Riven (The Arinthian Line Book 2) (43 page)

Augum wondered what song she referred to.

Leera scoffed. “Yeah and look how well that worked out for everyone at Sparrow’s Perch—”

“Do you have anyone to stay with in Antioc?” he asked. Even though he knew there were a lot of hard feelings that needed sorting between them, he didn’t want things to get out of hand. They still might need Haylee’s help with Bridget.

“I have an aunt … I could go live with her in hiding … if … if she’ll take me.”

“She
better
take you,” Leera said, “else we’re dropping you off at a Legion guard post and you can see what it feels like to be tortured.”

Augum thought that rather harsh. He tried to think of a way to get Leera to leave Haylee alone, at least for a little while. Maybe he was being naive, but he believed Haylee didn’t have anything to do with the murder of Leera and Bridget’s parents. He also believed she was genuinely sorry about it all.

On the other hand, he was not the one that had to put up with Haylee for years, and didn’t know what kind of cruel and malicious things had been said and done. As someone once bullied, he perfectly understood where Leera was coming from, yet that still didn’t make it feel right.

Though maybe if it was Robin sitting there instead of Haylee, he would have a lot less sympathy …

“I … I liked Robin
… I really
liked
him …” Haylee mumbled through her tears. “I didn’t know he could be so … so vile …”

“What are you blubbering on about?” Leera asked.

“The Blade of Sorrows is training him in the art of the question … training him to be cold and … and ruthless … and soon Lord Sparkstone himself will be training him in necromancy. I don’t like what he’s becoming … he’s not the same Robbie I knew …”

“Oh, shut. Up! He was always a mean toad, and you liked him anyway, all because he showered you with attention and compliments. Pathetic.”

Haylee sniffed hard but did not reply.

Augum glanced to Bridget, who only stared at the sky, and wondered what she would say right now if she could talk. Would she show mercy or unleash anger along with Leera?

When they reached the crest of another gently rolling hill, he looked back. The distant torch-lit plume of horses had dispersed a little. Perhaps the battle with the banyan beast had begun, though there was no way to be sure. The command stone certainly gave no hints. To all outward appearances it was an ordinary ornamental rock, yet amazingly, this unassuming stone had the power to command that monster. He wondered if necromancy was involved.

“Haylee, do you know anything about the banyan beast, like where it’s from?” he asked, keeping his tone level so as not to provoke Leera.

“Nothing, only that it belonged to Robin’s aunt and she got it in the south. When that old man at the caravan—”

“—his name was One Eye!” Leera said, whipping about. “He sacrificed himself for us, a concept I’m sure you know nothing about. The least you can do is get his damn name right!”

“I’m sorry … after One Eye made the deal with Commander Tridian, while you all were still inside that wagon, the Blade of Sorrows gave Robin the stone that controlled the beast, with instructions on what to do.”

Leera shook her head. “Figures … and those are the kinds of people you chose to be friends with …”

“I’m not friends with them anymore! And you forget, I’m taking a huge risk helping you. You heard him threaten my family—”

“—at least you
have
a family to threaten!”

That silenced Haylee, though Augum had other questions. “Haylee, did Tridian ever talk about the coming war with Tiberra?”

“Yeah, but mostly with his officers and Robin. He ignored me. Robin was his prized pupil, like his own son. All I know is that the Legion is on the march now.”

“Do you believe us when we tell you that my father’s promise of eternal life for everyone is a lie?”

“I … I don’t know …”

“Look,” Leera began, “we were just
in
Ley. One of those Leyans, who happened to be Augum’s great-grandfather, followed us out and
died
. He died, Haylee, to show us that you can’t take that eternal life power or whatever out of there.”

“You believe us that we were there at least, don’t you?” he asked when Haylee hesitated.

“I guess so …”

“And what about the Dreadnoughts? Know anything about them?”

“Well, I know that the Dreadnoughts have already started forging weapons and armor. It’s kind of a slow process though.”

“Is the Dreadnought equipment arcane?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know anything about Dreadnoughts, really. I always used to think they were just … stories.”

“Like Ley?” Leera asked. When Haylee didn’t bite, Leera turned her attention to Bridget, gently reining in her horse. “How are you feeling, Bridge?”

