Reign of Shadows (Reign of Shadows, #1)(22)

I listened longer, and then shook my head again. “I don’t—”

“No! Sivo, Perla . . .” A stricken look passed over her face. She sprang into a sprint.

“Wait!” I took off after her, cursing as she flew down the steep incline we had climbed. She was remarkably quick, taking the same path that brought us to the nisan weed—almost as if her feet had somehow recorded the route and now pulled it out from memory.

I was fast, but I had to push my legs just to stay behind her.

“Luna,” I growled, acutely conscious of the fact that the forest was deathly still. It was the type of silence that happened when dwellers emerged. A quick glance up showed a sliver of sun peeking out around the moon. It couldn’t be them. We had more time.

Luna raced ahead. I finally caught up with her before the ground sloped down toward the tower. I closed the distance between us, stretching my fingers for her shoulder, catching hold of her. I dragged her down, stopping her from running full speed into whatever lay ahead. Together we toppled to the ground, rolling.

I splayed my body over her, using my larger size to pin her down. She struggled. She was giving me little choice except to let her go and walk into whatever danger waited over that hill.

I should let her go. She wanted to go. I should get to my feet, hand her the bag of nisan weed, and leave her to it. If she wanted to race headlong into danger, then so be it.

I would have done this yesterday, but today . . . somehow I couldn’t. Today, with this girl pinned under me, my hardness aligned to her softness, I wasn’t going anywhere.





TEN


Fowler


“LET ME GO,” Luna said, trying to buck me off. “You don’t understand. The tower has been discovered.”

I tightened my grip on her shoulders. “Then shouldn’t we proceed with caution? If someone found your home, we should—”

I was rewarded with a swift kick of her boot directly to my shin. I grunted. She might be small, but she packed some force. That’s all it took. She wiggled out from under me. I pushed to my feet after her.

She was almost to the hilltop when I caught her. She released a startled cry, and I covered her mouth with my hand, cutting off the noise.

Dragging her down, I draped my body over her squirming one. I peeked over the hill above her head. The familiar tower loomed tall in the murky air—surrounded by an entire company of soldiers, a hundred strong garbed in the blue and black colors of Relhok. I knew the colors well. I scanned the faces. It had been two years since I last mingled with the Relhok cavalry, but I had grown up with some of those boys.

I pressed my mouth near her ear. “At least a hundred men surround the tower.”

She stilled, tensing beneath me.

Convinced she wouldn’t flee or make any sudden sound, I adjusted my weight so that I was no longer atop her. She angled her head in that way of hers, listening.

“They’re on horseback,” she whispered, her voice a raspy breath.

I looked at her, surprised. The horses were quiet. Not the slightest neigh. They’d been bred for stealth. The soldiers covered ground silently, moving almost like ghosts over the land, creating as little noise as possible so they didn’t alert nearby dwellers. They rode hard only during midlight. That must be how Luna heard them originally.

“What do they want?” she asked, as if I would know. I was her only connection to the outside world. A girl who’s spent a lifetime stuck in a tower wouldn’t have any idea what these soldiers wanted. “How did they find us?” she added, the faintest trace of accusation in her voice.

Did she think I led them here? If soldiers from Relhok were after me, they probably would have found me long before now.

Several soldiers had dismounted, including the company commander. His dark blue cavalry tunic swayed around his knees as he moved, the kingdom of Relhok’s coat of arms emblazoned on the center of his chest. The sight of it was an ugly reminder of all I left behind.

A dweller I could outrun or dispatch. My memories of Relhok were harder to shake.

The commander turned so that I had a better view of his face. I inhaled, recognizing him. Henley. He was only a few years older than me. He’d risen through the ranks quickly, but then, he had a vicious nature. Viciousness was rewarded. Especially under Cullan’s reign.

“Are they here because of you?” The words escaped her in a puff of breath.

“No.”

“Then what brought them here?”

“I don’t know. I can’t imagine why a force this size is so far east, but they’re not after me.” At least I didn’t think so.

“You know something though,” she whispered.

“I don’t know what they want,” I muttered, annoyed that she could read me so well without even seeing me. What was it that gave me away?

“You’re tense,” she whispered as though I had asked the question out loud.

I shook my head. “There’s an army below us. That might have something to do with how tense I am.”

I turned my attention back to the scene below. The tower door stood open. We had only ever used the secret door that led to the tunnel beneath the tower. I didn’t even realize there was another door. Sivo stood in the threshold, facing the commander.

I marveled that he had opened the door to greet the soldiers, but then there was little choice. A group this size . . . if they wanted inside the tower, they would eventually find a way. Better for Sivo to open the door and behave as though he had nothing to hide. He eyed them neutrally. Gone were the days of armor and chain mail. The clink of steel on the air was a song dwellers responded to like a bell ringing them to supper.