Ice and Sky by Megan O'Russell

Author:Megan O'Russell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ink Worlds Press

26

Finn’s face drooped into exhaustion as he sank down onto his bed.

“Tell me we know something.” He rubbed his good hand over his face.

“I wish I could,” Liam said. “I spent the night going through everything that’s happened with Orla. She sent messages out and posted more guards, but I’ve no chivving clue who attacked us.”

“It has to be a trueborn.” I wished I had my knife in my boot, or even had any chivving shoes at all, so I’d be ready to run from whatever horror lurked in the shadows.

“It wasn’t a Duwead trueborn who made the croilach.” Liam paced beside Finn’s bed.

“I think we can all be sure of that.”

“How?” I asked.

“Orla is the only other trueborn the Duweads have,” Liam said. “If she wanted me dead, she wouldn’t bother exhausting herself making monsters.”

“Regan then.” I sat on the stuffed chair. The comfort of the seat set my nerves on edge, like the blue fabric were some sort of deadly trap. I stood back up.

“Maybe,” Finn said.

“Not alone,” Liam said. “To make nine croilach, to know when we were leaving the camp… If it was Regan, she had help.”

“Is there any way she could have done it without the help of someone from the camp?” I dug my fingers through my hair, trying to pull through the tangles of this awful mess.

“I can’t see how,” Liam said. “I wanted it to be one of Orla’s people in Ilbrea who’d helped a trueborn send the monster to camp and let the soldiers know where we’d been ferrying the children.”

“But someone in Ilbrea wouldn’t have known the camp was packing up.” I froze for a moment, then started weaving my hair into a tight braid. “It was someone from the camp then.”

“Who would bring eight croilach down on their own head?” Finn said.

“I don’t know.” Liam dug his knuckles into his temples. “I told Orla about the attacks and the soldiers on the western edge of the forest. She agrees that someone has betrayed the Black Bloods.”

“But she doesn’t have a chivving clue as to who?” Finn said.

“She’s allowed me to ask for the sorcerers’ aid,” Liam said. “I don’t think we have any other choice.”

A deep cold rattled my spine.

“What do we do now?” I asked. “Sit by and wait for magic to fix the problem?”

“We can ride for the Brien safe haven,” Finn said. “Visit their elder and demand answers.”

“You’re not riding anywhere until your arm is healed,” I said.

“None of us can leave,” Liam said. “Orla’s banned all travel outside the valley. She takes the attack on our caravan as an attempt on my life and an act of war.”

“Chivving gods and stars, Liam.” Finn shook his head. “We can’t leap into a clan war right now. We can’t just walk away from the good we’ve finally managed to do in Ilbrea.”

“I know,” Liam said. “But we’ve got to make sure everyone here is safe, convince Orla that what we’ve accomplished in Ilbrea matters, and avoid destroying the peace that’s kept the Black Bloods alive for more than a century.

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