Fallen Ward (Deepwoods Saga Book 3) (8 page)

“Ah, there you are, Rune!”

He turned and automatically smiled at Denney as she came to him. Something about the sunset highlighting her blonde hair made her seem prettier than usual. Or was that his imagination? “What is it?”

“You’re late,” she informed him, head cocked in question. “What are you doing still out here? Grae came back ages ago.”

“Thinking.”

“About?”

“You. Pathmaking. Goldschmidt.”

She blinked, perplexed, then her brows twisted up in bemusement. “How in the world do I relate to either pathmaking or Goldschmidt?”

“You do,” he drawled. “Trust me.” Everything related to Denney, in one way or another. “We’ll be done with the path tomorrow. We’ll probably launch our attack tomorrow night.”

That sobered her up quickly and wiped the smile off her face. “Tran said our chances were good of taking the city. But how dangerous is this?”

“More dangerous for them than us,” he assured her. He carefully didn’t say,
If everything goes according to plan
, but he had a feeling she heard the words anyway. “Hyun Woo-zhi’s plan is a good one. If it works like I think it will, we’ll have those dregs out of our city within three days.”

“I’m more worried about you than the city.”

It was his turn to blink in surprise. “Me?”

“I’m afraid you’ll be reckless once you get into Goldschmidt.”

Now what had he done to give her that impression?

She must have seen from his face that he wasn’t following her, as she explained with a worried frown, “Whenever you see how upset we are about the loss of the Hall, you get this dark look on your face, like you’re thinking about murdering someone.”

How observant of her. He hadn’t realized that showed. For a moment, he wondered how to reassure her, as he was still learning how to give comfort. He’d spent quite a few hours watching Markl, trying to learn from his example. Deciding he’d give it a try, he tentatively caught one of her hands. His hands were callused and rough from the work he’d been doing, so he was careful to not scrape her soft skin.

“I won’t be reckless. More like, I can’t be reckless. I’m in charge of three hundred and fifty men. If I don’t lead them properly, their lives might be lost.”

The tension that had been riding in Denney’s face and shoulders smoothed out and she returned his grip firmly, fingers half-twining with his. “I hadn’t thought of that. I’m relieved.”

Ho? That had worked. Rune made a mental note on that tactic so he could use it again in the future. Well, hopefully he wouldn’t need to, as he’d learn how to put her mind at ease before doing or saying something that would cause her to be anxious. On second thought, that might be wishful thinking. No, better to keep this tactic in mind.

“Let’s go in,” she encouraged, tugging on his hand to lead him toward the gate. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”

Starving, actually, but that wasn’t the reason why he readily followed her. He just didn’t want to let go of her hand.

ӜӜӜ

There was tension throughout Converse that night. Word had spread (probably from the stone gatherers) that the pathway was almost complete. Everyone had more or less been waiting on that and they knew that once it was done, it would be time to go. This would be the last night they would spend together in Converse. If all went well, they’d be able to retake the city before the week was out. Rune could feel it in the air no matter where he went.

The guild lingered around the table after dinner was eaten, and although no one said it aloud, there was a silent agreement that they wanted to spend time together on the eve of battle. Rune didn’t think that any of them would be seriously injured. After all, their opponents so far hadn’t been very skilled. But there was nothing predictable in war, Hyun Woo had drummed that into his head, so he could appreciate that people were nervous about tomorrow.

Beirly seemed intent to liven the mood somehow, and was taking turns telling embarrassing stories about everyone. Rune was safe, as Beirly didn’t know anything to tell about him, which let him enjoy the others’ discomfort all the more.

Seeming to realize this, Beirly pointed a finger at him, beard lifted in a smile. “I bet you think you’re safe, young’in. But I do know a story about you too.”

Rune frowned at him. What could he possibly know?

Most of the table was surprised as well, as Rune was very careful to avoid getting caught up in situations as a general rule, so they didn’t know any stories about him either. That, of course, made it all the more interesting and they were leaning closer to Beirly, trying to hear better over the other conversations in the taproom.

