Battle for the Valley Page 14

  “Will they give us trouble?” Pierce asked the brothers.

  Nash answered, “They ought to remember us. It hasn’t been long since we left. Maybe six months.”

  While we walked, I wondered how and why the brothers and Laelynn had run off from their clan. Had they left their family on good terms or was there some rift that couldn’t be mended between them? I wagered Kaelem and his strange gift had something to do with it.

  “Ho, there!” One of the men on horseback shouted at us from the herd, still a hundred yards away. Giving his mare a kick, he galloped in our direction. The other watchmen, noticing his departure from the herd, circled around to take his place, keeping the animals from scattering.

  Hagan raised his hand in greeting. “Hello!”

  As the rider drew closer on his dapple-gray mare, I could see that he was more boy than man. He could not be older than Tallon, who was still fifteen. The boy’s dark hair was shoulder length, tucked behind his ears, and curling up around his neck under his hat. He had slowed his mount to a walk, his inquisitive brown eyes searching our faces. His face lit up when he recognized Nash and Hagan.

  The boy smiled, tugged on his reins, and jumped down from the saddle. “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” He wrapped Nash up in a hug and slapping him on the back. He did the same to Hagan. “Where have you been? And where …?” He searched our group again. “Where are the others?” His smile disappeared at Nash’s miserable expression.

  “Kaelem is still alive,” Nash murmured. “He decided to travel north. Couldn’t bear to come home.”

  That’s odd, I thought. Nash had berated Kaelem and ordered him to stay away. Why was he lying about it?

  Nash continued. “The others were killed.”

  The boy took off his hat and wiped his hand down his face. “I’m so sorry. Even … even Laelynn?”

  Hagan nodded. The muscles in his jaw ticked.

  “I’m so sorry,” the boy mumbled. “Well … we should go back and tell Laela. She’ll be crushed when she hears this news.”

  I cleared my throat in an attempt to get their attention.

  The boy’s eyes shifted to me and my Warriors. “I suppose you should introduce me to your friends.”

  Nash turned and pointed to each of us. “This is Thorne, Pierce, and Archer. They come from Peton. We met in the Valley.”

  “My name is Costian,” he said, extending his hand to shake. “What brings you to Ahern?”

  “We come to visit and trade,” I said. “We killed a few Yellow-eyed Sabers in the Valley and thought their pelts might be worth a few horses”

  Costian grinned and peered over at Hagan and Nash. “You brought us a couple of Saber-hunters, eh? Those furs will fetch a good price. Come on.” He beckoned us to follow him as he grabbed his mare’s reins. “We’re ready to take the horses back to Ahern. You can join us.” He peered back over his shoulder at me and added, “You’ll need to see Governor Laela before you can trade.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. That was the second time he had mentioned that name. Why did it sound so familiar?

  “Laela. Laela.” I murmured to myself again and again. Suddenly, it hit me. “That sounds a lot like Laelynn,” I called out to Costian and the brothers.

  Hagan stopped and turned to face us, a sinister grin on his face. “It should. She’s our aunt, and Laelynn’s namesake.” He turned on his heel and started walking again, following Costian back toward the herd with Nash on his heels.

  I froze in place and my stomach dropped. Beside me, I heard Pierce mutter a curse.

  The governor of Ahern was their aunt?

  Archer sidled up next to me and whispered, “Did anyone tell you that the governor was a relative of theirs?”

  I shook my head. “Ravyn said nothing about it, so I doubt she knew anything either.”

  “You know what this could mean, don’t you?” Pierce asked.

  I knew exactly what it meant. If Wolfe had been in contact with the Peton Elders, then this woman was likely a connection as well. The suspicions I’d had about the brothers were growing again. Had this governor banished the siblings or had she sent them into the Old Sequoia Valley for Wolfe? Ravyn had mentioned that Laelynn was in the habit of collecting exiles from the Valley, the same as our Warriors had been doing three times a year. The entire village of Linwood had been made up of refugees.

