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“Not if we encourage him to fight on the front lines. He’s gone mad enough that with the right appeal, we can make it happen. Someone in the Iron Realm will finish him off,” Viktor argued.
At least I wasn’t the only one who’d thought through this plan.
“And you want to bet your life on it?” I snapped, unconvinced. There were causes worth sacrificing my life for – I’d once believed finding Izidora was one of them. This campaign against the other realms at the behest of Kazimir, though? Not how I wanted to die. Not something I wanted to die for.
“What other options do we have?” Viktor mumbled, turning his palms over and studying them. The dejection in his tone summarized exactly how I felt, and more stones settled in my gut as I looked at my last remaining friend.
He was right.
Our options were limited.
And in order to be free, we’d have to try to escape certain death.
A bitter windghosted over us, blowing our dark cloaks back as we slipped into the night. Domi yanked her hood higher, preventing the air from sweeping it over her head and revealing her long hair. Vaenor was nearly silent this late at night, and the lamps along the streets were dimly lit, allowing for the stars to breathe and be seen.
It was the perfect night for a surreptitious escape.
Our footsteps hardly made a sound against the cobbled paths, and the swish of our cloaks against them was quickly silenced as we buried ourselves deeper inside them. We ducked down a back alley littered with trash and discarded items, leaping over still puddles that reflected the stars above. Finally, after switchtracking several times to ensure we weren’t followed, we found one of the many cracks in the city walls and shoved through.
No travelers crossed our paths as we entered the forest, though the fires burning beside the barracks beyond were like a beacon. The woods were even silent around us, providing us with much needed cover should someone in a position of power within the ranks discover four hooded figures creeping through the night, and decide to whisper of them to their king.
I’d done too good a job at convincing them of our cause, and their loyalty remained firmly with Kazimir.
The day before, I’d pulled aside a small, trustworthy unit, instructing them to be ready to depart at the late hour under the new moon. They were a haphazard mix of skilled warriors and village watch, most from House Rass’s region toward the Crystal Realm. Those who left their families behind there were more than happy to accompany Domi to her home.
A dark figure strode toward us, picking his way through the trees with careful precision. Thousands of soldiers slipping away in the night would not go unnoticed, and noise was a sure way todraw attention in our direction. In the day, their absence could be easily explained away.
We stopped short of each other, slipping off our hoods to reveal our identities. Noiselessly, the captain jerked his head, indicating the direction in which Domi’s guards waited. We followed him a short distance, where spread through the trees, groups of leather-clad soldiers clutched their meager possessions and waited for their comrades to spirit them away in the night.
Viktor and I hung back, speaking in low voices with the captain while Domi and Kaztar said their goodbyes. A sniffle caught my attention, then a long, pained sigh. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched them embrace passionately, and then Domi backed away, her hand lingering in Kaztar’s until it was no longer possible for them to stay connected.
With a sharp salute, the captain left us, herding Domi toward a group of fierce-looking males. Her eyes never left Kaztar, even as they winked out of sight.
The High Lord threw up his hood, his head hanging as we began the trek back to Este Castle.
Probably barely seeing the ground beneath his feet.
His love for Domi was admirable, and as much as I appreciated that, the bachelor life was for me.
But what of Liliana?
My sister and Endre had grown close in their time together as we traversed Északi, and now, they were reunited in the Iron Realm.
Would my friend marry her? Would she even want that? Would I ever see her again?
Those were the thoughts that plagued my mind as we crept down the streets of Vaenor. My mother and father were absolutely distraught, to this day, over her year-long absence.
At least I still had my father.
Glancing sidelong at Viktor, pity rose from within me. We’d lost his father on the battlefield in the Crystal Realm, a freak accident that had hardened him in his duty to take down the Északi Empire.
But now?
We were both more than ready to betray our lifelong friend, the one we’d spent countless nights just like these with, out in the open, under the stars, huddled around a fire to keep warm as we searched for Izidora. That male was long gone, and sometimes I wondered if I ever really knew him in the first place.
Was it the binding magic that drove him into madness?
Or was the obsession with Izidora always there, and we’d swept it aside because of our constant duty?
