Chapter 55:
Allies
Eyes forward. Don’t run. Eyes forward. Don’t run.
I nearly leap behind the ridge. My frame slips into shadow, no longer illuminated by the campfires. My breathing is ragged, and my arms are trembling, but I made it. I’m out of sight of the hundreds of soldiers in the queen’s army.
I survey my surroundings – a maze of trenches cutting into the orange dirt, lit only by the moonlight overhead. It’s as if the land dried and broke into large cracks like an old riverbed.
The queen ordered that Trevus and I be split up. I was kept on the northern side of the camp, so my search will begin in the south. I make my way through the trench. The walls are tall enough to conceal a person – perfect to stay hidden as I trace the camp’s perimeter.
A streak of firelight across my path brings me to a sudden stop – a gap in the trenches that’s visible to the camp. I duck down low at the sound of voices – a handful of men. They grow louder as they approach the trenches – are they on patrol, or have they come to relieve their bladders?
My trench lights up in an orange glow. A soldier rounds the corner up ahead, his torch illuminating my crouched frame. He’s on watch. Salts.
I leap up and rush back down the trench the way I came. Winding back around a corner has my feet screeching to a stop. Another burley short-haired soldier is only twenty feet away. He’s turning to face me. I jerk around again and break off at a fork in the path. They’re patrolling the trenches too.
“Mephian girl!” I hear the soldier call. He saw me. His footsteps are following. I rush down another path, but deep voices seem to emanate from every direction. Which way is the camp? I’ve lost my orientation, and there’s no way I’m peeking over a ridge.
I skid around another corner, and my boot catches on a root. I stumble, falling to my hands and knees. It’s impossible to see in here.
I leap back up again.
“Halt or die!” a voice booms over my head. My eyes snap to the source, and I freeze – two large men stand just a few feet ahead, both holding torches in their left hands and javelins in their right.
I still in place. Leaping forward might put their bare hands in reach, but the image of their cold steel puncturing my heart keeps my feet rooted.
The footsteps behind me grow closer. I’m surrounded, with trench walls to my left and right, and soldiers both in front and behind. The two soldiers ahead scrutinize my frame. I recognize them – they both escorted us to the queen’s tent, and the younger one is the soldier Trevus kneed after he yanked my wrist chain.
“It’s the mage,” the soldier says. “But who’s the archer?”
Archer?
A hand grips my dress, and I’m pulled backwards and away from the two soldiers. A burley figure steps between us with his back to me. A quiver hangs over his shoulder, and his bow is drawn taut – aimed right at the two soldiers.
The soldiers take a step back at the sight of the archer, raising their javelins as if ready to hurl at the both of us. “I said halt or die!” one shouts. They’re not allies.
The archer glances back at me, and my mouth falls open.
“Evening, Mephian girl,” the archer says. Giddius.
Giddius watches the soldiers. Despite being matched one against two, the soldiers appear far more frightened than he does.
“Drop your weapon!” the younger soldier says.
Giddius remains fixed in place like a rock, his frame shielding mine both from the soldiers’ view and their weapons. “Be warned,” Giddius begins in his gruff voice, “Had I executed this operation as I pleased, the both of you would be dead before laying eyes upon my bow.”
“Drop it!” the soldier repeats. “There are two of us and one of you. Even landing a hit, you can’t win.”
Giddius aims his bow at the one who spoke. One arrow is nocked on the bow, and a second one is in reserve between his fingers. “I give my word that an arrowhead shall be embedded in each of your chests before you manage to launch even one of your archaic projectiles. Only one element keeps this arrow between my fingers and out of your flesh – the Mephian girl at my back would object to the premature conclusion of your unremarkable lives.”
Both soldiers take a step back, looking even more nervous.
“Should the Mephian girl change her mind, I shall not hesitate to execute you both.” Giddius glances back at me. No! I shake my head.
They retreat further.
Giddius traces them with his bow. “It only takes one word. I hope her treatment was fair.”
The younger soldier takes off first, and his friend scrambles after him. They both disappear into the trenches.
Giddius lowers his bow and turns in my direction. “Prepared to depart?”
“What are you… How did you even know we were…” I have so many questions I don’t know what to ask first.
“Let us discuss it beyond their perimeter.” He gestures for me to follow.
“We can’t leave Trevus,” I say.
“You shall see him imminently. Let us make haste.” He heads back down the direction we came.
He seems to have a better idea of where to go, so I follow him.
