The Broken Pieces(33)

Darius leaned his head on his hand, his fingers rubbing his temples.

“Daniel’s not going to like this,” he muttered.



Valessa had expected an outburst when they told Daniel what they surmised. Instead, he’d sat calmly in his room in the tower, a map of the North rolled out before him on his desk. Beside him stood Brute, eating a peach and looking extremely bored.

“This is what you wake me up for?” Daniel asked. “Guesses?”

“More than that,” Darius said. “Well, slightly more,” he added after the older man’s glare.

“There’s no doubt that he’s on the move,” Valessa said. “I can see the black star clearly, more than I ever have before. He’s crossed the Gihon about twenty miles or so north of Willshire. He’ll be moving south soon enough.”

“Twenty miles…”

Daniel traced his finger along the map, then winced when he reached what he’d been looking for.

“There’s a small town by the name of Bellham twenty five miles upriver,” he said. “It’s one of the last before reaching the mines.”

“We have to warn them,” Darius said.

“It’s too late,” Valessa said, and she felt an ache in her chest that was entirely foreign. “He’s already there. He’ll come for Willshire next, then here.”

“He’s coming for us is what he’s coming for,” Brute said, taking another bite of his peach. “Question is, is there anything we can bloody do about it?”

“I’m not running,” Daniel said, preempting the suggestion.

“Then call it a tactical retreat,” Valessa said. “These walls will mean nothing to Cyric. You’ve seen what he can do, and he’s only going to get more powerful with time. We need to flee down the river, and take as many as we can with us.”

“She’s right,” Darius said. “We only have two hundred men. Cyric may have thousands.”

“All this depends on the word of one woman, you realize,” Brute interjected. “How sure are you of this? Could you be wrong?”

Much as she wanted to be, Valessa knew Cyric’s location with a certainty that could not be shaken.

“He’s there,” she said. “I know it with every bone in my body…if I had any, that is. Forgive the poor analogy.”

Daniel rolled up the map, breathed in deep, and then blew it all out.

“All right then. We’ll send for the people of Willshire come morning, and by nightfall we’ll sail south.”

Valessa could hardly believe it was that simple.

“We will?” she asked, even though she knew it had to make her sound dumb. “You trust my opinion so much?”

“Milady, I saw you rip open these gates with your bare hands, completely unafraid of that giant lion on the other side. If you’re frightened now, then I trust your instincts. This tower wouldn’t be mine without your help. If you say it’s time to leave, then we leave.”

Valessa felt oddly flattered, though she resented the accusation of being frightened.

“I must say, I thought you’d protest a bit more,” Darius said, chuckling.

Daniel let out a sigh.

“I knew this might happen, but I needed the boats here if we were to flee, plus the extra supplies. The river’s our only hope of fleeing fast enough, and we couldn’t use it until we retook the tower. Now the mercenaries are gone, and we’re free to run like the chickenshits we are. I’ve got messages already sent down river, pleading with King Baedan to muster his army. Only job we have left is protecting the people of Willshire from that madman, as well as alerting all the other villages we cross along the way.”

“The king won’t be too pleased you left your post,” Brute said, tossing the remains of his peach out the window.

“That’s why I’ll be staying, along with whoever will volunteer to remain with me,” Daniel said. “Someone has to stall them for a bit. If Cyric thinks the tower guarded, he’ll approach with caution. Even if I can buy the rest of you only a few hours, it still might make a difference.”

“I agree,” Brute said, looking to Darius and Valessa to see if they would argue. Valessa said nothing, for the lieutenant’s life was his own. Darius clearly looked unhappy, but didn’t seem willing to challenge the decision.

“But it won’t be you that’s staying, Daniel,” Brute continued. “I’ll remain behind. You have a duty to your men, and dying here ain’t it.”

“Absolutely not,” Daniel said.

“If you stay, then that makes me in charge of the men who come with me on the river,” Brute argued. “And the first order I’ll give will be to turn every last one of them around to aid you along the walls. The peasants can fend for themselves. You’ve got no choice in this matter, Daniel.”