Reborn in ash, p.28
Reborn in Ash, page 28
Ada caught Clara’s arm. “You trust him with your life?”
“I do.”
“And Prince Barukh?”
“Has nothing to gain by betraying me. Rin doesn’t negotiate.”
Ada released Clara and trailed behind as they approached a circle of firelight, where two men sat by the fire. They were dark-skinned, though lighter than Shukri and most of Tamir’s Lokan workers, who’d lived surrounded by deserts. Both men wore swords, and while one sat stirring the contents of a pot over the fire, the other paced with a frown creasing his brow. There was no way out beyond the men. Flickering light danced on cliffs surrounding the small camp.
As Volker stepped out of the darkness, the world seemed to press in. The moment the men noticed Volker, they reached for their swords. They soon released them. The standing man clasped Volker’s forearm, and the other gazed expectantly into the darkness. Ada wanted to grab Clara before she could step into view, but she held herself back. This meeting was everything to Clara. And yet, she hesitated, waiting in the darkness.
“Thank the River you’re here,” the standing man said to Volker. “I was getting close to offering this pampered prince to the lake.”
“Erez, I could have your head for speaking about me that way.” Prince Barukh didn’t move his gaze. Could he see Clara beyond the light?
Erez bowed. “Forgive me, most noble one.” He chuckled, drawing a rare smile from Volker. But Erez’s smile fell, and he put a hand on the prince’s shoulder, the touch lingering. “You’re determined to go through with this?”
“I’m sorry.”
Erez’s hand fell away. “I understand. Come forth, Your Highness. We know Volker wouldn’t have come alone.”
Clara stepped into the light. “May the River guide you, Prince Barukh, Erez.”
Prince Barukh came to his feet. “And may the Forest watch over you, Princess Clara.” His words were tinged with awe. Jealousy reared in Ada’s chest, and she clenched her fists hard to keep it from her face as she stepped beside Clara.
“Where are the rest of your men?” Ada asked.
“The rest?” Barukh said.
“You expect me to believe a prince would travel into enemy territory with one man for protection?”
“I’m more than enough,” Erez said. He opened his mouth to say more, but Barukh lifted a hand. Such a princely gesture.
“More than the two of us would gain too much attention,” Barukh said. “Don’t tell me you brought more.”
Ada glanced at Clara, then beckoned to the others. Shukri soon appeared, followed by Laith and Tabitha. “There’s two more keeping watch by the entrance.”
“You utter fools,” Erez said. “Why would you bring so many?”
“Our king ordered us to.”
Barukh’s shoulders sagged. “I knew King Wallace was dim-witted the moment he refused to ally with us. But this? Why would he do it?”
It was Clara who answered. “He’s so bent on avoiding war with Rin, he wanted to make sure I reached you safely.” No mention that they were mages or that the king was testing them. Good. It was better to keep that to themselves, for now.
“You don’t think he was hoping she’d be caught, do you?” Erez asked his prince.
Ada stiffened. Would the king stoop to making a secret deal with Rin? It would allow him to deny siding with a warmonger while protecting his nation. Dread crept up Ada’s spine.
“I doubt King Wallace would do that,” Barukh said. “Even he couldn’t be foolish enough to believe Rin would honour such a deal. Honestly, I’m surprised he kept you there so long, Your Highness. It would have been the perfect excuse for Rin to invade.”
“When has the emperor ever needed an excuse? And please, call me Clara.”
“Barukh, then.” He smiled at her so naturally, Ada wanted to punch his chiselled jaw. “With the lost Belmennian princess beside me, our people will find hope.”
Erez scoffed. “Would have been better if she had an army of her own. We’re completely outnumbered.”
“I have no troops,” Clara said, “and raising rebels is taking time, but I don’t come empty-handed.” She pulled out her necklace. Ada wanted to shout at her to stop, to make her keep her secret, but Clara was the one born into the world of politics. She would know when the time was right. What did a thief know of such things?
“Is that the lost Blood Seed?” Barukh said.
“It’s more than that. Watch.” Clara held out her other hand, and as her ethelid glowed red, a ball of flame appeared in her palm. Erez jolted back, while Barukh leaned forwards, watching the flames with curiosity bright in his eyes.
