Shadows of Kings (The Kin of Kings Book 3), page 23
“Everyone’s leaving?” Effie asked.
“Everyone,” Cleve confirmed, somewhat surprised himself.
“But most of the Academy’s staff isn’t trained to fight.”
“They won’t be fighting.”
He gently pushed Effie along. Steffen was right; she was as slow as an old woman worried about falling and breaking a hip.
“What about Basen?” she asked Cleve.
“He still hasn’t returned.” Cleve tried to make this seem as if it wasn’t something to worry about. The last thing Effie needed was another reason to dally.
“What if he comes back while we’re gone?”
As Cleve gave himself time to think, Effie darted away from him with surprising speed. “Penny!” she shouted as she pushed through people. “Basen is still missing.”
“I know,” Penny said. “I left a note for him at the Group One classroom.” She gaped at the bandage peeking out from Effie’s shirt. “You sure you can walk?”
“I have to, don’t I?”
Penny’s lips pursed. She opened her mouth to speak, but Mage Trela shouting her name made her turn. “You’re leading the Group One mages to Oakshen! You should be at the front already!”
“I’m on my way.” Penny hurried over to Effie and gently took her arm. “Come with me. I’ll help you.”
“I don’t need help.” She pulled out of Penny’s grasp and turned around to hug Reela. “I don’t know what’s happening, but it sounds like I won’t see you for a while. Thank you for being by my bed. You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to be there. You should thank Steffen for saving your life.”
“I will.”
Penny called for Effie to hurry up, then walked off. Effie waved goodbye to Cleve. He nodded back.
Reela took his arm as they jogged together. “What do I need to bring?” She veered off course.
He realized she wanted to go to their student house to pack a bag. He turned her south with a gentle tug. “We’re not bringing anything but our weapons.”
“Then let me get my dagger, and you can get your bow.”
“You’ll be given a dagger, and I’m not taking my bow.” Cleve had his bastial steel sword on his belt, as usual, and he didn’t intend to be weighed down by his bow and a quiver full of arrows.
He could understand Reela’s reluctance to abandon the Academy. He felt the same way. This was home, and no one would be here to defend it.
“We’re to return before nightfall,” he said to ease some of her worry.
Her voice became shrill with disbelief. “Terren truly expects no one to take it before then?”
“No one will take it,” Cleve tried to assure her.
But Reela wouldn’t move.
“This is madness.”
He took her hand and looked deeply into her emerald eyes. “You trust Terren, don’t you?”
She went to her toes and craned her neck, eventually finding Terren screaming for everyone to hurry. She came back to her heels and nodded to Cleve. “All right, but you have to at least tell me what we’re doing rushing to the capital. Terren couldn’t possibly have decided to abandon the Academy and Hiller’s army in Trentyre for a chance at the capital.”
“We’re not trying to take the capital.”
Rickik yelling something drew Cleve’s attention. The thick aggression in the Krepp’s voice was concerning enough for Cleve to grip the handle of his sword in its sheath. Vithos had his hands up trying to calm down the Krepp, but the hundreds of Krepps behind Rickik, shouting and spitting, seemed ready to revolt. Rickik yelled at Terren, but for every one word in common tongue that he ground out of his throat, five more were in Kreppen.
“What did you tell him?” Terren asked Vithos.
“Exactly what you tell me. The Krepps must stay.”
Rickik spat on the ground, then stomped one foot down in front of Terren and shouted a single word that must’ve been an insult, for Vithos made himself as tall as he could and squeezed between Terren and Rickik. The Elf shoved the Krepp backward and seemed to be scolding him in Kreppen, wagging a finger. Rickik clamped down his sharp teeth just in front of Vithos’ finger in a clear warning. Vithos dropped his hand and softened his tone somewhat, but still appeared to be lecturing as he gestured frantically. It was during moments like these that the Elf appeared somewhat like a Krepp, stomping his foot as he grunted, sticking out his chest as if ready to fight.
