Crown's Shield: The Aermian Feuds: Book Two Read online

  A sob broke free from her mum’s lips. “Oh, my poor baby.”

  Sage wanted to mourn too, but she also knew they didn’t have time, not now. She swallowed her pain and continued. “It broke me, Mum. Last night was my last night. I told them I was done with it.” She paused. “Do you remember the dragon broadsword that I made?”

  Her mum’s brow wrinkled. “Yes.”

  Sage barked out a humorless chuckle. “It turns out it wasn’t for a regular run of the mill noble. No, it was for a prince, the commander who, it turns out, is intimately connected with our family. Papa wanted us to meet, so he introduced us.”

  “The Crown’s never commissioned any pieces from your father.”

  Sage smiled sadly. “They have, and my identity is no longer a secret.”

  Her mother’s face tightened in anger. “I can’t believe your father did that. How do we know the commander?”

  She swallowed, her eyes watering, her mum loved Sam. “It’s Sam, Mum. Zeke and Seb’s friend, Sam.”

  “No,” her mum breathed. “It can’t be.”

  Sage’s heart squeezed. “Of all the rotten luck in the world, right?”

  Her mum trembled. “He’s been visiting since he was a boy, your brothers love him!” She straightened her spine and lifted her chin. “No one hurts my children. You’re right; you need to leave. Immediately.” Her mum stood and, in a flurry of swishing skirts, began stuffing things into her pack. “I have a friend who can offer a haven—even your father is not aware of her.” She paused. “Is Sam still here?”

  “They were when I came inside so I assume so.”

  “Okay. Give me one moment.” Her mum rushed out the door while Sage ripped off her skirts and packed all of her trousers in the sack. She also strapped on as many blades as possible, along with her sword. Hastily, Gwen bustled back in and pushed bread, dried fruit, and jerky into her bag as well.

  “This may not last long, but my friend will take care of you before you run out.” Her mum also pressed a letter into her hand. “There are directions in here. I will come to you when it is safe, but you need to go now. I could still hear your father talking with them so I will go and say hello. Perhaps I can keep them preoccupied for a while longer.”

  Sage bit the inside of her cheek, trying to keep from crying, and hugged her mum fiercely. “You’ll talk to Papa, right? And tell him I love him?”

  Her mum pushed back and cupped her cheeks. “Of course, sweet girl. We will always keep you safe. We all love you so very much, you know that.” Sage threw on her cloak and strapped on the sack, eyes watering. She cocked a hip and smiled through her tears. “So…how do I look?”

  Gwen grinned back at her. “Improper as ever.”

  Her heart lightened at her mum’s statement. She would be okay. Things would get better. They had to for she would make it so. Sage clambered into the windowsill and swung her legs over the edge. Turning back, she peeked from under her hood, blowing a kiss at her mum.

  “Goodbye. I love you.”

  Her mum scowled for a beat but it soon morphed into a smile. “Never goodbye, love, because I will see you soon. Be safe, tell Lil hello, and that I’ll visit soon.” She paused. “Remember, Sage, never to judge.”

  Sage’s questioning expression seemed to make her mum’s smile widen. Shrugging it off, Sage waved, dropping to the ground on silent feet. There wasn’t much to keep her covered, and it was at least twenty-five paces until the homes started. Probably best to sneak into the forest until the homes were a bit closer together.

  She kept low to the ground, waiting and watching for movement. Nothing. Her heart pounded as she sprinted through the open before she disappeared into the forest. She heaved a deep breath, only slightly relieved. She was safe for the moment.

  Opening the letter, she read the directions. Her mum’s friend lived in the fishing district. It was actually close to one of the rebel’s bases so she could use one of their tunnels to keep hidden as she made her way there. Shoving the letter into her vest, she began weaving through the forest, feeling calmer almost immediately. There was something about the mixture of vegetation, freshly turned soil, and damp wood that soothed her soul. She breathed deeply, reveling in the cleansing air. If only she could stay here and pretend the outside world did not exist. Mulling it over, she decided she would gladly become a hermit.

