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

I stared back at her, feeling pulled to her in ways I couldn’t understand. My emotions had been blown apart over the past few days. Maybe all that I was feeling was gratitude at having someone nearby to help me pick up the pieces. Or was there something between us? Was this heat she was generating in me real? It would be so easy to lean forward, to open that door with Harlyn and accept the future that I was being funneled into anyway. One kiss, that’s all it would take.

One kiss.

With her free hand, Harlyn reached up and touched my cheek. I jerked away, shaking reality back into my mind.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just noticed a bruise forming there. I wondered if it hurts.”

“We should get back on the road.” I faced forward again, trying to slow my breathing. Failing miserably at it.

“Some bruises are visible,” Harlyn said, picking up the reins. “But the deepest wounds are rarely seen. Some are in you, Simon. No one should have to hurt alone.”

I said nothing, but once our wagon started up again, she placed a hand over mine as it rested on the bench. And this time, I let it stay.

Nearly an hour later, we reached the outer borders of the Nesting Woods. The undergrowth was impossibly thick to bring a wagon through. We tied off the horses in a safe place, then left to explore the woods on foot.

It quickly became obvious that the undergrowth was denser than what it had first seemed, with vines that grew unseen beneath thick brush and fallen autumn leaves. Every footstep had to be deliberate and slow, and even then Harlyn tripped at one point. I reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back to her feet, but when I did, she came closer than I’d expected. Much closer.

She blushed, but didn’t immediately step back. “This isn’t a hint … unless you want it to be.”

Something in her tone made me smile, which relieved some of the tension between us. We hadn’t gone much farther before we heard the sounds of an approaching army from the same direction we had just come. I pulled out my sword and Harlyn did the same, then we crept back to the edge of the forest, keeping ourselves masked by the undergrowth. Whoever it was, they were on horseback, and the rumbling sounds suggested we were about to receive dozens of riders, or more.

Harlyn was the first to recognize them. She let out a cry and ran from the woods, waving them down. That was when I first saw the brown flag with the blue Halderian stripe.

I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or upset, but either way, I sheathed my sword, and walked from the woods in time to see Commander Mindall dismounting. He put an arm around Harlyn and gave her an affectionate squeeze, then they both approached me.

“You changed my orders.” Mindall’s stern expression matched his tone.

“I did.” If this was where our argument began, I was more than ready for it.

Except that Mindall reached out to shake my hand. “I know what happened in Nessel. I believe we’d have lost a lot of people had we stayed there.”

“We have a chance here.” Harlyn gestured to the woods behind us. “Basil told us there are rope ladders into the trees and access up there to a canopy from which we can fight.”

“Fight from the tree canopy?” Mindall shook his head. “We’d do better to meet them here in open battle. That’s a more honorable way to fight.”

“And an honorable way to die,” I said. “I’ve fought the Dominion in the open, and we always lose.”

“You think we’ll win up there, poking at the enemy from above like we’re spearing a fish? You’re still a boy, and I admire your courage and ambition, but you obviously don’t know what a terrible plan that would be.”

“If that were my plan, I’d agree with you.” I pointed to Harlyn’s wagon. “Inside there, we have enough raw ingredients to give us a chance in this battle. But we have to hurry.”

Mindall arched a brow and looked over at his daughter, who said, “Simon’s right. Give his plan a chance.”

Mindall pushed past us and peeked inside the wagon, then without speaking, he walked into the forest. He returned several minutes later and pushed past me once again to announce to his men, “Anyone who has experience working with saltpeter stays here with my daughter, who will show you what to do. Simon will take the rest of you into the forest and give you instructions there. Everyone, move!”

I nodded and started back into the forest, but Mindall grabbed my arm. “You’d better know what you’re doing,” he warned.

I stared back at him. “I never said this will guarantee our victory, and we will lose men. But I firmly believe that we have a better chance in the canopy.”

“‘We will lose men’?” Mindall held out his arms as he turned around. “Tell me, where are your people, the Coracks? Since your captain begged us to come here, even forced us here, I would expect him to be here too.”

“He’ll come,” I said firmly, hoping I was right. But it bothered me that we had not seen any other Coracks by now. Even if Tenger was trying to retrieve Kestra’s blade, surely he had ordered everyone who could be spared down to this battle. Something must have gone wrong.

I kept that thought to myself, but as the day passed, it was a growing concern on my mind, constantly interrupting my thoughts while we stationed weapons and explosives in key positions among the trees.

At a halberd’s reach overhead, an entire system of wooden pathways had been built into the canopy of the trees. Basil had called them tracks. The width varied to accommodate one to three people. There were no railings for support, but the construction seemed sturdy and allowed easy passage over great distances. Several of the trees had rope ladders to provide access to the tracks, though I couldn’t detect any system for which tree had a ladder and which did not.

We worked hard but were less than halfway through our search that late afternoon when the Halderians standing guard at the border of the forest called out that more soldiers were coming. Hoping to see Coracks, I hurried out, only to be greeted by Basil and Trina, and a sizable number of Reddengrad soldiers behind them, though not as many as I’d have wanted.