Among the hundreds of Krepps watching, Cleve found Nebre at the front. He was the only one who didn’t appear eager for Vithos and Rickik to begin battling. He edged closer with fear in his yellow eyes as if wanting to stop their argument, yet unsure how.
“Why are the Krepps staying?” Reela asked Cleve.
“Because we don’t trust them to do what we need to do in Oakshen or in the capital.” It’s going to be hard enough for us without looking after them.
Cleve noticed then that he was one of many stopping to watch. Instinctively, he and others had begun to circle the Krepps in case they did something foolish, as they often did. But as soon as he realized this, so did the Krepps. It only took one of the creatures to draw his sword. Suddenly hundreds of blades were out and ready, Cleve’s bastial steel sword being one of them.
Terren lifted his arms. “Put them away, now!”
They all obliged quickly. Fortunately, the Krepps didn’t seem to take offense. They slid their blades back into their sheaths, but not without sharp looks that showed they’d be ready to draw them again when needed.
“Everyone move to the gate!” Terren commanded with frustrated swings of his hand. “You’re not helping.”
Cleve trusted his uncle and went with Reela to wait at the south gate.
“Tell me everything you know,” she said.
He did. It wasn’t easy to explain Terren’s dangerous plan, especially when Reela began raising very genuine concerns. Cleve soon found himself defending the plan, not because he agreed with it, but because it was what their trusted leader had decided.
Terren and Vithos caught up to their army soon after, leaving the Krepps dueling among themselves, most likely to expend their aggression. One Krepp tried to shove a sword into Nebre’s hands. He frowned as he took it reluctantly. At least he knew better than to refuse. He would have no hope of earning respect if he never fought.
As they left the Academy behind, Vithos came to join Cleve and Reela. He wore an excited smile as if they were taking a fun little trip. “Is your mother in Kyrro City?” he asked Reela.
“No, Oakshen.”
Vithos frowned. “So you won’t see her?”
“Effie and Steffen will. They’ll tell her I’m fine.” Her worried eyes never left the enemy camp at Lake Kayvol as she spoke. “Cleve, you didn’t tell me how Terren knows for sure Trentyre is to be attacked right now. And even if that’s right, how do we know there’s no one waiting outside the Academy to take it after we leave?”
In all the madness, Cleve had forgotten to mention Sanya’s letter. Perhaps some part of him wanted to forget. Whenever he and Reela spoke of her, they argued.
“Sanya left a note on our bed. She got into the Academy during Abith’s scheme to get Terren killed and made it out without anyone seeing her.” He let Reela hear his anger “She’s dangerous, and she got into our house. We’re keeping the door and windows locked again.”
“If that’ll make you feel better, but she’s not as dangerous as you think. And Terren must trust her enough to develop his entire plan around the information she provided.”
“Terren has to. If we do nothing, and our allies die, the Academy will be the last piece Tauwin needs to have all of Kyrro. I trust Terren to make the right decision.”
“By trusting Terren, it means you trust Sanya as well.”
“I will never trust her.” He pushed down the boiling rage in his chest. “Sanya might be in the castle, Reela. She won’t expect us. What will you do if we see her?”
Her eyes showed great offense. “I’ll help capture her, of course! You think I’d let her go after what she’s done?”
“She won’t let herself be captured. It’s the same as death, and she knows it.” He wanted to hear Reela say that she would help him kill Sanya. Otherwise he wasn’t sure Reela would let him do it. “You’ve been talking about Sanya as if she’s an ally, and that concerns me.”
“Cleve.” She let out her breath as she put her hand on his arm. Her warm touch and calm voice put him at ease. “What is an ally, really?”
“Someone dedicated to helping us and who deserves our help in return.”
Reela frowned. “What she deserves has nothing to do with it. She is an ally because she’s interested in helping. She opened herself to me, letting me feel her deepest feelings. I know what kind of woman she is. She spent her whole life trying to bring back the one person who ever loved her. She became blinded by it, sacrificed all, and now she regrets her choices.”
