Page 10 of Through the Wicked Wood

“Oh, I have no doubt of your abilities to do anything, love.” Sorin laughs. “In fact, I’m certain you possess an arsenal of skills you have yet to divulge.” With a wink and another smile, Sorin gets what he wants; a rise of my temper. Shooting him a warning look, I open my mouth to retort, but he cuts me off, slinging his jacket on and waving his hand loosely in the air. “I’m merely suggesting that if you don’t go alone, the process may be faster. We all need an extra hand from time to time.” Closing the distance I created between us, he invades my space again with his large frame.

Clearing my throat, I ask, “And why would you want to help? What would be in it for you?” I’m not sure if I’m asking because I’m considering this plan, or if it’s more for curiosity, but I’m no fool to think he would help me find the Stones just for the sake of it. There is always something. Always a catch. A price. His eyes narrow and shift to the ground. Casually, he places both hands in the pockets of his dark pants. He gives a slight shake of his head, clearly fighting something internally. As if he’s struggling to find the right words to say. The right secrets to tell.

“I’ve traveled the coast. I’ve seen the effects of the famine. Of the sailors lost at sea. And let’s just say,” he whispers, “there is something I seek to acquire in Valebridge. Something of value that I’ve sought for a long time.” His gaze finally meets mine. Though, I can’t read the expression on his face. “And seeing as how you’re an Enchantress, I imagine you grew up there, as most Enchantresses do. So, who better to show me around?”

“You want me to help you get into Valebridge so you can…steal something?” I ask, shaking my head. “You may as well have led with that instead of all that fuss about saving people.”

“Acquire,” he says with a smile. “And you don’t know me, so you have no reason to believe me when I say I’m truly worried about the fate of our country with Roman at the helm and the Mother pissed off. Valebridge is so heavily guarded after the uprising, it’s impossible to get in without being on the king's roster.” I want to correct him. Remind him that the uprising was falsified. An unjust coup to rid the Enchantresses of their freedoms. To lock them up. But before I can, Sorin continues, “Or the false uprising I should say.”

“You...you know it was false?” My stomach drops at his validation. For whatever reason, hearing someone else confirm the truth lessens my burden only a little.

“Of course,” he scoffs. “King Roman is a fool drunk on power. Any one with half a brain knows the Enchantresses didn’t turn on him, rather, the latter.” He runs a hand down his face, scratching at the dark stubble that lines his jaw. “It’s a miracle you escaped.”

My stomach sours at the word.

Escape.

I did anything but.

“I will help you journey to Kirsgard Mountain,” he continues, pulling me from the spiral of thoughts that have begun to poke at my mind. “Help you find the Stones so we can prove to the Mother that we are on Her side, if you can agree to help me into Valebridge. There must be a way that’s unguarded.”

He isn’t wrong. There are tunnels that lead under the castle, hidden and warded by use of magick. But the thought of returning to Valebridge, to the place where I spent the better part of my life, sends my heart into a flurry.

“I…” My words fail me as I try to speak, my fingers flex at my sides. “I…I haven’t been there since… It’s been a long time,” I say, forcing the words out, wrapping my arms tighter around myself. “I’m sure much of it has changed.” Panic creeps into my chest and up through my throat at the thought of coming face to face with anyone in Valebridge. The king, no less.

I’ve thought often of the Enchantresses who didn't make it out the night the king and his guards turned on us. Of the ones who were destined for an unwelcome life serving Roman against their will. Having their magick stolen from them and when there is nothing left to steal, likely their lives ending.

My concern for them while hiding safely in the forest has done nothing. Has saved no one.

Not to mention those far more affected by the famine than I’ve been. I knew things were shifting in the forest, more and more often food became harder to find. But I hadn’t realized just how bad it’s gotten in other parts of the country.

It’s your duty to serve and protect the lives of those who reside in Teravie.

I may be without magick, but I am still my mother’s daughter. The daughter of the late King Silas’ most powerful Seer. I owe her this much.

Sorin steps toward me again, continuing this cat and mouse dance we’ve started. I dart my eyes to the smoke tendrils still rising in the night.

Looking past the smoke, the moon has begun its crest over the treetops casting wicked, silvery shadows on the landscape below. The usual crow sits perched on a branch of a nearby evergreen, its silhouette illuminated by the moonlight as it keeps a watchful eye over the creatures of the night.

“But you remember Valebridge, don’t you?” Sorin’s voice is a low rasp in my ear. My shoulders tense as the darkness tries to sweep in. Pushing against my temples, blurring my vision.

Stay here with us, the voices hiss.

Shaking my head, I tug lightly on my earlobe. “Yes,” I say. Closing my eyes, images of crimson and steel flash behind them. “I remember it.”

Chapter 6

Elora

The dense trees are nearly shapeless in the pale gray light as we make our way to the river’s edge the next morning. Waking before the sun, we packed as much as we could carry on our backs before setting off on foot. Before we left, I memorized the shape of my cabin, the pattern of trees near the ravine, and how the crisp morning air felt against my cheeks.

The sorrow of leaving another home washes over me. I can only hope I’ve made the right choice in trusting Sorin, on embarking on this quest to find the Stones. On possibly ending the blight that has affected our kingdom. Our country and home.

“Why should I trust you?” I asked last night, rubbing my arms to keep myself warm.

“I can’t give you any great reasons,” Sorin said from across my small camp. Shaking my head, I started heading back toward the cabin. If he couldn’t give me any reason to trust him, I wasn’t going to leave everything behind.

“You don’t know me, and I don’t know you,” he said matter of factly. Pausing at the door’s threshold, my fingers gripped on the wooden frame. “But I do know what has been happening to your kind for far too long,” Sorin continued. “I don’t know your personal story, but I know that of many others. The pain, the injustices, the horrors. All at the hands of the bastard who calls himself king. I have seen firsthand the happenings around Valebridge. The crops that turn to dust and the fish that have up and disappeared.”

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