Bitter Winter, page 16
part #5 of Ilyon Chronicles Series
When the Red Crane came into view, he drew a hard breath to steel himself. Avery probably wouldn’t even be there this time of day, but Jace prayed he would. He had no time to waste trying to find the smuggler. Turning the knob, he pushed the door open and stepped into the tavern’s dim interior. So close to dawn, the main room was nearly empty, yet a few men occupied the tables, including one who looked like he’d passed out there with his overturned mug of ale the night before.
The barkeeper sent Jace a probing glance but said nothing. Ignoring him, Jace scanned the room. His heart gave an elevated thump. One of the men at the back corner table had been in the room guarding Avery yesterday. Jace set out across the room. He was halfway there when the man spotted him. His brows creased as he eyed Jace, his hand dropping to his sword. Jace stopped a couple of feet from the table and stared the man down.
“I need to speak to Avery.”
The man traded a glance with his companions before fixing his keen eyes back on Jace. “Have you brought adequate payment?”
Jace took care to keep his voice even. Riling the man would not help the situation. “No, but I have something else I think he’ll want. Something worth a small fortune.”
The man seemed to take stock of Jace before lazily pushing away from the table. “This way.”
They headed for the hall to the back rooms. Jace breathed out slowly, relief and hope mingling with the persistent ache writhing inside of him. He’d gained his audience with Avery, but now he had to go through with it. At one of the doors, they paused, and the man tapped the door with his knuckle. It opened partially a moment later, and Tavor stood on the other side. He took one glance at Jace, and then opened the door wider to let him in.
Jace stepped through and found Avery reclining at the table, a half-eaten plate of eggs and sausages set before him. His dark eyes locked on Jace, and a half-smile lifted his lips.
“Ready to do business, are we?” He tilted his head as he looked Jace up and down. “I don’t see anything that could contain the payment we talked about. Where are your friends?”
Jace took a step toward the table, careful not to appear too threatening. “I have a different proposition for you.”
“Have a seat.”
Jace pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. His stomach knotted, but he forced the sensation away. “We can’t get the money we need, but I do have something to trade for the remedy.”
“And what might that be?”
Jace’s mouth went dry, his tongue growing thick in his mouth at the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had to do this. If only it didn’t hurt so much. “I have a dragon.”
Avery’s brows rose. “A dragon?”
Jace drew a strangled breath and tried not to choke on his own voice. “Yes.”
“Now that is a tempting offer. Under different circumstances, I’d take it; however, considering how hard it is just to keep people fed this winter, the cost of feeding a dragon would outweigh its worth.”
A warped mix of sheer disappointment and relief swirled inside Jace. Avery would really turn down a dragon? Though the thought of giving up Gem had torn him up, the gnawing desperation to save Kyrin was even worse. Why was this man so determined to thwart their every effort?
His heart pounded loudly in his ears, his blood warming. His voice strained through his tight throat. “We need that remedy. People are dying.”
Avery’s good-natured expression dimmed. “People are dying all around us, thanks to our queen,” he spat. “You’re not the only ones in dire need.”
Jace clenched his fists. Avery was right, of course. In reality, their camp was but a small part of the thousands who suffered because of Davira. However, that didn’t mean Jace would stop fighting to save those he loved.
A flicker of knowing amusement returned to Avery’s eyes. “You’re not here for your resistance camp, are you?”
Jace frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You’re not here for the good of your cause; you’re here for someone in particular… someone special. It wouldn’t happen to be Miss Kyrin Altair, would it?”
Jace stiffened. What did Avery know of Kyrin?
With Jace’s hesitation, Avery continued. “Don’t look so surprised. I know who you are. You’re the half-blood. Jace, is it? Anyone with interest enough to pay attention knows there’s talk of you and the Altair girl having something between you.”
Jace held his gaze coldly, forcing aside the discomfort that clawed for a hold inside of him. He didn’t like this man or anyone knowing so much about him or Kyrin. “Does it matter who I am trying to save?”
Avery shrugged, but his eyes held more interest. “You do know it was what she told the emperor that got my father killed?”
Tension zinged through Jace, and he leaned forward a little. “That was never her intent. The emperor had her trapped. What was she supposed to do?”
Avery shrugged again. “Regardless, my father was murdered after Miss Altair gave a report that called his loyalties into question.”
“You don’t think Daican was suspicious already? There’s a reason he had Kyrin watch your father.” Jace bit back the rest of his retort. The heat rising in his chest wouldn’t help the situation, nor would arguing. He’d come here for the remedy. His plan to trade Gem had failed, but he still had a second option. He’d prayed it wouldn’t come to this, but he was willing, for Kyrin’s sake.
“If you won’t trade for a dragon, then I have another offer.”
“I’m listening.”
“Since you know who I am, you know there’s a price on my head.” Jace paused, letting grim determination harden inside of him so that he wouldn’t think of the pain this would cause Kyrin. His goal was to save her life. “Hand me over to Davira and consider the reward as payment for the remedy.”