  A whiff of freshly baked bread floated on the breeze and quickly shattered her daydream of disappearing into the forest. She scanned the modest stone homes that had slowly crept toward the forest’s edge. In one, a mother gestured furiously as her son with a loaf of bread. The next, a young woman vigorously washed clothing while humming a familiar tune. Sage continued to move along the tree line, searching for an exit. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone was home today. Finally, she spotted the perfect place to slip into the city.

  The home was clean but in clear need of maintenance. An old man slept in a rocking chair on his back porch, a threadbare blanket covering his slumbering form. Sage paused, observing the place for a few moments, searching for anyone else who might be in the house or the one next to it, yet all remained silent.

  She crept from her hiding place to the house in a matter of seconds where she cautiously peeked between the wooden shutters. The home appeared sparse, a stone fireplace dominating the wall across from her, with a worn chair in one corner and a small side table holding a couple of well-loved books. The kitchen was part of the same room, though all that occupied it was a sturdy table and a single chair. She doubled checked, but saw neither pantry nor food lying about. Where was the old man’s family?

  For some reason, it made her heart hurt knowing he could be all alone in the world. Sage dropped her sack and pulled out the food her mum sent with her. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had to give. She slipped back to the porch and eyed the sagging stairs. There was no way she could sneak up those—they’d give her away immediately. Ignoring them, she placed a knee on the porch. She leaned closer to the old man’s feet and placed the food beside his chair. Soundlessly, she shifted back and slipped quietly between the empty homes, moving in the direction of the fishing district.

  Chapter Two

  Tehl

  Shock pulsed through him even after she’d left. They had actually found her and not only that, but they even knew her true identity and her family. She was completely different from when he saw her the night before, less exotic, less refined. Yet she was just as beautiful. When he initially caught sight of her, he’d felt inclined to haul her over his shoulder and lock her up so he and his brother could finally extract some answers from her, and he’d been about to do so when Sam had slid him that look.

  He wasn’t sure the reasoning behind his brother’s decision to let her walk away, but Sam always had a plan. The man had more information, and secrets, than anyone he’d ever met… Except, perhaps, for the rebel girl. She might be the exception.

  He pulled himself from his thoughts when he heard the click of a shutting door.

  Was she coming back out?

  Her excuse of illness was one of the oldest tricks in the book, and it was surprising her father hadn’t seen through it.

  When he glanced up he noticed an older woman emerging from the curtain. She pushed some silver-streaked hair from the hazel eyes bracketed by fine lines, probably from smiling too often, as it seemed to suit her. She skimmed her eyes over him but lit up with joy as she spotted Sam.

  “Samuel!” she exclaimed and rushed toward them. “It has been too long, my boy.” She hugged Sam and then planted a kiss on his cheek.

  “Gwen, dearest, your beauty has faded not a bit. Colm is one lucky man.” Sam grasped her hand, placing a quick kiss on the back of it.

  She swatted Sam’s shoulder, her lips quirking. “Some things never change, do they? I was hoping you might have finally found a woman to settle you.”

  “I’m afraid the only woman in my life is my duties, and she’s all I’ve got room for. She’s a hard mistress, demandi
ng all my time and energy, so I fear I would have nothing left to give a young woman. For you, however, I think I would make an exception.”

  Tehl barely kept from rolling his eyes at his brother’s antics. Sam couldn’t help himself, he just had to flirt with anyone that was female.

  “Hey, now,” Colm scolded, though good-naturedly.

  Tehl took the moment to study the older swordmaker while his brother distracted the lady. The older man was a complicated mixture of opposites. He was tall and wide-shouldered, with massive hands, yet his clothes hung loose and his face was gaunt. The size of his clothes bespoke a time of good health and what was most likely considerable strength. Tehl watched as the swordsmith’s hands shook slightly while he worked. What had happened to him? Was he sick?

  “Forgive me for being so rude but, who is your companion?”