  With Kaelem’s mind-reading, he would know instantly if an exile was altered. Had this governor instructed the siblings to deliver altered exiles to Wolfe? Was that their purpose all along?

  I was plagued by another devastating thought: had Laelynn been in on the scheme? It was odd that she had escaped the compound in her right mind without a scratch on her. But hadn’t Laelynn warned Ravyn about the soldiers coming for her in Linwood?

  And Kaelem … he was travelling with Ravyn at this very moment. The thought that these brothers – and quite possibly Laelynn – had been deceiving us had my stomach in knots. I wished I’d pushed harder to speak with Laelynn. She’d tried to talk to Ravyn and me, but her brothers kept stopping her for some reason. Had she been trying to warn us about this? We would never know.

  Pierce placed his hand on my shoulder. “Ravyn will be fine,” he assured me. “She’ll be on her guard. She won’t trust Kaelem this time.”

  “Brock and Tallon are with her,” Archer added. “She won’t be outnumbered.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “I hope you’re both right. We have no choice but to play this out and see where it leads.”

  Back to Map

  Table of Contents

  14

  Ravyn

  The following afternoon, we left the forest behind and trekked across an open meadow. The knee-deep grass had turned brown during the autumn months. To our right, I could see the foothills of the mountain range that lined the eastern coast and the Fairuza Sea. It was the same mountain range that separated Peton from the ocean, according to General Wolfe’s maps.

  Walking out in front of the group, I followed what I hoped was Kieron’s trail. Camellia followed a step or two behind me, with Brock and Tallon behind her. Kaelem brought up the rear, holding his crossbow at the ready while chewing on a pine needle.

  I continued to mull over the dreams I’d been having and my growing concern over splitting up from Thorne and his Warriors. The day Laelynn died played over and over in my mind. Memories that had been fuzzy were starting to come back to me. Pieces of conversations I’d forgotten were growing clearer.

  Or am I losing my mind?

  I recalled how Kaelem had been grief-stricken over his sister’s death, but the new images in my mind revealed more. He’d seemed subdued somehow. His eyes had been glazed and he’d accepted his banishment without batting an eyelash.

  I risked a peek over my shoulder to examine Kaelem. His shoulders sagged and the dark circles under his eyes remained.

  Don’t be fooled by him, Ravyn, I thought. He betrayed you once.

  But did he actually betray me?

  According to the General, he had brought me down to the compound to trade me for his sister. I’d been devastated when I had heard the General gloat over it, but I also remembered what the tracker had said about Kaelem while I was attempting my escape: “He was about to back out of the whole deal. I could smell his fear.” The tracker seemed to think that Kaelem had been reconsidering. Kaelem hadn’t been the one to knock me out either, and he’d come back with Thorne to save me.

  What had changed his mind?

  Three hours before sunset, I called a halt to our journey. We had reached a wide clearing with a glassy pond. The trees didn’t grow tall or close together in these woods and the sun shone brightly through the bare branches. There had been no sign of Sabers or soldiers and we had only heard the Howlers from a distance during the night.

  “We still have daylight left,” Tallon argued. “We should keep going.”

  I shook my head “We won’t find a better place to rest than here
. Plus, we’re two days from Murray.”

  “So?” she said, placing her hands on her hips.

  “The General doesn’t know where we are and, even if he did, he’d be foolish to send his soldiers this far out,” I replied. “They’ll run out of supplies, and they aren’t as adept at surviving in the wild like we are. If Kieron’s made it to Murray then we should assume he’s safe. We’ll be free to head south and catch up with Thorne.”

  “Thorne didn’t tell us to give up,” Tallon said, challenging me. “He told us to find Kieron and then meet him in Peton.”

  My brows pinched together. Is that what Thorne told Tallon? That’s not what I remember. Thorne didn’t tell us to meet him in Peton. Did he? I thought we were supposed to keep heading to Murray. I rubbed my forehead, trying to make sense of my cloudy memories.

  Tallon folded her arms over her chest and stared back at me in defiance. Brock and Camellia both glanced warily back and forth between Tallon and me, silently waiting for an explanation. Behind me, Kaelem dropped his pack and plopped down by the pond to tinker with his crossbow. I looked over my shoulder at him.

