Trinity (16 page)

Nidan’s teeth were clenched. “I
did what had to be done.” He spoke quietly and didn’t look her in
the eyes. “Let’s get out of here.”

“
Why?” Kiana snarled. “You seem to get on so well with these…
these monsters!” She slammed her fists into Nidan again and again.
Why wasn’t he defending his actions? “I knew you didn’t trust
Skaric. I knew you didn’t like him. But did you really hate him so
much that you took the first opportunity you had to justify killing
him?” She glared at him.
Say
something! Defend yourself!

Nidan stayed silent.

“
We wanted to
restore the trinity. To bring peace. I thought you did too.” She
hit him even harder, putting all the weight of her shaking body and
anger behind each blow.

Nidan grabbed her wrists. Kiana
tried to pull away but her Guardian was too strong.

“
Once we’re away from here, you can hate me. You can shout,
scream, curse or cry. But right now we
have
to go.” Nidan
released her and stalked past her, grabbing their near empty
saddlebags and his cloak.

Kiana watched him, breathing hard.
Why was he so desperate to leave? Not that she wanted to stay a
moment longer. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you.”

Nidan paused behind her on his way
to the door. “Your behaviour is going to betray us both. Alish
stopped me on my way in here. She couldn’t understand why you were
so upset. You need to bite down your grief. Understood?”

Her bottom lip trembled. Nidan was
right; she was acting like a spoiled child and she had to stop.

“
Can we go now?”
Nidan said, his tone impatient.

Kiana glanced back into the room.
“You’ve forgotten your uniform.”

Nidan followed her gaze. His black uniform, cleaned and
repaired, sat neatly folded on one of the wooden chairs. Kiana
watched as he strode over to it and reached to pick it up. He
hesitated for several moments, his fingers falling short of
touching it.
Why?
Kiana felt some of her anger ebb away,
releasing some of the knotted tension that was making her shoulders
ache. He regretted his actions… didn’t he?

Nidan sighed, grabbed the black
uniform in his fist and stuffed it into a saddlebag. He shouldered
both packs. “Let’s go.”

Kiana followed him silently. She didn’t want to go with him
but had no choice. For all the knowledge she had been taught, Kiana
had no practical skills. Nidan did.
But can I trust him anymore?

They walked down the road to the
gate watched by all of the villagers. The open gate was in sight
when Cadman hurried over to them. Kiana held her breath as Nidan
offered the village Elder a smile.

Cadman peered at them. “Leaving so
soon?”

“
We need to get
to Fairlake as soon as possible.” There was an unmistakable note of
impatience in Nidan’s voice. “We had planned to leave at dawn but
obviously there were more pressing matters to deal
with.”

Cadman nodded, seemingly accepting
the explanation. “Even so, you won’t get far before dark. You might
as well stay another night and leave in the morning,
refreshed.”

He was right. It was past
noon.

Nidan shook his head. “My
companion is distraught that there was a Wolf so near us. I don’t
think she’ll be able to relax until we are several leagues from
here.”

Kiana didn’t think she would be
able to relax again, not now that she knew how hideous the world
really was. She had lived her life blind; she longed for that
blissful ignorance again.

Cadman’s eyebrows shot up. “You
don’t think there are more Wolves close by, do you?”

Nidan shrugged.

Cadman scratched his chin. “I’ll
send men to the city to warn the Guardians there. Just in
case.”

Kiana clamped her lips together.
They desperately had to get away. She had been able to convince
Nidan to go with her, but the rest of the Guardians would take her
to ‘safety’, even if that meant they took her against her will.

“
Where are our
horses?” she asked.

Cadman frowned. “We were planning
a feast for you, Guardian, to thank you for executing the Wolf.
Can’t we convince you to stay?”

Kiana coughed in an exaggerated
manner. “Dust.” She feigned more coughing as Nidan turned round and
glared at her.

He
rolled his eyes and then turned back to face Cadman. “That’s very
kind but completely unnecessary. Besides, we
must
press
on.”

