“If they are waiting for us on the walls? What then?”
Thealos looked at Ticastasy and his heart swelled with admiration. “We start the Ravinjon early.”
“Mad. Both of you.” Xenon stamped and whirled away, seething.
Thealos grabbed Ticastasy’s hand and gave her a little tug. “You don’t have to follow us then, Xenon.”
*
The warding did not affect Thealos as much as he thought it would. He knew once they had crossed it, for it felt as if the sky had suddenly fallen like stacks of plates from a cupboard. But the Oath magic gave him a dispassionate glimpse of it—a look into what it really was. Fear—simple yet potent. The warding was fear. An attacking army would struggle against it, especially a Shae army. But in the end, all it could do was make one afraid.
Something Jaerod had whispered to him that night crossing the Bandit army bubbled up from the wellspring’s memories—It is only fear. I will protect you.
Two other quaeres ran ahead of them, their bodies bounding up the rugged slant of the hill with quicksilver ease. He sensed their presence ahead, just as he sensed Xenon’s quaere behind. Three quaeres of Crimson Wolfsmen. That should be enough men to breach the walls.
Ticastasy labored alongside him and he clutched her arm to help her keep up. He guided her around the thick sedge to avoid crunching through them. Ahead, a huge boulder jutted out of the slope, as impassive as a wall. He connected his hands like a stirrup and helped hoist her up into the grasp of the Wolfsmen above and then clambered up the slope himself. At least he wasn’t cold anymore.
The slope grew steeper and their jog slowed to an arduous climb, grasping onto exposed rocks and pulling higher up the steep slope. No army would be able to attack from that direction—which would make it the least defended also. The Oath magic thrummed in his skin, boosting his endurance and making him long to charge the rest of the way by himself.
Ticastasy’s boot slid on a mud slick and Thealos caught her around the middle and hoisted her back to her feet. He could feel her heart hammering beneath her soaked shirt. She nodded that she was okay and continued to scramble up the hillside. Thealos followed, feeling the strain of the magic.
The first quaere made it to the wall and one of the leads started climbing it. Thealos watched him scale its cobbled surface like a spider, following the pitted seams and edges of the battlement wall. A huge rope dangled from his belt as he moved upwards. Thealos watched, impressed, and joined the others at the base of the wall. The area was overgrown with prickly shrubs and thriving with witchthorn and brambles. Ticastasy sagged against the wall, covering her mouth, and tried to catch her breath from the hard run.
Xenon arrived as the lead reached the lip of the wall and waited, dangling dozens of feet above them. He rocked twice and then swung a leg up and around and disappeared over the top.
Thealos stared, holding his breath.
A coil of rope tumbled down and one of the Wolfsmen caught it deftly.
Xenon muttered to himself before straightening and pointing to the others. “Stand guard on the walls until everyone has made it over and down, Brome. Then I want…” He stopped. “Vannier isn’t with us tonight. The next patrol is coming sooner than I thought. One quaere at a time.”
He shoved Thealos and Ticastasy back against the wall. “Don’t move!”
Thealos watched as three more Wolfsmen shimmied up the rope, their arms pumping as they went hand over hand up the wall. In moments, they disappeared, one by one over the edge. The end of the rope fell from above, snatched by one of the Wolfsmen on the ground.
Xenon cocked his head and then held his finger to his lips.
The sounds of bootsteps and muttering sounded overhead, and a set of torches illuminated the crenellations on the bastion as if dawn had decided to arrive a few hours early. Thealos pressed against the cold wall next to Ticastasy and waited until the steps passed. Xenon motioned for one of his men, who nodded and stepped back out and caught another coil of rope as it plummeted. A second coil winged down as well.
“You two,” Xenon said.
Ticastasy grabbed the rope and prepared to climb, but Xenon shook his head and looped it around her forearm. “Just hold on.”
Thealos followed, and the members of the quaere hoisted them both up top. His heart pounded in his chest. As he reached the edge, one of the warriors reached down and grasped his hand and pulled him the rest of the way up. He pointed to a steep, narrow stairway that ascended up the inner side of the wall. Thealos nodded to him. The ropes were tossed back down and tensed as the next batch of Wolfsmen started up.