Rise (31 page)

Soldats
barged into the room, surrounding us. The king replaced his hood and ordered them to hold their position. At least two dozen swords were pointed at us.

Anders slowly pulled me toward him. “Do you trust me?” he whispered.

I glanced sideways at him. He had killed the king and queen. He had known Vidar’s identity and kept it a secret from me. He squeezed my arm, waiting for my answer. Uncertainty and sorrow filled his eyes. Against all common sense, I replied, “I trust you.”

His face softened before going void of all emotion as he whipped out a dagger and placed it at my throat. His arm wrapped around my torso, my back to his stomach. “Morlet,” he yelled, immediately gaining the king’s attention. “You’re going to let us walk out of here.” The tip of the blade dug into my skin, drawing blood, and I cried out in pain. I didn’t know how far he’d take this charade in order to free us.

“I’ll allow the two of you to leave,” Morlet said, pointing to Vidar and Anders. “But Kaia stays here with me.”

“Kaia leaves with us, or she dies,” Anders said.

“You’d kill her?” Morlet asked, cocking his head, revealing a portion of his face. “Knowing she’s a Kriger?”

Anders shrugged. “If she dies, a new one will be born.” He grabbed a chunk of my hair and yanked it. I screamed.

Morlet’s face paled. “Don’t hurt her,” he snarled.

“Why do you care?” Anders spit. “You nearly killed her.”

“You need her just as much as I do,” Morlet said. “It seems we’re at an impasse.”

“Tell your men to stand down.”

“If you don’t hand over Kaia, I’ll kill all three of you.” Morlet folded his arms, awaiting Anders’s next move.

Vidar nodded to Anders, who shifted his weight, preparing to fight.

“Wait!” I yelled. There was no way Anders and Vidar would survive Morlet’s magic. “I’ll go with you,” I said to Morlet. “But you have to let them go.”

“I won’t leave you here with this monster,” Anders said, holding me tightly.

Morlet smiled—he knew Anders had only been bluffing when he said he’d kill me.

“I’m sorry,” Anders whispered.

Before I had time to react, Anders plunged the dagger into my stomach. Excruciating pain rippled through me as blood leaked out of my body. Anders held me upright in front of him. “If you want her to live,” he said, “tell your
soldats
to stand down. She only has about three minutes until she takes her last breath.”

Morlet shook with unsuppressed anger. “I’ll kill you.” His face darkened, and I feared he would use his magic on Anders.

Vidar took a step closer to me, but there was only so much the medallion could do. It would protect Vidar, but it wouldn’t do a thing for Anders.

Anders put his lips close to my ear. “Do you have enough energy to use your bo staff?” he whispered. I nodded slightly. “When we leave, strike the castle above the doorway and collapse it so no one can pursue us.”

He loudly said, “Vidar and I are going to walk out of here with Kaia. No one is going to follow. Otherwise, I’ll gut her. After all, I’m just a ruthless assassin.” He slowly moved backward toward the door, keeping me with him. “In exactly one minute, you can use your magic to heal her if you want her to live. If you don’t, you can collect her corpse by the moat.”

The room started to spin. I was going to die.

“Almost there,” Anders whispered.

Morlet’s eyes narrowed, watching us. “I wish I could say it was nice seeing you, brother,” he said, his voice clipped. “But seeing as how you’re leaving with Kaia half-dead, I think it’s safe to say any love we once shared is long gone. You are now my enemy. As for you, assassin,” Morlet snarled. “I will kill you. Even if it’s the last thing I do. And Kaia, dear, you are
mine
.”

“Okay, do it now,” Anders said.

Using the last of my strength, I forced my power to my bo staff and unleashed it, striking the stones above the door, collapsing it.

Anders picked me up and started running. “Allow Morlet to connect to you.”

I was so weak I couldn’t even breathe.

“Kaia,” Anders said, his voice pained. “Don’t you dare die on me. Let Morlet help you.”

He wouldn’t help me—he hated me. I closed my eyes. This was the end.

“I’m here,” Morlet whispered. “Come to me.”

I didn’t have the strength to do anything. Darkness descended.

A powerful jolt shot through my body, and I gasped. “You’re not going to die,” Morlet said.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on his bed. Like before, he sat next to me, his hands hovering above my stomach. Blue tendrils of light poured out of his fingertips and into me, healing my knife wound. Breathing became easier, and my strength returned.

