Rise (22 page)

“Stop talking,” Vidar ordered. “We’re being followed.”

I wanted to glace back but knew not to. We continued walking as if nothing had changed. The dogs stopped barking, and an eerie silence fell over the capital. Footsteps pounded behind us, and Anders spun around, a small tube between his lips. The
soldat
who had been following us lay on the ground, a dart protruding from his neck.

“Run,” Anders commanded. I sprinted as fast as I could, right behind Vidar, while Anders followed me in order to protect my back. “Go straight. The wall is just ahead.”

The dogs started barking again, this time much closer. Without warning, a blast rocked the ground, making everything shake. A plume of smoke rose in the sky a couple of blocks away.

“What happened?” I asked, slowing my pace.

“An explosion,” Vidar answered, pulling me along.

“It was a planned distraction,” Anders added, a grin on his face. “Now get moving.”

The wall was only fifty feet away. Thrilled, I sprinted with an extra burst of energy. When we reached it, Anders felt around the stones until he located a loose one. Then he pushed four stone blocks through, just as he’d done the night we escaped out of the capital. After I climbed to the other side, Anders and Vidar joined me, shoving the stones back into place.

“Go!” Anders yelled, pushing me forward.

I ran toward the trees, eager to conceal myself among them. About a hundred feet into the forest, Anders stopped and stripped off his uniform, revealing his plain brown clothing underneath. Vidar and I quickly did the same. Anders dug a shallow hole with his hands and then buried our uniforms. When he was done, we headed north.

“How far is the cavern from here?” I asked.

“If we don’t stop, we should reach it tonight,” Anders replied.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Vidar asked. “You don’t need to rest?”

“I’m fine.” Better than fine. I wasn’t even winded after all that running.

Anders glanced over his shoulder at me, his eyes lifeless. A pang of guilt hit me for lying to him about healing myself. Somehow, he knew what really happened. I was sure of it.

“If we want to make it there before nightfall,” he said, “I suggest we pick up the pace.” He started running.

***

When we neared the clearing where Morlet’s men had captured me, we skirted around it in case anyone lingered there. After traveling several miles, not once stopping to rest, eat, or drink, we reached the base of the rocky mountain range where the cavern was located. Vidar said the entrance wasn’t too high up, but we had to climb in order to reach it. Anders led the way, and Vidar brought up the rear. The climb wasn’t completely vertical, yet I still avoided looking down. We were higher than I cared to be.

As we ascended, my mind wandered. What would happen when I entered the cavern to retrieve my weapon? How would I be challenged? Would the trials be mental? Physical? Would I be deemed worthy and pass? Had others in my family faced the challenges? Had they passed?

Clutching the rock above me, I hoisted myself up. The rock came loose, and my hand slipped. I lost my footing and slid down, pebbles and stones tumbling with me. My stomach dropped as my hands frantically tried to grab hold, to no avail.

Vidar caught me, pulling me against his body. “Are you okay?” he asked, breathing hard.

“Yes.” My hands were scratched and bleeding, but considering all I’d endured lately, it was nothing. Vidar held onto me until I took hold and started to climb once again, ignoring my sore hands and knees. Anders was perched twenty feet above, watching me. When our eyes met, he quickly turned away and continued his ascent.

The sun set, and the sky began to darken. Anders glanced over his shoulder. “We’re here.” He reached down and pulled me up onto the ten-foot by ten-foot ledge. Turning so my back was to the cave, the view before me was astonishing. The mountain range extended to either side as far as the eye could see. In front of me, the vast forest was below, the ledge I stood on only feet above the treetops. “Come on,” Anders said as he entered the cave.

I followed him inside where the temperature dropped. He fumbled with some kindling, and then lit a torch on fire. “We keep supplies here, just in case.” He walked around the cave lighting several other torches that hung on the walls. The area was quite spacious—the ceiling a good twenty feet above me. The walls formed a circular space, and there was an archway revealing a dark tunnel toward the back.

“You should sleep for a few hours,” he said. “Once you’re well rested, you’ll enter the tunnel and begin the trials.”

Vidar joined us. “Do you want to do a perimeter check to make sure there aren’t any
soldats
nearby?”

