Thorne (Random Romance) (10 page)

‘I can’t sleep,’ I whispered through the darkness.

‘Try. I can’t come and rescue you from some debacle tonight. I’m too tired.’

‘I won’t cause a debacle, I promise.’

‘Finn,’ he said more firmly, ‘I’m too tired.’

‘And I’ve got screaming behind my eyes,’ I told him softly, and padded out.

In the end, he did come to find me. I’d had too much to drink and was picking fights with people bigger than me, so he carried me home and put me in bed and kissed my cheeks and held me tightly and prayed for my soul. And I was glad for the alcohol in my veins, because it made it easier for me to close my eyes and force everything to disappear, even my brother, who I loved best.

On the morning of the announcement, we all flooded in together to the enormous city centre. A sandstone square lay beneath the palace and its
balconies, and it felt full to bursting with eager citizens. My head pounded and my eyes ached, so I stayed quiet for a change and held Penn’s hand. Along with my hangover, there was fear in my heart, a great bloom of it.

If there was no end to the bond, I might as well lie down and die on these stones.

Jonah smoothed a hand over my forehead and eased some of my anxiety, helping me to breathe. Thorne watched us, and I wished he wouldn’t.

Above, two figures moved out onto the balcony of their palace amidst a cacophony of cheers. Both wore a blindfold. The woman had ebony hair, the man golden. She was small and petite; he was tall and lean. They looked an odd couple, but even from where I stood in the middle of the crowd I could see how they gravitated around each other.

I hadn’t laid eyes on our Emperor and Empress for years, and was startled to find them younger than I remembered. But then I supposed as a child every adult had seemed older and larger and wiser than I.

‘Greetings!’ Emperor Falco called out, and the cheering died slowly to a dull roar. ‘You are here to witness one of the most auspicious days in Kayan history.’

This was it. Jonah took my hand and squeezed it tight. I couldn’t move my eyes from the man above.

‘It has been whispered of for some time. But your Empress and I wish to make an end to rumour. Hear us now, and know it as truth.
In this world there exists an end to the bond.
’

An intake of breath, and then a mighty explosion of sound. Many cheered, many screamed their horror and dissent, some wept for joy or grief, others moaned aloud. There was division in Sancia, but in my heart there was a single, clear note of joy.

Thorne had turned to look at me. I wanted to know what he thought of this, but didn’t think I had much space inside me to even ask.

Because I had a father who was a half-walker, and if I didn’t find this end to the bond then he would perish just as my mother had, and I refused to allow that to happen.

‘We have not decided whether or not this discovery will be put to use in Kaya,’ Falco boomed. ‘And it will remain undecided until we have this
end
in our possession.’

This caused another eruption of chatter and arguing.

Empress Quillane spoke out over the masses. ‘I’m afraid it isn’t as simple as it sounds. The
end
, as we shall henceforth name it, has been hidden for thousands of years. We have the very start of what we believe is a map to this
end
, but I am promising you now – it will not be an easy thing to find, because its very nature was to remain secret.’

‘We want your help,’ Falco announced. ‘You are all entitled to be a part of this search, because you have all been affected by the bond. But we cannot very well let everyone under the sun loose on the world and its dangers unless we know those people are equipped and capable. Your safety is paramount to us, as always. So what we are proposing is this.’

‘A tournament,’ Quillane declared. ‘Any of you may enter, but only the fittest and strongest, the most skilled and courageous among you will come out victorious in this tournament, and then those few shall be given the map and sent on a quest in the name of Kaya. Those who discover the
end
will be rewarded with land and wealth for them and their families.’

And then Falco, Emperor of Kaya added, ‘You had best gather yourselves and decide how far you are willing to go, because once on the quest you will not be permitted to back out, and the tournament begins this afternoon.’

I looked then at my brother. My favourite person in all the world. And as our eyes met we smiled an identical smile.

Thorne

It was clever, I’d give them that. They were involving their people in the search and thus removing themselves from the war raging amongst their country. Forestalling the inevitable decision that would have to be made and letting their citizens take ownership over their own opinions.

