Page 35 of Vows Forged in Blood

Elias sighs. “I will—for now. But wewillbe revisiting this, your highness.”

I snort, grateful to Elias for finding a way to ease the pain, even for a short time, and the two of us continue deeper into the tunnel.

“They were…digging?” Elias asks as the tunnel finally levels off. He frowns as he runs a hand over the side of the cave wall where chunks of rock had been gouged away, rubble littering the dirt floor.

“For what?”

Elias straightens, brow furrowed. “You don’t think…a doorway?”

There are legends of ancient magics, deep, powerful ones that haven’t been seen in thousands of years. Magics that could turn day into night with the wave of a hand, magics that could raze entire armies to dust…and magics that could create doorways from one place to another across unimaginable distances. I’ve never put much belief into any of it…but perhapsKilgrendoes. Maybe he believed they could find a doorway that would take them into the heart of the continent. The elder said that these caves were cursed with dark magics, that people went inside and were never seen again…because they went through a doorway?

“Impossible,” I whisper, but a feeling of unease skitters up my spine. I don’t see any signs of anything that could be considered a doorway, don’t feel any sense of anything other or dark or magical, but maybe it is something that must be activated somehow. Maybe it wasn’t a part of the cave, but rather something that could be transportedfromthe cave and taken back to the Revenant stronghold…Fuck.

“Let’s find the others.”

Signs of digging into the earth and the stone were seen in all of the tunnels, but no signs of any recent Revenant activity,the fading scents all two weeks old, at least. It appears that they either found what they wanted or had given up completely. We will remain for another week to observe the Great Bear and do sweeps of the surrounding lands, but I already know that we won’t find anything. I send one of the men back with messages for the generals at the other camps, telling them to send groups to remote villages with histories of magic and see if there have been any similar activities there.

We set up camp on the far side of the lake, and as I lie awake in my tent, my thoughts drift to the only thing that fills my mind and heart with any kind of peace:

Dahlia.

Chapter 18

DAHLIA

“Bloody hells, that’s clever, that is,” Braddock says as he studies another pair of the gauntlets I’ve made. I’ve improved a bit upon the design from the set Alaric had admired the day of the Choosing, and I plan to give this set to Wesley, another pair on the way for Nova. I smile at the big man and wipe a dirty hand across my brow.

“Thank you.”

“You’ve got your father’s eye for the craft, that’s for sure. I’m honored to have you work at my forge, my Lady,” he says with a bow of his head. I giggle but bow in return, unable to hide my joy at his compliment.

“Thank you. And thank you for letting me mess about here. It helps with the homesickness.”

“Well, you are welcome here anytime. It’s nice to have someone around who knows what they’re doing.” He says the last a bit louder, directing the words to his apprentice in the other room, Singh.

“I’m from a fuckingfishingvillage,” Singh replies indignantly, poking his head through the doorway. “I’ve never done this shite before!” His dark hair is falling out of the knot onthe top of his head, the strands not quite long enough to stay put, but too long to remain down while he works. He blows a lock away from his face in an annoyed huff. “I’m bluidy trying.”

“You’re doing just fine,” I say, trying to sound encouraging without sounding patronizing. “I set my trousers on fire on three separate occasions while I was learning.”

“Well, I haven’t donethat,” Singh says, smiling pointedly at Braddock, looking a little smug.

The blacksmith rolls his eyes. “Give it time, lad.” He winks at me and I can see that he has affection for the new recruit. I think the young vampire will get the hang of things quickly, but Braddock is putting him through his paces to be sure, making him do all the dirty work that’s no fun for anyone. Despite being his daughter, da had never spared me that either, so I feel Singh’s pain.

Takara clears her throat from the doorway.

“My Lady, if you are quite done with your…work,” she says, glancing around the shop and wrinkling her nose slightly, making Braddock and I both laugh, “I thought we might be due for a visit to the village? One of the soldiers just came back and said that Madam La Cruz’s dog has had her puppies!” I swear the vampire barely stops herself from jumping up and down like a giddy schoolgirl. Though, I can’t fault her. Who doesn’t love puppies?

I tell Braddock and Singh a quick goodbye and head out the door.

“We are…friends now, are we not?” Takara asks as we walk quickly towards the cabin, both clearly eager to get on the road to the village.

“Well, you do keep calling memy Lady, which is not something a friend would really do…” Takara rolls her eyes.

“That is a very hard habit to break after so many years,” she says defensively, and I can’t help but laugh.

“But yes, I would consider us friends, why?”

“Good. Because as a friend: Imustinsist that you bathe before we go to the village.”

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