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THE NIGHTRENDER
Luca couldn’t be calmed.The longer he dwelled on the truth that Dagny and his son were trapped in Felstad, with the history of Dagny’s suffering, the more he spun into a dangerous impulsiveness. By my word, Niklas dosed him with sleeping herbs that would keep him silent until at least midday tomorrow.
Better for him to sleep and keep breathing than watch him slip out of our sight and storm the walls of Felstad alone and get his heart cut out.
I backed out of the fur-lined shanty we’d made for Luca to sleep it off, listening to him snore softly.
“How is he?”
Startled, I had one hand on the sword on my waist, only relaxing when I realized it was Elise. The queen stared at a sleeping Luca with a touch of sympathy.
“How would you be?”
Elise smirked. “You know how I was, Kase. Did we not meet when I was in the throes of desperation?”
“That we did.” I folded my arms over my chest. “Luca will get some much-needed rest, but like the lot of us, he will not be whole until his family is safe.”
“These folk of your Black Palace, they are despicable,” she said, voice hard, almost cruel. “My cousin and sister were wretched, but their first act was not to use young ones as pawns. I fear for Laila, for Ash, and your little Hanna. Ellis, and Luca’s young son. Even Thorvald’s child.”
The queen was practically spitting her disdain.
“They are cowards, Elise. And they will pay.”
“You have a scheme forming in that stubborn skull of yours?”
“I always do.” With a wink, I opened one arm, urging her to go ahead of me toward a fire in the center of our camp.
Near the fire, Gunnar paced like a man lost in madness. He’d been as unreachable as Luca since learning of his sister’s captivity. Eryka sat beside Sofia, but her eyes were on Gunnar Strom.
Hagen looked distraught. He seemed torn between his daughter’s predicament, his son’s boiling rage, and the fact that his lover had not spoken since the confrontation earlier. He’d placed one hand on the back of her neck as Herja simply stared blankly at the fire.
I knew Herja Ferus had been silent for centuries, a curse only broken when Valen took his place as king. This silence was perhaps more unnerving than any curse. No mistake, Herja would slaughter anyone who harmed her children, but the stun had yet to shift into a mother’s rage.
Thorvald kept his distance and said nothing. Merely flicked his coin and studied the stars.
The Kryv were huddled with Sol, Tor, and Halvar, likely plotting our next moves, and Malin watched Ari near two thick trees with a touch of bewilderment.
Ari muttered at one of the trees, throwing a rock at the branches.
“What the hells is wrong with you now?” I snapped.
He spun around, a wild look in his eyes. “It’s back.”
“What is?”
“The damn raven.” He let out a grunt of frustration and heaved another rock toward the treetops. True enough, a raven cawed and flew away.
Elise sighed. “Ari is convinced the raven is following him.”
“Itisfollowing me! I am intoxicating, this I know, but I am wholly convinced this wretched fiend comes from the hells and is sent to spy on us from our enemies.”
My brow furrowed. The bird had flown away, but I kept my gaze schooled on the branches where it had perched. “He could be onto something. A raven led us to Hodag before we found you.”
Ari’s mouth parted. “There is something with that bleeding bird.”
It was a thought to keep in the back of our minds, but we had other worries. “Forget the bird for now. We need to take back Felstad.”
Valen rose from a log when we approached. “Kase, we take your lead on the next moves. You know the ruins, the forest, and you know your enemies greater than any of us.”