“Having regret doesn’t mean she should get away without punishment.”
“Of course she deserves punishment. But that has nothing to do with whether she’s an ally.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “Or whether we choose to forgive her.”
“Forgive her?” Cleve boomed. He saw Reela becoming frightened, but he couldn’t stop. “She murdered two of ours! How can you suggest we forget that?”
“You don’t have to forgive her.” Reela’s voice was soft but strained, as if it was taking all of her effort to maintain control. “And I would never suggest we forget what she did. I’ll always hate her for it, I told this to her. Her stupidity and selfishness has hurt a lot of people. But forgiveness isn’t the same as forgetting or excusing her actions. It doesn’t mean what she did was justified. It doesn’t disrespect Alex or Nick. It just means we’ve accepted what’s happened, and we can live without feeling the need for revenge or justice.”
“But she hasn’t—”
“I know. She hasn’t been punished. That’s what makes this so difficult for us. But I worry about what I feel in your heart.” She touched his chest. “I want you to understand what forgiveness really is, because if you don’t, and you try to enact your own justice, you might kill her and still feel this way about her for the rest of your life.”
Cleve put his hand over hers. She was right; he was prepared to feel this way about Sanya until he died. He hadn’t thought there was an alternative.
It didn’t seem right to forgive her. It felt like getting his mind around the idea of swallowing a brick, a complete and utter impossibility.
“You don’t have to forgive her,” Reela continued, “but you do have to trust her. We need her.”
“Why is she helping us?”
“Guilt.”
“That can’t be the only reason.”
Her mouth dropped open as she tilted her head to give him a look of disbelief. “Guilt, Cleve, really? It influences our decisions more than pain. It saps all joy, all purpose. It drains our appetite, takes away our ability to sleep…and our desire to live.”
Reela always found the good in people, but Sanya was a master at manipulation. Cleve found it hard to believe that a woman like her would be plagued by guilt in the way Reela had described.
Reela frowned at him.
“Sorry,” Cleve said, knowing she must sense his disagreement. “I don’t think I’ll ever feel the same way about her as you do.”
“Because you don’t want to.”
True.
Cleve glanced at Vithos to see what he thought about all this, but the Elf just smiled in reverie as they approached the trees of Raywhite Forest.
CHAPTER TWENTY
After hurrying through Raywhite Forest, Terren led Cleve, Reela, Vithos, and half of the Academy to the capital. Here they waited, hidden as best they could among the last trees before the clearing. At the right angles, Cleve could see glimpses of the city. A formidable wall of wood had been built around it. They couldn’t risk getting closer to see how many guarded the wall, for if they were seen, it could result in their deaths. Not imminently. There would be time to run, to fear, to see the end coming in a terrifying eclipse of life. But before the day was done, they’d all perish, and Tauwin would have Kyrro.
They waited for the trumpeters, dread heavy in the cold air. Thunder had been rolling all around them during their short trip, but all was silent for now.
It remained that way until the wind grabbed at their cloaks and ruffled their sleeves. Cleve’s hair pattered against his forehead, and he felt the absence of armor stronger than ever as tiny bumps rose up on the back of his neck.
There was the horn—faint against the screaming wind but unmistakable. It blared five more times, Cleve’s heart speeding up to match its rhythm.
“Charge!” Terren screamed.
Cleve ran out from the cover of the trees, staying just behind the front line of warrior instructors he’d grown to trust. He got his first full look at the walls. They weren’t any shorter than the stone walls around the Academy that had saved so many lives, but they didn’t look nearly as sturdy, clearly made in haste as if to keep the citizens of the capital trapped within as much as to keep enemies out.
A flash of light tore across the sky. Thunder shook through Cleve’s chest, so loud it covered the sound of his battle cry. As the deep din faded, he caught a glimpse of Hiller’s army storming the southern side of the city. His heart swelled with pride at seeing his allies from Trentyre for the first time. They’d been fighting back Tauwin’s army since the beginning, and they looked hungry for vengeance.