If Holden only knew what he’d just done. Jace could imagine him immediately offering to take his place had he been here. But Jace had to do this, not just for Kyrin, but for Rayad and the others at camp. The men and women who had taught him there were people who cared and brought light to the world despite its evils.
Deafening silence hovered in the room before Avery snorted out a laugh. “You really are desperate to save her.”
Jace speared him with a hard look. “Will you do it, or not?”
“As much as I have to admire your willingness to sacrifice yourself, I’m afraid I can’t accept.”
Jace’s breath gusted out in frustration. Was there anything Avery would accept? “Why not? The reward would more than cover the cost of the remedy.”
“But how do you suppose your friends would feel about that? I’m not interested in making more enemies than I have already.”
“I’d make sure they knew it was my idea.”
“Still, it’s not a deal I feel comfortable accepting.”
Jace wanted to shout at him. Did the man realize that every time he declined the offers, Jace could see Kyrin and Rayad dying? He worked to smother the emotion feeding the flames in his blood, but his voice tremored as he forced it past his tongue. “There must be something I can do to get that remedy.”
“I told you what I want… unless . . .” Avery paused, calculating thoughts playing out on his face.
Jace straightened, his desperation gripping him full force. “I’ll do anything. I just need the remedy.”
A grin rose slowly on Avery’s face. “Anything?”
Jace’s stomach twisted as dread tingled down his spine, but he said nothing. Kyrin’s life was at stake.
“Well then, how about this—I’ll accept your current payment for the remedy if you also do a favor for me.”
Jace stared grimly at him. “What kind of favor?”
“I need you to kill someone.”
Chapter Seventeen
Jace’s breath died in his lungs. “What?”
“My uncle, Baron Reynold, is here in the city, enjoying the queen’s hospitality. He is the one who stole the position of baron from me. I want him dead.”
Jace let out a half-choked breath. “And you want me to kill him?”
Avery nodded. “Since his schedule hasn’t changed in the last week, finding and ambushing him will be simple.”
Jace narrowed his eyes. “If it’s so simple and you want him dead so badly, why not do it yourself, or have one of your men do it?”
“Oh, as much as I would love to, I’d be spotted before ever getting close enough, and why risk my men when I have you?”
Jace shook his head, pushing back his chair. “No.” He would not be Avery’s assassin.
Avery waved toward the door. “Your choice. It just depends on how badly you want to save your ladylove. I can guarantee you won’t be getting the remedy from the queen.”
Jace ground his teeth together, halfway to his feet. He could not do this. He would not murder a man again.
“He has killed dozens of Elôm followers in Keaton.”
Jace paused.
“He makes a sport of it. If you kill him, it could save a lot of lives he might take once he returns home.”
A drowning sensation overwhelmed Jace as indecision flooded him. A man like Avery’s uncle, a man who murdered people for their belief in Elôm, should be stopped, and if that was the key to saving Kyrin and the others . . .
He shook his head. No. This was not the way. He forced himself to his feet, though lingering desperation stiffened his joints. He headed toward the door without another word to Avery, disgusted that he would try to force Jace to make such a choice. Avery’s voice halted him at the door.
“If you change your mind, you can get word to me here.”
Jace didn’t turn around or respond. He walked out and didn’t stop until he stepped out of the tavern. He expected relief to wash through him at rejecting Avery’s offer, but nausea gripped his stomach, threatening to upturn it. Kyrin and Rayad still lay at camp, dying, and the closest he’d come to being able to save them involved taking a life. They would die and Avery’s uncle would live to continue terrorizing the followers of Elôm. How could that be?
He looked up at the sky, his soul crying out for an answer that would show him what to do. But Elôm seemed silent lately… almost like the days when Jace had struggled with not knowing whether or not he had a soul. He could almost feel the darkness of that time creeping in now. He’d seen Elôm save and protect them from danger before. He’d been face to face with Elon… why couldn’t he see or hear anything now when the need was so dire?
Like a gaping hole, the silence inside him rapidly filled with all his fears as he made his way back to Ben and Mira’s. He fought to banish them when he reached the front door, but they lingered, digging in, using devastating what ifs to hold on. He let himself inside and slipped off his coat. As he hung it up, he recognized Aaron and Timothy’s coats already on the pegs near the door.
Following the murmur of voices, he found them all gathered around the dining table, breakfast half-eaten. Mira rose when he entered and motioned to one of the empty chairs next to Holden. “Jace, have a seat. I kept breakfast warm for you. I’ll get it.”
Jace stopped her before she turned to the kitchen. “That’s all right. I’m not very hungry this morning.”
Mira gave him a look of motherly concern but didn’t press him to eat. Holden also cast him a questioning glance as he took a seat.
“At least have some coffee to warm up.” Mira set a steaming mug near his elbow.
“Thank you,” he murmured, reaching for the handle.
Silence surrounded him as he took a sip. It seemed the others were waiting to see if he’d say anything, but he remained silent. He didn’t feel like speaking of his failed meeting with Avery, especially not of the man’s last deal, though a small voice inside him said he should let them know. When he did not say anything, Holden spoke up.
