Our landing at an Avenian dock was so easy, I almost wanted to remind Mott that I had made the better choice. Of course, we had a dangerous road ahead and so it was too early for any celebration. Mott, Tobias, and I were still dressed as Avenian soldiers, which would help us move through the countryside without trouble. At least, I hoped there wouldn’t be trouble. Much as I tried to hide it, Mott clearly understood that I was in no condition for a fight.
The three of us left the boat; then I ordered the rowers and coxswain to return my prime regent safely to Drylliad. I reminded Harlowe of my strategies, but was firm that his first priority was to send out a search for Princess Amarinda. If Fink made it to Bymar, then I hoped he would either stay there where it was safe, or return to Carthya in the company of Bymar’s army and under their protection.
To avoid any argument, I explained only what was necessary of my plans. Mott’s mouth was pinched in a thin line of disapproval and Harlowe didn’t look much happier. Tobias clearly thought I had gone insane during my time in captivity, and as that wasn’t entirely impossible, I didn’t contradict him. In the end, they agreed to all that I asked, and Harlowe made Mott and Tobias promise to keep me safe. Mott replied that he could protect me from everyone but myself, which I thought was a fair compromise.
After Harlowe left, Mott, Tobias, and I obtained some food and three sturdy horses from a farmer on the outskirts of the swamp. Vargan’s camp was farther south than our position, and I hoped our path would keep us far from there. I couldn’t stomach the thought of returning, willingly or not.
Gradually the sun rose at our backs. We were heading west at a slower pace than I wanted, but Mott insisted I preserve my strength and recover from the past several days. Patience had never been a virtue that interested me, and certainly one I had never courted. But for now, it was a necessary one. When night fell, I arranged for an inn where we could spend the night with a good sleep. With our black and red uniforms, and my Avenian accent, nobody gave us a second look.
I felt much better the following morning, and even managed a meal of real food, or the closest thing to it in Avenia. Once we were on the road again, Tobias asked, “Shouldn’t we turn farther south to reach Tarblade?”
“We have another stop first,” I said.
Mott groaned. “You remember we’re deep in enemy territory, correct?”
“The people here aren’t my enemy,” I said. “Only their king. I need to send a message.”
“Carried in the hands of an Avenian? Jaron, you might not consider these people your enemy, but they won’t look so kindly upon you. If you had a message to send, it should’ve gone with Harlowe yesterday.”
“A fine idea, if I’d have thought of it yesterday,” I snapped.
We rode for another half hour before we came to the edge of the thieves’ camp, the place where I had first been taken on my way to the pirates. It had always been a bustle of activity, and I’d expected the same liveliness now.
But it was different this time.
I left my sword in place as we rode into camp, but had my hand ready, just in case. The few men still there came to their feet to greet us, but they looked more like scavengers than thieves. A few were armed, but nobody went for their weapons. I recognized a few men but most of them were new faces. I had no friends here.
“You’ve picked us over enough!” a drunken man shouted through blurred words. “None of us here can fight — the last group of soldiers knew that and left us alone.”
With some nervousness, Mott and Tobias looked at each other, and I remembered how we were dressed.
“What happened to the others who were here?” I asked. “Did they volunteer to fight?”
“Volunteered at the point of a blade,” a man said. “They took everyone who might be of use.”
Another man sauntered forward, staring at me. “How old are you, boy? You’re no soldier. Or no leader amongst them, if you are.”
“No leader amongst Avenian soldiers, no.” When I removed my helmet, there was enough of a reaction that it was clear some of them knew me. “My name is Jaron. I am the king of Carthya, king of the Avenian pirates, and a friend of Erick’s, who was in charge here. If you don’t wish to fight for Vargan, then join me now. Ride with me and let’s leave this place.”
“Or we could capture you and earn a lifetime of gold from Vargan,” the man nearest to us said.
I snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. If you had the ability to capture me, you’d have already been recruited.”
They gave up and half turned away from me. “We’re Avenian,” another thief said, sitting back down beside his fire. “We’ll stay here.”
“As you wish. But that’s a thin stew in your pot, and I can help thicken it. If you’re hungry, I’ll pay your fastest rider to deliver a message back to Carthya for me.”
“No,” Tobias hissed. “You can’t trust these men.” But I only ignored him.
The man closest to me lifted his hands to his hips. “I’m the fastest rider here. What’s your message?”
“It goes to my commander in Drylliad.” I eyed him steadily. “Can you deliver it?”
He held my gaze. “On my word of honor as a thief.”
Which, at best, was a contradiction in terms. Continuing, I said, “Good enough, I suppose. Tell him that during my time in captivity, I was forced to reveal our key strategies in this war, so everything must change. I need every spare man moved to Drylliad to protect the castle, and I want every trap ready in that city. I also want the wealth of Carthya moved to a place called Farthenwood. It’ll be safer there.” I leaned in to him. “Now promise me that this message will reach my castle.”
“That’s a pretty dangerous message.” He nodded at a single garlin clasped in my fist. “I hope you’re planning on paying more than that.”
I stuffed the coin back into my pocket. That one wasn’t for him. “No doubt Vargan would consider this message far more valuable than what I can afford to pay you here. But my companion will give you a few garlins now, and you may ask for many more once you’ve reached Drylliad.”
