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I stumbled over and over again. It was getting harder to control my feet. The flow of blood was hot on my skin, but my guilt was lighter than it had been in weeks—but far from gone. It would never be gone. Branches scraped at my face and arms as I trudged through the trees. My vision seemed to fade, even as a faint blue lit the sky. I put all my strength into taking another step. And then another.
I finally climbed the top of the last hill when a sliver of sun broke the horizon. A village was nestled along the shoreline below. I picked up speed on the way down. I knew I could make it now.
Blood covered my whole left side. It ran from my hip to my leg, to my feet. I stumbled again, this time ending up flat on my face. Through the foggy echoes of my head came faraway shouts.
I tried to push myself up to meet them, but there didn’t seem to be a difference between up and down.
“Help!” a woman yelled. I thought I recognized her voice.
A moment later, I felt hands on my back, turning me over. The woman called my name again and again. I opened my eyes to see my aunt Elin and her husband, Oliver. My father’s brother.
“I’m here,” I said. “Don’t attack . . . I’m here.”
Elin gasped. “Look at all that blood. ”
“But where’s the heir?” asked Oliver. “Your guard got here a few hours ago sayin’ you’d set sail with him yourself. Shouldn’t he be with you?”
Not Cael again. I groaned but didn’t answer.
They glanced back the way I’d come.
“Honey,” said Elin, “who did this to you?”
A cloth pushed against my side, aggravating the pain. I tried to swat it away.
“Was it Brennin?” Elin put her hand on my face. “She’s got an awful fever.”
“Where is the heir?” Oliver asked again, shaking me gently.
“He’s . . . he’s dead,” I finally managed to say.
“I guess we won’t need to hold him hostage then,” said Oliver. “Makes our lives easier.”
They spoke quietly to each other and lifted me under the arms. I was beginning to go under when the last sound I wanted to hear broke through my fading consciousness.
The voice came from somewhere up the hill.
I opened my eyes.
“Is she alive?” asked Graham.
No. It can’t be.
“Looks like he survived,” said Elin.
“He’s covered in blood, too. Must’ve been a bad fight between ‘em.”
Through my exhaustion, I couldn’t grasp what Oliver meant. They pulled me down the hill, but I dug my feet in and resisted with an energy I thought I’d lost.
“Stay back!” Elin shouted over her shoulder.
“No,” I mumbled. “He’s not—”dangerous, I wanted to say, but the word got stuck in my throat.
I turned my head. Graham rushed down the hill, his Enforcer shirt and hands red with my blood.
Elin put two fingers in her mouth and gave an ear-splitting whistle. Within seconds, a handful of villagers appeared from between the houses and started up the hill toward us.
Cael was in the lead. His face hardened when he saw me. He ran past with a hungry gleam in his eyes.
