Page 7 of Of Nine So Bold

It was amazing. A relief too, given that the man was an Aneiran war hero, praised for his actions during the war with Erenelle. He’d given my men horses and supplies, sending them on their way.

But he hadn’t indicated any plan of diverting his people from their efforts to secure his city. So what were they doing here now?

Dex never took his eyes from the approaching riders. “Circle up,” he ordered the others. “Princess, stay behind us.”

I frowned, but the other men were already moving between me and the humans coming our way.

“Hold,” Valeria called to her companions, lifting a fist.

The humans’ horses slowed and came to a stop. Just like in the city of Duteliera, the people with her were obviously not soldiers, for all that they obeyed her commands. From their clothes and appearance, they seemed like farmers. A few were old enough for gray hair to stick out around their rusted helmets, while several others were so young, I doubted they’d ever been a dozen miles from their homes before this.

But every real soldier Lord Thomas possessed, save Valeria, had been sent north to defend the border against the army of monsters that had inexplicably been approaching.

Not a single soldier had returned.

Valeria rode closer on a large chestnut stallion that I suspected had spent part of its life as a warhorse, if the way it moved was any indication. She wore armor that had obviouslyseen plenty of use in the past, and her brown hair was lashed back in a tight braid, same as the first time we met her. A sword was tucked into her horse’s tack and another was sheathed in a scabbard on her back. When she slowed, she gave us no greeting, saying only, “I see you found the princess.”

“Why are you here?” Dex called back rather than respond to the obvious.

She skimmed her dark eyes over all of us quickly, pausing only briefly at the bound soldier and then slightly longer at the sight of Roan. Her brow twitched up, but she buried the hint of surprise quickly. “Lord Thomas sent us in case you needed assistance.”

Silence followed the words for a heartbeat.

“Well, uh—” Clay chuckled. “We’re good, thanks.”

Dex’s face was carefully blank. “How did you know which direction we would go? What road we’d be on?”

Curiosity flashed over her face, but she merely replied, “We didn’t. Not for certain. But if the creature who took the princess worked for the same ones that attacked our city, then it made sense it’d pursue a course to join its brethren. Last we heard, those brethren were in the north, possibly heading for Lumilia.” Her brow rose and fell like the conclusion was obvious.

Wary looks passed between my men.

“Yet Lord Thomas no longer required your assistance in dealing with the destruction suffered by Duteliera?” Casimir asked her.

“He does,” she allowed. “But he also wanted to make sure the princess didn’t die.” Her mouth tightened as if our distrust irritated her. “But obviously you’ve already found her, so the need for our help has passed. Princess, if you’re okay, then we’ll get back to?—”

“What exactly were his orders?” Dex interrupted.

Valeria paused, her eyes narrowing. “To give you any help you may require.”

From Dex’s expression, I could tell a plan was forming in his mind. I just wasn’t sure what it could be.

“Even if that means helping us against other Aneirans?” he persisted.

Oh. Now I could see what he was planning, but it was… risky. Potentially a necessity if we were going to save Niko, yes. But still. After all, my men were Erenlians and Casimir was a vampire from a dead nation. Meanwhile, as far as my people were concerned, I was an assassin fleeing prosecution for the death of my father.

But Valeria and her people were simply citizens of Aneira, and she was a former soldier of it as well. They could go where we could not.

Assuming we could trust them.

Wariness lived in Valeria’s gaze. “What are you asking?”

“One of our allies has been taken,” I said. “Niko. The one who used vines and roots to hold up walls in your city and keep them from crushing people.”

I hoped bringing up what he’d done to help save the innocent in Duteliera would help sway them. From the conflicted expressions that flashed over several faces, I suspected I was right.

“The shorter giant,” Valeria said, as if placing him. “The one who didn’t want to keep any secrets or tell us lies about who you all were.”

Discomfort crossed a few of my men’s faces. I hadn’t been there for whatever conversation she was describing—chances were, it had happened after Roan’s demon took me—but I could guess. It was essentially the same thing as what Niko had said, and why he was so angry at Roan and Ozias.

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