Reign of Shadows (Reign of Shadows, #1)(24)

“He’s gone.” I barely spoke the words. They were more like a breath against the side of her face.

She nodded.

Awareness swelled inside of me as I eyed her. Felt her curled under me. It had been a long time since I held anyone. Since I felt a girl’s body wrapped up in mine. She felt so small and soft—so very breakable.

A jarring reminder that everyone broke under the cruelty of this world.

I pulled back and was rewarded with a fresh thorn to the base of my neck.

“What’s happening now?” she whispered.

“Let’s find out.” We extricated ourselves from the gorse, earning new scratches for our trouble, and crawled side by side back up the hill.

I inched high enough to glimpse down at the tower. “Sivo is talking to them. They’ve forced Perla outside,” I whispered. “Dagne and Madoc, too. Two soldiers are supporting Madoc.”

A shiver rippled through her, and she bit her lip before saying, “Perla hates the Outside.” Her voice sounded small—almost childlike in its helplessness. “She must be terrified.”

I watched the scene unfold. The commander pointed at Dagne. Sivo shook his head and waved his hands in the air as though he was trying to pacify Henley. He wasn’t going to succeed. I had a flash of memory then, a fractured image of when I was a boy and happened on Henley in the royal kennels, torturing one of the dogs with a riding crop.

I blinked, chasing the image away, and focused on the present reality.

Madoc was clearly still in the grips of fever. His head lolled on his shoulders. He could hardly keep his gaze fastened on the group of soldiers. Dagne, on the other hand, looked wholly aware and alert. She stuck close to Perla as if that made her less visible to the eyes of all the men in the company.

Henley finally had enough. He shook his head as if finished listening to Sivo. He snapped something at his men and one of them stepped forward, grabbing hold of Dagne and pulling her away from Perla. She looked around wildly, crying out when Henley pulled the sword from the scabbard at his waist in one smooth move. She struggled, but the soldier held fast, pushing her forward. The freed blade sang on the wind as it cut through air and swiped down. Blood sprayed, spattering Henley in the face. It happened so quickly, the man’s actions mild and effortless as though he were scratching an itch and not snuffing out a life. As though he was not slicing into a young girl.

Luna jerked against me as though the sharp edge of steel was cutting into her—leaving me no doubt she was aware of the violence taking place below.

Dagne dropped to the ground, limp and lifeless. Perla tried to grab her. Madoc cried out. He struggled against the soldiers holding him. It was a weak attempt that didn’t last long. Drained, he bowed his head low and hung between them, shoulders shaking with sobs.

Air hissed out of my lips. She had done nothing to provoke them. It was an execution. Plain and simple.

“Is it—”

“Dagne,” I supplied.

Luna choked back a sob, her fingers digging into my arm. “Why?” A shudder passed through her. “Why did they kill her?”

A cold familiar numbness stole over me. “I don’t know.”

There was no reason to kill the girl, but Henley had. He’d struck her down like she was some disease to be cut out and removed with swift excision.

Henley pulled a handkerchief out from beneath his tunic and cleaned his face, his movements almost elegant as he wiped away Dagne’s blood. As though it were no more than grime from a day’s travel.

Luna’s voice escaped a fraction too loud: “What of Sivo and Perla? Are they unharmed?”

One of the soldiers at the edge of the group shifted in his saddle and turned to face the hill where we crouched.

I dropped flat, shoving Luna several feet down the rise with me. “At the moment, they’re fine,” I growled, “but we won’t be if you don’t lower your voice.”

She didn’t care. She strained against me, fighting to get up. She was ready to launch herself down the hill.

I seized her shoulders and turned her, pinning her to the spot. “Stop trying to get yourself killed. They killed Dagne. They won’t hesitate to slaughter us, too. Now wait here and I’ll see what’s happening.”

I crawled back up and looked down the hill again. Henley pointed a finger in Madoc’s face, questioning him. Madoc gazed at his slain sister, a crumpled and broken life on the ground. His sobs tore through the wood, loud and ugly. As if midlight wasn’t fast fading and this wasn’t the time for silent breaths and swallowed words.

I glanced around at the encroaching darkness. Madoc’s sounds weren’t going unheard. The dwellers might not be aboveground yet, but they were waiting below, listening.

The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. They knew the hour was fading fast and all the noise did not bode well. One dweller, even ten, they could easily dispatch, but Madoc was likely rousing dozens of drones.

I couldn’t hear Henley’s words from this distance. Sivo nodded once at whatever was said, his features drawn and pale, lips compressed in a flat line. When the commander finished, he turned and mounted his horse, circling his hand once in the air for the men to move out.

“They’re leaving,” I announced, watching the horses retreat in practiced stealth.

Before they disappeared entirely from the glen, the commander pulled his mount around to address Sivo. He surveyed the tower as well, his gaze stretching over its walls and then back down again. He was evaluating it. It would make an excellent outpost. He or others from the capital would be back. Or others from the king would. Everything had changed. Luna and her family were no longer safe here.