  Tehl discarded his musings and turned to the woman who was now appraising him. Her smile was friendly, but her eyes were shrewd. As she looked him up and down, the corner of her lips pinched slightly.

  Interesting, he thought.

  It appeared she didn’t like him though he’d yet to speak a word. Like mother, like

  daughter.

  “I am Tehl, my lady.” He inclined his head, respectfully addressing the older woman.

  “Forget all the formal nonsense. A friend of Sam’s is a friend of the family’s. Call me Gwen.” She brushed her hands against her skirt and looked between Sam and himself. “Would the two of you like to stay for dinner?”

  “Colm invited us already, and I do wish we could stay Gwen, but I fear that business waits for no man. Thank you for the offer. However, we really ought to be going.”

  “That’s too bad. Perhaps next time?”

  “Next time of course.” Though Sam smiled, his expression held a hint of disappointment. “We will be back for the blade in a couple weeks.”

  “Definitely. Will Zeke and Seb be done with their trading then?”

  “Actually, they’re home now. They’re out running errands for me so I’m sure they’ll be sad they missed you.”

  Sam picked up his sword and passed his other packages to his brother. “Tell them not to be strangers.” He then gave Gwen a quick hug, and shook hands with Colm, before turning toward the exit. As soon as he’d turned, the smile slid from his brother’s face, grim determination replacing the former levity.

  “You’re sure you don’t have time to stay?” Gwen called lightly.

  Something in the tone of her question felt off, and Tehl’s brows furrowed.

  Sam pasted the smile back on his face and tossed over his shoulder, “I am afraid not, dearest, but next time for sure.” Sam waved to the couple once more, and they meandered away until they were out of sight from their home. He picked up his pace, urging his brother, “We need to hurry, she’s running; I know it. Gwen was trying to stall us.” A bitterness had seeped into his words with the last sentence.

  “I thought the same thing. I knew something was off when she smiled at me with her lips but it didn’t match her eyes.” Sam didn’t often show his true feelings but Tehl could feel the frustration pouring off his brother. “What’s wrong?”

  “I have known them for years, Tehl, years. You have no idea how many times I snuck over there to visit their sons, Seb and Zeke. I never met Sage. She was younger and always by their father’s side. Neither of the boys had an interest in the forge. I can only guess what Sage told her mother, but my friendship with them just ended. Instead of being honest with me, Gwen shut me out and protected Sage.”

  “That is, I believe, what mothers are supposed to do,” Tehl drawled. Odd that it was him making this observation to his brother when it was usually the other way around.

  “Believe me, I know. I just…” Sam stopped, searching the surrounding area and running a hand through his hair. “I wish things were different. Everything is so damn tangled.” Sam squinted at the forest and changed the subject. “She couldn’t move into the city from this direction. If she had, we would have seen her. If I was her, I would have slipped into the trees to sneak along so I could enter the city near the fishing district. The homes butt up against the forest there so it’d be an easier transition for her.” Sam met his eyes as he made his way quickly back. “We have to hustle if we want any hope of catching up with her. If we lose her this time I doubt we’ll ever discover her again. Our only chance to quell the rebellion peacefully will disappear with her.”

  Tehl nodded and quickened his pace to match his brothers. They jogged down the lane scanning the area. “We could have avoided hunting her down if you had let me take her at the forge,” Tehl pointed out, baiting him. “I understand that you’re friends with her family, but this isn’t about one family, it’s about a nation of people.”

  Sam scoffed.

  Tehl smiled at his brother. Sam loved to tell others why he was right, and Tehl had deliberately created the perfect opening.

  “First, we want her to come willingly.”

  His lips twitched. Hook, line, and sinker.

  “As we have seen in the last month, she won’t give us a damn thing if we push. We don’t want to be seen as the evil ones. If you had taken Sage from her home, we would’ve become evil, and she would have resisted us with everything she had,” Sam continued in a lofty, lecturing tone. “But now, she will run to someone she trusts, someone who can protect her and who is potentially very dangerous.”