Anders agreed and ducked out of the cave. I watched him go, feeling an odd tension between us. Ever since I’d lied about healing myself, he’d distanced himself from me.

“He’s not much of a talker,” Vidar said as he took a couple of logs from the woodpile. He tossed them in a fire ring that had been constructed in the center of the cave.

“Yes, but he certainly notices a great deal.” More than I wished he did. Shame washed over me for having lied to him.

After lighting the wood on fire, Vidar grabbed two bedrolls from the supplies stacked against the side of the cave and handed one to me.

I unfolded mine, laid it on the ground, and crawled on top of it, glad to rest after running all day.

“I need to talk to you about something.” Vidar placed his bedroll next to mine and sat on it. He fidgeted with his hands, not looking at me.

“What is it?”

“First, let me say that I’m glad you’re alive and healed. And not because you’re a Kriger, but because I’ve come to consider you a friend.”

“Thank you,” I said, pulling a blanket over my body and yawning.

Vidar cleared his throat. “I want to ask you a question.”

“Sure,” I mumbled, my eyelids growing heavy.

“Have you ever been in love?”

“No.” He knew I’d never been courted or kissed, so why was he asking me about love?

“I have,” he said in a soft voice. “I’ve been in love a few times. I know the difference between love and friendship.”

“Not to be rude, but it’s late and I’m tired. What are you getting at?”

“The spell that was cast which created the Krigers is the same one that cursed Anders and me.” He dropped his head onto his hands, rubbing his eyes. “I’m not sure how to say this … but Grei Heks told me something.” He hesitated. “She said your blood and my blood are destined to be together.”

“What are you saying?” I asked, suddenly wide awake.

“Grei Heks told me that when Morlet is killed, if our blood hasn’t mixed to produce an offspring, all will be lost.”

“What does that mean?” I sat up and faced Vidar.

“We’re meant to marry one another and bear a child together.”

“Are you certain?” Why would Grei Heks cast such a spell? “Is this why it’s always a female from my family?”

“I believe so.” He scooted closer to me. “I know we’re only friends, and there is nothing romantic between us. However, we must marry and have a child, as Grei Heks foretold, so we can ensure the curse will end along with Morlet and his tyranny.”

I sat there stunned. Marry? Have a child?

Anders ducked inside the cave. “All clear.” His eyes darted between Vidar and me. “Did I interrupt something?”

“We’re just discussing our future.” Vidar seemed unsettled and not his usual confident self.

“I … uh … ” I stumbled, trying to find the right words.

Vidar reached out and took hold of my hands. The gesture felt awkward, so I pulled free. “I need some fresh air.” I scrambled to my feet.

“You shouldn’t be out there alone,” Vidar said. “We can’t let Morlet kidnap you again.”

“I won’t go far.” I shouldered past Anders and ran outside the cave to the ledge. Not wanting to climb down the mountain in the dark, I leaned against the rocks next to the opening, inhaling the cool air.

“What did you say to her?” Anders’s voice drifted out to me.

“I told her what Grei Heks foretold,” Vidar answered.

There was a long pause before Anders asked, “About the two of you marrying?” There was an odd hitch to his voice.

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

It had been a long day, and I didn’t want to deal with this right now. The idea of marrying Vidar and having a child with him seemed ludicrous. We were just friends, and I wasn’t ready to marry.

“She has to retrieve her weapon tomorrow,” Anders said. “You should’ve kept your mouth shut until afterward.”

Yes, Vidar should have. I wanted to applaud Anders.

“I couldn’t wait. I needed to do it now, before she develops feelings for someone else.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anders bitterly asked.

“If we have an agreement in place, it will prevent problems from arising.”

Anders said something that I couldn’t hear.

“Why are you so mad?” Vidar asked. “You knew this was coming.”

“I’m going to go and find Kaia before she is captured again.”

Anders walked out of the cave and immediately spotted me leaning against the rocky mountainside.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice low.

“I’m fine.” I felt like there was a brick wall between us—a wall that arose from my lie. I very much wanted to tear down that wall and to explain what really happened. But would he understand? Or would he belittle and chide me?

