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ChapterOne
It was a miracle that I was still rowing after hours and hours. Every muscle in my body burned, my hands were blistered and cracking, and my lungs felt like they would turn to dust at any moment, but I pulled on the oars anyhow, grunting as I did, pushing myself beyond what I thought I could endure.
Because Ihadto get there. I had to get to Hedeon before it was too late.
“Hang on, Ludvig,” I croaked, my voice unfamiliar to me after hours of huffing…and days of screaming, begging, and bartering before that. “We’re almost there,” I told my friend, my former lover, the man who had made me what I was. “We’re almost there.”
My gaze fell on the other man lying in the boat by Ludvig’s side. The very idea of him made my throat close up and a small whimper escape from my tattered lungs. No, it wasn’t a miracle I was still rowing, or that we’d escaped from our prison in Seymchan, it was Dmitri.
I’d done what I had to do. I’d agreed to the terms that were offered to get myself and Ludvig away from General Rufus and his Old Realm soldiers. They would have killed us the same way they’d killed Riley, Barber, and the other small pack leaders after we’d all fallen into their trap. They would have killed us if I hadn’t promised myself and what felt like half the world to Dmitri to get us out of there.
Dmitri would take what he wanted from me and then some as soon as we reached safety, and I would let him. It was part of our deal. But that didn’t stop me from putting everything I had into getting us to Hedeon. If not for Dmitri, Ludvig would probably dead by now, we never would have walked out of our confinement in Seymchan without being followed, and we never would have found the boat and pushed out onto the Kostya River in the middle of the night. I would pay the price eventually, but not yet.
“I see it,” I gasped as the outlines of buildings that could only be Hedeon emerged from the early-morning light. “Ludvig, I see it. I see Hedeon.”
Ludvig stirred slightly, letting me know he wasn’t dead yet, in spite of the stab wound he’d received days ago. I pulled harder on the oars, trying to steer us closer to the river’s southern bank.
I don’t know why we weren’t followed from Seymchan. Maybe Dmitri arranged something to distract the soldiers who would have pursued us. Maybe there just weren’t enough soldiers to patrol the entire length of the river near Seymchan. I wasn’t sure how many men General Rufus actually commanded, or if his battalion was the only one in our part of the forest.
All I knew was that, after two months of wandering in the eastern forest, searching for wolves who might want to move to the cities of the Wolf River Kingdom, the most important thing Ludvig and I had discovered was that the Old Realm had more of a foothold in the frontier than any of us had anticipated.
I shook those thoughts from my head. The soldiers were a problem for another day, a problem for Magnus. I had the boat, Ludvig was still alive, and Hedeon was growing closer and closer as my rowing and the flow of the river carried us along.
We’d been in Gravlock when plans for the meeting that would take place in Hedeon were made, but somehow word of the meeting had made the rounds among the wild wolves of the forest. I don’t know how gossip from so far west had made it into the eastern forest, and opinions on whether it was a good idea—or if it was even true—were split.
Some small packs and lone wolves believed Magnus and King Sai of the Kostya Kingdom would hold talks that would unite everyone to the west, and that they would attack the eastern forest. Some thought it was ridiculous. Some of the wolves of the eastern forest didn’t believe the Wolf River Kingdom existed, or that the population of the cities had halved during the Dying Winter.
I knew that a meeting was taking place, but it was the timing of the meetings that I’d gambled on when it came to enlisting Dmitri’s help to escape the dungeon. The rumors we’d heard said Magnus and his entourage were on their way to Hedeon right now, and those rumors had reached us days ago. I was afraid we were already too late. I didn’t know what we’d do if we’d missed it and Magnus was already gone. I didn’t even want to think about it.
But we weren’t too late. After hours of rowing in the dark, days imprisoned in Seymchan, and weeks of wandering in the rough and tumble forest, I heard a sound ring out in the dawn light that was so beautiful it made me want to cry.
I heard the sound of my friend Lefric laughing.
“Lefric!” I called out, surprised my voice was loud enough to be heard past the confines of the boat. I would have known Lefric’s laugh anywhere. It was like sweet music to my ears.
I rowed with renewed energy, even though I didn’t think my muscles had it in them anymore. I pulled with all my might. If Lefric was there, on the dock in Hedeon, chances were that Magnus was still in the city as well.
I had to reach Magnus. I had to tell him about the soldiers, about General Rufus. I had to tell him about Riley and Barber and the other wild wolves—the ones who wanted to join the Wolf River Kingdom, the ones who had sworn allegiance to Boris and Yates and the Old Realm, and the ones who would die fighting to maintain their independence. I had to tell him about the war that had just ended, and the one that was about to begin.
But first, I had to get to the dock where my friend stood, a man with long, dark hair by his side, manhandling him.
“Lefric, is that really you?” I called out again, my voice cracking.
Lefric and the other man spotted us, stopped their flirting, and rushed to the edge of the dock. A few of the other people on the dock, and on the huge boat that was moored near where Lefric stood, took notice of us as well.
“Anton!” Lefric shouted, kneeling down on the edge of the dock and stretching his arms out to. He gestured for me to head toward him. “What are you doing here?”
I was too overcome to reply. All I had to do was maneuver the boat to the edge of the dock, and we would be alright. Even though, on a grander scale, we were as far from alright as it was possible to be. King Julius had an army hidden in the eastern forest. Wolf was turning against wolf over food and pups, and in efforts to claim the abandoned cities. The eastern forest was a tinderbox waiting to set the entire frontier on fire. But if I could reach Magnus, if I could get Ludvig help so that he didn’t die of his wounds, I would feel alright.
For the time being.
A shout of, “Magnus! Come quickly!” came from the deck of the large boat in another voice I recognized: Jace’s.
I started to weep and sob. Magnus was here. We’d made it in time. All of my efforts, everything I’d sacrificed to save Ludvig—my freedom, my body, and my pride—had succeeded. It would be alright.
I rowed up to the edge of the dock, and as soon as the bow of our boat bumped into the dock, Lefric and his older friend grabbed at it and pulled us close enough to climb out. If we had the strength to.
As soon as I didn’t have to row anymore, I let go of the oars and let out a crazy sound that embodied all of the pain and terror and relief of the last few days. I hunched over Ludvig, touching his face, arm, and chest to let him know we’d made it, and to see if he was still alive.
