Fantasy of Fire (The Tainted Accords Book 3) (6 page)

I squeeze my eyes shut, not wiping at the bead of sweat rolling down the side of my face.

Another shout. Soon a flurry of activity has started around us.

“Do you think they saw us?” Hamish asks. I don’t answer. I don’t know.

Hamish lies half a pace away from me and we stare at each other, wordlessly sharing the horror of our predicament. I remember Jimmy and turn my head to see he lies not far away, creeping toward the edge.

“Jimmy,” I hiss and give him a don’t-you-dare look. He shuffles back our way with a guilty expression.

“What are we going to do?” Hamish asks in a low voice. I rub my forehead. Jovan would know what to do. Solis, I miss him. And I shouldn’t.

“We wait,” I decide. “We’ll have to watch for the right moment. They’ll be on extra alert after hearing that. I’m not sure we’ll get away unseen,” I say truthfully.

“Shit,” he says. I nod in agreement.

“Shit,” says Jimmy, causing a grin to spread over Hamish’s face. I ignore the small boy and shake my head at Hamish, who shrugs.

“At least we can just wait here,” he says.

And we do. Hours pass with us shifting uncomfortably as rocks go out of their way to dig into one or another part of our bodies. Half of this time is spent explaining to Jimmy why we can’t go and peek over the edge at the Solati army. The only break in monotony is finding one of the rods in Jimmy’s Soar has snapped during our rush for cover. The contraption no longer folds properly and will need to be left behind. Jimmy will have to fly with Hamish.

Eventually, the waiting gets so monotonous, my heart stops pounding and I let my mind wander. I think about my brother and his journey through the Oscala. Olandon attempted to traverse the pathway without a map. No wonder he got lost. In fact, he may be the only person in Bruma and Solati history to successfully make the journey from one world to the other without a map. That’s not to say the crossing didn’t take its toll. My brother had hovered on the brink of death for weeks.

I look up as there’s a change in sound. There’s been a steady noise above us for hours, but the army hasn’t broken camp until now. It must take a long time to move so many people.

“We still have a few more hours until dark,” Hamish groans, rolling onto his back. I shrug. Better than dying.

“We knew this was a possibility.” I stop talking as Hamish spasms.

“Willow,” he chokes. I sit up.

“What is it?” I search his face.

“I’m an idiot,” he mutters to himself. “The pathway goes above where we are.” My entire body tightens in disbelief.

He twists from side to side, examining our position. “The army will march underneath and up to the islands on our right side. Those islands are positioned before the supports we’ve destroyed.” he says, pointing over to his right and up slightly. “They’ll have a perfect view of us from up there. We need to
move
.”

I swear long and quiet.

“I’m sorry,” Hamish says. I shake my head at him.

“Not your fault. But you can feel bad once we survive this,” I say, looking around me. The island is flat, unusually so. I curse our luck at being on the only part of the Oscala without a place to hide. Most islands have caves and cliffs. A small raised bit of rock opposite us would hide most of Jimmy, but nothing else.

My mind rattles.

“They’re two islands away,” calls Jimmy from the edge. Hamish drags him back by his feet.

“Jimmy, for once in your life do as you’re bloody told,” Hamish growls.

“I can see some of the soldiers!” the boy exclaims.

“Get down. Now,” I snap, at the limits of my patience.

We listen to the bustle fully surrounding us. “The stream of guards will be constant,” Hamish says. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to wait until full darkness,” he says.

“We hold as long as we can,” I say. “Get your Soar on.” I do the same, trying to stay low while I strap the contraption in place.

I curse the person who alerted the army to our presence by dropping the support. We were so close to getting away. Two more islands and we would’ve had enough cover to return to the Ire, even with the noise.

“The sky’s starting to dim,” Hamish says.

“Is it?” I ask. I couldn’t discern any great difference.

“Slightly, but it will soon become dark this deep into the pathway,” he says. I remember how dark it was for the middle two weeks of our trip. Though I hadn’t been particularly observant during that time— too absorbed in my grief.