“Our boy here was caught and accused of being a peeping tom in Sateren.” Beirly grinned wickedly at Rune.

The blood rushed to his face, setting it on fire. Oh. Oh right, he remembered that situation. As if he were thrown back in time, Rune repeated now what he had then. “I wasn’t peeping!”

“Wow, what a blush.” Siobhan laughed and slapped a hand against the table. “I’ve never seen the like on him. Rune, need some ice for it?”

He shot her a lethal glare.

Beirly continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “The story, as I got it, was that he was leaning on the door of the women’s baths. When he was caught, he refused to move at first, and then had a fine time explaining himself.”

Wait a minute. If Beirly knew the full story, then…Rune growled wordlessly at him.

Beirly remarked out the side of his mouth, “Wolf, I think he’s been hanging around you too long. That growl sounded just like one of yours.”

Wolf, far from being offended, chuckled.

Denney tilted forward, trying to catch his eye. “So what were you doing there?”

For some strange reason, he found it hard to look at her.

Beirly lost his evil humor and sobered into a more serious mood. “If I have the story right, he was protecting you.”

The whole table caught their breath and waited for his response. Feeling trapped, Rune blew out a breath and decided to face it head on. “Yes.”

With a wise nod, Beirly took pity and finished the tale. “No shame in it, Rune. See, those prowlers that had tried to catch Denney straight out of the baths last time hadn’t really learned their lesson. Don’t know how, but Rune realized this. Whenever she went for a bath, he’d stay nearby and discourage anyone from getting too close. That last time he was caught out in the open instead of them, so they accused him instead. It didn’t take long for him to straighten it out, though.”

“That’s ’cause I had two knocked out idiots to prove my story,” Rune grumbled in a low tone. He glanced at Denney out of the corners of his eyes and found a strange expression on her face. He couldn’t decipher it.

“Was this before or after I gave you the marks?” she asked slowly.

Rune couldn’t see how the timing would make any difference but answered. “Before.”

Her eyes went wide with wonder, lips parting. “Why…? I mean, I didn’t mean anything to you at that point.”

Now how had she gotten that impression? “Fei explained it to me. If I didn’t protect you, all of you, and try to gain your trust, then I couldn’t stay. I wanted to be part of Deepwoods, even then. I just didn’t know how to go about it. But he said, protecting all of you was the first step. I knew you were being watched every time you took a bath, so I stepped in. That’s all there is to it.”

Denney threw both arms around his shoulders and hugged him to her. Rune hadn’t expected this reaction, but was certainly not against it. A smile on his face, he hugged her back and enjoyed the sensation of soft female in his arms. Unfortunately, the hug was brief, as she popped up and then gave Fei an equally firm hug.

Fei looked as bemused by this reaction as Rune had felt. “Denney-jae, I have done nothing to warrant a hug.”

She didn’t let up. “You gave Rune the advice he needed. Without you, we wouldn’t have him today. That warrants hugs.”

“I agree,” Siobhan stated, eyes sparkling with laughter. “Well, Beirly, I do appreciate you telling that story. It’s one we all needed to hear, I think. But I’m calling a halt to the storytelling as it’s late and we need to get to bed. All of you will be able to sleep tomorrow night, but Tran, Beirly, and I won’t.”

Rune highly doubted that Wolf would sleep tomorrow night with Siobhan that close to an enemy occupied city. But her point was taken. People stood, chairs scrapping against the wood floors, and made their way to bed.

Tomorrow would be an extremely long day.

The sun was setting, slowly and steadily over the horizon. Siobhan and Tran had discussed it ahead of time and decided to leave at this time to avoid having to go the whole distance in pitch darkness. By the time they were within sight of Goldschmidt’s walls, they’d be traveling by moonlight, and that was good enough.

