The Lady of Toryn Anthology (Lady of Toryn trilogy) (18 page)

She
wasn't sure how long they ran. Suki's gait lengthened and smoothed as she began
to sprint; when they reached the shore and turned north, Ashlyn could hear the
slapping of water beneath the horse’s hooves, Kou's breath on her neck, the
cold shock of each raindrop as it hit her face and slid down her skin like icy
pinpricks.

The
dock came into sight through the gray mist, and she could feel Kou fumbling for
the keys behind her. Ashlyn urged Suki onto the wooden dock. “Which one?” she
shouted.

Kou
jumped down, staring at the keys in his hand, and pointed. How he’d figured it
out, she had no idea, but Ashlyn didn’t stop to consider it. It was a tiny
speedboat- just large enough for two people. She dismounted from the horse and
yanked at the latigo, loosening the leather strap and dropping the cinch to
dangle beneath Suki’s belly.

“Get
in!” she shouted to Kou, yanking the saddle off Suki’s back. Quickly she
unbuckled the throat latch and slid the bridle over the mare’s head. Tossing
the saddlebags into the boat, Ashlyn turned back, a lump in her throat as she
looked at the little horse standing before her.

Years
ago, she’d trained Suki to return to the stable in the tiny, ramshackle town of
Rode if they were ever separated. Ashlyn had tested it numerous times, but
recently she’d gotten lazy, hadn’t bothered to follow up and make sure Suki
remembered. Ashlyn touched a hand to her horse’s velvety nose, praying that
this wasn’t the last time she would see her dear friend.

“Go,”
she said, pushing Suki’s head away and giving her a slap on the neck. The horse
remained here she was, the whites of her eyes showing as she bobbed her head.

Ashlyn
turned and climbed into the boat. “Go,” she said again, this time to Kou. The
ninja had the keys in the ignition already and was starting the engine. On the
second try, it roared to life. They pulled away from the dock and into the
ocean. Ashlyn didn’t look over her shoulder. She didn’t want to see if Suki was
still waiting for her.

The
steady thrum of the engine reverberated through the boat, rattling deep into
her bones. Ashlyn's breathing became shallow, the stitch in her side letting
her know that although it may have felt like a short while, the chase had gone
on for a considerable length of time. Minutes, hours- they melted into each
other as the moon alternately revealed itself and hid its face behind the
ominous thunderclouds overhead.

Ashlyn
looked back, noting without surprise that Skye had managed to access one of the
other boats and was following them, much further behind than he’d been
originally.
 

She
began to feel light-headed. She blinked several times and shook her head, then
immediately regretted it as the discomfort in her stomach intensified. She
slumped forward, grimacing.
Don't pass out don't pass out don't pass out.

"Ashlyn,"
Kou said, shaking her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"No,"
she mumbled irritably. "My life sucks."

Wordlessly,
he pulled her up to a sitting position again. "Try to stay awake," he
said, and Ashlyn wondered if it was just her lethargic state that made it seem
like his tone was concerned.

"How
are we going to get past the Toryn forces?" she asked at length.
"Jackson- I mean the, uh, president- said that he's been holding the army
on the island for the past three months."

"So
he has," Kou muttered, so low that she could barely hear him. "How
nice for him." He paused for a moment, and continued, "The invading
Toryn forces have been restricted to the southern half of the island. We only
have to be concerned with shore guards, this far north."

Ashlyn
nodded and fell into silence again. When the sky lightened just a shade or two,
the night nearer to sunrise than sunset, she squinted, barely able to make out
Toryn Island just in front of them. She felt a spurt of relief- followed by a
sudden wave of nausea, and on the tail of
that
, a sense of impending
doom. Not only was she supposed to meet Devlyn and challenge him, but she was
sick, getting sicker, and unless Devlyn had a serious gross-out reaction to her
vomiting all over his shoes, she doubted that the duel would end well for her.

She was
so focused on their forward momentum that when another boat suddenly veered
towards them from the left, Ashlyn overreacted, grabbing the steering wheel and
yanking it so hard to the right that the tiny boat nearly capsized. Kou cursed
and slapped at her hands, trying to regain control.

