A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones, #1)(6)

Our mother said nothing as silent tears fell down her face. Ryder took her hand in his.

But Leigh was right. As wonderful as it was to have him back—something was wrong. For him to be home so soon, and with no battalion, no procession…

Not to mention the dripping wound.

He must have deserted.

“Calm down,” Ryder rasped. “And keep your voice down.”

“Leigh has a point,” I forced out. “How are you back? What happened to you?”

I ripped the bloodstained fabric from his tunic and used it as a tourniquet above the wound in his arm. It was a deep, jagged gash—crimson oozing down in rivulets. As soon as my hands touched his skin, a familiar tingle spread through my palms and started to seal the ripped flesh.

Closing the wound helped us both. It slowed my heartbeat and calmed me down. After I wrapped his arm tightly in bandages, I got to work trying to fit his shoulder back into the socket it was dislodged from.

Ryder closed his eyes, wincing. “I’m fine. I’m with my family again. That’s all that matters.”

He leaned in to kiss Leigh and our mother on their foreheads. Leigh, at least, still had the wherewithal to feign disgust and wipe the kiss away.

Mother held his good hand in hers, but her knuckles had gone white with force.

“Ry,” I asked, losing patience. “That is not all that matters. Where are the other soldiers? And why are you bleeding?”

Ryder swallowed thickly, his eyes connecting with mine.

“A few weeks back,” he said, voice low. “Our convoy happened upon an Onyx battalion in Amber land. We heard they had lost men and assumed it would be an easy conquest. We approached their camp slowly but still…” he trailed off, his voice rough. “It was a trap. They knew we were coming. All my friends were killed, and I barely escaped with my life.”

Something horrific dawned on me, and I felt sick that it had taken me so long to put the thought together.

“Halden?” I asked, barely audible. My stomach had turned to lead.

“No! No, Arwen.” His eyes were pained. “He wasn’t in our convoy. I—to be honest, I haven’t seen or heard from him in months.” Ryder looked down, his brow furrowed. “I didn’t think I’d make it out—” With one final pop I pushed his shoulder back in.

“Gah! Shit!” He yelped, grabbing at his shoulder.

“Language,” Mother said out of habit, though she was still too shocked to be truly angry.

Ryder moved his arm in tentative circles, feeling it out. Enjoying the sensation of a working shoulder again, he stood up, gangly and tall in our small home, and paced in front of us. I slouched into a chair, weakened, and shot a worried glance at my mother.

“I hid behind an oak tree. I thought they were the last few moments of my life, that at any moment they’d stumble onto me and tear my limbs off. I’d lost my men, I was wounded. It was all over… and then I realized, while I was singing my swan song, the entire Onyx crew had left. They hadn’t even seen me.”

I watched him carefully. There was too much glee in his eyes. Not just joy at making it home again, but something else. A sinking feeling found its way into my stomach.

“So I started to back away slowly, and I quite literally tumbled over a sack of coin bigger than my head. Onyx coin.” He paused to look at us, but I didn’t think anyone was even breathing. My daring, reckless, brother.

I prayed he hadn’t done what I feared.

“They must have lost it after the fight. So, I took the thing and ran all the way here. I’ve been running for the last day and a half.”

Bleeding Stones.

“Ryder, you didn’t,” I breathed. The flames of the hearth merely embers now, shrouded the room in dancing shadows.

“The king will have you killed,” my mother whispered. “For abandoning your battalion.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter.”

“Why not?” I could hardly get the words out.

He sighed. “I had made it mere hours from Abbington when I caught the eye of another band of Onyx men. They must have seen the Onyx colors, or found me suspicious or something, but they followed me. And—”

“You led them right back to us?” Leigh said, voice ratcheting up an octave.

“Shh,” he whispered. “Keep your voices down, remember? They won’t find us if you do what I’m asking, and quickly.”

I spun around to peer out the window. I wasn’t even sure who—or what—I was looking for. “Why not?” I asked. “Where will we be?”

Ryder’s eyes lit up. “In the Garnet Kingdom.”

I sank deeper into the chair. I was going to be sick.

Ryder must have beheld the horror on all our faces, because he sat back down and tried again, more earnestly. “I’ve seen what’s out there. It’s worse than we thought. Our kingdom is falling apart in this battle. We won’t win.” His jaw ticked as he inhaled. “The rumors are true. We are terribly outnumbered. The women will be drafted next, and soon. Arwen… you and Leigh… you won’t be able to escape.” He turned to our mother and took her hand once more. “And Mam, you’ll be left here. I don’t want to think about what Abbington will look like then. Between rioters and your health…” his voice drifted off as he looked at me. I knew what he was implying.