“Let them through!” Tain yelled again, and this time the Order Guard repeated the cry.
“Clear the stairs!” someone cried from inside, and our people poured off to the side, allowing the retreating force to follow their comrades through the tower and over the bridge.
“What are you doing?” a rumpled and sweating Bradomir shrieked, catching up to us. “We can trap them here! Block the gate from this side and we can cut them off!”
Tain glanced over, his expression giving Bradomir roughly the regard he might have for a roach. “Aven’s here,” he said. “They’re going to be trapped between us. Now’s the time to finally secure a peace, not the time for more slaughter.” He looked up at the Order Guard on the wall. “Make sure our archers don’t shoot!”
“Are you mad?” Bradomir cried, reaching out with both arms as if to shake Tain. But before his hands came within reach, a wall of men and women stepped between them; among them, I saw with surprise, Varina. Bradomir dropped his arms, staring at them as if they didn’t belong to him, and backed away.
The rebel force retreated over the bridge. I scrambled after Tain up the stairs and into the tower so we could see what was happening on the other side.
Clear of the mist, we saw the swarm pouring over the bridge and joining the great mass on the west shore. As we watched, the mercenaries on graspads circling the outer edges of the force began redirecting massive groups of rebels up into the city. Frustratingly, the Finger wasn’t tall enough to see past the buildings of the lower city, and we could only speculate about what was happening on the other side.
“Aven must have attacked where they breached the walls,” Tain said. “They’re trapped.”
The relief carrying me until now wavered. “We have to get them to surrender,” I said. “If they fight Aven she’ll plow through them to get to us.”
“They’ll be slaughtered,” Tain agreed. He looked around the room and spotted an Order Guard emerging from the steps. “We need to get the peace flag back up. And we need to find some way of stopping the Warrior-Guilder from charging. Get me a messenger to the south gate tower; they should be able to see what’s going on.” He looked at Hadrea and me as he declared, “This war should be over. No one else needs to die.”
While the Guard dragged out the arrow-torn peace flag, Tain, Hadrea, and I went downstairs. The shore that had been a battle zone such a short time ago now buzzed with confusion. Tain was pulled away to strategize with the Order Guards, and Hadrea and I joined in the people helping carry the wounded to the hospital. The battle on the east side had been short but brutal, and the inexperience and inadequate weaponry on both sides had left more wounded than dead.
I was bent over a woman bleeding from a massive sword wound to her arm, trying to stop the flow, when I heard, “Hey! Hey!” I looked over, searching in the dusky early morning light, and finally saw who was trying to get my attention. It was a Silastian man, propped up on his elbows, one obviously broken leg twisted out to the side. “What are you doing?”
Pressing a torn ball of the woman’s shirt against the gaping wound and tying it down firmly with another strip, I squinted at the man. “Is it just your leg?” I asked. “Someone will be here to help you soon. We have to get all the critically injured people there fastest.”
“But she’s one of them,” he said. “Help your own first!”
“I’ll help whoever needs it,” I snapped back, temper rising.
“She’s a rebel! A traitor!”
“She’s bleeding,” I replied, looking back down at the unconscious woman. On a count of three, Hadrea and I hoisted her between us.
We made several trips to the hospital until I saw Tain.
“No response to the peace flag,” he told me, grim. “The rebel force is split; some are trying to defend the breached wall against Aven.” He swore, rubbing his grimy forehead. “I need to get her a message, tell her not to attack. But I don’t know how.”
We looked at each other, helpless frustration rendering us both speechless. Then Tain shuffled his helmet between his hands, looking shifty. “I … this is ridiculous. Stupid. But I don’t know what else to do.”
Someone called our names; it was Chen, approaching at a run.
“What’s stupid?” I asked Tain as we made our way toward the Order Guard, who practically vibrated with urgency. What now?
“The Os-Woorin room,” he said. “I want to use it.”
Blisterbush
DESCRIPTION: Low-growing shrub, attractive glossy green trefoil leaves.
SYMPTOMS: Contact with leaves gives immediate reddening, then blistering of skin. Ingestion symptoms include intense, localized stomach pain, increasing in intensity and coverage over time, anal bleeding, painful urination, internal bleeding, death.
PROOFING CUES: Immediate blistering sensation in mouth, unaffected by cooking or masking flavors. Typically used as a surface poison only.
30
Kalina
Fingers aching and dirt caked under my fingernails, I held my breath and listened as Garan shifted around outside. Once or twice he had started to whistle, then stopped a few notes in. But no one else had approached and he had not spoken to anyone. He wouldn’t believe me—it had been stupid to think he might—but maybe he wouldn’t rush to give me away, either. Regardless, I couldn’t stay in this tent.
I tested the hole. It was wide enough to fit my shoulders, but I couldn’t tell if it was deep enough. We’d set up in the dark, so I had no idea what my tent backed onto or how exposed it would be out there. The camp wasn’t exactly quiet, but the majority of the army was with Aven, marching on the city to prepare to take it back, not sitting around here waiting to spot a lone woman squeezing out of her tent prison. I could only be thankful Aven thought herself safe and had not considered me a threat. Otherwise I’d have been properly contained—or killed, more likely. Another “Doranite spy.”
I stretched my sore hands. My body, still exhausted and damaged from the strain I’d put it through, hadn’t enjoyed this new action. But physical weakness was nothing new to me. I took a breath. Time to try.
I lay out flat on the ground and stuck my head into the little trench, to be greeted with cooking smells and the light of the dawning day and, to my relief, not much more. The nearest people were around a campfire a distance away, their backs to me. Aven had set me up on the outskirts of camp, away from potential prying eyes. Now it made sense why the Warrior-Guilder had so badly wanted to keep me out of sight and out of contact. She hadn’t wanted anyone to mention previous “spies,” or fortunes knew what other clues that might have come my way if I’d been allowed to speak to the soldiers.
I wiggled quickly through the gap, trying not to disturb the tent fabric too much. One shoulder and arm came through, then the other. The hardest part over, I clawed at the grass on the outside and pulled up on my forearms to drag the rest of my body through.
If the rebels were negotiating a surrender, I could slip into the main body of the army and march into the city with everyone else. But what if Aven saw me? I had no idea how this would work, whether she would come back to camp before moving the army on, and check on her “guest.” I cursed myself for asking Garan for help. If I had just kept my mouth shut, let Aven and everyone else think me docile and grateful, I wouldn’t have had to run. I’d made myself reliant on his silence.