Scorched Treachery (21 page)

I
was out of bed before I had registered what had happened. I had heard the soft knocking in my sleep and sat up, my body tense and ready as if expecting battle. I could still feel the warmth of where Joclyn’s body had been pressed against mine, the heat leaving as the chilled night air that came in through the open archways swirled against my skin.

The knock sounded again, the taps soft against wood, a familiar energy seeping through the door, and my body relaxed. I made it to the door in two steps, throwing
it open to reveal a very disheveled looking Thom. His dark dreads were pulled back into a ponytail. The ear buds of his iPod were hanging out of his shirt, and I could hear the occasional twang of a guitar. Normally I would laugh at seeing them there - Thom always kept his love of country music hidden - but the concern on his face trumped the humor.

“Thom?” I questioned when he didn’t say anything.

Thom looked over my shoulder to where Joclyn lay in the bed, before looking back to me.

“You need to come with me.”

It was very strange how one sentence could put each nerve in my body on high alert. My muscles tensed as I stood taller; my back straightened in an inadvertent attempt to challenge him. Thom reacted, but not in a way I would have expected from him.

“Shield her, and follow me.”

“Thom? What has happened?”

Thom’s eyes darted around uncomfortably, the action only adding to my heightened awareness. My muscles tensed in expectation. I looked down the hall behind him, expecting Edmund to be standing right there.

“I found something outside.” His voice was so soft and unsure, I barely heard him.

“What?” I asked, Thom jumping at my voice. His uncomfortable jitters seemed to be growing rather than receding.

“I’m not sure. I want you to see.”

I looked at him sternly for one minute before backing off. I would receive a clearer understanding of what was happening by following rather than demanding answers. Although I didn’t like going somewhere blind, it was my best option.

“Následuj mě.” Before I could say more Thom had begun to walk away, his steps short and panicked, suggesting trouble. Everything prickled inside me in warning, but I wasn’t one to second-guess Thom. He had proven his worth to me, and that was enough.

I glanced back at Joclyn for only a moment before watching her body vanish from sight
; the heavy shield I covered her with ignited inside of her, as well as around her.

Thom’s steps were short,
the sound muffled by his quick soft movements. I followed him in silence as we moved from the renovated space on the northern side of the Abbey to the ruins that existed on the far south. What had once been a beautiful cathedral was now reduced to a few exquisite arches and some tile work, most of it destroyed by war, neglect, and tourists of the later 1800’s.

“You better shield yourself,” he whispered
, his body stopping to face me.

My back straightened as he looked at me, my eyes boring into him in a silent threat. My desire not to begin dishing out orders was almost trumped by my distaste at being given
them. I saw him wilt a bit, but not enough. He shook his head and disappeared before me, the heavy feel of his magic moving away from me.

I began to follow him, my steps mirroring his in timbre
as we moved. We moved through a large open area. I could see the tree line of the forest that surrounded the Abbey clearly and the moon that hung above the trees, the face of the sleeping man I had grown up whispering my secrets to so clear on the textured surface.

As I followed Thom’s lead, my magic peaked at some distant power I could not place. I fought the need to stop and investigate the new, unwanted energy that was buzzing through the air, but continued on. I could usually determine anyone I had met before by the feeling of their magic, but this was either too far away, or someone I didn’t know. I brushed the feeling away, my nerves readying themselves for an attack.

Thom tiptoed through rubble as he led our way to the only remaining turret in the area. The tall pillar of stone still housed the large cathedral bell. The tower worked best as a guardhouse, which is what Thom had been using it as. The muscles in my face tensed as we climbed, the silence dragging on and on, leaving me to worry about what Thom had found.

I could desperately grasp at the hope of seeing Ovailia burst through the trees that surrounded the Abbey, Ryland’s body in her arms
, but I knew better. Thom would have given me more information if it was good news.

The large wooden door at the top of the spiral staircase opened of its own accord, and I felt Thom move beyond it, up into the large opening. Moonlight filtered through the rounded stone opening, casting confusing shadows on the walls around us. The ancient bell hung from wound rope the size of my arm, dust sprinkling down around it as the rope creaked and moved in the breeze. I followed Thom’s energy pattern and the dust footprints that lined the floor until he came to a stop, our backs to the bell as we looked out on the forest.

“Are you there?” Thom whispered, his reluctance to be heard flushing through me like ice.

“Yes.”

“What do you see?” I fought the urge to command Thom to simply tell me, reminding myself it was not his way, just as commanding people to do my bidding should not be mine .

I scanned the trees in front of us at his request, the dark shapes of the trees barely visible amongst the black mass of nature. I looked above them in hopes of finding what he was talking about before
returning to the trees, a bright light having caught my attention.

The yellow-gold flickers of a fire were nestled between the trees, casting a shadow through the dark stumps and making long bright fingers amongst the strips of black.
Several bodies cut off the light as they moved around it, making the intimidating shadows flicker and move.

I watched the light for a moment, trying to make sense of it in a non-territorial way before another light flickered through the trees. One after another they appeared, disappeared, and re-appeared as bodies and objects moved in front of them, cutting off the light that reached my eyes.