“We’ve been discussing alternate options to pay for the remedy.” He paused, and Jace noted a slight grimace cross his face. “I’m going to trade Thron for it.”
Holden’s dragon, the one who had replaced Brayle after the fight in Dorland last summer.
Jace slowly let the air seep from his lungs and shook his head. “It won’t work. I already tried.”
Holden’s gaze zeroed in on him. “You spoke to Avery?”
Jace nodded. “This morning. I offered him Gem, but he declined.”
“Why would he refuse a dragon?”
“He said it wouldn’t be worth trying to feed it this winter.”
Holden released a defeated sigh, and Aaron looked equally disappointed. Like Jace, they must have thought it would be the perfect solution, albeit difficult to go through with.
As the quietness settled again, Jace thought of his second offer to Avery. It was still an option… if he could get his friends to agree. At least they understood the situation and had a personal investment in it. He cleared his throat.
“I know another way we can get the money we need.”
They all stared at him.
He hesitated. They weren’t going to like this. “Turn me in to Davira and use the reward money to pay Avery.”
For one heartbeat, everyone reacted with only stunned horror and head shaking.
“No,” Holden said.
Jace clenched his fists. “This is the only way. If we don’t do something now, a lot of people will be dead.”
“And if we turn you over to Davira, you’ll be dead.”
“I am one person. We’re talking about hundreds who could die if we don’t do this.”
Holden shook his head as if he wouldn’t hear another word about it and then met Jace’s eyes. “Fine, if that’s the case, then turn me in, and you take the remedy back to camp.”
Jace stared at him, his tongue frozen in his mouth. It was one thing to sacrifice himself but entirely another to sacrifice a friend. He shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“Neither can I,” Holden responded.
Jace’s shoulders sagged, and he rested his head in his hands. Was there no way to get that remedy and save their friends?
“I know our options are limited,” Holden said, “but turning each other in is not one of them. We’ll find another way.”
Jace bit down hard, threatening to crack his teeth.
They didn’t have time.
* * *
Kaden pushed himself up and sat on the edge of his bed, craning his neck first to the right and then to the left. He winced. Sitting at Kyrin’s bedside for hours on end killed his back. He looked over at her. She laid disturbingly still, her face ashen. No improvement.
Kaden ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He wasn’t sure he had the energy to stand. He’d tried to rest after his turn sitting up and trying without success to get their mother to go to bed. However, sleep came only in brief, unfulfilling snatches. Not enough to renew the energy that worrying depleted.
Through sheer willpower, he shoved to his feet. Marcus crouched at the fireplace, stirring a pot of porridge. Kaden glanced at it as he passed on his way to the washstand. There wasn’t much in it. Under normal circumstances, he could probably have eaten it all himself. His stomach pinched. With so many sick, who was out trying to bring in more provisions? How much did they have left in the supply shack? He already noticed some of his own clothing getting a little loose. What would happen if they had to cut rations again?
With the weight of these questions dragging on him, he bent over the washstand and splashed the cold water on his face. It did little to revive him from the fatigue. When he dried his face and turned, Marcus was carrying the pot to the table. They traded a look, and Kaden read all the same questions in his brother’s eyes. And neither of them had a clue what could be done to answer them.
He looked across the cabin to the chair his mother had occupied all night, steadfastly remaining at Kyrin’s side. Kaden’s throat tightened painfully. She looked terrible—her pale skin sagging and shadowed around her eyes.
He turned back to Marcus. “I’m going to get Mother to eat. Give her my portion with hers.”
His lips set in a grim line, Marcus met his gaze and nodded. Right now, their mother needed the nourishment more than either of them. She was the one who spent so much time tending Kyrin.
Kaden crossed the cabin to his mother. She didn’t even seem to notice him until he laid his hand on her shoulder. Jerking, she looked up from Kyrin and blinked.
“Marcus has breakfast ready. Go eat. I’ll watch her until you’re done.”
She didn’t respond immediately, a hollow look in her eyes. Finally, she nodded. She stood up, a bit unsteady, and Kaden grabbed her hand.
“Are you all right?”
She gave a slight, dismissive wave. “I’m fine.”
Kaden watched her walk toward the table, apprehension prickling down his back. She didn’t seem fine.
A moment later, she swayed.
“Mother!”
He wasn’t close enough to grab her but Marcus was. He scooped her up as she collapsed. Kaden rushed to them. That’s when he saw what he had missed before—the mottled red rash on their mother’s neck.
* * *
The grueling treks Liam’s grandfather used to force him to complete didn’t compare to the exhaustion he faced now. Even so, he kept going. Thank Elôm for Cassie. Without her, he wasn’t sure he and Leetra would have been able to keep up.
He sought her across the meeting hall, checking on Josef. She was the exact opposite of Leetra. While the crete certainly had a passion for her work, she went about it with stoic determination. Cassie, on the other hand, seemed to heal with her kindness and compassion as much as her medical knowledge. This aspect of her was even more beautiful than her appearance.
She looked up and caught him staring. He looked away, heat rushing to his face. A moment later she joined him at their work table. He cleared his throat, struggling to make eye contact.
