Page 120 of The Poison Daughter
Peering over the side, I squint into the dark, listening for the rushing sound. It’s never been clear if they follow the blood mist or if it follows them. The wall is tall enough to keep out most of the Drained, but there are those hungry enough to wear their claws off trying to climb it. That’s my best guess for this breach. What concerns me is that they occasionally hunt together on the ground, but apart from the night the fort fell, they tend to climb alone.
A chill runs down my spine as I turn and kneel beside Maxime. He winces as I probe the bloody wound.
Pounding footsteps sound to my right. I jump to my feet, drawing my sword.
But it’s just Kayleen and a healer who emerge from the shadows. The woman nudges me out of the way and gets to work immediately, speaking quietly to Maxime as she works.
After a few tense moments, Maxime is able to sit up with Kayleen’s help.
“Get him to the clinic downstairs so he can rest and send up a reserve hunter to replace him in the meantime,” my father says.
Kayleen nods and leads Maxime off into the dark.
We hate calling on reserves. It means that we’re waking someone who has probably already worked their required shifts this week. It’s hard work staying vigilant on the wall, and we limit shifts for that reason. But desperate times call for desperate measures. If I weren’t getting married tomorrow, I would do it myself.
We fall into silence, the two of us facing each other, leaning against the stone railing of the wall.
“That’s the fourth hunter down in two weeks,” my father says quietly.
Naima will be able to heal him so he’s good as new, but Maxime is very experienced. This is just a sign of how thin our lines are getting. When the wall fell, we lost half of the newest class of hunters because they were the least experienced at fighting the Drained, but they were almost all stationed on levels two and three. In one night, I lost half of the men I grew up with and a third of the women.
This problem has compounded over time as older hunters aren’t able to keep the same number of patrols anymore and we don’t have enough skilled hunters to replace them.
“Standing on that wall at night is not a job just anyone can do,” myfather says. “We need the Carrenwells to send us those able-bodied guards sooner rather than later. Once that part of the marriage contract is complete, we can move to the next part of our plan and work at depleting their control in Lunameade.”
I stare out into the dark forest. I can hardly see a thing, but I can hear the occasional hoot of an owl from somewhere deep within the woods. Animal sounds are always a good sign. They get quiet when the Drained are close. Plus, Kyrin has gone back to meandering down the wall casually instead of growling at the dark. If he doesn’t hear anything, we should be safe for now.
“How do you know that who you’re going to replace them with will be a better option?” I ask. “What if we’re just clearing the way for someone worse?”
My father turns to face me. The torchlight casts shadows over his eyes. “I’ve made that mistake once before. It’s not one I’ll make again. You’ve made your desire to know the full plan clear, but I am reminding you again that there is a reason we compartmentalized information, and you are in too deep for us to tell you everything?—”
“I’m not?—”
He holds up a hand to silence me. “I don’t mean that I don’t trust you. I mean that I don’t want to put you in a situation where you have to compromise the plan to win her over. It’s best if you know less for now.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
He places a hand on my shoulder. “I know you think that now. But once that blessing comes into place, you might be less certain. I know that the real driving force behind you all these years has been the fire of revenge. I worry what you’ll do without it to keep you going. I worry you’ll keep burning even once this fight is won.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and breathe out slowly, watching the cloud of vapor dissipate.
I wish I could say that he’s wrong, but sometimes I feel like I’m made of nothing but that churning need for revenge. The ability to put rage into action—to rebuild and reinvent myself into someone who can settle this score by any means necessary—I have only been able to do that by ignoring what it took to get here.
My father turns his face, and in the torchlight, he looks older than ever. “Sometimes I feel like I lost both of you that day. Holly was goneand you came back as someone else, with an extra weight on you that you’ve never been able to lay down. I pray to the Divine you’ll be lighter when this is over. I miss my son.”
He squeezes my shoulder, and I want to reassure him so badly. But deep down, I know that I’m in this mess too deep already, and with tonight’s attack, I don’t have the luxury of time to worry about my soul and what this fight might cost me.
24
HARLOW
Weddings in Lunameade are always bright and shining, with huge floral garlands and boisterous music, but in Mountain Haven, the only light in the room comes from a few flickering candles.
This is partially my fault. Wedding ceremonies both in Lunameade and here at the fort mimic tales of the Divine. I chose the love story of Asher and Stellaria, which is a story of darkness.
I thought Henry would be charmed by the callback to the night we met. I also thought it would remind him that our first interaction was me trying to kill him, in case either of us forgets that this marriage is just a means to an end.
I’d hoped the darkness would feel comforting, but it’s done nothing to ease my nerves.