Augum glanced over to witness a tear roll down Bridget’s cheeks. Leera reached over and brushed it away, voice cracking. “Everything will be fine, Bridge, don’t worry. We’re taking you to Antioc where you’re going to be fixed up by an arcane healer.”

Bridget’s eyes wandered over to them, her head completely still, tears flowing freely. He only hoped she wasn’t in any pain. They desperately needed to find Bartholomew before the Legion caught up to them. Suddenly, he was reminded of Mya and those emerald almond eyes. The question that has been hounding him for so long now sprang to his lips.

“Haylee, um … do you know where Mya is? Is Robin really going to take her with him?”

“You like her, don’t you?” Haylee asked, not in a cheeky manner, just in a matter-of-fact kind of way. “I could tell—”

“Ugh, you just can’t help yourself, can you?” Leera’s voice was full of venom. “What, going to gossip about this to your friends? It’s none of your business who Augum likes!”

Something about the way Leera said it brought butterflies to his stomach. Part of him wished he had not brought Mya up, yet he really wanted to hear news about her …

“I … I really didn’t mean it that way,” Haylee mumbled. “I’m sorry …”

“Ugh, well, aren’t you going to answer his question—?”

“Right … uh, Mya has been assigned to be Robin’s servant, but while he’s away, she has to serve the Black Guard with the other servants. As far as I know, yes, he plans on taking her back to the academy with him, though that kind of thing might not be permitted. The Legion may force her to stay behind. I don’t know for sure though, I don’t follow what the servants do.”

“Of course you don’t, that would be
beneath
you.”

“Would you rather my parents died in Sparrow’s Perch too?”

“Yes! YES I WOULD HAVE—!”

Augum felt the horse lighten and running footsteps crunching in the snow.

“That’s right, run back to your precious Robbie and the damn Legion, I’m sure they’ll take good care of you!” Leera shouted, but as Augum turned his head, he saw that Haylee was not running back to the Legion. Instead, she appeared as if she just wanted to get far away from everyone by running into the bleak nothingness of winter.

The idea suddenly occurred to him she may not care about her own life in that moment. Already the wind was rising, and with no shelter, blankets, or food, it wouldn’t take long for a person to freeze out here.

Without a word, he jumped off the horse and chased after Haylee, who ran haphazardly, crying, until tripping and falling to the snow, her golden locks splayed across the icy surface. He heard Leera shout something from behind, but ignored her.

He finally caught up to her, panting, chest burning. “Don’t do this. She didn’t mean it, she’s just … she’s very angry right now. Think about it, can you blame her?”

Haylee replied between heaving sobs. “This was a mistake … I’m so stupid … by helping you … I might … I might have killed my parents …”

He felt for her, but he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t exactly have much experience with girls other than Bridget and Leera. They had to get out of here, yet this was a delicate situation. All he wanted to do was say the right thing to make everything better. He wanted to
fix
it with words, yet he also knew no words would make this just disappear. Besides, it was beyond that. People
sacrificed
themselves for them already, and there was no way of bringing them back. And here was Haylee, a long-time enemy of Bridget and Leera, doing the same thing—placing her family and life at risk to help them …

Again and again the question which he had no answer for came to mind, and that was,
why
? Why had so many sacrificed themselves for them?

“Haylee, we don’t have much time. Come on, we can deal with this later—”

“Leave me alone! I just want to sleep, please just leave me alone!”

“I’m going to talk to her, I’ll be right back … uh … don’t go anywhere.” He realized how stupid that was to say. Nonetheless, he raced back to Leera, who stared in the opposite direction with folded arms.

“Leera, um, look … we can’t just leave her out here, she’ll die …”

Leera maintained an iron stare.

“We don’t have time for this, you know that. Besides, Haylee might very well have killed her own parents by helping us … and I
know
you didn’t really mean what you said, you’re just angry, and I can understand that—”

“Shut up, please, just shut up …” She placed her face into her hands, shook her head and sniffed. “Fine! Whatever. Bring her, see if I care, but don’t think for one moment I have to get along with her.”