“You’re a mage,” Barukh said. “A fire one at that. River guide me, imagine if you rode out to war beside me. Would you do it?”
“I would.”
“She needs to give you an heir first,” Erez said.
It was too much. Ada strode up to Erez and grabbed the front of his shirt. “Clara gets to decide that, not you.”
“Easy there,” Erez said. He ran his gaze down and up Ada. “I guess you’re more man than woman after all.”
Ada lifted a fist. She hated it when people were sharp enough to realise she wasn’t a man. She might have thrown the punch, but Clara got there first, her flame shooting over Erez and scattering against the cliff behind him.
“Ada is Ada,” Clara said. “She’s who she wants to be, and I’ll not stand for you to judge her.”
Barukh set his hand gently on Clara’s upper arm. “Erez, stop being an idiot.”
“My apologies,” Erez said.
Ada released him and stalked over to Clara. “Are you sure you want to go with them?”
“I made up my mind a long time ago.” Clara took Ada’s hand in hers. “This is what I must do.”
Crashing footfalls from behind made Ada spin, two stones lifting as her essen searched for a target. Quinn’s astia came into range, followed by Sam’s. They charged into the clearing. Barukh and Erez drew their swords, but Clara held her hand up, an order for them to hold. She truly was a princess.
“What is it?” Ada asked Sam and Quinn.
“I went to keep watch at the edge of the wood,” Sam said. “There’s a group of Rinnite soldiers further up the shore, heading this way. A lot of them. And I heard a dog.”
“Shit. Shit.” Ada grasped her hair. “The mage let us go. They let us lead them here.”
“What mage?” Erez asked.
“We were almost caught by one at a tavern a few days ago.”
Erez sneered. “And you still came here? If anything happens to the prince because of you–”
“You’ll what? Kill me? I’ll already be dead, because I’ll die before I let Clara’s dream fail. Where are your horses?”
“Stabled at a tavern,” Barukh said. “Yours?”
“Back through the wood past the Rinnites. That leaves us one option. We all go together on foot. Now.”
Ada grabbed Clara’s hand and ran.
Beyond the dell’s entrance, Barukh led them west, where the wood soon gave way to a barren, rocky area. Ada cursed the lack of cover. They sprinted across and were almost at a small cluster of trees when a hound began baying in the wood behind. The Rinnites didn’t need a mage to find them. They were as good as caught.
Two large oaks stood at the fore of the group of trees. Ada pulled Clara behind them, and everyone else stopped, the trees just big enough to hide them all.
“This is where we make our stand,” Ada said.
“Are you mad?” Erez said.
“I don’t want to be caught in the open and felled by arrows. We can only dodge so many.”
“What?”
Fuck keeping secrets. Lives were on the line. “Clara’s not the only mage. We all are.”
Barukh braced himself against a tree. “Your king risked so many mages to get Clara to me?”
“Or are they an offering to the emperor alongside the princess?” Erez said.
Quinn barged past him to stand before Ada. “Why are you wasting time arguing? Just have Clara burn them to ashes.”
“I can’t,” Clara said, hanging her head. “My magic has limits too. I can only take them out one or two at a time.”
“I don’t want you using your magic at all,” Ada said as the drumming hoofbeats grew louder. The Rinnites were out of the wood. “If one of them escapes and takes word of a fire mage to the emperor, you’ll never be safe. We need to–”
A thud made Ada turn towards Barukh. Erez collapsed beside him, blood oozing from his temple. A stone was embedded in a tree behind where he’d stood.
“Erez?” Barukh shook his man’s shoulder. “Erez, get up.”
There was no time to explain that Erez no longer had an astia, that he died the moment the stone struck. Ada was too busy forming a plan. “Sam, raise stone columns for cover. Tabitha, harden them. We need to keep the columns between us and the mage at all times.” Ada opened the pouch at her hip and tipped out most of the pebbles. “Laith, sharpen these. Quinn, once they’re in range, take the ground out from beneath as many as you can. Shukri, can you hide the pit from the ones at the back?”
“I’ll do my best.”
