, as if to reassure her.No. Never.
The man lifted the iron bar, opened the door, and stepped aside.
The Sentinel was sitting on the floor, cross-legged, his hands resting easily on his knees. His head was low, striking white hair falling like a curtain around his face. He was clean of all the blood he’d spilled hours before and fully dressed in a pair of wool pants and a black tunic. He wore sturdy boots and a heavy cloak on his shoulders. He was breathing evenly, calmly, as if completely unbothered by what was happening around him.
Seraphina reached for Idris’s hand. It was an involuntary gesture. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but not this.
The revenant raised his gaze slowly, his golden eyes studying them impassively. Still, he didn’t move.