My heart thumped heavily in my chest as I watched the lights flicker, the magical pulses going on and off. The magical current I had felt before washed over me again, the strength of it tingling up my spine. My muscles tensed as I focused on it, my eyes narrowed at the lights before me. The magical flow wasn’t one I recognized. The concentrated nature of the icy flow made it clear it was from more than a dozen of the same species, Trpaslíks.

I couldn’t help the wicked smile that spread across my face, the pulse of my magic as it alerted me to its wish for battle. I knew it had been foolish to give Ovailia our real location after her eyes had shaded over and her lies had given her away. But I had no choice
; I wanted Ryland. Now, that want had turned into a need.

Unfortunately, that need was going to trigger the beginning of the war. I had foolishly hoped we would have at least a decade, but Edmund was obviously a very impatient man.

“How many camps?” I asked, making sure to keep my voice low.

“Eight,” Thom began, his frustration seeping into his deadpan voice. “They weren’t there when we first arrived, so they must have come sometime in the last few days.”

I sighed heavily. We hadn’t been keeping as heavy a guard as we should have been. Our first two nights here we had taken turns at watch while the others ate and slept but last night we hadn’t posted one at all.

I watched the lights for a moment more before turning to leave, using my magic to pull Thom behind me. I moved quickly, my steps much louder than they should have been but I was keen to put some distance between
the assembling army and us. I separated the pulses that flowed through the air around me, my magic registering exactly what forces lay beyond us. Two dozen Trpaslíks camped outside the wall of the Abbey, waiting for the chance to strike.

They knew we were here, and no amount of
tiptoeing could keep them from pounding down our door when the order was given to attack.

I could feel Thom behind me as I moved, his energy spiking as the anger that I felt brushed onto him and fed his deep rooted anxiety.

The second we moved past the open stretch of rubble, I released my shield, bringing my body back into sight.

“It was Ovailia wasn’t it?” I didn’t turn at Thom’s voice, the hardness of it expected. I could feel the same anger rippling through my body, just under the skin.

“Of course it was.” I kept my back to him, allowing my magic and my internal sight to keep him in my mind. I could see him standing, his hands flexing as his brow furrowed.

Thom stood still, the small movement of his hands the only sign of his anger. He kept it restrained, controlled and hidden, the way he had done since he had escaped our
father, since Sain had shown him what his temper could cause.

“So what do we do?”

I turned to face him, my taller than average frame towering over him. He looked up to me, his eyes, so much like a child’s, wide and pleading.

“There is not much we can do. We stay here. We wait for Joclyn to wake and hope that Ovailia brings her mate to her.”

“Ovailia? You want to
wait
for her?” I nodded once, before turning away from him, my steps taking me back the way we had come.

I could feel Thom follow me, his steps quick as his shorter legs tried to keep up with my longer strides.

“Why, Ilyan?” he said as he came up beside me, his legs still working double time. The muscles in my neck tensed at his question. I really didn’t need to explain myself to him, but his question was understandable given their history.

“Because she will have Ryland,” I said, keeping my voice strong and distant. “Ryland is the key to waking Joclyn. Once Joclyn wakes we will be able to face the Trpaslíks that surround us.”

I smiled at my words, the visions from the first sight flying into me. Saying it aloud somehow sealed her fate, making her the one that would defeat my father and assuring that she would become the beautiful warrior I had seen in my sight.

“Why can’t we just attack them now?” Thom asked. I couldn’t help but laugh, the hearty sound of my voice sounding odd against the tension that still rippled
off both of us. I stopped again to face him, the door to my suite only a few steps away. I could already feel my heart pull me toward the door, my magic stretching to ensure her safety.

“You would attack twenty or more Trpaslíks with only you,
me, and a Drak?” I raised my eyebrow at him, the dare for him to answer evident.

While I may be able to defeat more than half that amount on a wet day, I knew Thom had always struggled with his ability. Being the son of an un-bonded mortal had always made him weaker than the rest of us. Dramin would prove little help at all. Draks had no defensive magic. There was no other way to put it. It was the reason my father had been able to exterminate them so easily.

Thom shook his head and looked away from me, his answer evident in his eyes. I ignored the bristle I felt at his lack of respect, but kept it at bay, reminding myself that my role as a ruler had died with my people. Not like I had taken it seriously in the first place.

“We will watch them. We need to set a more consistent guard – which between the three of us may prove impossible, but we must do what we can.” I set orders as I always had, Thom’s back straightening in preparation to obey. “If we can make an adequate map of where their camps are, it will help us to attack without incident when the time comes.”

Thom nodded once in understanding, the nervous energy that was flowing off him receding with my words.

“Thom, get some sleep. I will watch from here,
dnes večer, strengthen our shield, and develop a clearer plan.”

Thom said nothing. He only nodded in respect as he turned from me, the thick strands of his hair swinging as he
walked down the hall toward his room. I watched him put the tiny buds back into his ears before he turned the corner, leaving me alone in the dark corridor.

I couldn’t ignore the thrum of my heart any longer. The pull moved against my skin like the crawling of a hundred emotions washing over the surface. My shield released from around Joclyn as I entered the room, bringing her back into view.