One column was already up, wide enough for three to hide behind. The moment Tabitha hardened it, Ada darted behind the barricade. A stone shattered against the other side. Their defence would hold, for now. Quinn joined her, followed by Sam as he began raising the second column.
Pressed low against the barricade, Ada closed her eyes and spread her essen across the plain, where the horses now charged unimpeded. There were twenty-one people, all on horseback, and one hound. Despite their fast approach, they were still beyond Quinn’s range. Ada’s heart pinched. If the Rinnites reached them, they stood no chance. She had to stop their charge.
It was impossible to tell which soldier the mage was, for all wore jewellery and the mage had withdrawn their essen. Ada would simply have to kill them all. For Clara, she would shatter her oath to never kill again.
Magicking up a stone Laith had sharpened, Ada focused on the nearest soldier and let the stone fly. It was further than she’d ever shot a stone, but it flew swiftly and tore through his eye. She’d aimed for his heart. His astia flickered out regardless, and he slipped from the saddle, his foot catching in the stirrup. Ada winced as she sensed the horse rear in fright and lose its footing. Its head struck a rock, and its astia disappeared too.
The other soldiers kept coming. Ada shot three more stones, one after the other. Only two hit their targets. Striking moving targets was hard enough, but fear was making her sloppy. Yet the fear wasn’t for herself. She would gladly go to her death if it kept Clara safe. And Tabitha and Laith. Shadows, the rest too. She would see them all to safety, no matter the cost.
Ada was splitting her essen to make another shot when a pebble curved around the barricade. She dropped her stone and caught the pebble with her magic, but she couldn’t slow it enough, her focus torn by the mage’s ability to curve his weapon’s path. The pebble ripped through the top of her right arm and kept going. Straight into Sam’s throat.
Everything seemed to fall silent as foaming blood poured out of Sam’s neck and mouth. He lifted his hand to Quinn in a half-formed sign, then it fell, his astia vanishing. Quinn’s eyes went wide, and her wail cut deep into Ada’s chest. It was the same sound Ada had let loose when Elizabeth died. She would never forget that despair and how all reason had left her. She threw herself at Quinn and caught hold of her, but her injured arm made it easy for Quinn to slip from her grasp. Before Ada could grab Quinn’s skirts, the heartbroken fool stepped out from the protection of Sam’s barricade.
“Tabitha,” Ada called over the thunder of hooves. “Toughen her bodice, quickly. Shukri, set a sandstorm in front of her in case they have archers.” Ada drew on her magic and threw it in front of Quinn, weaving her essen into a net, hoping to the shadows she could catch the pebbles this time. One slipped through and bounced off Quinn’s bodice. Ada caught the next an inch from Quinn’s throat. But blood flowed from Ada’s arm. Her strength was waning. “Clara.”
She was beside Ada in a heartbeat, a strip already torn from her tunic. As Clara bound her arm, Ada caught another pebble. Two slipped past and struck Quinn’s legs. She fell to her knees, but her magic rose. The soldiers were almost within her range.
“Laith,” Ada said. “Sharpen the base of the pit.” If Quinn sensed his magic, she’d give him something to work with.
The soldiers entered Quinn’s range, and with a wordless shout, she unleashed her magic, stronger than Ada had ever felt as it passed her web of essen. Horses and men screamed in terror, but Ada didn’t dare send a thread of essen to find out how many Quinn killed. The mage was relentless in their attacks, and sweat dripped down Ada’s brow as she caught three more pebbles. Another flew through the net, and Ada could only slow it. It sliced deep across Quinn’s cheek.
“Find the mage,” Ada whispered to Clara, unable to save her from having to kill after all.
The next time a pebble entered Ada’s net, Clara’s essen raced back the way it had come. Someone screamed, but it cut short, probably as fire seared their throat.
“The mage is dead,” Clara called to the others.
Volker joined them behind the first column, crouching over Sam’s legs, and Prince Barukh ducked behind Sam’s half-finished second column. Volker peered around the barricade, only to pull back as an arrow whizzed past.
“Three archers at the back,” he said. “Clara?”
