Page 68 of Taken By Shadows

And yet …

I knew it felt callous to leave him there for choices I’d made.

Chapter twenty-one

Denora arrived at dawn with two wooden swords in one hand and a few clementines in the other.

“Sugar is important before training,” she said, tossing me one of the plump citrus fruits.

I dressed in my leather bodice and pants again. Two parallel braids pulled tight against the side of my head adorned my temple. That was the extent of grooming for today.

Kaed being taken away last night should have been a blessing for me and my escape attempts yet to come. But my guilt gnawed at me so hard I felt it scraping at my bones. I couldn’t just leave him there to rot if this was my doing.

If I could help him and clear my conscience, I would.

But there was also the matter of what his father had set in motion. Shutting down the trade routes seemed reckless by anyone’s standard and might make my own journey across the Four Corners more difficult. I hadn’t given up on my family. The family I knew I had. Somewhere.

But breaking down trade, it went both ways. Could Hayden survive without trading with the other three corners of the continent? How many people relied on Hayden or traded with the North? How did Kaed—or his father—hold that much sway with the Crown of Hayden? Kaed was a lord in his own right. And seemingly important enough to travel with two sentinels of Hayden. And it wasn’t cold indifference between them, as though this were purely a formal arrangement.

Where Kaed and his father fit into the Crown and its politics, I wasn’t sure, but I folded the question of Kaed’s place in the story into my mental notes. He had power in Hayden, and not just magical. The Crown, being the sole ruler of the Four Corners, was relatively new. In its infancy by historical standards. So, to have the newly mended peace rocked by such a change in societal norms in one move was a huge political gamble.

Regardless of whether the fortress of Hayden could withstand a blockade or not, it meant Kaed was a prisoner in this city. As Denora had explained, holding someone of such importance would be a key factor in their ability to open negotiations with Hayden. There was no way they’d let him leave the city even if we could get him out today.

I followed Denora out, a little confused. We left the not-palace and wove through countless alleys and avenues I was never going to recognise or remember. My skill at detailed memory for places was not getting any better.

“Where are we going?”

Denora kept on, ignoring me or not hearing me. The result was the same. Silence.

“Shouldn’t we be focusing on Kaed?”

“No.” She turned, hiding a smile. “But I’ll tell him you asked for him.”

I was about to protest when Denora swung open a heavy iron gate that led up some stairs, cloistered by a curved ceiling hallway.

“Come,” she said as she led me up.

The tunnel opened up to reveal something that looked like a garden, but it was atop a building. Manicured lawns punctuated by pale stone slabs. Like markers erratically placed around the garden.

“What is this place?”

“Training grounds. It’s unlikely we will have company here today, so this is perfect for us,” Denora said as she threw the two swords onto the soft lawn and began peeling a clementine.

“What are those for?” I eyed the slabs in the grass.

She popped a segment into her mouth. “Footwork. The more advanced step work can be done on the north corner of the area.”

Footwork. Right. Swords. This was going to be a long day.

“Now hardly seems like the time for this,” I huffed.

“This is exactly the time for this.”

I folded my arms. I knew she was probably right, but it didn’t feel like it. My centre of reality was all off recently. I felt torn in so many directions even before this mess.

“Kaed wanted you to be able to defend yourself. He told me what happened.”

Her eyes were sorrowful. Knowing. As if she felt the pain first-hand.