Page 75 of The Queen and the Half-blood
“The Shee prisoners have escaped.”
After everything she’d witnessed and experienced the night before, Lara shouldn’t have been surprised by this news. Even so, she breathed a curse. This was just another blow.
Seated upon Bracken, at the start of The Thoroughfare, she’d just encountered a member of the Fort Guard who’d rushed up the hill to find her.
The devastation surrounding her made it clear that the Shee had used the chaos to make their move. It looked as if a hurricane had torn through Duncrag overnight. Turf roofs had been pulled off many of the roundhouses, store huts had been flattened, and oaken doors hung off their hinges. The wailing of those who’d had loved ones carried away by the Slew drifted through the frosty air.
“Theyallgot out of the fort alive then?” Alar asked.
“We don’t know,” the warrior answered, his chest still rising and falling sharply from his sprint up The Thoroughfare. “Since most of us spent last night just staying alive.” He pulled a face then. “But surely, the Slew would have picked some of them off?”
“Maybe,” Alar replied, his tone veiled now.
Twisting in the saddle, Lara glanced over at where Bree sat astride a feather-footed cob behind her. Despite the angry red lump on her forehead, her eyes were sharp this morning. “I thought the Shee weren’t bothered by The Unforgiven?” she asked.
Bree frowned. “They never used to be.”
Lara shifted her attention back to Alar, studying him. Was he upset that Fern Sablebane had escaped? It was impossible to tell.
Silence fell then, and as it drew out, it became clear everyone was waiting for her to issue an order. And despite that she was weary and shaken after the night’s events, she knew what had to be done.
Turning back to the waiting guard, she met his eye. “Gather a company of warriors and go after them,” she ordered. “They may be injured … it’ll slow them down.”
The man gave a brusque nod, turned on his heel, and strode off to do her bidding.
Glancing back at her husband, Lara caught him watching her. “What?”
His lips lifted at the corners. “That was decisive.”
She snorted, urging Bracken on. “The Shee move like light and shadow … but we have to at least try and retrieve them.” She paused then. “However, they’re the least of our problems right now. We need to see the rest of the fort.”
They rode down The Thoroughfare, reaching the second level, where Alar’s army of wulvers resided in squat, tightly-packed huts. A number of these dwellings no longer had roofs, and many of the doors had been bashed in. Alar spoke in a low guttural tongue with the wulvers who came out to see them.
Concluding his exchange, he turned to Lara, his eyes hard now. “We lost over thirty last night.”
Lara drew in a slow breath. Another blow. Nonetheless, the wulvers had fared better than the Marav. Whole families had been taken in the level above. She didn’t want to think about how many lives had been lost during the attack.
They left the wulvers to repair the roofs and doors of their huts and descended to the lower levels of the fort. An entourage of warriors followed, silent and watchful. There was little danger now, for the dawn had chased the Unforgiven away, but everyone was on edge.
This year’s Gateway would never be forgotten.
She appreciated Alar’s gesture earlier—assuring her they’d all keep her secret. All the same, dread now sat like an anvil in her belly.
Everyone had agreed, yet she’d seen the look on their faces.
Gods, did they think she was a danger to them now? She recalled the way the fire had rushed through her veins, filling her with a fleeting sensation of invincibility. For a few moments, she’d felt as if she could take on the world. She’d heard her father talk once of the ‘fire madness’ that consumed the fire-wielders of old. Unlike earth magic, which was far more stable, fire was corrupting and volatile. Those who used it too frequently risked losing their wits.
Cold washed over Lara then. Could that happen to her?
Reaching the bottom level, she drew up her horse and looked around the large dirt-packed meeting ground. A statue of The Maiden, untouched by the night’s chaos, gleamed in the morning light. However, the houses that fringed the area, and the ale-hall’s roof, had large holes gouged in their thick thatch. It looked as if the Slew had tried to claw their way in there. Three bairns hunched under the eaves of the ale-hall, whimpering. The sight of their strained, tear-streaked faces made Lara’s throat tighten.
“Bring the bairns up to the broch,” she instructed one of her warriors. “We can’t leave them out here.”
27: SECRETS INTO THE LIGHT
“THESE ARE ALL the scrolls I could find about fire magic.” Gil set down four dusty rolled parchments upon the long table. He then eyed Lara before adding quietly, “I wondered what wasreallybehind that request.”
And now you know.
