Page 26 of Her Cruel Redemption

‘Informants?’ Elias repeated.

Niall grimaced. ‘We mean no offence. We had a run in with a few of them early on. Accused us of harbouring traitorous sentiment. You should have seen me talk my way out of it.’ He laughed uneasily. ‘I was probably a little vocal when the king renamed the country. Couldn’t help myself, though. I’ve been a proud Brimordian my whole life.’

‘When… he renamed the country?’ I repeated, uncomprehending.

‘I could’ve swallowed it if the new one hadn’t been such a kick in the teeth.Ashreign.Not even pretending he isn’t tearing the place apart.’

Ashreign. My stomach began to churn, my heartbeat growing heavy and loud. The usurper had not only stolen my kingdom, he waserasingit. He was burning it down around him. A reign of ashes.

‘You shouldn’t talk about these things,’ Soifra said, her voice barely above a whisper as she hugged her little boy to her side.

‘They’re on their way to Oceatold, love. They’re not loyal to the Blood King,’ he said gently, before turning his eyes on me. ‘Though, if you don’t mind my saying, you ought to be a little more careful with sharing that information. There’s plenty of sorts about looking to sniff out signs of trouble this side of the border. There’s been a push to put down civil unrest lately. If any get wind that you’re fleeing the country to join the restoration efforts, you’ll be in a spot of trouble.’

‘Though why they bother, I don’t know,’ Soifra muttered, before licking the pad of her thumb and wiping a smear of stew off her son’s cheek. ‘There are plenty who’ve refused to bend already in Oceatold. All those lords and priests and druthi, and what are they doing? Quarrelling amongst themselves. There’ll be no restoration until they can all agree on who and what they’re restoring. And while they’re figuring that out, we’re caught between civil uprisings and a border war, with nowhere to go.’ Her words ended with a hiccup of a sob. She sounded so desperate, and so tired of being desperate. Niall took her hand and squeezed it, but she didn’t even look up, staring at the ground with a slight wobble to her chin.

‘Sorry to bring you all down. We’ve been on the road a while,’ Niall said apologetically. ‘It’s not been easy when there are already so many others looking for a place to go. Most towns we’ve passed through have already been overrun by travellers.’

‘Where are you going?’ I asked, and my heart ached harder when he shrugged.

‘To someplace that’ll take us. Until we find it, we’ll keep walking. I know we’ll find somewhere soon.’

‘But it won’t be our home,’ Soifra said. ‘Who knows when we’ll see it again.’

‘You’ll see it again,’ I found myself saying, spurned on by that heated, churning feeling inside that seemed to hissAshreignall the way through me. ‘I promise.’

Soifra looked up at that, brows drawn low over her pale, intelligent eyes. Then she scoffed. ‘Did Niall pay you to say that? You sound just like him.’

‘I mean it. That’s why we’re going to Oceatold. We’re going to join the restoration efforts. Our forces will come together, and when they do, we’ll join with Oceatold and throw down the Usurper and restore the throne of Brimordia.’

She stared hard. ‘What did you say your name was again? Gwinellyn? Like the princess?’

I held her gaze steadily. ‘Like the princess.’

Niall didn’t seem to register my response as the talk turned into other territory. He pointed out some of the landmarks on our road ahead and exchanged advice on places to stop as he looked over Mae’s map, but Soifra’s eyes kept returning to me, and there was a spark of life in them that hadn’t been there before. When they left us to return to their wagon to sleep, Niall thanked us all heartily for the warmth and the conversation, and as he gathered their boy from where he’d curled up on a blanket on the ground, Soifra drew close to me, those pale eyes searching mine, before she took my hand.

‘Safe travels,’ she said. ‘May Aether protect you.’

‘You too,’ I replied. She smiled so brightly, stepping back to bob a funny little curtsey, laughing at herself as she wobbled. Naill raised his eyebrows at her as she rejoined him, and she kissed him on the cheek. ‘Let’s put this boy to bed.’

Elias drew close to me, watching them as they drew out of the firelight and back into the dark. ‘You told her who you are.’

‘Not exactly. I hinted.’

‘I’m not sure that was wise.’

‘Did you see them? They needed something to hope for. Everyone on this road needs something to hope for. Maybe I can’t give them back what they’ve lost right now, but at the very least they can go to sleep tonight knowing that someone is going to fight for them. They can lay their little boy to bed knowing there’s at least the possibility of better times to come.’

‘I know,’ he replied, running his fingers up and down my arm. ‘It’s just a risk.’

‘It was one worth taking.’ And in that moment, it was. I didn’t feel like it had been a risky decision. It had felt like one I’d had to make. It felt like taking ownership of who I was, of what I was doing. It felt like making that promise to her had meant fully taking responsibility for all those people we’d passed on the road. They were my people. I hadn’t forgotten them. I was going to save them all.

Chapter Twelve

Ibegan to sleep easier as we continued our journey. Perhaps I was getting used to the thin bedroll, the cold night air, the rustling of the trees nearby and the sound of Daethie gently snoring. One morning, I woke in a good mood after having had the best sleep I’d had since I’d arrived in the Living Valley, absorbed with pleasant, vivid dreams. I felt so deeply rested, like I’d been able to finally relax, all those tight muscles unknotting. I sat up slowly, unwilling to release the foggy glow, mind still clinging to snatches of dreams I only half remembered and wouldn’t acknowledge even if I did.

Daethie watched me thoughtfully as I stretched and rubbed my eyes.

‘What did you dream of?’ she asked.

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