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“Goods from Harendell. Steel, likely.”
Weapons.
Realization slapped Keris in the face, and he shoved Raina back the way they’d come. “Run!”
As he said the word, his countrymen leapt at the wagon, dragging the cloth off to reveal glittering steel. In a heartbeat, they’d snatched up weapons and turned on the Ithicanian guards, who were pulling their own blades free.
And instead of running, Raina only drew her own sword, racing in the direction of the battle. Most of the Ithicanians were already down, and his countrymen turned on her, lifting their weapons.
“Raina!” Keris broke into a sprint, racing after her.
She crossed blades with one man, kicking him in the knee and then gutting him, but as she turned to engage another, a shadow flitted up behind her. As the individual stepped out from behind the wagon, Keris recognized him as the man who’d disrespected her at Southwatch, his face bright with glee.
“Look out!” Keris screamed, snatching up a fallen weapon.
But it was too late.
Grinning, the man lunged and shoved his sword into Raina’s back, the tip appearing through her chest. She gasped as he jerked it back out, and Keris threw himself forward, catching her as she fell. “What are you doing? They are our allies!”
But they weren’t; Keris knew that. Or rather, he knew that his father was no ally to Ithicana.
He lowered Raina to the ground and pressed his hands against the gaping wound in her chest. Blood bubbled up between his fingers, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly as she fought to breathe. As she fought to live.
Beyond, several of his father’s soldiers were feeling along the floor of the bridge; then a stone hatch popped open on silent hinges, the fresh scent of the sea filling the air. “Right where she said it would be,” one of them muttered. “Get down and get out, and we should be right in front of Midwatch.”
She.
Lara.
Then the man who’d stabbed Raina stepped into Keris’s line of sight. “I’m afraid your trip to Harendell is to be cut short, Your Highness. Will you be a good little prince and sit here nicely while we take Ithicana, or do we need to resort to ropes?”
Keris lunged, but the soldier was ready, and in a heartbeat, three of them had him pinned, another wrapping ropes around his ankles, then around his wrists. They proceeded to arm themselves with more of the weapons from the wagon before dropping down the hatch.
Then there was nothing but the thunder of his heart and Raina’s ragged, wet breath. He met her gaze. “I didn’t know.”
A tear ran down her cheek.
“This is the last thing I want.” His eyes burned. “I’m sick of war. Tired of the endless fighting. It’s the reason I was going to Harendell—not because of the books, but because I can’t stomach any more killing. I wanted a different life.”
Wasted words.
Wasted sentiment.
Because the eyes staring back at him were still as glass.
4
ZARRAH
Zarrah drew her blade over the Maridrinian’s throat, then let him drop, his last gasping gurgles filling the air as she strode to where her soldiers were laying out bodies. “How many?”
Yrina, her closest friend and second-in-command, rose from where she knelt next to a farmer’s body. “Ten, we think. We’ll need to let the flames die down before we can check the ashes.”
So many.Zarrah’s stomach hollowed even as her eyes passed over the dead, all farmers. All Valcottan. All people she was sworn to protect. “Children?” It was hard to ask, but she made herself do it, swallowing a swell of sickness as she waited for a response.
Yrina shook her head. “Those who could fight managed to hold back the raiders while the children and infirm hid in the woods. A small mercy.”
Small indeed. Many of those children were now orphans of violence, much as Zarrah was herself. Like her, they’d seen the Maridrinians slaughter their parents and destroy their homes. A moment that would forever change the course of their futures, and she wondered how many would pick up weapons so as to never see themselves hurt like this again. How many of them would join the fight against their nation’s nemesis. How many of them would, like her, dedicate their lives to achieving victory in the Endless War.
