The Deceiver's Heart (The Traitor's Game 2)

I scowled, but immediately started down the hill toward the Hiplands, flanked by Basil and Trina.

“If we obey Mindall’s orders, the Halderians will die,” Trina said.

“Then we ignore them,” I said.

They were the last words we spoke as we raced through the night toward the Hiplands, arriving on the outskirts of Nessel long after midnight. An advance party of three fully armed women met us there with clearstone torches, with Harlyn in the center of the trio. Wisps of her short hair fluttered against her cheeks, but her focus was such that she seemed not to notice.

Instead, her eyes quickly settled on me, boring through me with the intensity of her stare. Then her brows pressed together, and she said, “Something happened to you, Simon. What is it?”

I looked away, intensely uncomfortable. It was a relief when Trina said, “Your father sent us to warn you. The Dominion has sent a much larger army than we’d expected. They’re headed this way.”

Harlyn’s attention shifted. “Is my father still alive?”

Basil said, “He intends to hold off the Dominion army for as long as he can, but the enemy has probably already broken through his lines on their way here. Your people are invited to take shelter in Reddengrad, if all those who can wield a weapon will stand with us and fight.”

“Stay in Nessel and your deaths are certain,” I said. “But if you go to Reddengrad and join the strength of their army, your people have some chance of survival.”

Harlyn’s eyes narrowed. “How long do we have?”

“Till dawn, if we’re lucky. Tell the people to take nothing with them but their families and to leave now.”

Harlyn gestured to the women on either side of her. “Begin the evacuation at once. I’ll help out here.”

While she was speaking with them, Basil looked over at me. “This is the right thing to do, Simon.”

“Is it?” A weight roughly the size of a boulder had settled on my shoulders, and I returned Basil’s stare. “Tell me that Reddengrad can protect these people.”

His silence told me more than I wished it did: There was little chance for any of us to survive a Dominion attack, no matter where we were.

Harlyn rode up to us but addressed me directly. “I saw the look you just gave Basil, but all is not lost. We have some surprises waiting in Nessel.”

Trina patted a large s

atchel on the side of her horse and even laughed a little. “I have a surprise here too, thanks to the Brillians. This battle is not lost yet!”

With Wynnow’s expert guidance, we made excellent time through the Watchman Mountains, reaching Snowbourne shortly after dark. This small village was the last stop before the Brillian border, and populated almost entirely by Loyalists, so I kept up the hood of my cloak and went straight into the room of the inn that Wynnow arranged for us.

When she left to order our supper, Loelle asked, “Any changes to your memories?”

“I can’t remember anything more of Simon,” I mumbled. “Maybe I’m afraid to remember him because I know Lord Endrick wants those memories too.”

She smiled. “The king has no more access to your memories, nor your mind. What do you remember?”

“Darrow. But it isn’t the old memories. I think—” Tears welled in my eyes. “After Simon took me from Woodcourt a few days ago, I nearly drowned in a river at the edge of All Spirits Forest. Darrow saved me; I know it was Darrow who pushed me from the water. He must be there, in that forest. I think Lord Endrick banished him there as punishment.”

Loelle reacted without surprise and took hold of the conversation as if she had been waiting for this very moment. “Hundreds of people eternally wander those woods. Just alive enough to be aware of the world. Too dead to ever join it. They are cursed.”

As was I. I remembered that too. Endrick had told me I would reach a point when there were no more paths to victory.

Loelle said my name and started to say something more, but when Wynnow entered with a servant of the inn carrying bowls of stew, she closed her mouth and said almost nothing the rest of the night.

At dawn, we were back on the road toward Brill, crossing the border by late afternoon. To my surprise, a box carriage was waiting there for us, though it was a far greater surprise when the door opened and I recognized the woman who stepped out to greet us.

“Imri Stout?” This was the handmaiden who had been assigned to my service after I attacked Lord Endrick. I was beyond confused and my expression surely showed it.

Imri nodded. “Wynnow sent me to Woodcourt for your protection until the Coracks could rescue you. A Brillian would never be a captured servant.”

By then, Wynnow had already dismounted and said, “Imri is here now for a very different purpose. She will teach you to use your magic.”