Chapter. 68
The gravel crunches under my boots with each step. My fingers run over the bumpy edges of the gold coin in my pocket. Before I could leave the house, Rahlan gave me a list of specifications for the new horse. It must be a destrier, fifteen hands tall, at least seven years old and many other things that have now slipped my mind. I simply nodded my head while he spoke, not paying attention. I grew up in a village just like this. We didn’t breed warhorses, and these people won’t either. Even for a gold coin, I’m expecting to choose between a younger cart horse and an older cart horse, and I plan to buy the one with the prettiest fur.
The sun warms my skin. The village is buzzing with activity – chickens clucking, people chatting and a blacksmith’s hammer banging in the distance. A little boy and girl hurry past me, both working together to haul a bucket of water with them. It’s just how I remember my home, completely different to the war-torn gloomy atmosphere in the village of Litton.
I follow the ring of the hammer, as I imagine that if anyone’s willing to trade, then it’ll be the blacksmith. Jaclyn agreed that he would be the best place to start, though she hasn’t lived here long enough to know him.
The hammer’s sound leads me around the chapel and left at the crossroads. A little further along the street, a stocky man comes into view. He’s in a barn with an open front, hammering the end of a bent metal rod that’s clamped between two heavy stones.
I step inside the shale-roofed three-sided barn. There are a few bundles of hay stacked in the corner, suggesting that he does own a horse. The man stops hammering at the sight of me. His hair is black and prickly, his face is shaven, and he’s short like me.
Pinching the gold coin in two fingers, I take it out my pocket. “I’m in need of a horse,” I say.
His hammer nearly slips out of his hand at the sight of the coin. Gold is a rarity in little farm settlements like these.
He puts his hammer aside. “Please, follow me,” he says.
We head around the home to another barn, and he pushes open a long door. Two horses are tethered inside. One is brown with a long unkempt mane, and the other is a splotchy combination of white and brown. They’re both cart horses, not nearly strong or fast enough to meet Rahlan’s requirements, but they’ll do fine for carrying us back to Litton.
The man holds out his hand to present the horses. “Ano and Ari,” he says.
I step closer and rest my hands on Ari’s brown and white prickly fur.
“Ano is the oldest at nine years, and Ari is his sister, a year younger.”
Ari’s splotchy fur pattern has already won me over. She’s the one.
I carefully lift one of her hooves. It needs to be trimmed down, and the iron horseshoe needs reseating.
“Can you refit the shoes?” I ask.
“Of course.” He takes the horse’s halter and leads her back to the first barn where he keeps his tools.
He works to remove the shoes while I stroke Ari’s nose. She stares back at me with her deep dark eyes. She’ll grow on Rahlan over time. Since he already has Mittens, Ari may end up becoming mine. My horse-riding ability is limited to nothing faster than a slow walk, but I’m sure that Rahlan could teach me more.
“Julia!” a woman’s voice shouts.
I whip around.
Jaclyn is standing at the entrance. Her shoulders roll with each panting breath, and her palms are covered in blood.
I rush to meet her. A rock forms in my stomach. Did Rahlan hurt her, even after she risked her life to save him?
“Hurry.” She grabs my arm, coating my leather sleeve in blood. I stumble forward as she pulls me back down the road.
Finding my footing, I run beside her. “Your hands?”
“It’s not my blood,” she says.
Her words bring a moment of relief, but it quickly evaporates. If it’s not her blood, then it must be Rahlan’s. Does the Queensblood poison have latent symptoms that are only now taking effect?
Turning the corner, she slows down to a speedy walk – the fastest we can move without drawing attention back to her house.
Arriving on her porch, she glances to make sure no one is looking before opening the door and nudging me inside.
The closed window shutters keep the empty living room dim. My eyes land on the door leading to my room – where Rahlan was recovering just hours ago.
I shoot forward and yank the door open. My body freezes at the sight.
There’s blood. Bevin, Ina and Aled are on the floor with their backs propped up against the wall. Rahlan is standing over them. The long steel blade in his hand is coated red.
Rahlan’s gaze lands on me. Jaclyn steps around my frozen form and kneels beside Aled with a linen bandage in her hand. Aled’s legs are stretched out, and blood is seeping through his pants. Bevin’s holding one arm in the other, with a similar red stain on his sleeve. Ina’s trembling, pressing her back against the wall as if she could pass through it if she pushed hard enough.
I recognize the hilt in Rahlan’s hand. It’s Bevin’s sword. Bevin, Ina and Aled must have charged in here looking for me, hoping to claim the coins that I owe them for Rahlan’s treatment. Jaclyn wouldn’t have let them in, and there’s only blood in this room. They pushed past her and stormed in here, only to encounter a vampire. Bevin drew his sword, and Rahlan disarmed him, thinking that they’d come to slay him.
“Your friend lobbied that I delay for a moment before ending them,” Rahlan says to me.
Ina whimpers at his words. Tears are running down her cheeks. They’re traders, not soldiers. Ina wouldn’t have traveled from her home if she had any idea that this could happen.
I step between Rahlan and the Farians, blocking him, and hopefully providing a little comfort to Ina. My glare locks with Rahlan’s gaze, adding weight to my words. “You are not ending anyone. We are leaving now.”
I can’t see Bevin, Ina and Aled’s faces, but I can only imagine what they think of me – bravery when I first stood in front of Rahlan, and now betrayal that I speak as if I know him.
Rahlan takes a step forward, looking over my head at his victims. My feet remain planted where they are. He’s considering pushing me aside and doing as he pleases.
“These Farians gave me the cure for the Queensblood,” I say. “You’d be dead without them.”
“Your preference is to sacrifice your friend?” he asks.
I glance back at Jaclyn. She has Aled’s pants cut back and is wrapping bandages around his leg. Her gaze remains on her work, but the look on her face is grim. She put everything together faster than I did. After we leave, Bevin, Ina and Aled will tell the townsfolk that Jaclyn harbored a vampire, and her new life will be over. The only way she can keep her position as a healer is if Rahlan kills and buries the three of them.
“Jaclyn can come with us, back to Litton,” I say.
Rahlan raises an eyebrow.
“She’s a skilled healer, and Litton could use one.”
Jaclyn doesn’t react to my words, still looking glum. Heading back to live under vampires would appear to her like a return to slavery, but it won’t be. I can make sure that her life will be different.
“Will you come?” I ask her.
She averts her eyes. “There’s no other choice,” she says.
I know it’s a difficult prospect to face, but I’m sure that I can convince Rahlan to provide her with the resources she needs to keep her role as a healer.
“So be it,” Rahlan says. “I shall subdue the intruders, and we shall leave.”
Ina tucks her trembling hands to her chest. She still afraid that Rahlan will hurt her.
Rahlan pulls a blanket off the bed and begins slicing it with his sword, staining the material red.
“Julia.” Bevin’s whisper grabs my attention. “You will just stand here, compliant with our murder?”
“No. He will not harm you.” I shake my head and kneel between him and Aled. “He’s agreed to tie you up and leave,” I say, speaking to all of them. Their expressions remain tense, not relieved like I am. I’ve been tied up by Rahlan enough to be confident that they’ll be fine, but mentioning that to them would be humiliating.
Jaclyn is tying off the bandage around Aled’s thigh. Bevin’s sleeve will need to come off before she can work on his arm, so I reach for the ties on his shirt. Understanding my intention, he puffs out his chest to give me easy access to the ties.