Noble Falling (7 page)

“Well, I didn’t get as much as I had hoped. Not enough for anything more than supplies, but—” Ori looked up from adjusting his new clothing. “What a horse….”

I must have been in the stables longer than I realized.

“I’ve never seen one like him before.” I knew my voice held as much wonder as Ori’s.

“He’s a northern breed. Rare to see them. I’ve never heard of northerners selling their horses here. I’ve only seen one because I accompanied your father during my first year of service, when he was asking one of the northern clans for help in the war.” Ori rubbed the horse’s nose gently. “Wonder how he found his way here.”

“Think a clansman would come this far south?” I found a stash of oats and placed a handful in the horse’s feed bucket.

Ori was watching the animal, whose head dipped greedily in search of the snack. “Maybe, but I doubt it. Probably just belongs to a well-traveled merchant with a taste for expensive things.”

The guard shrugged, drawing my attention toward him. He wore a new jerkin that would at least give him some protection if we ran into any trouble and he were forced to fight. The thought of such a scenario sent my gaze toward the new sword he now carried at his hip.

He caught my shift in attention and rested his hand on the pommel of his new blade. “The quality of this one isn’t as good, but I figured it might be better to have a sword that wouldn’t draw attention to us.”

Before I could inquire about just how much extra money we now had, we heard shouts coming from the main road. Exchanging a worried glance, we quickly turned to find the source of the commotion. The horse stamped in protest, missing the attention, but with a glance back over my shoulder at the animal, I stepped from the stables right behind Ori. As soon as we got a clear view of the road, we witnessed a rider slip from his saddle and urgently call out to the townspeople. The words that fell from the man’s lips sent chills through my body—armed soldiers were heading toward the town.

“We need to get out of here. I doubt those men are coming for friendly reasons.” I pulled on Ori’s sleeve. “They will immediately ask if we have been seen, and you just handed over an entire set of armor branded with my family’s crest.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Ori’s voice deepened, hardening as he assumed the mantle of noble protector once more.

“We’ll take the main road south, and then split off into the woods as soon as we can. Let’s go.”

I didn’t protest.

W
E
only stopped running at the sight of an outcrop that promised shelter. Finding a small area tucked away in the rocks, we had decided we would spend the night. Hoping the men looking for us would pass without incident, we tried to calm our nerves. Neither of us had said it, but we knew the situation was incredibly grim. We had traveled as far as we could, but we had to waste daylight by leaving Ori time to go back and mask our tracks leading from the main trail. The rain earlier in the day had softened the ground so that every print was visible enough for the most incompetent tracker to find us. As soon as we reached our hiding spot, I had hoped it would begin to rain again, washing our footprints away. The added rain would be miserable, but miserable was better than dead.

The sun’s rays were almost gone when Ori returned. “I did what I could. We’ll just have to stay alert tonight, and there will definitely be no fire.”

It went unsaid that neither of us expected to get any sleep, no matter how much the rest was needed.

I spoke, mostly trying to end the cycle of horrors playing in my imagination. “If we make it through tonight, I doubt Dalric will send his new army deep into Tallak’s territory. They might technically be under the same monarch, but I don’t think the Halvarians will take kindly to armed Enivian soldiers moving out of their region.”

Our voices dropped to serious whispers.

“Let’s hope you’re right.” Ori sat beside me, leaning his back against a rock.

“Let’s just hope the night is a quiet one.”

We spoke softly for a while, trying to dispel our fears, but as the night went on, we were afraid our voices would carry in the increasing silence of the forest. Staring at the trees and willing my exhausted eyes to stay open, I realized how lucky we were that the foliage was providing decent cover. The forest had thinned out, and we were lucky to find such a hidden spot to spend the night.

To my surprise, I was soon fighting sleep. Before long, even the stress of hiding and my own thoughts couldn’t keep me awake, and I began to drift to sleep.

What must have only been a few hours later, Ori gently woke me as the dawn’s red tint crept into the sky. I looked at the guard whose shoulder I had fallen asleep on, and the dark circles under his eyes told me that he had not slept at all. Despite his obvious exhaustion, Ori was unwilling to show it, smiling at me as I did my best to pull myself from the remaining fog of sleep. As soon as I was awake and functioning well enough, our things were packed and we were walking once more, eating as we headed on toward Ferrum.

We walked quickly, silence falling over us for the better part of the morning. Ori’s exhaustion grew more apparent with each passing hour. His feet seemed to be moving only to keep his weight from falling forward and sending him crashing to the ground. Still tired myself, I could barely imagine how the guard must feel. When he turned to me and spoke, I was actually taken by surprise.

“I noticed you were limping a little bit. Are your feet bothering you again?”

Ori’s obvious worry managed to make me feel even worse about his fatigue.

“My legs are just sore. I assure you, I am fine. Thank you for asking.”

The guard offered a tired smile before speaking again. “It’s my job to worry, Your Grace.”

“Please, Ori, do call me Aleana.”

Ori’s smile flashed even brighter before all traces of it disappeared, and his eyes sharply focused on the tree line. He suddenly stopped, throwing his arm in front of me.

“Listen.” His voice was a harsh whisper that I had not heard from him before.

I heard nothing, but I could not deny that an uneasy feeling had washed over me. Ori’s sword rasped as he freed it from its sheath. The shrill sound was echoed all around us, and the trees gave way to several soldiers dressed in my own family’s colors. The seven men stood in front of us, leaving the path behind us open, but there was no way Ori and I would be able to outrun them.

“Give her to us and you live.” A guard I recognized spoke to Ori.

Ori’s voice was gruff. “You know I won’t do that.”

I tried to remain calm as Ori maneuvered me behind him.

“Ori, think about this.” The man sounded as if he were on the edge of laughter. “You have no chance.”

