Stormcaster (Shattered Realms #3)(73)

“What’s going on?” she whispered. “Are we prisoners or what?”

“We are guests,” Breon said drily. “The empress is really sorry about losing her temper on the beach.” He stopped, cleared his throat, and swallowed hard. “She’s eager to make amends.” From the expression on Breon’s face, he wasn’t buying what she was selling.

“Why am I here?” Lyss asked. “Why am I still alive?”

Breon hesitated. “I think she likes you,” he said finally. “She likes that you’re not afraid to fight back.”

“Did you tell her who I am?”

Breon smiled slantwise. “You’re Captain Gray,” he said, “an officer in the Highlander army.”

“Ah,” she said. She wished he’d used a less well-known name, but at least he didn’t name her the heir to the throne. “I’m sorry about your friend. I wish I could have been of more help.”

“At least you had better weapons than me. I had a flute. Music is no kind of match for—for that.”

“I wasn’t all that successful with a bow,” Lyss said. “Don’t feel bad. Anyway, as long as we’re saying sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t jump out of the boat when you told us to.”

“Me too.”

“So, what’s this all about? Do you have any idea?”

“It has to do with my magemark,” Breon said. “That’s all I know.”

“So she didn’t tell you what it’s for or what it means?”

He shook his head. “Maybe there’ll be a big reveal when we get where we’re going,” he said. “I guess the empress put the word out that she was looking for people like me. Aubrey heard there was a reward on offer, and split on me.”

“Was Aubrey your sweetheart?” Lyss knew the question was out of line, but found herself asking it anyway.

Breon drooped a little, like a flower in need of water. “I guess ‘sweetheart’ is too strong for what we had going,” he said. “But I thought at least she was my friend.”

“From what I heard, she didn’t know what the empress’s intentions were,” Lyss said.

“Obviously she didn’t know the empress meant to burn her alive.”

“You know what I mean. She didn’t know what Celestine wanted with you.”

“Maybe,” Breon said, “but it’s no excuse. It’s like when that cove hired me to wait for you on a street corner in Southbridge. I guess I could claim that I didn’t know what he intended. He never came out and said it. But, looking back, I had to know he was up to no good. But I did it anyway.”

“We’ve all done things we regret,” Lyss said, thinking she had too many to count. “All we can do is try to do better going forward.”

“Maybe. I just don’t know.” He paused, sliding a look at her. “Do you think Talbot and the others will come after you?”

“Sasha will come,” Lyss said, without a shred of doubt, remembering the look on the Gray Wolf’s face the night of the failed escape. “She will come, if she’s still alive.”

“I think you’re right,” Breon said. “She’s . . . formidable.” He sighed. “Will they even know where to look?”

“I tried to leave a message on the beach,” Lyss said. “I hope they can figure it out.”

“I hope they hurry,” Breon said. “I’ve got a very bad feeling about this.”

“For what it’s worth,” Lyss said, “I misjudged you, and I’m sorry.”

“No,” Breon said. “You didn’t misjudge me. All those bad things you thought—they were true. I could justify anything, as long as it led to another hit. I lied to everyone—myself most of all.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Lyss said. It was odd to be in the position of consoling someone who’d led her into an ambush. “If I were picking villains in this, you wouldn’t be high on the list.”

“I’d be on it, though. You were the one who forced me to get off the leaf. I never could’ve done it on my own. I don’t know how much time I have left, but I’m glad to be clean, and I hope I can make you glad that you saved me.”

Lyss felt her cheeks heating. “I’m already glad, Breon. Since we’re in this together, I hope we can be friends.” She extended her hand, and Breon took it.





30


IN THE WAKE OF THE EMPRESS


Cas slowly circled over the city of Chalk Cliffs, losing altitude with each circle he made. The air was still thick with smoke—thick, acrid fumes that burned Jenna’s eyes and made her cough.

Bad air, Cas said. Stinks.

“I know. At least it might make us harder to see.”

Cas and Jenna would be hard to see if we fly to the mountains.

Cas disapproved of Jenna’s interest in this broken, fuming city. He was happy that the big guns on shore had quieted, at least.

“That’s low enough, I think. Just keep circling a minute.”

The ships that had been lying out of sight of land had come in now, and were unloading soldiers and horses onto the shore. The city was a charred ruin, but the harbor was a hive of activity. The warning they’d delivered had been too little, too late.