I look at the island to our left. It’s lower and close by. It would take a matter of a few seconds to reach it. I could count on most people’s eyes being fixed on their feet. I remember how mine had rarely left the pathway. Gazing at the Oscala scenery was the kind of oversight which could mean your life. It took one stumble or slip to put you over the edge. We need to move now, before the Solati reach the elevated island! But how many Solati would see us? It would only take one clear sighting by a respected soldier to ruin everything.

A yell goes up, then another. It’s like a repeat of the morning, when the sentries heard the foreign sound. Yelling moves throughout the pathway until it tracks underneath us. An entire army marches there. I know if the islands were connected, they’d be shaking with the force of the soldier’s movement.

“We have to move
now
,” I decide.

“We should wait for darkness,” Hamish stutters.

“No. The longer we wait, the more likely they’ll encircle and see us.” I shuffle the wings beside me. I realize we should’ve gone hours ago.

“The Solati will see us!” he hisses. “And Adox will kill us.”

“Better one person see us and think they’re crazy, than a whole army see us and know they’re sane. Adox will understand,” I give him an unflinching gaze. “We move now.” I turn to Jimmy. “Jimmy, you’re going with Hamish.”

We crawl to the far edge of the island.

I grip Hamish’s arm. “If they see you, they’ll shoot you down. Go quickly.” He nods grimly, strapping Jimmy in front of him.

The shouts swell as the unbroken chain of Solati soldiers pass a command between them. We must act.

I look over the side, blanching at the steady trail of soldiers winding upwards. They’re my people, but right now we’re enemies.

I take a steadying breath and look into Hamish’s pale face. “In three. One … two … three!”

I push forward and throw myself over the side. There isn’t a chorus of alarm from the soldiers, like I expect. Or maybe I’m too focused to hear.

I jerk on the bar of my Soar, having just passed the first island. Hamish and Jimmy are in front of me, nearly safe. Could we make it out of this undetected?

Someone shouts and fear punches me deep in the gut.

With dreadful, stupid curiosity, I tilt the Soar to look behind me. In the next few moments, although the Soar continues to glide forward, my body seizes in absolute, all-consuming terror. Because there, standing at the edge of the island above me, two men flanking him, is Cassius.

My nightmare.

He looks just as I remember. My mother’s male counterpart. His long chestnut hair is pulled into a severe tie at the back. He still wears robes, likely too conceited to believe Glacium’s garments to be superior in the cold. But his expression. His face has featured in every horrifying childhood experience I’ve ever had, and several since. That expression is always with me, somewhere.

His eyes are black, empty, devoid of life. And his smile looks like it’s held up with strings. The soulless eyes reach into me, and all of the progress I thought I’d made since leaving Osolis, all the healing and strengthening, is gone. I’m a girl again and he is smashing my head against the floor.

“Willow!” a voice screams.

I jerk out of my panicked hold and wrench on the bar to avoid crashing into the floating cliff face before me. I hurtle, spinning around the rock, reaching the safety of cover from the army.

But the damage is done. My uncle has seen us flying. Now he knows there are other people here.

“Keep going,” I call forward in a trembling voice. Hamish gives me a searching look, but thankfully does as I’ve asked, leading the way back to the Ire.

My hands shake on the bar underneath me. Cassius saw me. But did he know it was me? Did I have enough of a resemblance to my mother? Or did he recognize my father in me? A sob escapes me and I grit my teeth. Was I still so weak? Could one look at my torturer unravel the person I’d become?

At least my mother wasn’t there. A small part of me had wondered if she’d travel with the army. It was good to know the Tatum hadn’t exceeded my expectations and was safe on her cowardly throne. It would take a messenger a couple of weeks to report this sighting.

Veni, what will Adox say?

It takes most of our return journey to the Ire for me to calm. But eventually, I feel strength returning to me. It was bound to be a shock seeing Cassius the first time. He’d tortured and humiliated me more times than I could count. It would be the same when I saw Mother. I wasn’t going to beat myself up about it, or feel ashamed. I was a different person now to the person they knew before. And now I’d seen Cassius, the next time would be easier.

