Page 17 of Echoes of the Raven
Kadewyn Zinceran - Veilfallen - 21 DV
Ifind Calierin and Kadewyn. Rage sings in my veins. The commotion has awakened everyone, including them.
“She escaped,” I say, hands trembling as I tighten them into fists.
“What?! How?!” Calierin demands, her volatile temper jumping to the surface.
Kadewyn hangs back, his pale silver eyes gleaming under the torchlight. He looks as puzzled as I feel.
I shake my head, trying to figure out how it could have happened. “I don’t know. She had help, but…” I shake my head.
“A traitor?” Calierin suggests, then runs with the idea. “Someone here sold us out. I will kill thebhrisconach!”
“Settle down, Calierin,” I order. “Our people aren’t traitors. I scented a strange male, and I followed his trail outside. They had transport, a wagon or carriage. It was a small effort, though effective.”
“We have to go after them!” Calierin declares.
Kadewyn steps next to Calierin. His silver hair makes Calierin’s light blond appear positively yellow.
“No,” he says calmly. “We have to get out of here. Gather what we can and leave.”
He’s right. They know where we are now. This place isn’t safe anymore. “Give the order,” I say.
Kadewyn nods and rushes down one of the bone-filled passages.
“We are just going to let her get away?” Calierin demands.
“No,” I say. “We are not.”
She grins. “Let us go then.”
I shake my head. “I will do this on my own.”
“Not again, Rífíor. We can’t stand by you if you keep shutting us out of your plans. I can help. Kadewyn can help. Weallcan help.”
No. No one can help me, and perhaps my time with the veilfallen has come to an end. I only became their leader because it served my purposes, but now that I know how I can get to The Eldrystone, they have become a liability. Even if they don’t know exactly what the amulet is, the simple fact that they know it can take them back to Tirnanog is enough to make them covet it.
“I don’t need help,” I say. “I will take care of it myself.”
“The way you took care of it before?” she demands with contempt.
“Watch yourself, Calierin!”
“Or what?”
Her fists curl and so do mine. Since our attack on Nido, she has been regarding me with suspicion. She does not believe my tale entirely, and that makes her dangerous. She is the last of the veilfallen I would trust with more than I have already divulged. She doubts me, but what she does not know is that I do not doubt others the way she does.
I distrust, utterly and entirely.
I open my mouth to respond when a cry of alarm pushes through the path to our left and reverberates against the crumbling walls.
Our heads snap in the direction of the commotion.
“They’re already here,” Calierin says as she deciphers the words of warning at the same time that I do.
We’re under attack. Castellina’s Guardia is here. They must have been lying in wait, making sure their princess was safe before they launched their attack.
We draw our swords and run toward what already sounds like a battle.