Morlet mumbled something, and his power left my body, returning to him. He collapsed on the bed. I moved his hood off his face and ran my fingers through his thick, dark hair. He didn’t say anything as he lay there heaving deep breaths, working through his exhaustion. In this state, he appeared kind and peaceful, a hint of the person he could be if things were different.

“Thank you,” I whispered, even though he was forced to save me because of the stunt Anders pulled. It wasn’t out of kindness but out of necessity.

My hands and arms started to dissolve—Vidar must be close by with the medallion. Morlet reached up to touch my face just as I disappeared.

My eyes fluttered open. I was lying on the ground in a small, dark room. Vidar lingered above me, my hand clutching his medallion.

“She’s awake.” He moved back, allowing Anders to sit by my side.

“I’m so sorry I did that to you,” he said, his voice strained. His eyes were red and glassy.

“Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again,” I said.

“Then don’t ever offer to give yourself to Morlet to save Vidar or me.”

The truth was, I’d do it again in a heartbeat, so I didn’t promise him anything. I sat up, my stomach not even sore. “Where are we?”

“We took cover in a friend’s apartment so you could heal,” Vidar answered. “Since you were so injured, we didn’t lure the
soldats
after us. We narrowly escaped the castle grounds. Luckily, Morlet was too busy worrying about you that he didn’t have time to organize his army.”

Anders pointed to my stomach. “Are you healed?”

“Yes.” Although, I was still covered with blood. Anders pulled me to my feet, kissing my forehead, shocking me with the intimate gesture especially in front of Vidar.

“The two of you have been lying to me,” I said.

Vidar ran his hands over his face. “Technically, not lying so much as concealing the truth.”

“Why?” Didn’t they trust me?

“I wanted you to like me for who I am—not my position. I was also afraid you’d think I only cared about retaking the throne.”

“What’s your excuse?” I asked Anders.

“Vidar ordered me not to say anything.”

“Do the other Krigers know?” Vidar scratched his chin and shrugged. “I’m the only one who didn’t know?”

“It’s also hard to stomach the reality of being related to Morlet,” Vidar said.

It went deeper than that. “He’s your brother.” They shared the same blood. Was that why Morlet felt familiar to me? Because he was Vidar’s brother? I wanted to get out of the capital so I could have some time to myself to think about everything that had happened today—my father’s death, rescuing the Krigers, and Vidar’s true identity.

“Espen and I may have been brothers once, but Morlet is no kin to me. He is my enemy.”

“I think there’s still a part of Espen in him.”

Three loud thumps sounded on the ceiling. “That’s our cue to go,” Anders said. “
Soldats
are getting close to the building.”

“We’re in a hidden room below a friend’s apartment,” Vidar explained, sensing my confusion. “He’s keeping watch for us. This room has an escape route he uses for emergencies.”

“What sort of escape route?” As much as I hated the tunnels, they were preferable to running through the streets when the army was actively searching for us.

“Well,” Anders said, “you’re not going to like this, but it’s the fastest way.” He handed me my bo staff.

Taking my weapon, I rolled my eyes. I never liked any of his crazy ideas, but they always worked, even if they didn’t go as planned. He led us to the corner of the room where there was a door in the rickety, wooden floorboards. “Another tunnel?”

“Not exactly,” Anders said with a wry smile. He opened the door. Cool air and a loud noise greeted us.

It sounded like a river flowed below. “This is a tunnel filled with water?” I asked with disbelief. “We’re not swimming out of the capital are we?” My venture through the underground cavern when I was forced to take the water tunnels to escape hadn’t been particularly fun or easy.

Anders laughed. “The tunnels are only half full of water.” He pointed inside the opening. I peered down—there was a boat. He reached below the floor and unlatched several hooks. “When I undo the last one, we won’t have much time before the boat is carried away. I’ll jump first, Kaia second, Vidar—close the door and jump last.”

“Wait,” I said, “maybe we should discuss this.”

“There isn’t time.” Anders undid the last latch, and a loud boom sounded below.

“How far down is it?” Panic swelled inside me.

“Not far.” Anders jumped.

I leapt. Luckily, it was only a five-foot drop. When I landed in the boat, Anders pulled me to the side. Vidar gracefully hopped next to me.

