Steel Victory (Steel Empire Book 1) (18 page)

“Oh, yes.” A real bed that she could pass out in without worrying about her mother dragging her anywhere else. She wouldn’t even try to get Victory to take her back to her place. Her mother would feel better with her close, and she didn’t think she could face the apartment with Kane’s absence haunting her.

“Then I shall be off,” Zerandan said, snapping closed the book he held. The old man act returned, and he placed more weight on his cane than Toria suspected he needed to when he rose. “I will contact you when I learn anything, my dear.”

“Thanks, Zerandan,” she said. She nodded her head in respect to the elder elf, who gave her a slight bow before wishing Max goodnight and exiting the office.

“Let’s get you downstairs,” Max said. “Victory’s waiting, and she needs to get you back to the manor before she passes out herself.”

“One second,” Toria said. She remained in her seat, cross-legged on the couch with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She wasn’t about to move yet. She wasn’t even certain she could. She would figure that out when she came to it. “I need a favor.”

Max grabbed the book Zerandan left on the other couch and searched for its correct place on his bookshelves. “And that would be?”

“In the morning, you have to come with me to rescue Kane and Asaron.” She held her breath. He had to say yes. If nothing else, leaving Kane in the hands of the Romans for any longer than necessary risked the survival of his treasured warrior-mage pair. She couldn’t offer a better bribe.

Max found the book’s correct home and slid it into place. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “Absolutely not.”

“You have to!” Why was he being an idiot? “Do you want Kane to die?”

“He’s still alive right now, is he not?”

Toria checked again, grateful this small act didn’t fall under the category of giving her searing pain in her skull and making bright painful lights explode behind her eyes. “Yeah, for now.”

“If they didn’t kill him right away, he’ll probably stay alive for the foreseeable future.” But then he sat next to her on the couch and wrapped a comforting arm about her shoulders.

Not wanting to, and still cranky, she couldn’t resist the hug. It had been a hard day, and she did need the comfort. That still didn’t mean he wasn’t being a bastard.

His voice softened. “I want to get Kane back, too,” he said. “I’ve had friends captured before. I know what you’re going through.”

She knew she was being petulant, but she couldn’t hold the words in. No one had been part of his soul the way Kane was for her. “No, you don’t.”

His shoulders moved in a silent sigh. “Toria, you’re in no shape to go running off. You could barely walk into the building, and I know you wouldn’t have been able to make it up the stairs.”

“I’ll give you that much,” she said. She could compromise. “I’ll go home and sleep for a few hours. We can leave after dawn—I’ll be okay by then. Then Mama can’t even stop me.” A huge yawn welled up inside of her. She knew it hurt her case to let it out, but she couldn’t stop herself in time.

“I can’t go with you anyway,” Max said. “I’m leaving at sundown with Victory and Sethri for a diplomatic meeting with the Romans. An attempt at a diplomatic meeting, at least. We’re already planning to demand their release. You can’t go running off on your own after them.”

It was clear, then. She was on her own. She let her shoulders slump. “Okay,” she said, letting a twinge of relief swim into her voice. Let Max believe she would be a good little girl. “Promise you’ll ask after him?”

“Of course, Toria,” Max said. “We’ll do everything we can to get him back.” He squeezed her shoulders one more time. “Now let’s get you home. Can you stand?” He held his hands down to her.

“Let’s find out,” Toria said. She gripped both of Max’s hands, and he hauled her up. The blanket slid off her shoulders into a heap on the couch. He let go, and the world tilted around her while a strange darkness encroached on her peripheral vision.

“Whoa, girl!” Max grabbed her shoulders to prevent her from falling any farther to the side. “Okay, up you go.” He swept her up into his arms like before. “Home for you, now.”

“Sounds good.” She couldn’t prevent another yawn, relaxing into his arms while he carried her out of the office and down the stairs.

Toria would sleep, for at least a couple of hours. She acknowledged how futile a rescue attempt in her current state would be.

But when dawn arrived, she would be up and preparing to go. Was the saber between the ballroom windows sharpened? What horse could she finagle from the Hall’s stables?

She would get Kane back.

Toria’s alarm clock beeped away, never knowing how close it came to flight across the bedroom. Her mental deal with herself the night before admitted waking up at dawn would be too painful, but seven seemed a reasonable compromise.