Ashlyn
stared at their assailant, unable to look away from him. A shore guard stared
at them from the other boat, dressed like every other ninja she'd encountered
in the past week, and staring suspiciously at them, the whites of his eyes
gleaming in the moonlight. Ashlyn swallowed hard, trying to fight her nausea,
and closed her eyes-
no sea sickness-
then heard the distinct
shhhhink
of a katana being drawn from its sheath.

"Stay
your weapon." Kou's voice rang out, clear, concise and with an
unmistakable air of authority. He somehow managed to pry Ashlyn's hands off the
steering wheel and eased down on the throttle, letting the boat coast to a halt
in the water. Another boat suddenly slammed into them from behind, jolting them
forward, and another ninja leaped onto the back, much too close for comfort.

Okay,
this sucked, Ashlyn thought, clamping her hand over her mouth as she lost her
balance and fell forward, struggling valiantly to keep from tossing her
cookies. She felt like whatever was in her stomach- she hadn’t eaten much in
the last day and a half- was going to make its grand debut any moment now.

When
Ashlyn raised her eyes to look at the cloaked ninja in front of her, she found
him staring back at her, his moonlit eyes above the mask unmistakably shocked.
She didn't recognize him, but he seemed to know her. Or maybe he just
recognized the greenish tint of her skin. Lis weren't exactly known for their
love of traveling.

The
ninja finally dragged his gaze from hers, eyes flicking to Kou. "My
apologies," he said, inclining his head and sheathing his sword again.
"I did not recognize you."

He
started, grabbing for purchase on her seat as the boat ran ashore, but his eyes
remained locked on Kou.

The hum
of an engine grew louder as Skye pulled up beside them, grim-faced and wet, his
hair plastered against his head in dripping spikes. He was flanked by two
ninjas in the boat with him. And if looks could kill, Ashlyn had a feeling
she'd be sleeping with the fishes.

"I
have brought the Elder Heir," Kou said.

"The
Elder Heir?" Ashlyn exclaimed, just a little late in her realization. She
scrambled out of the boat and landed on her knees in the shallow water, the
impact jarring her teeth and her upset stomach painfully. She looked up at Kou,
using one hand to scrape her wet bangs out of her eyes, the other clutching her
sword, "Oh, no. You're not bringing me here just to turn me over to the
Toryn army so Devlyn can take some kind of perverse delight in severing my head
from my body."

The
guard behind her burst out laughing, and she craned her neck around to glare at
him, in turn only making him laugh harder. "She's feisty, all right,"
he said, sounding almost
relieved,
of all things. "I should have
expected as much from the Elder Heir." He smiled down at Ashlyn. "I
should extend my welcome, Lady Li. Devlyn-" here he inclined his head
towards Kou- "has been searching the world over for you. I am glad to see
he has found you at last."

What?
                                                                   

Ashlyn
froze.

Not
literally, of course, although that was going to be one option if she didn't
get out of the wind and rain pretty soon.

"Devlyn?"
she repeated stupidly.

Still
shivering, she turned, staring at Kou as he sat motionless in the boat. His
dark eyes were completely unreadable.

Okay,
for some reason it just wasn't processing.

"
Lord
Devlyn?" Ashlyn said, wondering why he hadn't denied it already. It just
couldn't be possible. Kou was a ninja, captured on the airship and held hostage
for days.

He was
Kou.

He was
not Devlyn.

"Kou,"
she said, laboring to her feet. Her water-logged skirt made it difficult to
move. "Tell me what's going on."

"You
didn't tell her?" the younger ninja exclaimed.

"No,
Tag. I didn't tell her." Kou's gaze was steady as he met Ashlyn's. "I
didn't know if she would come after hearing what I had to say."

"
What
?"
Ashlyn growled, getting angrier by the moment. If it was possible, her nausea
was intensifying. "Okay, if somebody doesn't tell me what's going on
right
the heck now
, I'm going to puke- and then I'm going to hit someone really,
really hard, and I don't freaking care who it is!"

