Chapter
Twenty-Six
As it turned out, we were not on our own.
After a short conversation, Legacy and I had managed to come up with something resembling a plan, and Ehuna had agreed to help us out with it. Not because she thought that it was a good plan—because we all knew it wasn't—but because we needed someone the advisors would believe had captured us.
After all, she already had once, so it wasn't exactly a lie, now was it?
"This is a terrible plan," Ehuna muttered, looking down at the ropes around Legacy’s and my wrists.
They weren't overly tight, nor were they loose enough that someone would notice.
"The only terrible part of this plan is Legacy insisting on joining me," I pointed out.
Legacy rolled her eyes, clearly tired of having this same argument over and over. That was unfortunate because I wasn't quite ready to give up just yet.
"Would you stop it?” she hissed. “I already told you, there's no way I'm letting you go alone. It’s too dangerous."
She was probably right about the dangers of me going alone, but there was no way I would admit that. Intentionally allowing myself to be captured was kind of a stupid plan, but I couldn’t come up with anything else in the meantime.
Unfortunately for her, allowing both of us to be captured was an even dumber plan. At least if I went in alone, there was a chance that she could come in and save me if I couldn't save myself. But if she came with me and we couldn't get out, then we were well and truly screwed.
"You two are ridiculous," Ehuna pointed out, helping us both onto horses.
It was hard enough to get on a horse at the best of times, but with my hands bound in front of me, it was even harder. Not to mention that I'd grown so used to riding with Legacy on one horse that I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself right now with my own.
Ehuna was far less gentle with Legacy than she had been with me, which I wasn't sure how to feel about. True, our history meant she was more likely to be kind to me, but despite myself, I did care about Legacy. I didn't want her to be hurt, and even these small slights irritated me to no end.
I didn't know how I truly felt about much of anything at this point.
"We might be ridiculous,” I said, “but we are also doing this for the right reasons. I don't see another way to get inside their camp, and it has the bonus effect of convincing them to trust you. This way, perhaps you and your soldiers will be safe from future attacks."
Ehuna gazed at me, her mouth tight. I knew what she was thinking.
She and her soldiers had only been put in danger because of me, but it wasn't hard to see that she was worried about me. She knew me too well not to be.
"So you would have me give you over to our enemies in exchange for myself?" she asked.
I shook my head, fighting down a smirk. "Of course not. I'm giving myself over because I know you never would."
She mounted her own horse, still muttering under her breath, and I held the reins as best as I could with my bound hands as we set off. We rode in silence as we headed for Tannin, and Ehuna used a tracking spell to be sure we rode in the right direction. To no one's surprise, he and his men were holed up in another fortress.
On our way, I kept an eye on the sky for a certain giant bird, but not even a single cloud marred the blue vastness.
When we finally arrived, I swallowed hard as I stared up at the walls.
One of the archers above shouted down, "State your name and purpose!"
"I am General Ehuna, here to hand prisoners over to Commander Tannin," Ehuna shouted back.
A runner took off at the top of the wall, no doubt to take the message to Tannin.
While we waited, I did my best to look as cowed as possible. We were supposed to be Ehuna's prisoners, and while neither of us had many visible wounds, it wasn't hard to pretend like I was hurting.
My leg still throbbed where the bolt had struck, and my entire body radiated pain and exhaustion from everything we'd been through. The only thing that didn't hurt was my magic, and they couldn't see that. I wore no gauntlets. Neither did Legacy. For now, anyway.
It was only a matter of minutes before Tannin appeared at the top of the wall, motioning for us to come closer. Ehuna tugged on the reins of our horses, which she had held once we were within sight of the fortress.
