Roar (Stormheart #1)(66)
The stable hands seemed to have a better sense of her, but they couldn’t tell him much that he did not already know. The soldiers he had combing the wilds were supposed to be on the lookout for the horse as well, in case the kidnappers had sold it off. That would at least give him some hint as to where she had been taken. But so far they had not one clue about her whereabouts beyond the blood and clothing scraps they found that first day of searching. She had tried to leave clues, but they stopped so abruptly that he could not keep himself from imagining what had been done to her to end that rebellion. And because he was all too familiar with how the criminal element thought and behaved, his imagination was disturbingly hard to ignore.
It had been weeks. He hated thinking about how much could happen in that amount of time. He had sent out as many soldiers as he could afford, issued a reward, and even expanded their search beyond the southern region they believed her to be taken to originally. The wilds were easy enough to search. There were no authorities that could stand up to a full company of soldiers, but searching Stormling cities proved much more challenging. None was eager to let unfamiliar soldiers into their midst.
And then there were the rumors. They could not hold them off forever, of course. But he was supposed to be married by now, rendering them unimportant. Everything had gone so incredibly wrong.
While his intentions had never been entirely aboveboard, he had a plan to keep things in check, to minimize the damage as much as possible. But now … without Aurora here everything had turned to chaos. And he knew even if they managed to find her and bring her back, she would hate him. That thought troubled him more than it should. He could not stop hearing the Taraanese girl’s words.
She loathed you.
A knock came at the door, and he barked, “Enter.”
The commander of the guard came through the doorway, followed by a few soldiers that Cassius recognized as runners. They’d been tasked with gathering updates from the searching troops and bringing that information back to Pavan.
“What news, Ortuze?” he asked, his tone clipped and to the point.
The commander said, “No sightings of her, sir. And Odilar sent out troops to stop the soldiers you sent to search the city. The king has refused them entry and threatened combat if they don’t leave.”
Cassius cursed and fisted his hands at his sides. “And in the wilds?”
“I’m afraid the losses are quite high. Two companies were wiped out completely, two are missing, and another three suffered devastating losses. And there have been confirmed reported sightings of him, sir. The second company sent word four days ago about rumors among the villages of his presence. The entire company was lost to storms the next day.”
“If they were lost, how do you know his presence is confirmed?”
“Another company found the bodies, sir. It took several days for their messenger to reach us. The bodies were laid out to form a message, Your Highness.”
Cassius hesitated. “Well? What was the message?”
“Soon, sir.”
Cassius pulled at his hair, pacing and biting down the need to scream.
“How many companies are still out searching?”
“Three companies remain, but with the Rage season in full swing, their odds are not good. Their numbers have already dwindled. May I suggest, sir, that we bring our men home, and prepare for his arrival? Even you cannot face him alone.”
Cassius’s fury boiled past his control. He picked up something from the table beside him, some trinket of sorts, and sent it sailing toward the wall. It smashed with an utterly unsatisfying crash, glass scattering over the floor.
“Those soldiers do not come home until they find her, do you hear me?” Cassius growled. “I don’t care what you have to do. Raise the reward. Force conscription into the military to boost our ranks. Whatever it takes, you do it. None of this will end well unless she’s found.”
It might not end well regardless. But he had to bring Aurora back to Pavan. He would search her out himself if he had to, and kill anyone who obstructed his path.
“What shall I tell the king, Your Highness?”
Cassius scowled. “Nothing. I will deal with him. Go,” he growled. “And bring me the girl again. The witness.”
Cassius had been back several times since that first encounter, but Novaya had stuck to her story, repeating it by rote. She knew more than she was letting on, he was certain. This time, he had left her in for nearly a week and ordered the guards to cut back her meals to one a day. He would have his answers one way or another.
He was well past patience now.
*
Locke fought a smile as Roar’s head dipped and jerked as she tried desperately not to fall asleep while in the saddle. He had thought he’d pushed her as far as she could handle before, but she had somehow dug even deeper, dredged up even more strength. He’d been left scrambling to find new ways to challenge her.
He had given up trying not to watch her. It seemed the more willpower she showed, the less he did. And when he wasn’t consumed with thoughts of her, he was battered by an anxiety that had never plagued him before. For a long time, he had lived for the hunt, for the moments of uncertainty when death came close enough to brush up against him. Now he spent most days rigid in his saddle, dreading their next encounter with a storm.
After three more days of traveling south, they were between Sangsorra desert to the east and craggy mountains and cliffs of the Sahrain range to the south. The earth had grown dusty and dry, dotted with scrubby trees and patches of long brown grass. He was on edge. They had not seen a storm in several days, which had been the goal of their new route. But he did not like when the wilds were quiet. At times it felt almost as if they were being stalked, the prey of a predator lurking just out of sight.