  “What’s wrong, Ravyn?” Camellia whispered.

  Turning back to Camellia, I cleared my throat. “It’s nothing.”

  Tallon’s blue eyes flashed, knowing I was hiding something. A split second was all it took for her eyes to shift to Kaelem and back to me. I pressed my lips together and gave a slight shake of my head.

  Brock moved closer to me. “You can trust us, Ravyn. What’s bothering you?”

  Swallowing nervously, I glanced at each of them in turn. No matter how I lowered my voice, Kaelem’s mind would still sense my thoughts from this short distance away. I filled my mind with thoughts of Thorne, my father, Camellia – anything but my suspicions – and stepped toward Tallon and Brock. “Something isn’t right,” I whispered.

  Tallon’s brows knitted together. “What do you mean?”

  I glanced at Kaelem again. This time he was staring back at the three of us. He was surely sensing my growing unease and the others’ inquiries.

  Turning back to Tallon and Brock I said in a hushed voice, “We’ll speak later.” I raised my eyebrows, hoping they would take the hint that we could not speak openly.

  Brock’s eyes shifted to Kaelem, realization hitting him hard. “Yes, we’ll talk later.” In a louder voice, he said, “Why don’t we go hunting, Tallon?”

  Giving me another questioning look, Tallon pulled her bow off her back. “Any requests for dinner?” she asked, nocking an arrow.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. Kaelem’s ability to read our thoughts would make it difficult to keep any secrets. Forcing a smile, I answered, “Anything but squirrel.”

  “No promises,” she replied with a smirk. Tallon skipped off into the trees with Brock.

  Camellia and I watched them disappear into the woods. I was liking Tallon more and more. Her sharp wit and blunt words were refreshing, and she was remarkably perceptive.

  “Are they really going to hunt?” Camellia asked me. “Or do they want alone time?”

  I snorted. “Probably both.”

  Dropping down on the ground, I pulled an apple out of my bag that I’d saved from Crabapple Grove. Camellia set her bag and crossbow down and settled in beside me. Kaelem wandered off to the pond again to wash the dirt from his hands and face.

  “This is a good place to stop,” my sister stated, rubbing one of her sore shoulders. Carrying the crossbow all day was starting to catch up to her. She rolled her shoulders around to work the stiffness out and then rummaged through her pack to find something to eat.

  “It’s nice here,” I agreed, looking around. “There might be some ground birds close to this pond. I hope Tallon can catch a few for us.”

  Camellia nodded. “We could keep practicing, too.”

  The ground was level and seemed soft enough. There were no rocks or roots to watch out for either. This would be the perfect location to continue instructing Camellia on self-defense. I had started with the different parts of her body that she could use against an opponent: an elbow to the gut, a knee to the groin, and stomping on an assailant’s foot. These were all basic moves that any person should know. We had even discussed ways of using her gift to weaken an enemy that got too close. Camellia was more reluctant to use her gift against people.

  “We have some time right now,” Camellia said, pleading with her wide, innocent eyes.

  Taking one last bite of apple, I tossed the core into the bushes and hopped up. “Alright.” I put out my hand to pull my sister to her feet. “What do you want to practice tonight? Hand-to-hand? Or maybe utilizing your gift?”

  Camellia lowered her eyes and shook her head.

  “Stop forcing her to use her gift,” Kaelem argued, walking toward us with his crossbow and a few spare bolts.

  “It’s her best weapon,” I argued.

  Kaelem gave Camellia a once over with his brown eyes. “If it’s a matter of life and death, I doubt she’ll hesitate. Let’s practice with her crossbow.”

  Camellia’s blue-green eyes lit up at his idea.

  “I’ll set up a target,” he stated. “Something that won’t destroy what bolts we have. It won’t do to snap them all in half on the first day.”