I slid the bo staff near my feet and held on while Anders released two long oars that had been holding us in place. The boat took off, gliding along in the strong current. We didn’t speak as we traveled through the dark tunnel. Anders used the oars to prevent us from slamming into the walls and breaking apart.

The rushing underground river flowed out of the rocky tunnel, spitting us into a lake outside the capital. Anders grunted as he used the oars to steer us to the nearest shore. When we hit the bank with a soft
thunk
, Vidar and Anders got out, pulling the boat onto dry land. I climbed out, and Anders dragged the boat away from the lake, hiding it next to a fallen tree.

Vidar pumped his fist in the air, and then wrapped a smiling Anders in a hug. “We did it!”

“Thanks to Kaia,” Anders said.

“And we didn’t lose anybody.”

“Except for my father.” The only thing that made the pain bearable was knowing we rescued the Krigers, just as he’d wanted.

“I’m sorry,” Vidar said. “It’s not easy losing a parent. The pain never truly leaves.”

Anders cleared his throat. “Vidar, the Krigers, and me—we’re all here for you. We’re your family now. You can count on us.” A lump formed in my throat. “You are not alone.”

“Speaking of which,” Vidar said, “let’s go join the other Krigers.”

Anders led the way deeper into the forest. We traveled all night until we reached the mountain range west of the capital. Vidar had sent the Krigers to the cavern where we obtained our weapons. Exhausted, I pulled myself up the rocks and into the cave, ready to collapse and sleep for a very long time.

Stepping inside, a fire was already lit and eleven jubilant men were waiting for us. They eagerly greeted Vidar and Anders before forming a circle around Vidar and dropping to one knee, facing him.

“Rise,” Vidar commanded. “Kaia, welcome to the Order of the Krigers. I’d like you to meet everyone. This is Einar, Geir, Harald, Jorgen, Marius, Gunner, Reidar, Henrik, Oddvar, Tor, and Stein. Everyone, this is Kaia—the most powerful Kriger I’ve ever met. With her help, we will defeat Morlet.” A chorus of cheers rang out.

Everyone bent and retrieved their weapons. As soon as they stood, I felt my bo staff hum with an energy I’d never experienced before. Suddenly, I was no longer exhausted but eager to begin working with these men.

“Tomorrow, you will begin training together. You will learn how to link your power. And when the time is right, we will attack and defeat Morlet.”

Vidar wanted to help the Krigers kill Morlet in order to end the curse and avenge his parents’ deaths. As excited as I was to link with my fellow Krigers and harness my full power, I felt torn about killing Morlet. Would I be able to when the time came?

My father had died today so that I could live to fulfill my duty as a Kriger. He wanted me to end our family’s curse so that the next female born wouldn’t face the same fate as all the women before me had. He’d taught me how to fight and defend myself. Now, here I was, standing with the Order of the Krigers, ready to make my father’s dream come true. I had to carry on for him, and for my mother.

“We all have a choice, Kaia,” Anders whispered in my ear. “Morlet made his. Now it’s time for you to make yours.”

“Before we start training,” Vidar said, “I think a celebration is in order!”

Everyone cheered and stomped on the ground. Someone found a lute among the supplies and began playing a lively tune. Mugs of ale were passed around to everyone. Vidar grabbed my hand and pulled me to him, spinning me around.

“I don’t know how to dance,” I admitted, trying not to step on his toes.

“Just follow my lead.” He danced around the cave, passing me from one partner to another. As the night wore on, exhaustion overtook me and I sat down, leaning against the wall. Everyone was either drinking or dancing by the fire. The sound of men laughing echoed in the cave.

“What are you doing over here all alone?” Anders asked, sitting next to me.

“It’s been a long day,” I said, yawning.

“Yes, it has. How are you holding up?”

I leaned my head on his shoulder. “With you by my side,” I said feeling bold, “I’m holding up just fine.”

He smiled and squeezed my hand. “You’re engaged to my best friend.”

In all the chaos, I’d forgotten about that.

“Grei Heks said your bloodlines are destined.” He released my hand.

I sat up straight, my eyes wide. Had Grei Heks said bloodlines? Or had she specifically mentioned Vidar? If she said bloodlines, she might not have been referring to Vidar, but his brother, Morlet. Unable to voice my concern, I laid my head back on Anders’s shoulder, trying to calm my raging heart.