He leads the way, not once even hesitating at a fork in the trenches. He must have spent some time in here already.
The noise of the camp begins to fade as we trek further and further out. Giddius better know that without Trevus I’m turning right back around.
The trench walls shrink, the dips becoming shallower and soon flattening out into a dry, open plain. Giddius stops behind a large boulder. I join him and lean against it, catching my breath. The camp is just an orange glow in the distance, but I keep on the opposite side of the boulder to be safe.
“Where’s Trevus?” I ask between labored breaths.
“You shall see him imminently,” Giddius repeats the same line from before.
He already betrayed Trevus once. I didn’t rescue him from the dungeon out of trust of his character. I rescued him to avoid further death. There’s no telling what he intends to do with the sorceress cluelessly tailing behind him.
“I’m going to get Trevus.” I head back towards the trenches.
Giddius rushes to my side. “I
insist
you wait, Mephian girl.”
“Are you going to try stop me?” I grab the julite pendant through my shirt, separating it from my skin. A few weeks ago, he intended to deliver me to Lord Reger himself.
“No. I am here to assist you. You do not harbor complete knowledge of this operation, and blazing forward shall lead to your recapture. Be patient. We stand upon the point of rendezvous.”
I cross my arms, the bundle of chain on my left wrist clinking from the movement.
“Come.” Giddius heads back behind the large boulder.
If he’s telling the truth, leaving would only make finding Trevus more difficult. He did save me from the Ceramayan watchmen, but that may only have been to gain my cooperation.
I return with him to the boulder, but my gaze doesn’t leave him for a moment.
He reveals a bag hidden beneath some loose branches. Retrieving a chisel, he offers a hand.
I give him my chained wrist. If he desired to hurt me, that could have been achieved with his bow long ago.
He unwraps the chain and pulls the loop around my wrist taut, stretching the links as far as they will go. To my surprise, his bare hands touch mine without hesitation. Pressing the chain against the boulder, he lines up the chisel with a link and hammers it with a stone.
The chain snaps, and I draw my hand back to my chest, glad to be free of that extra weight.
A hand rests on my hip. I whip around. Trevus! His tall frame towers over mine, illuminated by the moonlight. I leap into his arms, and he engulfs me in a hug.
“Are you free of injury?” Trevus asks.
“I’m pretty tough,” I say. “A few guards are nothing I can’t handle.”
Trevus chuckles, his laugh rumbling through my frame. I love him.
He releases his hold.
I turn to find Marcellus standing beside us. He waves. “Girlie.”
I light up with a smile. Trevus said he made it, but I’m glad to see him healthy with my own eyes. “You’re alright,” I say.
“I owe you and the Captain my gratitude.” He pulls back his sleeve, revealing a thin pink line where the arrow struck nearly two months ago. “Your fine stitching was crucial to my survival – the physician himself stated so.”
“I’m relieved you’re alright,” I say. The three of us are huddled together, but Giddius waits a little further back. “I’m glad we’re all alright,” I add.
Marcellus draws a sheathed sword from the hidden bag and hands it to Trevus. He knew where it was. Him and Giddius must have planned everything. Three Ceramayan soldiers religiously guarded my wagon until this evening. Giddius must have had a hand in their absence.
Trevus’s gaze is fixed on Giddius. The last time he laid eyes on him was the moment before Lord Reger raised his axe at Trevus’s execution in Nepolis. Trevus believed in Giddius before then, even insisting he was innocent of the flame sweep in the Merk forest that left Marcellus injured. That attack was orchestrated by Lord Reger’s men, the same ones to whom Giddius betrayed us.
“If you seek my forgiveness, you set out on this venture in vain,” Trevus says.
“I did not return with a desire to address you as Captain,” Giddius says. “Those such as yourself, who dwell at the head of the hierarchy, magnify treason beyond its true measure. I did not wish for, nor plot, your death, and I shall not apologize for your brazen entry into Nepolis under poor odds. On what basis do you claim your morality superior to my own?”
“On the basis that I do not deceive my companions,” Trevus says.
“Your
subordinates
. ‘Tis simple to speak only truth from the top,” Giddius says.
“If you harbor no remorse, why boat to Zaybeth and tail us through the wilderness?”
So Marcellus and Giddius were the Versillians who arrived at Zaybeth the day we left, the same ones pursuing us when we took refuge among the caravan. They must have been following the queen’s army after our capture, waiting for an opportunity.