As sick
as she felt, and as dark as the near-dawn night remained, she didn't miss the
meaningful look that the other ninjas shared. She glanced at Skye, but he
seemed just as perplexed as she was.

"She
has not yet been exposed," Kou said at length. "She is exhausted, but
healthy. A day to recuperate and she’ll be ready."

Exposed?
Ready? "I warned you," Ashlyn began furiously, but then her stomach
heaved, and she clamped a hand over her mouth again. Great timing, she thought.
The last thing she needed was to blow chunks all over her potential captors.

"All
will be explained in due time, Lady Li," Tag said. "For now I will
assure you that Devlyn, although he is captain of the Toryn guard, is not and
never will be Elder Lord of Toryn. Your father retains that title. And we are
not your enemy." He vaulted crisply out of the boat, reached up with his
right hand to remove his mask. As the cloth fell away, Ashlyn felt a jolt of
recognition. He looked like Kou, close enough to be a brother.

"Tagawa
Lunai, of the clan Lunai," he said, bowing low. "I welcome you, Lady
Li, and trust you bear no wounds from your ordeal."

She
stared at him incredulously, absolutely amazed that he would revert to
tradition at a time like this. "I…um…these wounds will heal," she
said slowly, too shocked to respond with anything but the proper answer.
"And you?"

"I
am well." He held out a hand. "Allow me to escort you to your home,
Lady Li."

Ashlyn
glanced at Skye. He looked absolutely homicidal, but she didn't want him to
leave her alone with these people. "Will you escort my…companion with me
as well?" she asked. Her words were stilted, but she hoped that perhaps
they would attribute that to her sickly state instead of her surprise.

"Certainly,
Lady." His hand was still extended, and after some hesitation Ashlyn put
her fingers in his, allowing him to guide her towards a horse waiting on the
shore. He gave her a leg up, but kept the reins in his hands so that he could
lead her. It was just as well. As violently as her stomach was churning, she
didn't feel that she had the strength to guide the horse just now.

Ashlyn
glanced back at Kou, wondering what the heck was going on, but his stoic face
betrayed nothing. Skye refused to meet her eyes.

This
was just super, Ashlyn thought dryly, curling her chilled fingers into the
horse's warm mane. She didn't know whether she was being captured or invited to
stay for tea. Actually, tea right now would be
great
. She couldn't
remember the last time she'd had real tea from her actual homeland. It was
enough to make her stomach growl, despite its current discomfort.

When
they neared Toryn, however, all thoughts of tea fled her mind.

The sun
was almost up now, enabling her to see the giant stone wall that framed Toryn,
a city which had once been open to anyone who wished to enter. A gate of sturdy
wood was barred from the inside. Throngs of people stood outside the city
demanding entrance, some even encamped at the base of the wall, some looking so
hollow-eyed that she wondered what horrors they might have seen. But the gates
remained shut.

Tag
turned and held up a hand, signaling the rest of them to stop. "Cover
yourself, Lady," he said, removing his cloak and handing it up to her.
"Now is not the time to reveal your presence."

Ashlyn
pulled the cloak around her shoulders and drew the hood up hesitantly. It had
all seemed simple before- Devlyn was the declared enemy. If she defeated him,
everything would go back to normal. Now she wasn't so sure.

People
stared unabashedly at them as they rode up to the city gates. Ashlyn kept her
head down, her sword concealed within the folds of her cloak, but she could see
out of the corner of her eye that both of the guards flanking Skye had drawn
their katanas.

"My
lord, we seek entrance," a man pleaded, running up to Tag and falling to
his knees in the withered grass. He bowed, clasping his hands together fitfully
as though he thought he might be punished for asking.

Ashlyn
looked at the man, trying not to be obvious about it. He was dressed in
Outlander clothing, similar to samurai in style, but he wore his hair short,
without the traditional topknot. If the clothing was a little threadbare, it
was clean, and the man did not look as if he were starving. At least she could
take comfort in that. As she stared at him, he looked up, and his gaze met
hers. His eyes widened.