Her group was already here. Beirly and Chris Knesek—or Knesek, as he preferred to be called—had come out of the gate together. Knesek had that boy next door feel to him, with a blocky build, short brown hair, and a goatee. In fact, he could have been Beirly’s darker, taller brother, the two men resembled each other that strongly. He had a cheerful attitude about running all night carrying tools and a sand bag, and Siobhan prayed his cheerfulness lasted until sunrise.

Holly Sadler stood talking to Tran, spear resting casually in the crook of her arm and pointing toward the sky. When Beirly had first mentioned the woman, Siobhan had pictured a tall, muscular brunette for some reason. The only part her imagination had gotten right was the dark hair. Holly kept hers cut short, at jaw-length, framing fair skin and dark eyes. Far from tall, she was a little on the short side, with a padded figure. But the way she casually moved the spear around (a spear that Siobhan knew weighed a good amount) said that she was far stronger than she looked. Beirly was right. This was a good woman to have as an ally.

Turning, Siobhan did a headcount. Fifty-three. Good, she had all of her people here. Siobhan maneuvered around Holly to stand at Tran’s side. “Sorry, I’m going to interrupt for a moment.”

“Go ahead,” Holly responded easily. “We’re just chatting.”

“Are we ready?” Tran asked her, apparently realizing what she wanted to talk about.

“My group is all here. Yours?”

“I was waiting on you.”

And this was why Siobhan always took the initiative to ask questions. Men never thought to do so and it turned into this endless game of one person waiting on the other. “Then let’s go.”

Tran raised his voice to a near deafening pitch. “We’re ready to move out! Before we do, check your bags! You need water, food for two meals, bandages, and at least one sandbag in your packs.”

Carrying anything more than that was strongly discouraged. They would not only be crossing sixty-two spans that night, after all, but expected to fight the next day with that on their backs. They needed to keep as much weight off of them as possible. Even the sand bags would be dropped off near the canal quickly to avoid burdening people.

When he got a wave of assents, Tran grunted in satisfaction. “Good. We’re going to move out now. Do I have any questions I need to answer before we go?”

“Tran!” Beirly called out from nearby.

“What is it?”

“I have a dying request. Don’t run the whole distance?”

Tran let out a booming laugh, slapping one leg in mirth. Tran could run the whole distance without a problem. In fact, he probably even wouldn’t be winded when he arrived. But he was the only one that could do so. Siobhan and Hyun Woo had both impressed this idea into him. He had to go slowly.

“I won’t go above a quick walk,” he promised.

There was a collective breath of relief from the group. After all, they had seen this man run for three days, over and over the same distance, without tiring. Siobhan was sure that more than a few of them were concerned about being able to keep up.

Seeing that there was nothing else, Tran waved his hand above his head in a tight circle and then gestured forward, leaving out as he did so. Siobhan was right next to him and realized to her dismay that his version of a ‘quick walk’ forced her to almost do a slow jog to keep up. Curse those long legs of his. When people started flagging, surely he’d realize, and drop his pace. Or at least, she hoped he would.

No one was foolish enough to try and talk while they moved. But hearing that many people moving at a steady jog, silently, felt eerie to Siobhan. She was used to this many people moving at once, but there was always laughter and jokes and stories going about during the trip. This dead silence, except for breathing and the low thunder of footsteps, felt like they were traveling to a funeral. Hardly a comforting thought, when they were heading for an enemy-occupied city.

The hours and spans passed with nothing more than the occasional word exchanged. The sun slowly disappeared, the stars becoming brighter in the sky, and the temperature dropped. Siobhan’s body was warm and loose after constantly moving, and she was thankful for that, as the wind on her face had a distinct chill to it.

Tran might’ve been accustomed to running at full speed wherever he went, but he was also used to traveling with people that didn’t have the same stamina that he did. He did nothing more than glance over his shoulder now and again, and when the first person flagged, slowing to a walk, he slowed as well. Siobhan heaved a silent breath of relief, as she was sure that if he’d kept that up much longer, she would have stumbled to a walking pace.