Seven o’clock was no less agonizing when she squinted in the bright sunlight streaming through the windows into her corner bedroom at the manor. More than anything, she wanted to burrow her head underneath the comforter and sleep until Kane dragged her out of bed for breakfast and a workout.

But Kane wasn’t getting her up this morning. With that cold reminder, Toria shoved aside the blankets. At the change in elevation when she sat up, her head came alive in fiery pain. The tap dancers were back for a second run of their performance. Groaning, Toria collapsed back onto her pillows. She remained still until the pain receded to a manageable level, then rose with more care. She stretched out legs protesting her harsh treatment of them the day before, an interesting counterpoint to the headache.

She had more important things to do than bemoan the early hour, so Toria rolled out of bed—careful not to revive the headache with sudden movements. The six solid hours of sleep renewed much of her energy, though she knew she didn’t have any reserves to speak of. Adrenaline would carry her today.

She dressed in a clean shirt and pair of jeans, then opened a window to beat the dust from her long coat. After running a brush through her hair and tying it back, she headed downstairs for a much-needed high-energy breakfast.

While water for her oatmeal warmed in a pan on the stove, Toria walked down the hall to the ballroom to rearm herself for the upcoming trip. She surveyed the weaponry displayed around the room. But she had been right in her first decision the night before, and she crossed the room to grasp the hilt of the old saber hanging between two of the windows by a rapier and scimitar. She looked in longing at the rapier, but knew attempting to wield it with any success would be hopeless. The charm that lightened her own rapier was the sole reason she used it with any degree of skill. Her wrists couldn’t take it, otherwise.

She considered the Roman gladius displayed on the other side of the room. It would be appropriate to take out Kane’s kidnappers with a weapon of their own design. But she took into account its size in relation to the blades she was used to. She didn’t have time to adjust to the gladius’ shorter reach.

The saber it was. She gave a few practice swings in the middle of the ballroom on her way out. She hunted down its proper scabbard from a chest to the side of the room, along with collecting extra knives and a small pistol from the locked cupboard in the corner. She eschewed firearms as a general rule, but now all the stops were out. She would get Kane back no matter what it took.

Toria stared at the kitchen phone while she sat at the counter to inhale her oatmeal. Was bringing backup even possible? Max had already turned her down, and any of her fellow mercenaries might let their Guildmaster know their plans. Certainly none of her school friends had the requisite martial training for such an excursion. Looked like she was on her own.

By seven-thirty, Toria headed out of the manor. She didn’t make a huge effort to be quiet. Mama must have been more tired than she let on while they drove home from the Hall. Let her have her sleep.

She tossed her pack into the back seat before climbing in the town-car, glad Dad insisted each vehicle have at least two spare sets of keys. With one last look at the silent manor house, she started the engine and headed back into Limani city-proper.

Toria drove toward the Hall, but passed the building and instead pulled into the rear parking lot of the high school campus. She took a far corner spot, leaving the town-car in the shade of a large oak’s branches. Since classes were out for the summer, with any luck no one would notice her town-car for a day or two. She planned to be long gone in a few minutes anyway.

Slinging the backpack over her shoulder, Toria locked up and shoved the keys into the outside pocket of her bag. Since the keys didn’t seem any safer on her person, she felt no reason to suffer through them digging into the side of her leg through her jeans pocket while she rode.

Between the high school campus and the grounds owned by the Mercenary Guild stood a small copse of trees. She left the backpack in the crook of two tree branches, then continued through the woods toward the stable behind the Hall. She climbed the split rail fence and cut across one empty paddock, crossing mental fingers Max wasn’t up this early, and that if he was, he didn’t look out his office window right this second.

“Toria!” David, the Guild’s resident Master of Horses, rose from behind his desk when she entered the small office attached to the main stable. “You’ve come to check on Greenstar?”

Toria stopped in front of the desk, jolted out of her meticulous plans by David’s question. “Greenstar?” She hoped she didn’t have a look of stupidity on her face to match the way she felt.

“Yeah, all three horses made it back home on their own yesterday!” David pointed a thumb over his shoulder down the hall leading from his musty office into the spotless stable. “Isn’t that wonderful?”

That’s right, Greenstar was the name of the horse she had borrowed from the Guild. She might not feel it in her body, but her exhaustion slowed mental reactions. “Great!” she said. “In fact, that’s why I’m here. To find out whether they came home okay.” Good save, girl.

