Ransom said, “Did any of you think this storm was more sentient than most? At the end, when we had already broken it up, it lashed out with magic one last time, trying to mesmerize me. It might have had me if I’d been distracted or injured.”
“I felt it too,” Locke said. “Struck hard enough to send me to my knees.” Roar leaned closer to him, her bandaged hand sneaking up to lie on his thigh. “So from now we don’t let our guards down for even a moment while we hunt. I didn’t like the feel of this one. It was nearly more than we could handle.”
“Yes, sir,” Bait said with one of his playful salutes.
Roar rested her chin on Locke’s shoulder, and her breath played across his neck. He did not think she had any clue just how much power she wielded over him.
“We could call you captain,” she suggested.
He turned his head slightly and it brought their foreheads close together, their mouths nearly touching. “Pass,” he said.
“General? Sargeant?”
He was smiling. He couldn’t help himself. He didn’t even care when Jinx let out a suggestive whistle.
“I told the innkeeper we would help set this place to rights. As much as we can anyway,” Duke chimed in.
Sighing, Locke climbed to his feet and held out a hand for Roar. She took it without any argument. “Let’s get to it then.”
*
“Are you mad?” Cassius yelled, storming into his father’s rooms. The man was surrounded by a sea of food and women, and he smiled up at his son without a care. “You switched the flags? You understand we will have a mutiny on our hands, don’t you?”
“I have men rounding up dissenters as we speak.”
“What men?”
The king chuckled darkly. “My men. Did you think they would all remain loyal as you sent their brothers off to die in search of your whore? After the first group of malcontents are hung from the palace walls, I doubt we will have many more.”
“It didn’t have to be this way. With a little more time, they would have accepted us willingly. This will only foster rebellion.”
“Now is the time to cement your position, before any of the nobles think to try it themselves. Your brother understands. He has decided to orchestrate the hangings himself. And yet my ruthless eldest son has gone soft,” he spat.
Cassius ground his teeth. He supposed his father was letting go of all pretenses now, even the lie that Casimir was his firstborn. Of course, Mir was diving at the chance to win his father’s approval. Pretending to be the eldest over the last few weeks had gone to his head. He’d gotten a taste of power and, like all his family, he craved more.
“Do you think I did not know your plan, boy? To get rid of me once you married the princess? You forget, I taught you how to lie, taught you to deceive. I know what my son looks like when he’s planning a betrayal. And I’ll not have another kingdom stolen from me.”
A chasm opened up in Cassius’s chest, a horrible thought occurring to him now. “You didn’t … did you have her kidnapped?”
The king barked a laugh, and one of the girls beside him flinched. “I should have. It was a good ploy. But, no … the skies offered me that gift. I’m merely taking advantage.”
“And when the skies turn to fire at the Stormlord’s arrival? When the walls crumble under crushing winds? When twisters bombard us from every direction? What then?”
“All the more reason to do away with the farce now and enjoy ourselves while we can.”
“You are mad. The roads are teeming with remnants, all fleeing destroyed wildlands towns. He’s picking them off one by one as he comes for us, and you are making enemies of the Pavan soldiers when we should be banding together to fight him.”
“That can be your job. Since you seem to care so much. Perhaps now you’ll reconsider all the soldiers you’re sending off to die in search of a princess we no longer need.”
*
On the fifth day in Toleme, Locke and Ransom completed the last of the repairs to the Rock. They were sweaty and covered in soot, but it was done. They’d thanked the town’s blacksmith, paid him for his help, and retrieved horses to move the Rock to the inn. Even after the town had seen them combat that twister, they did not want to draw more attention by letting them see what the Rock could do.
Back at the inn, Locke worked with Ransom to return the various supplies to the Rock that they’d taken out before the repairs. Jinx and Roar returned from another training session as they worked, and Locke was glad to see Roar looking eager and excited once more.
Roar had continued to give blood sacrifices each morning and without fail, skyfire streaked across the sky each time. It had never shown any sign of developing into a storm beyond that, and neither he nor Duke had any clue why it kept happening, but he would be relieved when it was no longer an issue.
Roar ran her hand along the newly crafted exterior of the back of the Rock. “It really is such an incredible invention.”
“That’s all Locke,” Ransom said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at him.
“And Duke,” Locke replied. “I thought we needed something more reliable than horses to ride into a storm, but faster than our own feet. Duke was the one to design most of the mechanics, I just found a way to bring it to life.”
“It’s incredible,” she said. “It could revolutionize travel through the wilds.”
“Except that it runs on illegal magic.”
She frowned. “Yes. Except that.”
He and Ransom loaded the last of the supplies, and Roar lingered while Jinx went inside.
“Did you need something?” Locke asked, and Roar’s eyes tracked his movements as he lifted his shirt to wipe his face.
“I’ve got all this excess energy after training with Jinx, and it’s making me restless. Thought I might go for a run, and I was wondering if you wanted to join me.” Her words were hesitant, broken up with unsure pauses.
He started to ask if he could bathe first, but he supposed that would not make much sense if they were about to run. He was sure he smelled of smoke and sweat, and a small part of him wanted to look his best for their first extended time alone in days.
“Sure. I could do with a run.”
She grinned at him, and it nearly took him to his knees.
“You ready?” she asked, bouncing slightly on her feet.
He laughed. “I don’t think I have ever seen you this eager for a run. I know I haven’t.”
She darted back a few steps, and when he followed at a lazy pace, she scurried a little farther. “Maybe I missed running with you.”
His heart began to ease into a faster rhythm, and even though he was tired and sore from the last few days’ brutal work, he felt a burst of energy.
“You missed getting beaten?” he asked with a smile.
She twined her hands behind her and walked backward, pulling him along like there was a lure stuck in his chest. “I don’t know. I’m feeling good tonight. I think today might finally be the day that I leave you in the dust.”
“Doubtful,” he growled, picking up his pace to match hers.
“Prove it,” she said with a smile, then turned and took off at a hard sprint.
Soul of fire, soul of rage
No longer bound by flesh or cage,
Soul exalted, soul made new
Reserved for those devout and true.
—“The Way of Souls,” a Sacred Soul hymn