Cadman stared at them both in
silence for a few moments, the muscles around his mouth twitching
in thought. He must have noticed the impatience in Nidan’s voice as
well. Cadman stroked his chin again. “I’ll have your horses made
ready and brought over. You must say goodbye to Alish as well. I’m
sure you can take the time to say a proper farewell.”

Did they have a choice? They
wouldn’t get far without the horses.

Nidan nodded. “Of course.” His
voice sounded slightly brighter, but Kiana could see his shoulder
muscles twitching beneath the plain brown shirt he was wearing.

Kiana watched the landowner as he
walked away. It disgusted her that Nidan was being treated like a
hero, but it was odd that he seemed so anxious to leave rather than
stay and bask in his glory. Maybe he really did regret what he had
done. Regrets wouldn’t bring Skaric back. Kiana watched as Nidan
glanced towards the gate, up at the sun and then back again. Then
he began to pace across the width of the road.

“
We need to at
least say goodbye.” Who was he trying to convince, her or himself?
“They can’t know that…” he shook his head, pacing even
faster.

It was making Kiana dizzy to watch
Nidan walk back and forth, back and forth. Suddenly he stopped,
placed his hands on her shoulders and drew her into an embrace. His
entire body was tense like he was ready to run or fight. Kiana
didn’t fight against him but didn’t return his embrace either. At
best, his actions were confusing; at worst, they were
insulting.

“
Be nice,” he
said.

Kiana didn’t want to be nice. As
Cadman and Alish approached, she turned to them and forced a smile
to her lips.

“
My husband tells
me that you’re leaving.” Alish embraced Kiana warmly.

Kiana shuddered as soon as Alish
released her.

“
Are you sure you
won’t reconsider staying another night?” Alish looked at Kiana and
then Nidan.

Nidan shook his head. “I think
we’ll both feel better once we’ve put some leagues between us and
that Wolf.”

“
But he’s dead.”
Alish frowned. “He can’t hurt anyone anymore.” Her eyes and face
lit up. “Perhaps your Guardian could take you to see the body,
dear?”

Kiana clamped her teeth together
so that she didn’t grimace.

“
Then maybe you
could see that he’s no longer a threat.”

From the moment Kiana had made
Nidan heal Skaric, he hadn’t been a threat to anyone. “I’ve seen
enough death to last me a life time. Seeing the Wolf dead won’t
change that.”

Alish cupped Kiana’s cheek in her
hand. “Of course not, Brid. But sometimes you do have to face the
substance of your nightmares.”

“
I
faced him last night. It made my nightmares worse.”
Because of what your people had done to
him
. “I don’t want to see him
again, even dead.”
Especially
not dead
. Kiana stepped back from
Alish’s touch and turned away from them all.

“
Poor thing,” she
heard Alish say. “She’s so damaged because of those bastard Wolves,
isn’t she?”

No. She was damaged because both
sides clung to hatred like a child clings to its mother. What
comfort could be found in hatred?

She turned round as she heard the
sharp clip clip of shod hooves on the hard earth.

Cadman was grinning. “We took the
liberty of giving you some provisions for your journey. They won’t
last long but hopefully they’ll get you part way to Fairlake.”

Kiana watched as Nidan reached out
and took a firm grip of Cadman’s hand. She wanted to scream.

“
You and your
wife have been very kind to us, but we must go now. We can still
make good distance before the sun sets,” Nidan said.

“
Of course,”
Cadman’s voice was reluctant. “If you really won’t
reconsider…?”

Nidan shook his head sharply. “We
won’t. I’m hoping that Brid’s nightmares will fade once we reach
Fairlake.”

Alish nodded and smiled. “She’s
very lucky to have you.”

Nidan was the reason Kiana was
still alive, but he wasn’t the only one who had saved her life;
Skaric had too and now he was dead because of Nidan.

Nidan turned to the larger of the
two horses and began to hastily fasten the packs he was carrying to
its saddle, alongside another set of bulging saddlebags. The
supplies felt like blood money to Kiana.

