Page 69 of Memory of Ashes

The man turned, as if to cower, but grabbed the guard’s dagger from his belt. Casyl moved to disarm him, but the man drew the dagger across his own throat.

Blood spurted from the wound, spraying over Casyl as he fell to his knees, choking on his own blood.

Casyl and the guard watched as the man fell to the floor. To choose death over interrogation meant he knew something very important. Who was he protecting?

“Gather groups of servants for interrogation,” he told the guard.

The guard bent to pick up the body.

“Leave him,” Casyl said. “They’ll talk quicker if they see this.”

*

The interrogations dragged on into the night. None of the other servants had admitted to knowing anything. For now, the man who had killed himself appeared to have been the assassin’s only accomplice. The High City had to be behind this.

He cleaned the blood off himself and went to the Viewpoint to relax. It would be his only moment of peace before war broke out. He sat in the corner with a goblet of wine, admiring the moon from the shadows. Tomorrow he’d leave to join the rest of the army.

There hadn’t been a war of this size for centuries. There had been disagreements between the two lands, threats, and skirmishes, but there’d been no reason for full-blown war. He wasn’t sure there was sufficient reason now, but the king was certain, and that was all that mattered.

The door opened, and the human walked in. She stood in the moonlight, looking up at the sky. Casyl watched as she reached out as though to pluck a star from the darkness.

His shoulders loosened as the wine took effect. He wanted to sit there quietly and admire her. For the first time since her arrival, she looked less like a prisoner and more like a person.

They were alone in the room.

She’d been in here before. He was glad that Ruven was keeping her company.

He knew he shouldn’t remain alone with her, especially after the wine he’d consumed, yet he stayed long enough to share a drink. When he finally forced himself to leave, he paused at the doorway.

“Try not to die whilst I’m gone, Amelia.”

That was the first time he’d used her name. It sounded strange to call her by anything other than ‘the human’, as if calling her by her name was bad luck.

He sought his bed, but her moonlit face returned to his thoughts more than once.

The following morning, Tiryn sent him to war. As Casyl rode from the fortress, he found himself looking back for Amelia and resenting that she had become yet another thing his father could use against him.

Chapter 16

Casyl

Casyl had chosen ground that favoured them. Their camp stood at the top of a hill with a valley below. The enemy arrived the next day and made camp on the other side of the valley.

There would be more than one battle. They would not give up the girl, and the High City would not allow them to continue their plan without a fight. King Elthar and his priests considered stopping Tiryn a sacred duty.

What their plan was, Casyl wasn’t completely sure, but his father would not be swayed or stopped, and Elthar knew this.

They were on the outskirts of the border that separated the two kingdoms. They’d have to win this battle to advance further into enemy territory, where Amelia had initially emerged. The enemy was blocking them.

The army stood ready at the top of the hill, waiting for Casyl to give the order to charge. He wasn’t the type of commander to give a speech before battle. He knew his men, knew what they were capable of. They wanted to win, wanted to live.

He wasn’t sure what he wanted.

He surveyed the enemy, mapping his path. Every decision risked his men. His fingers tightened around the reins as he ran through the tactics.

“Are you ready?” Casyl asked Tharos. He would lead his own battalion of men in the battle. They’d be near the front line where Tharos could utilise his ability to confuse the enemy.

“Yes.” Tharos nodded.