A single archer popped up from the top of the wall and became so startled he dropped his bow over the side. He disappeared a moment later.
“To the door!” Terren commanded, guiding the charge toward the most vulnerable point of the wall: a door no wider than a small bed. Terren barreled his shoulder into it. There was a loud crack as it broke off its hinges. Cleve was the first of the students to follow, with Reela and Vithos close behind.
Cleve prepared for an army on the other side, but there were just four men, each sprinting away as fast as their legs could carry them. None chanced a look behind them. They separated and disappeared behind the shanties on the outskirts of the capital.
Terren didn’t give chase. He slowed to a jog to check his surroundings. Besides the wall, the capital looked the same. The poorest families lived around the edges, but there didn’t appear to be any damage to their homes from the war. The castle at the center of the city could be seen from almost anywhere, a disgusting Takary flag of blue wings jutting out from each tower.
Soon Terren was beaming with joy. It put a smile on Cleve’s face that spread to the rest of their army. There were so few enemies to face that all who saw the Academy’s army fled in the opposite direction.
But the people of the capital were just as frightened. Children cried as their parents scooped them up and dashed into alleys. Some even dropped what they were carrying to get away as fast as possible.
“We’re Kyrro’s Allies!” Terren yelled. “From the Academy and Trentyre. Enemies of Tauwin!”
Cleve had never heard their army addressed as Kyrro’s Allies before, though the name immediately felt as if they’d worn it proudly for ages. One woman was too slow to outrun them. She stumbled, then fell and screamed in terror as Terren approached.
He bent over to help her up, but a man jumped out from the low window of his home. “Get off her!” he screamed as he clung to Terren’s back and tried to take him down. Terren braced himself against the side of the house, trying not to fall on the terrified woman.
“We’re here to help!” he called out as the man hopped down off him and pushed Terren away. Cleve wasn’t sure the man heard as he bent down and grabbed the woman beneath her arms to help her up.
“Make a path for them,” Terren commanded.
Cleve and the others moved away, but Vithos stepped out in front of them and put up his hands.
“Allies,” he said. “Kyrro’s Allies.”
They appeared to be puzzled by his Elvish ears, though his psyche calmed them enough to stop.
“You don’t fight with Tauwin?” the man asked.
“No, against him,” Terren said. “I’m the headmaster of the Academy. Tell everyone you know to tell everyone they know to meet us at the castle.” He turned to address the watching crowd Cleve hadn’t noticed until now. “Spread the word. Meet us at the castle as fast as you can. Get everyone. Go!”
The crowd broke apart. Terren turned to face his army and bellowed, “We won’t stop again until we get to the castle, but tell everyone we pass that they must come, too. Spread out.”
Cleve found Reela and Vithos again. They didn’t have long because as soon as Tauwin’s army realized there was no one in Trentyre to fight, they’d figure out what was happening. They’d choose to attack either Oakshen or the capital, perhaps both. Terren and Henry Hiller needed to get their armies out of both cities before then, for they didn’t have the men to defend them.
If they were fast enough, they might catch Tauwin and Sanya before they could escape. Cleve couldn’t be sure Sanya was at the castle, but he hadn’t come to any other reason how she could’ve known about the attack on Trentyre today. If she was telling the truth about Tauwin wanting her dead, then she’d be hidden or in disguise.
She has to be there. Cleve wasn’t sure he could allow her to be captured, even after everything Reela had said.
Sanya deserved to die.
They covered every street possible in their hurry to get to the castle. It was impossible to tell how much their pleas convinced the citizenry to go there because everyone they passed quickly fell far behind. A boy was the only person to run with them. He couldn’t have been older than fourteen, but he was fast enough to easily keep up with Cleve.
“I want to fight,” he said in a deep tenor that surprised Cleve. His hair was combed neatly to cascade down the side of his head, not a common style among boys unless they wanted to appear older.