When he had finished, Nidan turned
to their hosts. “Thank you. You’ve made our journey a little
easier.” He struck both of their fists with his own.

“
And you have
shown us the might of the Guardians!” Cadman said.

Nidan smiled but quickly turned
away to mount his horse. He looked down at Kiana. “Let’s go.”

She gave him a cold look and then
mounted the second horse.

“
May Pios and
Miale bless your journey!” Alish called as Kiana and Nidan urged
their horses forward.

Nidan glanced over his shoulder.
“Thank you!”

Kiana didn’t want to hear another
word from anyone. She kicked her horse and left the village at a
canter—it was as fast as she dared to go, given that she had only
sat on a horse for the first time six days ago.

*

Nidan’s pulse was racing as they
rode down the road that led east from Norlea. He had to pretend
they were heading to Fairlake. The land was flat and there was
every possibility that the guards were watching. It was a necessary
waste of time, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Behind him,
Kiana was silent and brooding, which didn’t help. He almost told
her but bit his tongue and waited.

Finally, Nidan applied slight
pressure on the reins. As his horse came to a halt, he glanced
back; the village was no more than a blur on the horizon. He
breathed out slowly; if he could barely see the village, the guards
wouldn’t be able to see him. Nidan kicked the horse on once more
but turned it sharply towards the forest.

Kiana drew up alongside him. “What
are you doing?”

“
Going back for
Skaric.” Now that they were away from the village there was less
need for secrecy. The forest was looming ahead of them; as dark and
silent as a tomb.

“
What’s the point? He’s dead.” Kiana gasped. “You don’t agree
with Alish do you?” Her voice was shaking. “You don’t think I
should look…
do
you
?”

Does she really think so little of me?
“We have to go back.”
Why should she think any better of me? She thinks I murdered
Skaric in cold blood.
He glanced
up at the sky. The afternoon was wearing on; time was running
out.

“
Why?”

“
There’s no time
to explain.” Nidan kicked his horse into a gallop. Too much time
had been wasted already.

He
was forced to slow down when they entered the forest but quickly
managed to locate a path to follow. It had to lead to the landmarks
he’d noted that morning. It
had
to.

“
Nidan… what’s
going on?”

The close packed trees made them
ride slowly enough to talk.

Nidan glanced at her. “Skaric
isn’t dead… I hope.” He held his breath as he waited for Kiana to
barrage him with questions.

She said nothing.

Nidan couldn’t even tell if she
believed him or not. There was no point in lying, she had to
realise that. But what if they were too late? Then she would think
it was a ruse. Pios, don’t let him be dead.

It seemed to take an eternity for
him to spot the bush with the odd orange-coloured flowers on. Nidan
directed the horses off the track, deeper into the forest. Before
long, they passed the tree that had been severed in two by
lightning. The two horses splashed through the shallow stream,
spraying his legs with water that soaked through his wool breeches.
Nidan didn’t care.

He pulled his horse to a halt,
jumped down and looked up at Kiana. His mouth felt dry. “Wait here…
just in case.”

Kiana shook her head and
dismounted. “I need to go with you. If what you said is true…”

If Nidan ever wanted her to trust
him again, he couldn’t stop her. Without waiting for Kiana to
follow him, Nidan ran into the glade.

Skaric lay as the villagers had left him, staked out on the
ground, lifeless. The only difference was that his already filthy
shirt was completely soaked in blood. Nidan’s pulse raced even
faster; his head swam, making his legs feel weak.
Don’t let him be dead.
Please.

Nidan stumbled forward, searching
for the subtle rise and fall of Skaric’s chest. He saw nothing. He
swallowed over and over but still felt sick. It couldn’t be too
late; it just couldn’t.

“
What did you
do?” Kiana’s voice was a whisper right behind him.

Nidan twitched; he hadn’t realised she had stayed so close. “I
stabbed him. Twice.” He dropped to his knees and placed a hand on
Skaric’s chest.
Breathe. Please
be breathing.
Nothing. “Use my
dagger to cut him loose.”