“I do harbor remorse – for my conduct to another,” Giddius says.
Trevus crosses his arms.
“There is one who would endanger their life in service to those whom they owe nothing.” Giddius’s eyes turn in my direction. “I shall aim my bow where you point, Mephian girl.”
Trevus’s mouth opens in surprise for a moment – something I’ve never witnessed before. Trevus thinks Giddius went straight from berating me on the Merk’s bank to pledging his allegiance in one step – an unbelievable shift.
Trevus’s gaze jumps between the two of us, and he puts the pieces together. “‘Twas Jade that spared you from Tytius’s sword?”
“Indeed,” Giddius says.
Trevus’s sharp gaze lands on me, but it soon softens. I didn’t rescue Giddius due to a disregard of what he did to Trevus. I rescued him because I didn’t want more death – whether ally or adversary. Trevus has known this since he caught me running away in our third night in the forest, when my bare hands were against his skin.
“May I accompany your party, Mephian girl?” Giddius asks.
Trevus’s expression says he’s not pleased about the situation, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Trevus?” I ask.
“’Tis your venture. Act as you see best,” Trevus says.
Can I trust Giddius? If Trevus was certain Giddius was lying, he wouldn’t offer the choice. Giddius watched us leave Lystra. Without him, Marcellus wouldn’t be here, and Trevus and I would still be in the queen’s custody. He’s the reason Trevus and I have reunited. That doesn’t mean he can’t hold ulterior motives, but is he really so empty that he’d sell me off after I saved him from an execution?
Giddius didn’t intend for Trevus to die. I didn’t intend for Mehlia to die. In the end, Trevus lived, and Mehlia didn’t. I spent most of my life wishing that others would forgive my mistake. How can I now hold his against him?
“Lord Asarus has recruited a militia,” I say. “We can’t challenge him alone.” We’ll meet him at the village I once called home, and this time, he won’t be the one in control.
Trevus nods and clips his sheathed sword to his belt.
“I shall not disappoint, Mephian girl,” Giddius says.
“I prefer Jade,” I say. The guards of Antiock, Oscus and Kerius, often cited my nationality as another reason I was different, a reason to justify my treatment and isolation.
“Jade then,” Giddius says.
Author’s Note:
What do you think of Marcellus and Giddius’s return?
Well done to @iceheartgoldsmile and @seeleey for predicting this when the two Versillian men arrived in Zaybeth in Chapter 48.
very happy
The whole squad is back together again
Love it
Another step on the journey. Jade is coming into her own.
Just the way they should be.
I’m their little group is back together, I missed them.
I am glad to see them back
I am so glad the 4 of them are back together, I do believe this way they’ll succeed.
Damn,I have never been this shocked 😲😳…such a mighty turn of events😂
at last, good boy 😁
he should start bij calling her by her name instead of Mephian girl. Maybe add a miss if he wants to be respectfull 😊
you crack me up iceheartgoldsmile 🤣
😍😍❤️
🥹🥹🥹
KNEW IT💃
Walt Giddius is an Archer
Good job damn…
Oh exciting!
Oh for sure the tides from turned from the beginning where they were loyal to him now they are loyal to her lol
Trevus didn’t know of that… I guess she never told him I suppose
Yeah she did save him so he’s indebted to her… she had every reason to leave him to die but didn’t
That’s a lot of effort lol
He really is, there’s no proof though
most likely
Aw thats such a lovely thing to say
He’s back!
Well that’s a way to word that lol
I keep forgetting how formal this dude is
Yay! Trevus!
Did she put the gem back against her skin?
Marvelous? YAY!
So excited to see him and see how marvelous is
Dude you know her name…
She loves him though
The way the question cuts off sounds like she’s making him what he is like he’s some mythical creature lol
It wasn’t too bad I suppose other then being restrained
Pretty much, he knows she hates death where it isn’t required
But there is 2, Jade can take one of you two out as well
Yup!
Trevus told him to limit the number of casualties aye
I didn’t think he was coming back hmm
bipolar?
Trevus!
There’s also a good chance of only getting one and not the other…
Mephian girl? Not Jade or the seventh? Or is he assuming she aligns with Mephia being a sorceress?
Yeah…
Well I hope it’s not the bathroom…
I knew it hehe 😊
I missed bestie!!!!!
Ok, I totally read that as if Trevus was acting jealous lol
Dude is grateful as heck, ‘my life to save your life, till the end girlie’
He got a point, still a butt