Chapter 26:
Hunted
It’s no challenge to keep myself awake. Trevus went to sleep an hour ago, but my eyes are wide open. Tomorrow we’ll arrive at Nepolis. My time is up.
This city is no larger than Antiock, but it’s far rowdier. Even at midnight, the mumbling drunk men wandering the street outside are still audible.
I slowly sit up, my gaze fixed to Trevus. He doesn’t stir, and his eyes remain closed.
I climb off the bed and walk straight to the door. The key is where I left it in the lock. Trevus should have kept it on his person, but tonight it slipped his mind. He was distracted. I turn the key, and the lock disengages with a soft click. He’s never distracted.
I pull the door open and step over the threshold. A streak of moonlight illuminates Trevus’s large frame. His side rises and falls with each breath. He’ll be devastated when he wakes up to find I’m gone. I can’t help to him. My sorcery is a curse, to me and all who wish to use it.
I shouldn’t think twice about leaving a man holding me against my will, but the guilty feeling still lingers in my heart. I sympathize with his quest to find his mother, and I wish it could be fulfilled, but it’s impossible. I want him to understand. He deserves to know what happened.
The quill on the desk catches my attention. A small sheet of papyrus lies waiting. I go to the desk, taking slow, careful steps.
Dipping the quill in the ink, I scribble the words I would say if I wasn’t so scared of his sword.
Dear Trevus
I can’t continue on your quest. The woman who died at my hands ten years ago is your Mother, Mehlia. I have no doubt. I heard her name and saw her face. I’m sorry. I hope that one day you’ll forgive me.
Trevus shifts in bed. My gaze jumps to him. I sit frozen, ready to crumple up the sheet should he rise.
His body lies still. I sign the letter –
Jade
, and head out the room, closing the door without a sound. Goodbye, Trevus.
Moving with speed now, I hurry down the stairs to ground level. The tavern is empty, but dirty mugs litter tables and a fireplace still burns in the corner. The innkeeper must be coming back soon.
Empty taverns are eerie. It’s as if all the patrons were suddenly whisked away with the wind. Pushing the creepy feeling aside, I slip around the tables and make my way to the front door. Speaking with the Mephian guards will be my first course of action. If they don’t offer sanctuary, I’ll seek refuge in a home. There must be at least one kind family in Sisarea.
The sight outside the tavern makes my heart jump. I whip the door closed again. There are at least thirty soldiers out there in black and gray oban uniforms. This is not Versillia. What are they doing here?
Looking over my black dress, the seriousness of my situation becomes apparent. At least with my oban, I could have hoped to slip past them unnoticed. Sisarea is a Mephian city. Are they here to raze this place to the ground like they did Balin?
I open the door an inch and peer through. The men are spreading out. I was wrong – there are far more than thirty. This is an entire army. It’s an escalation of war.
A woman’s scream echoes through the town. The soldiers’ shields are painted with familiar emerald stripes. These are soldiers of House Cerillis, the same horsemen that pursued us at the trade post. It’s Regent Evecius’s army, the ones who are marching to Nepolis under the lie of saving King Tytius, causing the battle that triggers his execution. They decided to stop here on their way, like Trevus and I did, except with less innocent intentions.
A man with a crimson stripe across his shoulders stands on a log of wood. He’s a captain like Trevus, but he’s much older. “Hear me, hear me,” the captain shouts. “Reveal the Mephian witches and wizards.” He raises a curved sword into the air. “Here on this tree, they shall be bisected with the blade blessed by Nomier! Collect your rahlite and dig them out!”
The men roar. My hands snap to cover my mouth. They’re hunting
me
.
A wooden chest is opened before the captain, revealing broken white stones. The soldiers each clutch a stone fragment and fan out, splitting down different alleyways. Loud bangs follow as they knock down doors.
Two step onto the patio and head straight for my door. I leap backwards and run for the passage. There’s a loud bang. They’re already here. I dive behind the bar, knocking over mugs and spilling ale on the ground.
“Stop right there!” a man shouts. I can’t see who said it from my hiding place, but it wasn’t in a Versillian accent.
I peek up from behind the bar. Two soldiers have pushed inside, but the Mephian innkeeper who greeted us blocks their path.
The barkeeper gestures to the room around them. “We’re closed for the night.” He’s taller than both soldiers, but he’s unarmed.
Their conversation plays out only a few strides away. Staying low, I crawl across to the other end of the bar. The passage leading to the rooms is just two steps away, but it’s in the soldier’s line of sight.
“Move aside, old man.” The soldiers push past him. He’s got a sword in his right hand and a white rock in his left. “The rahlite glows. A sorcerer is near.”
The other soldier draws his sword. The broken stone is emitting a faint white light. I duck back behind the bar. Never in my life have I seen a rock glow like fire, and it’s leading them right to me. There’s no choice but to run. Trevus is my only source of safety.
I leap out from the bar and race down the passage. There’s no shout from the soldiers, but I have no doubt that they noticed a figure rushing out. I hurry back to our room and hold my breath as I twist the handle.
Trevus is still in bed, but the commotion is stirring him awake. My letter lies unread on the desk. I slip inside and shut the door, careful not to slam it. I drop the letter over the hot coals that heated the bucket, and it quickly disintegrates.
“Trevus,” I whisper-shout. He sits up at my distressed call.
“Men are hunting me. I can feel it. They’re already inside,” I say.
“Lock it,” he says in a low voice.
Right. I lock the door.