I’d know what to expect at our next meeting.

But he sure as hell wouldn’t.

A large gathering of relieved and weary Ire folk greets us when we finally land on Adox’s rock. I imagine we’re in a similar condition. My legs shake with fatigue as I get rid of the Soar and stretch my body in slow, tired movements.

“We feared the worst had happened to you,” Adox calls, interrupting my head count. He’s drowned out and overtaken by a large woman.

“Jimmy! Where have you been?”

I wince and turn toward Jimmy’s large mother. She meets my eyes with a sharp glare. Jimmy shuffles over to her, not meeting her gaze.

“And where is your Soar! If you’ve lost it, you won’t be getting a new one. Here, hold your brother.” She shoves a squalling baby into his arms.

“Nancy, now is hardly the time. Take Jimmy away. I’ll speak with him later,” Adox says, rubbing a hand over his eyes. He must’ve been up all night. I doubt he’d slept the night before, either.

I clasp hands with Adox in greeting as he searches my face.

“What happened?”

“One of the groups dropped a support.”

Adox’s eyes flick over to the left, and I follow his gaze to a guilty-looking pair. They must’ve told him of the incident already.

“It alerted the Solati. We were in plain sight. We could only flatten ourselves against the island. But Hamish realized the Great Stairway would lead the army above our hiding spot and put us in clear view.” I glance at Hamish; his green eyes are still bright from the night’s events. I feel the opposite—wrung out.

“I made the call to move, hoping only a few would see us and not the entire army.”

Adox’s eyes widen with my words. He whispers, “And…”

I shudder as I remember looking back and seeing Uncle Cassius standing on an island looking straight at me.

“We were seen, Adox. What’s more is, Jimmy’s Soar was damaged and we had to leave it behind. We hid it as best we could.” I’d shoved it behind the sole rock on the island. “But if the army sees it, the scouts will try to retrieve it. They know we’re here. They’ll be on the alert.” I lean in and whisper for only Adox to hear. “Solati archers are excellent. Please don’t attempt to recover the Soar.”

I expect anger or denial. I’ve prepared my arguments in case he accuses me of betrayal. This is his worst fear come to life. His expression firms and I feel my eyebrows raise when he gives me a terse nod.

“You did all you could in an impossible situation. I’ll send out an alert to our traders to take the long routes home.”

I mask my surprise as I nod back. What has sparked this change of attitude?

“How did the other groups do?” I ask, taking a mug of stew from one of the cooks.

“Everyone destroyed their obstacles successfully.” He rubs the back of his neck. “We are in this now. For better or for worse. It will take the Solati months to get through the Oscala without the supports. Supplies will run low. They’ll be forced to turn around.” We’d only destroyed the pathway in front of the army so they’d be able to retreat with ease. They were still my people.

I stand, stew forgotten, startling the old man. “Then I must go report.”

“Where are you going?” Hamish steps behind me. I jolt and frown at him over my shoulder.

“To update my king,” I shoot back at him. “Adox, I imagine King Jovan has figured out where the Ire is located by now. Would you like to try and keep your whereabouts secret from him for as long as possible?” Adox peruses me over intertwined fingers. He then looks beyond me, to glacium, silent in contemplation.

“Adox, are you all right?” Hamish bends down beside him and places a hand on his frail frame.

“No,” Adox booms, making the people around him jump. The man stands and limps towards me. My bemusement must be clear because he gives me a dry grimace.

“The Tatum will soon be aware of our presence here.” He leans heavily on his left leg. “The Solati who sighted you will make sure of that.” I repress another shudder at the reminder of Uncle Cassius. “We must align ourselves with allies. Tell the king of us. Tell him I give this information freely as a gesture of goodwill. You will remind him of our help and make it abundantly clear we wouldn’t be in this situation otherwise.” His brown eyes look into my blue eyes. “The Ire will be safe,” he states, wrinkled mouth set in a hard line. And it’s clear: this man will do whatever he has to in order to achieve his people’s future.

