Page 36 of The Fury She Holds
“Who took her?” Faron gentled his voice.
“Cloaks. Dark cloaks.”
Faron turned to Tal, his eyes saying what he couldn’t. It must be mages. They had been in the palace. Why were the boy and girl being held here? How did the mages know about this place? Did they have an ally within the palace?
“Where did they take her?” Tal asked, keeping her voice low.
“North. Silaron.” His voice grew weaker, if that were at all possible. Tal wondered if he had much time left before he succumbed to his injuries.
Faron tensed at the mention of the girl’s location. Tal had never heard the name before.
Carrick’s hulking form filled the doorway. “The rooms are all empty. Waylon’s gone down the hall.”
“Do you have a healing elixir?” she asked her companions. When both of them shook their heads, Tal pursed her lips. She wanted to ask more questions. What happened? What condition would they find the girl—if they found her? Had he seen their faces? What did these mages want? What would they find at Silaron? But the poor boy didn’t appear to have much more energy to continue breathing let alone explain everything. Tal stepped to the side. “Carrick, you carry him. Faron will show us the way out. I’ll keep an eye on our backs.”
Without a word, Carrick stepped into the room and knelt beside Faron. He assessed Luan’s injuries before gingerly placing his hands below the boy’s shoulders and knees. The apprentice let out a pained grunt and began panting as Carrick lifted him into his arms. A dark puddle filled the space where he had been laying, and blood dripped from his ripped tunic.
Talwyn gritted her teeth against the rage that fueled her fury at the sight. When Carrick turned with him, the boy’s swollen and bloodied face came into view. He couldn’t have been more than fifteen. She feared for the girl, Nola, and whatever state she wasin. She stepped aside and allowed the men out of the room, with Carrick holding Luan like a sleeping child.
Waylon appeared by a door at the end of the hall. “Time to go. There’s movement.”
Without a word, Tal replaced the torch she’d been holding and returned to the hanging tapestry and their secret entrance. Faron helped her pull the stones to a secure close with a hooked metal fire poker that he grabbed from the ground just inside the tunnel.
They left twice as fast as before, and Faron didn’t falter at any of the turns. When they reached the false sewer grate, Tal winced at how loudly the metal scraped along the stones. They stuck to the shadows through the grounds and reached the main gate. Without a moment’s pause, Faron instructed them to head into the woods and follow the water, and he and Waylon would catch up. The two men approached the same two guards, arm in arm, singing a boisterous tune. Their distraction worked instantly, and the guards left their posts to guide the two men back within the grounds.
Tal and Carrick hurried to the trees surrounding the outer palace walls, a small stream of water flowing on their left. After a distance, they slowed their pace, and Tal broke the tense silence that hung between them. “Does any of this seem suspicious to you?”
“You mean why would a noble come to us for help?”
Tal nodded. “I want to trust him, but something isn’t adding up.” She paused, then said, “Perhaps it’s because we’re expendable? Should anything go wrong, no one will miss a couple of orphans from the docks.”
Carrick grunted in response. They walked for a few minutes longer, their pace terribly slow as they picked their way over tree roots. A branch cracking behind them had Tal whipping around, knife in hand.
Without a greeting, Faron spoke, “When we reach the village, there will be a cart waiting to take Luan north to the mountains. They’ll have a healing elixir for him. Whoever took him has connections within the palace, which means he can’t stay here. I’ve hired a healer and her husband to care for him until he’s well enough to find his own way.”
“What about his family?” Carrick asked, carefully adjusting his hold under the boy’s shoulders. He grunted softly, but didn’t stir.
“He has no family.”
Talwyn scoffed. “And you learned this when?”
“I met Luan three years ago while I acquired a new sword. He and I have spoken on occasion since then.”
“Where’s your friend?” Tal eyed the empty space surrounding him.
“He’s gone to get Ed. Do you not trust me?”
“I could hardly say I know you well enough to offer my trust. Why are you so trusting ofme?”
Faron chuckled beside her. “So cynical. I trust you because you help the lowly, even if it puts you in danger. Besides, I’m a great judge of character.” He straightened with a hand on his chest.
“You don’t think this appears suspicious at all?” Moonlight illuminated his handsome face, and Tal tripped on a tree root. He caught her by the elbow and only released her when she steadied her footing.
“Oh, I think it looks terribly suspicious. Who on earth is trying to frame the king by placing a tortured blacksmith’s apprentice in a dungeon underneath the palace? I think we need to get to the bottom of this before it escalates.”
“You know that’s not what I meant. And what do you mean ‘we'?Wedon’t need to do anything. Carrick and I are doing you a favor.Weneed to get this boy to safety, and that’s it.”
Faron stopped walking, and the center of his brow pulled up in dismay. “You’re not going to help me get Nola out?”