Ori shifted his weight, ready to attack. “Unlike you,
comrade
, I am not a traitor, and will fulfill the oath I gave when I became a guard.”

The soldier responded by lunging forward, sword arching toward Ori. Before I even realized what was happening, Ori’s sword sliced through the air, and the man who first spoke was lying on the ground, desperately trying to stop the flow of blood from his stomach. Ori kicked the man’s sword away before turning to face the two men who were now attacking him. I retreated, trying to distance myself from the fighting but too afraid to turn my back.

I watched Ori, flashes of Surea’s death running through my mind. He was blocking the blades seeking to pierce his flesh, and a quick strike ended the life of another attacker. He was fighting well, but it was obvious his lack of sleep was dulling his abilities. Sudden movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. While metal crashed against metal, the traitorous soldiers had maneuvered Ori away from me, leaving me open. Two men were coming toward me, realizing my protection was gone. I desperately tried to run, but a man managed to grab my arm. His grip sent me spinning back toward him, and then he threw me to the ground. I tried to cry out to Ori, but my voice seemed as if it were lodged in my throat, refusing to emit even the slightest sound.

I heard the men laughing, but my eyes were locked on Ori. He was only fighting two men now, but they seemed to be playing with him, letting him exhaust his strength until they decided to kill him. I wanted to look away, I wanted to shut my eyes, I wanted to do
something
that would keep me from witnessing yet another life being taken, but I couldn’t. Not until a heavy boot connected with my stomach. At that moment, I began to accept my death.

I was curled into a ball, still trying to protect myself as much as I could, though I knew it was pointless. I thought I heard Ori’s voice cry out, but I had no idea what he had said, or if it had been a sign death was taking him. I tried to force my eyes open, but my body was no longer responding to my commands. However, as I heard the unmistakable sound of something falling into the mud beside me, my eyelids fluttered open ever so slightly. The first thing I saw was the man who had thrown me to the ground dropping to his knees, life fleeing him as he tried to pull a dagger from his chest. A blur passed between me and the soldier, a hand flying out to retrieve the blade, letting the man fall to his face next to the body of my other attacker.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to sit up, gasping at the pain that spread through my abdomen. My eyes focused in time to see a massive cream-colored hound latch onto the sword arm of one of the men attacking Ori—the result of a command issued by the woman wielding bloodstained knives. The distraction caused by the dog gave Ori the chance to drive his blade into the man facing him. Freeing his sword, Ori turned to ready himself for another attack, only to find the last soldier lying at the woman’s feet.

I tried to comprehend everything that had just happened, but I could not even command my body to stand.

While I struggled with the pain, the dog was growling at the soldier who had first attacked Ori. He was still alive, but was rolling on the ground as he tried to stop his bleeding. The woman was on her knee next to him, one of her knives pressed to his throat. Her rich voice forced my thoughts into focus.

“Do you need to question this man?”

Ori answered as he sheathed his sword. “No.”

Nodding, the woman mercifully ended the wounded soldier’s pain. Turning toward Ori as she slid her daggers back into their place along her thighs, the woman spoke again. “What did you do to make these men attack you?”

Ori ignored the woman, instead running over to help me up. “Aleana, are you well?”

Seeing the blood trickling from a wound above his eye, I tried to hide my pain in an attempt to lessen his worry. “I’m fine.”

My response sounded weak even to me.

Ori led me to the base of a tree and helped me sit. “Just stay here for now.”

He threw a look over his shoulder to the woman, who was examining the sword of a fallen soldier. His gaze seemed far from grateful.

I did as he asked, not because I particularly wanted to, but because I was still trying to tell myself to ignore the pain in my stomach. I was at least thankful I had not felt any of my ribs break. Small blessings were better than none.

Ori returned to the strange woman, and although I could not hear the request he made of her, they soon began clearing the bodies from the road, trying to remove any trace of the fight. I watched the woman as she silently worked alongside Ori. She had obviously been trained to fight, and the pieces of leather armor she wore hinted at the frequency with which her skills were needed. Her ink-black hair fell in a long plait down her back. She helped Ori with the last body, and then used her boot to kick dirt onto the last bloodstain, mixing it in with the mud that still rested in patches on the road.

As Ori walked back toward me, the woman fell into step behind him, the large dog following her as it wagged its tail. The stranger’s eyes connected with mine as Ori helped me to my feet. Her eyes were green, an intense color I had not seen on anyone else. A few seconds went by, and I realized I was staring. Snapping my gaze away from hers, I was able to see her more clearly. She was slightly taller than me, and three small black dots were etched into the skin above her right eyebrow, still prominent even against her dark-olive skin. The pain in my stomach momentarily subsided as I wondered what she could have done to earn such markings.

“I was hoping to catch them before they caused any trouble. They were in the town back there asking questions, claiming to be Enivian soldiers.” She glanced toward the trees now hiding the bodies of our assailants. “And yet, some of them were carrying Dakmoran blades.”

“Very observant of you.” Ori’s words dripped from his lips like poison.

“It’s how I stay alive.” The woman turned her back and started walking toward the trees, her dog still at her heels.

“Wait! You….” I finally found my voice. “You saved our lives. At least let us repay you somehow?”

“We do have food to spare,” Ori added, but his tone was still far from welcoming.

“There’s no need for that.” The stranger had at least stopped walking away. “I have plenty of supplies, but thank you anyway. Two of those men deserve burials, which I must attend to.”

Ignoring her comment, I caught the woman’s eyes again. “Please, will you at least tell us your name?”

A few seconds ticked by, the woman’s eyes never leaving mine. I could tell her body was taut, readying her to turn and leave. Her face betrayed no change, though I saw something flicker in her eyes before her muscles released and she spun around, throwing her name back over her shoulder.

“Kahira. My name is Kahira.”