Augum, knowing that was the best he could hope for at this time, raced back to Haylee, ribs grating like rough stones.

“It’s all right, Haylee, come on back,” but Haylee had curled up into a ball, shoulders twitching. “Look, I know you’re not a bad person, I heard you help One Eye when Robin pushed him over. A bad person wouldn’t do that.”

“You don’t know me, I
am
a bad person—”

“You can’t stay here, the Legion will find you by your footprints. They’ll torture you …”

She began visibly shaking.

“Don’t make me carry you because I will, I’ll throw you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and tie you to the damn horse—”

Haylee burst with a blubbery chortle and Augum knew he had broken through to her.

“Come on, we really need to go.” He helped her stand.

“Thank you,” she whispered, wiping her red face with the sleeve of her necrophyte robe. He nodded and led her back to the horses, checking the horizon. The cloud was still there, though a bit closer.

The Legion had overcome the banyan beast.

He helped Haylee back on the horse before hopping on, Leera resolutely keeping her arms crossed, refusing to give him a hand like usual. He urged the horse forward, pushing the pace a little bit. At the rate they were going, he estimated less than two hours until the Legion caught up.

His breathing shortened. Bridget was badly hurt and needed arcane attention from a healer, and Bartholomew … where was Bartholomew? Had he sold Blackbite and kept the money for himself? Was One Eye’s trust in the man blind? He scanned ahead, desperate for any sign of the man.

They passed hill after hill in silence, Leera keeping a steady eye on Bridget, Haylee a watchful eye on their rear, though more probably to avoid Leera than anything else.

Augum looked up at the cloudless starry night. At least Bridge has a great view, he thought, glancing at her still form.

He shivered at a particularly strong gust of wind. The excitement from the battle had faded, leaving behind a bone-seeping cold and that damn throbbing pain.

Leera removed the other two blankets from the rucksack and draped one over his shoulders.

“Thanks.”

She didn’t reply, throwing the other one around herself, leaving Haylee to shiver in her necrophyte robe. Haylee’s teeth soon began chattering loudly.

“Here, take mine—” he said.

“No! You need it more than she does,” Leera said immediately, casting a vicious glance backward.

“She’s right—keep it,” Haylee said, forcing her teeth to stop.

He didn’t want to push things and reluctantly let it go.

Time passed as they traversed more crests and long valleys. The wind kept steady as the stars moved overhead. Meanwhile, the torch-lit cloud steadily gained—they were quickly running out of time.

More hills, and the legion drew closer still, yet the foursome could not go any faster. The wind had picked up slightly, coming at them straight on making the going that much more difficult. They pushed forward, hungry, tired and cold, now able to make out individual dots of fire amongst the approaching plume, at least ten or so. Augum suspected there were more riders, riders without torches galloping along unseen in the dark. He pictured the Blade of Sorrows among them, face twisted in iron determination.

There was still no sign of Bartholomew. If they didn’t see him soon, it would be too late, and they still had to learn the scroll. A thought suddenly occurred to him—what if Bartholomew had seen the cloud and was running away in the other direction? If that was the case, they were done for. He checked the ground for fresh return tracks, but there were none.

“You have to send a signal,” Haylee said.

Leera scoffed. “Are you stupid? The Legion will see us.”

“They already know where we are,” Augum said. “They’ve been following our tracks. It’s worth a shot. Shyneo!” His hand lit up as Leera made a disapproving noise. They needed every chance of being seen, and so he concentrated on brightening it again, pushing the boundaries of the spell. It brightened, a small crackling lamp in a desolate snowy landscape. He waved broadly, as if seeing a friend. He hoped, truly hoped, Bartholomew was somewhere out there to see their signal.

“Helloooooo! Bartholomeeeewww!”

There was no response. He shouted again, all the while draining his arcane stamina, yet it just seemed futile. His heart sank. That was it, their last hope. Nothing to do now but wait for the Legion to catch up. His shoulders slumped. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to be …

Haylee and Leera had fallen silent, perhaps also appreciating the severity of their predicament. Leera reached out and patted Bridget’s still hand. Tears no longer flowed down Bridget’s cheeks. She just stared at the stars, a peaceful expression on her face.