“You know I’ll help the Ire however I can. He’s a good king, and loyal. He won’t let you down.” I hesitate before plowing on. “I believe an explanation to the king’s assembly is advised as well. Left with no reason for the flying boy, rumors will run rampant and cause more damage than the truth would.”

Adox stops on my right side. I look ahead, and he does the same. “I leave that to the king to decide. I suppose it must be done.” He swings his head around, checking the area, leaning in so Hamish can’t hear. “I am trusting you, Tatuma.”

Guilt stabs me at the anguished look on his face. Is it possible for a man to age years in just a few days? Does he regret agreeing to help us, or even allowing me to stay here? I shake off the blame. It’s possible he’s regretting the decision to let Crystal live on Glacium; then she would never have brought me here. It’s no point analyzing the past. With a solemn nod, I turn from him and walk to the far edge, in the direction of Glacium, toward my Soar.

If I stop I’ll be asleep for a full day and Jovan has already been waiting a week—he’ll be half insane. For some reason I can’t wait to get back. He’s probably taking his temper out on everyone around him. The smile slips from my face. I hope that person isn’t Olandon.

I turn back to look at the weary band of Ire folk behind me as a clattering sound catches my attention. It wouldn’t normally, but it sounds out of place in the subdued Ire of late. I stare unblinkingly at the source of the clattering noise, blaming the fogginess of sleep for how long I take to understand what I’m seeing.

I even blink several times to make sure what I’m seeing is really there, that it isn’t some cruel hallucination. But the vision is still there afterward. A quiver of arrows, fallen on its side.

But there isn’t just one quiver. I quickly count—there are six! The broken fletching from Kedrick’s murder is tucked away with my other belongings in the castle. I’d stopped carrying the fletching in my boot some time ago. I wish I had it with me now, but I really don’t need the remnant to confirm what I’m already certain of. I’ve spent hours staring at the bit of wood that took my friend from me. I know without a hint of uncertainty that if I get closer, I’ll find six quivers full of Seedyr wood arrows. Six quivers full of the same arrow which killed the prince.

I’ve found them at last.

“Willow, wait!” Hamish calls.

I turn to him in a haze.

“So I’ve been thinking … where’s the fun in knowing someone’s deepest darkest secret straight away? These things have to be earned, right?” he says.

“Hamish…” I interrupt. He stutters to a stop.

“Why are those arrows there?” I drag him a few steps toward the circle and point.

He shrugs and I have an irrational urge to punch him.

“The tradesmen are getting ready to leave,” he says around a yawn. “Sometimes they hunt, so they take weapons.”

I know they hunt! I want to scream. One of them hunted and killed my friend for money.

He misinterprets my murderous expression as confusion. “You must’ve seen them when you were last here. They come back every month or so to rest. Other than that, they’re back and forth all the time, bartering goods with Glacium or Osolis. We’re lucky they were here to help destroy the pathway. Traders are the best flyers, and used to dealing with danger.”

My heart pounds in my chest, threatening to escape. A trader. This whole time. Such a position would’ve given Kedrick’s assassin the perfect chance to kill me. Because I’d been the intended target. But the person didn’t count on Kedrick pushing me out of the way. I still wish, every day, he hadn’t. But this regret didn’t mean I’d waste Kedrick’s gift now Jovan had forced me to see his brother’s actions in this light.

“I only ask because those arrows look like Seedyr wood.”

Hamish gives me a so-what look at my comment.

“On Glacium, this wood is considered too weak for weaponry,” I add, teeth gritted.

“Oh, that,” he says cheerfully. “It’s all in the drying of the wood and the way you cut it.”

I’m staring at the arrows like a starving man looking at food, but I can’t help it. In one sentence Hamish has answered a mystery that has plagued me for months. “Are the traders here right now?” My voice is unrecognizable.

“What’s wrong?” Hamish asks. I glare at him and he backs up.

“They’re over there.” He jabs a fingers across the clearing.

I study the six men gathered in a tight group on the outskirts of the Meeting Island. All of them are tall. All of them have dark hair. After half a revolution, I still have only a pitiful amount of information about Kedrick’s killer.

