Page 29 of Her Cruel Redemption

‘Rhiandra? Is something wrong?’ Gwinellyn’s voice chimed from behind me, and I spun around to see her approaching the camp with Mae in tow, leading the newly-shod horse. I strode towards her immediately.

‘You told someone who you are.’ I gripped her shoulders when I reached her, halting her in place. ‘Why?Why, Gwinellyn?’

‘What?’ Her face paled. ‘What did you hear at the tavern?’

‘That Princess Gwinellyn is on the road to Oceatold to meet with her forces and retake the throne. Quite a specific rumour.’ I released her with a flick of my hands. ‘So, who did you tell, Gwinellyn? Who needed yourhopeso badly that you decided to risk the safety of everyone in this group?’

‘Easy, Rhiandra, we heard some wild rumours when we were with the blacksmith. The lack of information on the war is a breeding ground for them,’ Mae said, running a soothing hand down her horse’s nose as it tossed its head.

‘Well, the one I care about is this one, because it’s the damned truth. It was that family, wasn’t it? The ones who shared our fire? It wasn’t enough to feed them, you thought you needed to promise to be their hero as well. And now look how they’ve repaid you.’

‘You’re right, it wasn’t enough to just feed them,’ Gwin said quietly, shaking her head. ‘Did you see that little boy? Did you see how hopeless they were? They’d lost everything. If I could give them a little of something to hold onto to lift their spirits, then I think it was worth the risk.’

‘You made such a point of me keeping my powers secret to avoid drawing attention and maintain the element of surprise, only to go and give away the biggest surprise we had.Theseare the rumours Draven will be listening for, and there are plenty of desperate people who would be willing to sell them to him.’ I searched her face, seeing her lifted chin, a spark of reckless defiance. Aether’s teeth, she thought her people would guard her secret. She had clearly never tasted desperation. ‘Your naivety is going to get us killed,’ I snapped.

‘Enough, Rhiandra,’ Elias interrupted, coming to Gwin’s side. A damned white knight to her rescue, when she needed to be able to fight for herself. ‘You’ve said your piece. What’s done is done.’

I inhaled deeply and took a step back. He was right. It was done. And fissures of guilt were snaking through my anger-coated fear now, spawned by Gwinellyn’s reminder of that spindly child and his threadbare mother.

I could have stopped this war.

‘We need to pack up camp and get moving. The sooner we make the border, the better,’ I said finally, my tone a little quieter, a little softer in the wake of my shame.

‘Alright. We’ll see how far we get before nightfall and camp on the roadside again,’ Gwin replied, looking chastised, and I released a sigh, watching her as she moved past me to help with packing the food into saddle bags. Had I been too hasty in putting my faith in her? Had I wanted too badly to believe that she could do what she planned and fix my mistakes? Perhaps I’d been so blinded by the potential for my own redemption that I hadn’t been able to see this for the doomed cause that it was. Inspiring a crowd of magic-wielding recluses to action was one thing, but what about when we reached Oceatold? There would be a mess of power struggles among the druthi and lords and priests of the Brimordian court who had made it over the border. How was she supposed to convince them all to abandon their own agendas and follow her? How was she supposed to win a war?

And yet, for some reason, I believed in her. It seemed even this latest foolhardy decision hadn’t changed that.

Elias returned with additional water cannisters to be added to the collection of items to sling over the backs of the horses, and by then it was already well into the afternoon. The shadows were growing longer, stretching out across the ground as the sun slipped through the sky, and I tied knots with slapdash efficiency as my horse pawed at the ground and tested the pull on his rope. If he’d had enough slack, I was sure he would have turned his head and taken a bite out of me.

‘Your magic is what’s upsetting him,’ Tanathil said as he sidled up to the horse and ran a hand down its neck, wearing that glazed look that meant he was using magic. The creature immediately settled down, the pawing ceasing, muscles relaxing.

‘Then why is yours doing the opposite?’

‘You’re smart. I think you know why.’

‘I don’t want another lecture.’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t do lectures. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to lie to you either.’

I eyed him as I clipped the final buckle of the saddle bag and tugged it to check it was secure, so I saw the moment he stiffened, losing that loose-limbed stance he favoured as he looked around. Immediately, I was on edge. The horses were a distance away from the camp site, shielded from the others by a thicket of trees.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

‘Someone’s here.’ He scanned the trees. ‘Someone poking around.’

I followed his gaze, but all I could see were trunks and branches, the many straight pines standing sentry around us. ‘Should we go back and tell the others?’

Tan opened his mouth to reply, but with a sudden whizzing sound, something shot out of the darkness and landed in him with a thump. He gasped a startled inhale, his hand immediately going to the shaft of the crossbow bolt sticking out of his side. I hardly had time to react, to reach out and try to catch him as he slumped against the horse, becausethere were shapes in the trees, silhouettes emerging from the shadows. Two, three, five. I whipped my head around to catch sight of a sixth behind us as I held Tanathil up. They were moving swiftly, steadily closing in on me. Bandits? Soldiers? Fear sent my heart thundering as I tried to pick a spot to cut between them, torun. The shiver of terror raising hair on my skin met that staticky zing in my blood, and I woke from my shock with a jolt. Immediately, I released Tan and drew the static forth, into my hands.

One of the advancing men faltered, his eyes going to my hands as I stepped forwards. He raised his crossbow and shot a bolt towards me, but it went wide and I ducked away from it, embedding in a tree behind me. Another grabbed him by the wrist.

‘Fucking idiot!’ he bellowed. ‘You want to lose your fucking head?! Don’t damage her!’

Sparks were crackling between my fingers as I raised them, arcing around my wrists, up my forearms. Heat was burning in my palms. They wouldn’t have a chance to shoot again. I took a step forwards, lifted my hands and threw them forwards with a scream.

Boom!

A burst of light. A spray of debris through the air. Behind the furthest attacker, a tree was engulfed in flames. He had fallen to the ground and was scrambling back to his feet, eyes wide. My head spun in a dizzying swoop as the others exchanged shouts I couldn’t hear, drowned out by the pounding thud in my ears. Behind me, the horse was screaming, and I could feel the thud of his hooves landing heavily. The attackers seemed half caught in motion, startled gazes fixed on me.

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