  Tehl let out a snort. So that was it. His brother was brilliant. “The rebellion. She is running to someone in the rebellion.”

  Sam grinned, huffing out a breath. “Exactly. Two birds, one stone.”

  They slowed when they reached the end of the forest, and a small cluster of homes gave way to the bustling city’s edge, families filling the streets, going about their daily business. Sam paused at an abandoned barrel and dumped his packages into it. Tehl raised a brow. Was he really going to leave his goods in that barrel? Sam saw the question on his face and smiled.

  “I can’t track a rebel spy if I am weighed down by loot. That girl is fast! Plus, no one is looking to steal from an old barrel, so I doubt anything will happen to it. Stop scowling and blend in, damn it! You keep an eye on the south, and I’ll watch the north.”

  Tehl pulled his hood to more fully shadow his face and scanned the road. Children sat in the dirt, etching games into it with little rocks. Others chased each other or hung onto the edges of their mums’ skirts as the women gossiped and shopped. He couldn’t help the smile on his face when a baby boy picked up a rock and began gnawing on it, behind his mum’s back. His little face sagged in relief with each bite. The little one must be getting teeth. He pulled his gaze from the baby and studied the surrounding people. Tehl inspected each person carefully, even the young men. The first time he had met Sage she was posing as a boy so she could very well be doing so now.

  “There,” Sam breathed.

  Tehl shuffled sideways to where his brother looked. There she was, moving out from between two homes and into the lane. She then flittered from one group of people to the next, looking for all the world like she belonged in each. It was fascinating.

  Sam sprawled lazily next to him, groaning about a headache. Sage’s head swiveled in their direction. She spotted Sam and appeared to dismiss him before moving down the dirt road. His brother was right. People saw mostly what they expected to see.

  Sam straightened and paused next to him. “Shall we investigate a bit?” Excitement gleamed in his brother’s blue eyes.

  Tehl nodded, gesturing ahead of him. “Lead the way.”

  Sam’s eyes flicked to his boots. “Do try to be quiet, we don’t want her to know we are coming.”

  Tehl glared at Sam. “But of course. Anything that you command, Mighty Lord of The Sneaks.”

  Sam scratched his chin with a satisfied smirk. “You know, I have always wanted to hear someone say that. Though, admittedly, I’d always hoped it would come from someone of the female persuasion.”

 
Tehl scoffed and kept close behind. They followed Sage at a distance as she made an odd series of twists and turns.

  “She’s coming to a dead end,” Sam whispered, but, when they turned the corner, she was gone.

  “Bloody hell,” Sam said.

  He searched along the street but she was not there. A flicker of movement drew his eyes up. Tehl blinked. She was running across the roof of an alehouse.

  “Sam.”

  “I see her. We need to split up or she’ll spot us coming.”

  He waited for Sam to get a good ten paces ahead before he made a show of sedately meandering down the cobbled street. Her fluid jumps and quick steps made it easy to keep his attention on her. Every movement was precise and athletic, never stumbling or slowing down. He’d have to pick up his pace to keep her in his sight, but, just as he had the thought, his breathing stuttered as she hurled herself across a large gap between buildings. Her dark cloak floated behind her, suspended in the air, until her fingers caught the edge of the roof. Bracing her feet against the building she twisted, and, with her back to the wall, noiselessly dropped to the ground.

  He had never seen anything like it.

  “I want her. Do you think she’d marry me?” Sam whispered heavily in his ear.

  Only years of practice kept him from jumping at the sudden proximity of his brother. Damn his brother and his eternal sneaking. “Was that necessary?” he asked harshly.

  Sam shouldered next to him as Sage slipped down the alley. “No, I find it enjoyable, so I wouldn’t expect it to stop any time soon. Also, you probably would have heard me if you weren’t watching her quite so closely.” Sam hitched a thumb over his shoulder. “You passed me a couple buildings back and never even noticed. Not that I can blame you… That woman…” Sam groaned. “Beauty, grace, cunning…and those moves! I bet she’s flexible—”