Trevus stands on the bed, and his hands shift from one ceiling plank to the next. Is he still dreaming?
“Toss the chair through the window,” he says. His eyes don’t move from the ceiling boards. At this moment, there’s no better man to protect me. I have to trust him.
With the wooden chair in hand, I spin around and hurl it at the window. The legs shatter the glass as if they were stone, and the window crashes with a sound so loud it could be confused with thunder.
My shoulders tense from the noise. The door handle twists from the other side, but the lock keeps the soldiers out, at least for a minute.
Trevus has removed three ceiling planks, revealing nothing but a dark void.
I join him on the bed. With his hands on my waist, my body is raised up through the hole. I latch on the nearest support beams, but Trevus needs no help pushing my body all the way up – as if I weighed nothing.
The soldiers are banging on the door. That puny lock will snap at any moment.
Trevus grabs onto the beams and pulls himself up beside me. The door crashes open, shattering at the frame. He slides the planks back into place without a sound, sealing the hole beneath us. We’re left in total darkness.
“They’ve fled,” one of them calls out. Heavy boots stomp through our room. “The stone does not cease glowing,” another says.
This space is small, lending only enough room for us to sit pressed against each other. Fear keeps my body stiff.
There’s another harrowing scream outside. The floorboards echo as the soldiers rush out the room.
I’m trembling. These men are out to kill me. I can imagine it now – they find me in this hole then drag me outside screaming. I wouldn’t stand a chance against them. They’d press my neck down on that horrible log, and with their boots on my back, they’d cut off my head.
Trevus places an arm around my side, squeezing tight. “I shall not allow them to take you,” he whispers.
I look up at him. Our space is too dark to see anything, but I can feel his side against mine, his firm hold around my frame. Even after I accepted his kiss and then claimed I didn’t want it, he’s still comforting me.
Though I’m safe in Trevus’s arms now, tomorrow these same arms will sacrifice me to the soldiers at Nepolis. My last chance to escape has disintegrated. I can only hope that Lord Reger will have mercy after I’ve impersonated his nation’s sorceress.
Even with the reality of tomorrow, Trevus’s hold is still comforting. I rest my head against his shoulder, and we sit in the dark. The noise from the chaos outside continues.
Author’s Note:
This was her last night, as tomorrow they arrive at Nepolis. All hope of escape is lost. Should Jade tell Trevus the truth and risk his wrath, or should she take her chance in Nepolis, unable to defend herself from the soldiers inside?
Jade also had her first encounter with rahlite, a special kind of stone that was first mentioned in Chapter 10.
Also – warn him who it is!!! He’s in danger too!!
This is giving me heart palpitations! 😂 It’s going to look so bad and come off the wrong way.
No!!!
Also, he’s probably in as much danger as she is – wouldn’t he be considered a traitor now? Further to this, hopefully he’s already read the note (a weight lifted off her shoulders and the truth revealed) and I don’t know how she’d feel being around him then (she was already feeling so guilty).
I’m so glad she’s telling him and not keeping it to herself. Thank goodness. Respect. It would have been awful if she didn’t.
X2
She’ll have to trust her powers
telling the truth is the only way she may be safe
She’s already said she won’t, her life was in danger when she killed Trevus’s mother, hence her saying she’ll never do it again
She should tell the truth yeah, but like it’s definitely a scary thing to tell someone
wow
I’m sorry girl, but Trevus cannot be your safety anymore, against one or two men yes, over thirty? Yeah nah…
brave, brave man… foolish, but I appreciate him
real bad timing fellas
book it girlie
I mean, yeah, he does deserve to know, the goal is fruitless
TOO SHORT HEY
what a chapter filled with action 👏👏👏
😂😂
Telling Trevus the truth now would be the best decision. If not, Trevus will have to raise his sword against his own army thinking Jade would help him out later but she has no plans to use her sorcery for his or her benefit.
Jade wanted to do good by Mehlia’s spirit by not using her sorcery again. But when Trevus has to harm soldiers to protect her, it would indirectly go against her will to not harm anyone due to her power.
Even if she takes her chance in Nepolis and gets away from Trevus at the end moment, she wouldn’t be able to really enjoy her freedom. She would just be free physically but she wouldn’t be free emotionally as the guilt and weight of betrayal to Trevus would eat away at her. She wouldn’t want that.
Also, Trevus believes it wasn’t Jade’s fault that Mehlia died. She was just a child. If she confesses now, he maybe devastated but he would come to terms with it soon. He wouldn’t kill her. But he won’t be able to forgive her if he finds the truth after he has committed many crimes that he would regret. He may really want to kill her then.
I got a feeling that the main reason Trevus wants to find his mother because he wants a person in life to love and who loves him as much in return. He could nurture a loving relationship with Jade once he gets a closure. He anyway thinks Jade isn’t at fault.
Heartbreak😩😩🥺🥺
🥺🥺🥺🥺
i think it would be better if she admits the truth to Trevus now. It would be terrible for him to learn that he went through so much risks to save someone who had an answer to his question but chose not to disclose anything until its too late and he has committed many crimes to protect her. Tht would be a betrayal he could never look past.
I think she should just be honest so at least he knows… the king has no idea where his mother might be anyway even if he got to ask him.
I think Trevus will be devastated to learn about his mother but at least then he can have some closure on the issue
Huh, I need to reread it
I mean let’s be real if your life was really in danger would you still refuse to use your power?
Oh damn they have ways of finding people like her…