I gestured to Mott, who reached into his saddlebag and withdrew a handful of coins for the man. He pocketed the money and then told the other thieves to get his horse ready.
There was nothing more to keep us here now. I wished the men well and told them we had to be on our way. After we rode off, Mott said, “While in captivity, you lied to Avenia about our plans.”
“Yes.”
“And now you wish to change all our actual plans to fit those lies?”
“It seemed like a good idea.”
He stared at me for a moment, and then shrugged. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“If I don’t, then you’ll always be there to point out my mistakes.”
I smiled from the corner of my mouth and Mott chuckled lightly. The joke eased the tension that had been between us since my rescue, and even Tobias relaxed somewhat. After another few hours, we stopped to give the horses a rest and for us to share some of the food we had brought with us from the inn. In the warmth of the day, we took shade beneath the canopy of a tall yew tree that overlooked the coast of the Eranbole Sea in the distance. It was uncommonly beautiful and I longed to one day board a ship and set sail across it.
Before taking bites for themselves, both Mott and Tobias leaned against the trunk and allowed me to eat as greedily as I needed to. It helped to return my strength, though it wasn’t nearly enough for the conversation I had been avoiding since my escape.
When it couldn’t be delayed any longer, I asked Mott, “Did I do the right thing, coming after you in that camp?”
“No.” He sighed heavily and looked sideways at me. “But it wasn’t the wrong thing either. The night you rescued me, from the minute they brought Imogen there, I knew I would tell them everything they wanted. I’d have failed you, Jaron.”
“I’d have done no better. I didn’t even last long when they put Tobias against me and he isn’t nearly as pretty.”
Tobias snorted a laugh and said he wouldn’t even try to disagree with that.
We rested awhile, and then Mott said, “About Imogen —”
My eyes had been closed, thinking again of that last moment with her. “I thought I could save her. And you as well.”
“You did save me. She might have gotten away too, but she wouldn’t leave you behind any more than you’d have left her.”
“She took the arrow intended for me. She gave her life for mine.”
“And you risked yours for us. Why didn’t you send someone else in? We have other warriors capable of that rescue.”
“I knew Avenia was looking for information, and if anyone was captured they’d dredge my plans from them, as they would’ve done with you. But if I became their captive, I knew I could give them the exact information I wanted. Which I did.”
Tobias shook his head. “If you were going to lie, why not just tell them at first, before they had to beat it out of you?”
“They’d never have believed me if I made it that simple.” My voice softened as I felt again their strikes and blows. “They had to beat it out of me so that they would accept my lies. It was going to happen anyway. At least we got something from it.” The price for misdirecting them had been very high, so much that it had nearly killed me. But we had an advantage now in the war. Avenia would waste a great deal of energy chasing shadows that did not exist.
Little more was spoken until we were back on the road again. Then my thoughts inevitably turned back to Imogen. I said, “The arrow hit below her shoulder, but might’ve missed her heart. If she survived the fall, then they would’ve tried to heal her, so they could use her against me.”
“Then why didn’t that happen?” Tobias spoke gently, knowing his words would add to the crushing ache within me. “If she survived, of course they would’ve used her and not me. So why didn’t they?”
I already knew the answer, though I couldn’t find it in me to speak the words. She had said it herself when we were together. Even if she had survived, she would try to die. She would choose that, rather than allow herself to become a weapon against me.
But this understanding only stirred my frustrations. “Why did she stop that archer? All she had to do was run.”
Mott pressed his lips together, then with the same calmness as Tobias had used, said, “She stopped him because that’s who she was. Don’t be angry for what was best about her.”
Maybe he was right, but I still wasn’t sure that Imogen had been. I dropped my head and said, “Give me hope, Mott. Is there any chance of her being alive?”
He rode for a minute, probably replaying that moment just as I was. His eyes were closed and his face was tense. At last, he said, “I saw her fall from the hill, and I ran toward her, but she was quickly surrounded. They removed the arrow and then called for the wagon to get her.”
“A medical wagon?”
He shook his head slowly, as if that simple movement took effort. “For the burial of the dead. That’s where they put her. I’m sorry, Jaron.”
We went silent. Until that moment, I had almost convinced myself that he would have seen something that could give me hope, one small possibility for her survival. But that wagon would’ve been called for only one purpose.
Finally, I said, “Her mother lives in Tithio, I think.”
“Once we’re back in Carthya, I’ll arrange for a message to be sent to her,” Mott offered.
“No, I’ll do that. I owe her mother that much.” The garlin from my pocket was in my hand again. I started to run it over my knuckles, then changed my mind and replaced it. “Every part of me hurts, Mott.”
“You’ve been through a lot. But with enough time, all wounds will heal.”
“I’m not talking about cuts and bruises.”
“Neither am I.”
“Oh.”
“Jaron, she saved you because you have to save us. She did the right thing for Carthya. But only if you turn her death into purpose, and win this war.”
I knew that was what I had to do, and yet it didn’t make the task ahead of me any less impossible. I only understood now that despite the odds, I still had to succeed.
Little more was said until I pointed to a wide field on our right and directed Mott to have his sword ready. Tobias removed his too, for what good it might do us. Almost under my breath, I said, “Be alert. This is Tarblade.”