But David’s concern was only for his beloved horses, and he continued to chatter while she followed him past the rows of stalls. “It’s quite amazing, actually,” he said. “All three of them still had their tack. Whatever the Romans wanted with your friends, they obviously didn’t have interest in much else.” He gave her a sideways look. “Good for you, I guess.”

David followed a more traditional school of soldier mentality. So she did not make a retort about her value compared with Kane and Asaron’s. “So, do you mind if I take Greenstar out for her exercise this morning? To make up for her misadventure the other night?”

“That would be right sweet of you, girl.” David beamed.

Toria expected to have to talk the Horsemaster into lending her a horse. Short of that, she was prepared to “borrow” one. This worked out better than she hoped. “It’s no problem,” Toria said. “She’s a good horse, a joy to ride.” Yep, keep talking up the horse.

David ate it up. “I have a fresh pot of coffee made in the office,” he said. “Why don’t you go relax and help yourself to a cup while I saddle her for you.”

“Thanks, I’d love some coffee.” Maybe it would even help her headache. She allowed him to shoo her back in the direction of the office.

Brilliant. That couldn’t have worked out better if she had planned it.

The sun was high in the sky three hours later and proved to be even hotter than the day before. Toria twisted in the saddle to dig her bandana out of the backpack strapped behind her. After wiping the sweat from her face and neck, she tied it over her head. It would keep her humidity-induced frizzy hair out of her face and the sweat dripping down her forehead from going straight into her eyes. But she couldn’t complain. Compared with yesterday, today bordered on luxurious.

She regretting forgetting her sunglasses on her dresser, though. And her sore feet did not appreciate being returned to her boots.

She stopped at a crossroads in the wooded trail to check the map again. Taking the same road Asaron led them down the first time seemed like a bad idea, but she wasn’t as familiar with this backwoods route, having been down it just once on a camping trip with Kane back in high school. According to the map, the river crossing was a handful of miles away. She also chose this particular route because an old bridge still spanned the river, built from sturdy concrete. Toria hoped Greenstar had fewer issues about going over water than through it.

David must have realized ages ago that Toria never meant to take Greenstar out for a short jaunt. She’d be in for hell when she got home. But Max hadn’t come with her, so he could blame himself. By the time David figured out she was gone for good, Toria had ridden too far down the trail to worry about pursuit. And with any luck, she would have Kane and Asaron with her when she got back, and they’d be too happy to berate her for horse theft.

Toria stuffed the map in the outer pocket of her backpack, exchanging it for a granola bar. She needed to keep her energy up, knowing this adrenaline came from nerves and excitement alone and she could crash any time. So despite her lack of hunger, she forced herself to eat every bite of the snack, ignoring the cardboard taste.

On the plus side, Greenstar didn’t seem to connect her misadventure two nights ago with her current rider. So at least Toria didn’t have any problems with the horse and had even given the mare her head so she could relax in the saddle while Greenstar plodded along through the trees. “Good girl.” She patted the mare on the neck and trusted this particular brand of luck would hold out once they sighted the river.

While the sun rose higher in the sky, warming the back of her neck even further in sporadic beams of light through the overhanging tree branches, Toria resisted the urge to hook a knee around the saddle horn and nap. The one cup of coffee at the stable wasn’t enough. She would have brewed a cup before leaving the house, but the smell was certain to wake her mother when nothing else would. And since this time she headed into enemy territory, she couldn’t sing to amuse herself. She resorted to identifying the different species of plants on the side of the road, dredging up old memories from Intro to Botany two semesters ago. She remembered a lot more than she’d thought from the required biology class, a nice surprise. It even made up for the resentment she’d felt at being forced to take the course when she’d much rather have kept going with her chemistry studies. But just a little
.

She avoided thinking about the immediate problem about her magic, which hung over her head like a boulder. Better to plan how to steal her family back from the Romans. She must rely on her own physical skills and prowess rather than the magical tricks up her sleeves. Figuring out ideas that didn’t rely on magic were good thought problems in and of themselves. It made her glad Mama and Max often barred her and Kane from using their magical ability while passing various tests in their training—Victory never hesitated to tell them stories about foolish mages who fell into the trap of believing that magic could solve all the world’s problems.