Page 103 of The Iron Hex

“I am,” she answered.

“Good,” Dr. Balet said, a smile growing on his face as he placed his glasses on the table next to him. He didn’t need them. “Do not worry, you are not on my list to join the Soulless Knights.”

She hadn’t asked. Rhona knew it instantly, down in the deepest recesses of her gut, that he was lying to her. Why would he bring it up if she wasn’t on some sort of list in his twisted head?

“I’m sure I will fight next to one of your —” she gulped “—children, in Corisia.”

“I’m sure you will,” the doctor said as she headed up the stairs, slowly at first and ending in a sprint, needing to get out of that cursed space as soon as she could. The Rot, or whatever he called it... it feltwrong.

Rhona knew she should go to bed, that she shouldn’t bring more attention to what she’d been doing. Routine was the best way to make sure that no one in the Iron Retinue caught on to her work with Maeve, or her breaking into Dr. Balet’s prison. But she couldn’t; she needed to walk and clear her head. The images of those poor people strapped to gurneys and maimed, moaning in pain or saying nothing at all, played in Rhona’s mind on loop. Over and over again, the images always flashing back to Jack.

Commander Bartholomew had lied to her face about Jack leaving the capital, and she had known that something hadn’t added up. What if she’d acted earlier? Found the place before he’d been injected? Would she have been able to get him out safely? Would he have even trusted her enough to listen to her? They’d been selling it to soldiers as a promotion... anyone in the Iron Retinue would have fought for a promotion and taken one in an instant, without question.

Rhona would have taken a promotion too, even earlier today if it had been offered to her. How many soldiers had the lordgeneral and commanders welcomed to their deaths as a part of this project? With so many regiments and knights and missions, it was impossible to say. Rhona thought that the lord general was meant to protect the Iron Empire and his soldiers under him, but he wasn’t protecting anyone. Rhona felt lightheaded as she snapped out of her own thoughts and found herself at Lady Maeve’s door for the second time that day.

Rhona knocked gently on the door as her thoughts spiraled. Soulless Knights? Using the Rot that rotted the crops? It all seemed too decisively evil, and Rhona simply didn’t know how to process it. This was not the Iron Empire she thought she knew.

50

Hugo

Hugo looked down on Giant’s Gate, one of Astra’s oldest settlements, just as the sun hit its midday peak. The people in Giant’s Gate lived largely outside of the jurisdiction of the Iron Empire. Yes, they were part of the empire, but in name only. Hugo remembered as he looked down on the small town when Lord General Kerrigan had told him to leave the Gate alone, that the Gate was ungovernable and the Iron Empire would “handle them in due time.” He’d watched this town from where he stood one time before, as he left Luwha in shambles all those years ago. His life was so different then, and so much worse.

He motioned for Eira to follow as they took the path down the mountain, thick trees and deep snow making their progress slow. Evangeline had slept most of the journey propped against his back, silence falling comfortably between the two of them when she was awake. Hugo didn’t know when, but somewhere in the past weeks it seemed like Evangeline had started to trust him, maybe.

The occupants of the town watched the two horses withcuriosity, and a little bit of hostility, as they rode into the small village.

Hugo saw Eira gently smile at some of the people, trying to seem friendly while each of them stared at her with stony expressions.

He led them to the center of the tiny town, where a worn wooden sign that simply read Tavern hung from the doorway of a building.

Hugo hopped off the horse and lifted Evangeline down.

“I can walk,” she said, her skin sallow and clammy. “I’ll be okay.”

“Let me help you,” Eira said, hopping off of Arthur, her skirts hitched to her belt to stop them from getting soaked from the snow.

“We can’t show these people that one of us can’t walk... it’s dangerous,” Evangeline whispered.

Eira’s face dropped as she realized what Evangeline was saying.

“Let’s just go inside,” Hugo said, slowly walking toward the tavern to not leave Evangeline alone.

Once inside, the tavern wasn’t much different than any of the ones they’d been to in the past few weeks as they traveled Astra. The three patrons inside eating a delicious-smelling meal stopped, one of them with their spoon halfway to their mouth, to watch Hugo, Eira, and Evangeline hobble into the room.

“What can I help you with?” the elderly woman behind the bar croaked.

“Hi there,” Eira said, smiling, a scowl from the woman the only response she received before a long, awkward pause.

“We’re not used to getting many outsiders here,” the woman finally said.

“We’re hoping to grab two rooms for the night and... we’re looking for the Old Witch,” Hugo said, getting straightto the point. Part of him hoped they’d be able to get this all done today, sleep, and then get the hell out of this frozen-over, wild town.

The woman’s eyes turned icy. “What do you need with the Old Witch?”

“I’d feel more comfortable speaking to the witch about our reasons,” Hugo said, not wanting to share more details than absolutely necessary in front of this woman and the random patrons in the room with them.

“I’m not letting you anywhere near the witch until I know what you need,” the barmaid continued. “Feel free to not tell me and spend the night, but without my okay you’ll never get her help.”