  Kaelem stuffed leaves and pine needles into one of his brother’s old shirts, knotted it up, and hung it from a low tree limb. Camellia and I both took to shooting at the target. It didn’t take me much time at all to hit the stuffed shirt. I found it to be easier than shooting a pistol, without the recoil. When Camellia managed to graze a shirtsleeve she jumped up and down and squealed.

  “That was your closest one yet, Camellia!” I said, smiling and patting her on the back.

  “One more time,” Camellia said, running to fetch the arrow. “Please?”

  “I think you’ve practiced enough for tonight,” Kaelem replied with a chuckle. “Your arms are going to be jelly later from pulling the string back so many times.”

  I giggled as well. “Mine too, Camellia. Let’s take a break. We’ll have another go tomorrow.”

  Kaelem took down the target and withdrew to the pond.

  “Why do you keep watching him?” Camellia asked. “Don’t pretend with me, Ravyn. I can tell you’re worried about him.”

  “You’re more observant than I remember,” I muttered.

  Camellia flung her long blonde braid back over her shoulder and smoothed her sweat-soaked hair back from her face. “From years of hiding my gift. You should know that feeling.” She studied me for a moment and then asked, “Do you think he’s going to betray us again?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “I hope not. He seems … changed since we split up. I’ve been thinking about that a lot.”

  “I can see it too. He seemed more awake when we were practicing with the crossbow. Now …”

  “He’s gone back to brooding. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

  “He’s burdened by the deaths of his siblings,” Camellia pointed out. “Practicing with us just took his mind off that for a while.”

  I studied Kaelem as he built a campfire near the pond. “Maybe.”

  Camellia ripped grass up from the ground and began tearing the blades apart to keep her hands busy. “How did you know about my gift. Did Thorne tell you?”

  I peered at my sister out of the corner of my eye. “I felt you use it.”

  Camellia’s eyes widened and the blood drained from her face.

  “Don’t worry,” I assured her. “It was nothing. A passing twinge through my body.”

  Camellia gulped. “When?”

  “The first time was at the Terran fence, when Elder Dagan died. I wrapped my arms around you and felt it pass through me. I thought I’d imagined it,” I added with a shrug. “The second time, Thorne and I had just returned to Linwood. When Kaelem approached us, you squeezed my fingers, and I felt it again. Like a wave of electricity flowing through my body.”

  Camellia covered her face with
her hands. “I’m sorry, I -”

  I grasped my sister’s hand. “You didn’t hurt me. Like I said, I thought I’d imagined it. It was only the second time that I knew for sure.” I stared off at the pond and took a deep breath. “And … Kieron mentioned something about you having a gift. He was still under Wolfe’s control then. That’s why he came after you in Linwood.” I turned back to Camellia to give her my full attention. “Why didn’t you say anything to me when we were kids? Especially after you knew about my gift.”

  Camellia shook her head. “I was too scared of it. It feels … dangerous. I worried the Terran Elders would come for me the same way they came for you.”

  I squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. I wish I’d been there to help you.”

  “You couldn’t have helped me.”

  “Maybe not, but I would have understood.” My brows furrowed. “Did Father know?”

  “I never said anything to him, but -”

  “I bet he knew. He always knew about mine.”

  “But yours was so obvious. Physical. It was difficult not to notice when your cuts suddenly disappeared. Even as a child, I remember being terrified of you. I thought you might be part demon.”

  “Yeah, that seems to be what a lot of people think.” I attempted to jerk my hand back from her, but Camellia tightened her grip on my fingers and gave me a reassuring smile.

  “I’m not frightened now, Ravyn. Father and Mother explained things to me when I was older, when I questioned them about it. They hadn’t realized that I’d been avoiding you.”

  “Well, I think your gift is pretty strange,” I remarked. “Which is why I think you should practice using it. Have you ever used it on anyone before?”

  Camellia nodded, her expression riddled with guilt.

  “Tell me.”

  “The first time was an accident,” she said. “When we were young, before you ran away, a boy from school tried to scare me. I can’t recall what he did to frighten me so much, but I reacted instantly. I pushed him away and felt a jolt run through my arms into his chest. He fell to the ground and didn’t wake up for a few minutes.”