I set my mind to developing all sorts of reasons why Hadrain was a bad father. The only thing I come up with is that Kera had once said her father was an intellectual, more interested in hypothetical scenarios than reality. Plus the fact that he tried to marry his daughter to a power-hungry warlord who tried to kill us both. Other than that brainless move, by all appearances Hadrain cares deeply for his daughter.
As I sit, I hear Kera’s faint call. My eyes pop open, and I’m startled to realize it’s been a while since I’ve heard her. I try to connect to her, but I can’t. How is it I have an overabundance of magic at my fingertips, yet I’m stuck waiting on a human. My irritation climbs even as I tell myself to calm down.
Another thirty minutes passes, and I’m not sure how Jason’s done it, but none of the maps show where he is. A quiet thread has begun, saying he’s dead. Jason would love that, get us to let down our guard only to pop back up twice as cocky and bent on killing me and everyone around me.
“He’s not dead,” I say and push myself from the overly cushioned chair and pace. “Don’t ask me how I know. I just do.”
“Fine.” Wyatt pushes the latest map off the table, and I watch it flutter to the floor. “Then he’s a little coward hiding in a hole while his army creeps up on us.”
We hear the sound of running and Reece punches the door open, getting all our attention. “She’s gone. Signe’s gone.”
“Are you sure?” Maybe she’s in the bathroom. Mom was known to camp out in our bathroom, forcing me to dash outside and find a discreetly located bush to pee on.
“She’s gone to the bridge.”
“Why?” Hadrain asks. “She cannot cross. None of us can.”
“We were talking to that ugly little guy earlier…”
“Bodog…” I offer.
“Right, and he said magic is set against magic. Like at Signe’s caves where only those without magic can find them.” He looks at me. “There is a bridge, but there is no bridge. It’s there, but who around here would be able to cross it? Get it?”
God, I hate Bodog’s hidden speech. “Now I do.”
“I’ll admit,” Reece says, “the idea is possible, but he’s crazy, right? Except Signe didn’t think so. She thinks the Unknown works the same way as the caves.”
“Why would anyone, with or without magic, want to go into the Unknown if it’s as bad as everyone says?” Wyatt asks.
“They wouldn’t. It was created to keep those they disliked in. Bodog said most of those sent there have some form of magic that keeps them there.”
“So she thinks she can just walk across that bridge and enter the Unknown?” Halim smacks his hands on his face and groans.
“She’s a woman. Of course she does.” Reece grabs the sword we took from one of the dead soldiers outside the gates. “I’m going after her.”
Halim crosses the room, stands in front of Reece, and pulls out a heavy-handled knife. “If you’re going, I’m going with you.”
Reece looks around the room accusingly. “Where’d he get another knife?”
Halim snorts and tucks it back from where he pulled it. “I’m not dumb enough to only carry one.”
A heavy sigh escapes Reece and he puts a hand on the boy’s head. “You’re staying here with Wyatt.”
That babysitter announcement gets Wyatt’s full attention. “Dude! You can’t expect—”
“You’re staying here,” Reece says, making it clear he won’t tolerate an argument. “You have a job to do.”
“You’re more important.” The break in Wyatt’s voice reminds me he only recently found Reece, and it’s obvious he’s not yet willing to let his brother go and maybe lose him again.
Reece turns Halim around and pushes him back toward the table. “I’m one guy, Wyatt. You have the opportunity to protect hundreds of thousands and make a real difference.”
Wyatt’s not ready to let it go. “You can’t go alone. You need backup.”
I have no problem stepping forward. “I’ll be his backup. I’m done staying put.” I’ve given Leo as much time as I’m willing to give.
“You can’t, cross.”
“And for all we know, Signe can’t either. But if she’s right, I want to be there.” Maybe there’s something I can do. There’s got to be.
Wyatt shoves all the other maps away and slaps down the map of Teag that shows where the enemy has retreated to. We have to go around a huge contingent, but Halim shows us one of his shortcuts, and if we’re quick and quiet enough, we should be able to sneak by.
Hadrain clears his throat. “Faldon mentioned you now have his power. Whenever he needed me, he would send up a fireball.” He moves his finger from the manor house to the bridge. “It’s far, but send it out at the right angle and we should see it.” We all stare at one another. We’re as prepared as we can be.
Reece and I resupply the bags Signe gave us at the caves and secure them over our shoulders. Under heavy guard, we make our way to the gates. Once outside the fortified walls, Reece and I find the bodies are being cleared, mostly burned after they’re stripped of anything valuable. The smell of death has me choking. Reece grabs a couple rags from somewhere and hands me one, and we tie them across our faces.
I see two men toss another body onto one of the huge funeral pyres, and I wince as the flames lick at the dead man’s flesh. The sight of so many bodies being reduced to ash is disturbing. “Burning them in the open like this seems wrong.”
“People dying for no reason is wrong, and from what Signe has told me, most of these men didn’t have a choice. Their leaders ordered their deaths. How I see it, letting good men rot in the open is worse.”
I still don’t understand why the firsts are bound so tightly to their word. It’s a flaw I’m glad I don’t possess, and because I can break my word and lie and deceive at will, it’s the reason they marked me for death. But who is the bigger man? Someone who has no choice in his actions, or someone who chooses to keep his word, not deceive others, and tell the truth? “A man is only a man if he still acts knowing the end result may bring about his death.”
Reece stares at me, his eyes narrowing against the billow of smoke and ash. “Sounds like you’ve been hanging around Wyatt too much, but I don’t disagree.”
We run through the area and into the forest. When we’re far enough away from the funeral pyres, I take off my makeshift mask and stuff it into my pocket. All around us, there isn’t a patch of earth that isn’t charred, trampled, or ripped up.
Reece rips his off and breaks out in a sweat. “What was she thinking going off by herself?”
“I don’t think she did. Did you see Bodog?”
“No.” He sighs. “I don’t know if I’m glad about that or more worried.”
“He’s probably taken her underground, which is a lot safer than what we’re doing.”
Reece seems to chew on that as he stows his mask, though his body is still taut and ready for a fight.
There’s nothing we can do but keep moving and hope we find Signe before anyone else does. We travel deeper into the forest, and it’s not long before we hear the enemy. We aren’t even a mile from the manor and its defenses, and by the size of the encampment, you wouldn’t know they took heavy losses.
“If we take Halim’s shortcut and shoot over there,” I point toward the right where the woods grow thicker, “they shouldn’t know we’re even here.”