She closed her eyes, and moments later, several screams went up, including those of horses. Clara vomited. Ada squeezed her hand and chanced a look at the battlefield. One archer remained, his quivering bow aimed at Quinn. He and eight other soldiers had retreated beyond the range of their essens. How could they know unless–
A soldier with long hair and skirts whistled, and a dog darted out from behind their horse. Ada readied a stone, but there was a flash of green at the soldier’s neck. The dog’s speed tripled. Though it was soon within range, Ada was too drained to shoot anything that far. Pits opened beneath the dog, yet the beast was gone before the ground fell more than a foot.
“Clara?” Ada said, her throat tightening as the dog closed in on Quinn.
“It’s moving too fast.”
A sandstorm swirled around the dog, and Ada struggled to quash the hope Shukri had set rising in her chest. Then light flared at the mage’s neck. The dog moved faster still, and Shukri couldn’t keep up. Even the multitude of pits Quinn made couldn’t stop the beast. Ada drew as much magic from her ethelid as she could and shot a small pebble at the dog’s eye. It passed through the thin flesh of its ear. For a heartbeat, the dog slowed, yet before anyone could strike, the mage whistled and the dog charged on.
Volker ran from behind the barricade, drawing an anguished cry from Clara. He wouldn’t make it. The dog leapt at Quinn as Ada shot two more pebbles. They struck true, but Quinn’s throat was already in the dog’s mouth. It bit down, tearing her throat out as they collapsed together. Volker reached them a heartbeat later and fell beside them. An arrow rose over his heart.
Clara wailed and ran from behind the barricade, Prince Barukh on her heels. There was no time to think. Ada stumbled after them, all hope of forming a plan abandoned.
“For Maisie’s sake, stay behind the tree,” she called to Tabitha and Laith. They stayed where they were, but their essens followed, and Ada’s shirt hardened around her chest.
The last archer was burning, Clara taking revenge instead of doing the logical thing. She should have killed the mage. The ethelid at their neck glowed green, and the seven soldiers charged, the horses moving so fast they leapt over Quinn’s pits as if only a log blocked their path. Clarity filled Clara’s eyes, even as she knelt beside Volker. The mage burst into flame, and the horses slowed. It was too late.
Ada threw herself sideways to avoid a horse’s charge, rolling over her injured arm. She bit back a scream and scooped up a handful of pebbles before standing to face the soldier, who wheeled his horse around. He kicked it into a gallop, drawing his sword, but she was faster. Her stone pierced his skull. As he slid lifeless out of the saddle, the horse reared, clipping Ada’s hip. She went down, and her head struck the ground.
Two astias faded near Clara and Barukh, but three charged towards Ada as she tried to get up, her vision swimming. Two men and a woman stood before her, their swords pulled back ready to thrust at her heart. In half a heartbeat, she had a hand on one of her sword hilts and a thumb on her ethelid. If this was to be her end, she would die trying to protect those she loved. She drew her blade and magicked up a stone, only for it to clatter to the ground. Even her sword sagged downwards. The soldiers moved as one.
Magic swirled around Ada. One soldier froze, her leather armour stone around her. Another dropped his sword as he threw his hands to his face, clawing at dirt pouring into his mouth. A blade burst from the third soldier’s chest, curving up towards the sky. A khopesh. Ada’s eyes stung at the realisation Shukri had charged across the battlefield to save her. She drew strength from it and ran her blade through the woman Tabitha had stopped. As Ada’s target fell, Shukri cut down the soldier who was choking on dirt. Was he the last? Ada had lost count.
“Clara,” Prince Barukh cried out.
Ada turned in time to see him dash in front of Clara and take a blade for her. It sliced through his gut. As his innards slid free, he fell back against Clara, knocking her hand away from her ethelid. He must have thought himself taking a hero’s death, but he’d left Clara defenceless as the last soldier slashed at her neck.
“Clara!” Ada screamed.
The soldier’s arm stopped short, thanks to Tabitha’s magic, yet no fabric covered his wrist. Ada shot a pebble. It pierced the soldier’s arm as he flicked his hand, slicing the blade towards Clara’s neck. The soldier dropped his sword, and Clara crumpled to the ground.
Chapter thirty-two