“You should go back in and get some sleep.”

“Just a few more minutes,” I whispered. How could I explain my relationship with Morlet when it didn’t make sense to me?

“What did you tell him?”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him anything about you or Vidar.”

“What?” Anders’s eyebrows pulled together.

“When Morlet demanded to know who’s been helping me, I refused to tell him. Skog Heks tortured me because of it.”

He ran his hands through his hair, leaning against the rocks next to me. “You met Skog Heks? And she tortured you?” I nodded. His fingers curled into a fist. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice ragged. “I knew you’d been severely injured. It never crossed my mind that you were tortured because of me.”

I didn’t want to tell him about being locked in the coffin, or strapped to the table, or the water being forced down my throat. I especially didn’t want to remember Morlet paralyzing me so Skog Heks could beat me to the brink of death.

“If you ever want to talk about it, I’m here. I … I know what it’s like to be tortured.” His words were like a knife sliding over my skin. I wanted to ask him about it. However, if I didn’t want to talk about my own experience, he probably didn’t want to relive his either. “What I meant was, did you give Vidar an answer?”

“No.” Was it really even a marriage proposal? The chilly air whipped around me, and I folded my arms across my body, trying to stay warm.

“Why did you assume I meant Morlet?”

“All you care about is freeing the Krigers and killing the king. I assumed you’d be more concerned about what happened to me while imprisoned than my response to Vidar’s odd proposal.”

“You think his proposal is odd?” The corners of his mouth rose as he fought a smile.

I rolled my eyes. “I hardly think now is the time to get engaged, even if Grei Heks foretold it.”

Anders kicked a loose rock, sending it flying off the mountain. “Is something else the matter?” He reached out and took my hand, squeezing it.

“I didn’t heal myself,” I blurted, staring at our joined hands.

“I figured as much.”

The wall between us crumbled. Anders’s calm presence, his fierce determination, and his steady disposition empowered me. His hand was a lifeline. An owl hooted in the distance. The treetops below swayed in the wind.

“Did Morlet heal you?”

“Yes.” Admitting it lifted a huge weight that had been crushing me.

“I don’t understand. Why did he torture you, then turn around and heal you? Especially after you had already escaped? To make sure you didn’t die? Or is there another reason?”

“I’m not sure.” While running through the forest today, I’d gone over and over it, trying to figure Morlet out. He healed me knowing the physical toll it would take on his body. There was only one reasonable explanation: to ensure my survival so he could kill me with the other Krigers.

“What sort of a man did you find Morlet to be?” Anders asked.

The king was a man of contradictions. Nice one minute, evil the next. I didn’t know how to answer.

Anders peered into my eyes. “Be careful,” he said. “Morlet is a conniving man. Don’t be fooled by an act of kindness. I’m sure it was simply a means to an end—serving only to further his agenda, not yours.”

He was right. Even though my heart felt torn, I needed to be logical about this and not let my emotions get in the way of common sense. I’d made that mistake once; it wouldn’t happen again.

***

Taking another bite of cooked rabbit meat, my temper got the better of me. “There better be something hanging from my chin,” I snapped. Because having Anders and Vidar sit there watching me like I was about to explode was annoying.

“I’m just nervous for you, that’s all,” Vidar said, exasperated.

“Staring at me is not helping.”

Anders shook his head, grinning at my outburst while Vidar stood and started pacing. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any more talk about getting married. For now, I was going to pretend the conversation didn’t happen.

“The other Krigers never talked about what they encountered in there,” Vidar said.

“I’d rather not know.” Either I was worthy of being a Kriger, or I wasn’t. Knowing the challenges ahead of time wouldn’t help.

“What if something bad happens?” Vidar squatted before me, pursing his lips.

“She’ll be fine,” Anders insisted, speaking for the first time since our conversation last night.

“Plenty has happened to me, and I’ve managed to survive,” I assured Vidar. “This will be no different.”

He reached for my hand, so I jumped up, pretending not to notice. Normally, I wouldn’t have minded. If anything, it would have been welcome. However, knowing he thought we were supposed to marry—even though we didn’t care for one another that way—I didn’t want to encourage him or show I agreed in any way.