A sobering thought strikes me. What if more than one of them was involved?

“Which traders go to Osolis?” I struggle to keep my voice from shaking. The assassin had first struck there. He’d also tried to kill Ashawn on Glacium, but that wasn’t until much later.

“Firo, Nosh, and Jude.”

I take note of the three lean men Hamish points out. My hands tremble beside me and I realize they’ve been doing it for some time. Why don’t I feel anything when I look at these men? There’s no change in the burning wrongness I feel. No resounding clarity, or sense of condemnation. I always thought I’d know when I came face-to-face with the murderer of the first boy I loved.

Now, six men stand before me and I have absolutely no idea who it could be. But I know the perfect way to get each of them to talk! A few broken fingers will get me my answers. And then I can end this once and for all! I feel the lick of white-hot rage as my fury directs my line of thought.

Hamish puts a hand on my shoulder. “Willow?”

I scowl up at him and he flinches back, his hand covering his mouth. Shock splices through the weight of my anger, enough for me to recognize I’m seconds away from losing it. And I can’t. I can’t lose it. I take shuddering breaths. I’m not here to find Kedrick’s killer. But I’ve destroyed the pathway now! Glacium is safe. Maybe it’s my turn to do something
I
want. I struggle to suppress the overpowering rage before it consumes me.

Glacium and the Ire have just forged an alliance. I am playing the part of ambassador to King Jovan. There are over fifty Ire folk here right now, plus the leader of the Ire. If I torture five men, and kill the sixth, I can count the alliance over.

Peace used to lead me. Does it still? Or is peace for naïve little girls, like the person I used to be?

My teeth are clenched so tightly, they feel like they’re going to break.

“Fuck!” I whisper, curling my hands into fists. There are too many people here. Unless I want to undo everything I’ve accomplished with Adox, I need to walk away.

I still want peace.

“Hamish,” I snap.

He jerks from where he watches me, two meters away. I take another breath. “Hamish.” My voice is calmer. False calm. Inside I’m a churning mess. I want to snap the traders like twigs. I want Glacium to be safe. I want to forge a lasting union between two peoples. I want revenge on the person who slaughtered Kedrick like an animal!

Hamish edges closer and I turn to him.

“I need everything you know about those six men. Everything. Right now.”

* * *

I fly in a stupor for the majority of the trip back to Glacium. Hamish’s information and my anger are the only things keeping me awake. One day, when everyone is safe, I’ll return. And Kedrick’s killer will meet the end they deserve.

I’m roused by the sight of an army camped at the bottom of the Oscala. Jovan’s army. The tents spread back as far as the eye can see. The king has been busy in my absence. He’s mobilized the entirety of his force, as promised, in case I failed in stopping the Solati’s progress.

The enormity of the Bruma army is what’s always kept Glacium on even footing against the Solati force. My people are a single, one-minded unit, commanded by the Head of Guards. Bruma don’t have the same discipline. Though skilled, they rely on numbers and brute strength to match our carefully designed war strategies and rigorously trained soldiers. There must be a thousand men camped below. Jovan is probably there with them. I hesitate for a few seconds, wondering if I should land close by and check if he’s there. The men are tiny dots from up here, but as I peer closer, I notice their faces are tilting up, looking at me. Some of them are pointing!

How well can they see me? I don’t have my veil on. It’s stuffed down the front of my suit. Surely their eyesight is not that good. The unwanted attention makes my decision for me. I press forward on the bar to pick up my pace, and soon the camp is behind me. Lucky Adox gave the king permission to expose the Ire because, as well as the assembly, a whole army had now witnessed someone flying.

I fly over Glacium, vaguely noting the six semi-defined areas the Bruma call Sectors. Both worlds are split into six areas. But on Osolis we call them Rotations. The two worlds lay side by side, with the area closest to the other world earning the label of “First Rotation or Sector.” The areas were then numbered in a circle from one through to six. The worlds spin slowly, meaning it takes an entire three years to revolve through all six spaces, back to the start. Meanwhile, the Oscala or Great Stairway stays immobile—an unmoving connection between the two opposing planets.