The tournament would weed out the incapable, and the winners would be perfect to send on the search because they were not soldiers and couldn’t be mistaken as an attack on Pirenti, if the clues did indeed lead them that far north.

The entrants had to put themselves forward in a group of any size. Finn and Jonah gathered us in to discuss it.

It was time for us to work out where we stood. The fact that I had been travelling with Finn, Jonah and Penn was a matter of both circumstance and a measure of manipulation on Finn’s part. But this went beyond simply travelling together to another city. To group together now meant the five of us, including Isadora whom we knew nothing about, would be tied to each other until the day we failed or succeeded at the quest. It meant placing our lives in each other’s hands and really, truly trusting one another.

Which would be no easy feat for Finn and I, given the start we were off to. And given, more importantly, the fact that we wanted two very different outcomes from this mission. She wanted an end to the bond; I was charged with preserving it at any cost. She knew nothing of this; I was finding it difficult to think of anything else.

Finn looked at me, and I looked at her, and everything that had passed between us was there in our eyes. I doubted she wanted to spend the next weeks or months with me – I annoyed her no end, and I brought animosity
with me wherever I went. I would make us targets on the road, and the novelty I presented to her would no doubt wear off pretty quickly.

But despite all of this, despite all the reasons to the contrary, Finn kept her eyes trained on me as she murmured, ‘Obviously, we’re a group of five.’

A slow smile found my lips, and I watched her eyes shift azure. An inexplicable warmth flooded me at being included. Because even though there were a million reasons not to bind ourselves to each other, the thought of parting from these kids filled me with an undeniable sadness.

I shared a glance with Isadora. She didn’t look as pleased as I felt. Her red eyes took in the twins and Penn with calculation. ‘I’m not certain I will benefit from grouping with the three of you. No offence meant.’

‘Why would we take offence to that?’ Finn muttered.

‘I will compete with you,’ I told her softly.

‘Thank you, Prince Thorne,’ she replied pointedly to Isadora. ‘You are a man of impeccable taste and judgement, clearly.’

‘Then I too am with you,’ Isadora conceded, eyeing me. She obviously wanted to stick close to me, and I needed to work out why. If she truly did want to help me, then that was great. I just had to be sure she didn’t mean any of us harm. She didn’t smell of it, which was a good thing.

‘Well maybe I don’t want to be grouped with someone who doesn’t want to be grouped with me!’ Finn announced.

‘Finn,’ Jonah sighed. ‘We have a better chance if we’re all together. Isadora is good with knives – that could be useful.’

‘She’s sizeist, is what she is,’ Finn sniffed.

I heard him murmur, ‘That’s not even a word.’

‘Indeed – I’m
particularly
good at counting!’ Penn announced with an air of scorn and the rest of us couldn’t help smiling – even Isadora.

We’d been given simple aptitude tests to ensure we weren’t sickly, elderly or handicapped in any way. I think what they really wanted to check was that none of us were bonded. Next we were allowed our pick of weapons and tools, but not knowing what awaited us, it was a hard choice. I chose a wooden sword. Finn picked a rope and a sword to tie over her back. Isadora looked pained to part with the daggers she kept over her body, but made do with a few short wooden rapiers. Jonah and Penn didn’t bother with anything, and I wondered if they knew how to fight. Finally we were shepherded to the waiting area of the mighty arena.

Finn was bouncing in her shoes, filled with excited energy. Jonah looked more subdued, while Isadora stood still as stone and Penn drew pictures in the sand as if he had no clue what was going on.

A set of wooden doors swung open and we walked forward, into the arena.

Before us was a vast chasm in the earth, over which hung suspended cages and ropes. The chasm dropped away on one side into sea cliffs, while surrounding the other three sides were the high stadium stands for thousands of screaming viewers. The sound hit me like a tidal wave, and the five of us walked out to stand beside the other groups of contestants at the edge of the canyon.

My eyes quickly took in the height of these cages and platforms – a fall from one would mean death, unequivocally. The ropes joining them all looked thin and frayed, and no less dangerous. It was a nightmare and I felt my heart sink at the sight of it.

Finn’s eyes, however, held a look of absolute triumph, and I couldn’t help thinking she was dangerously over-confident.

Isadora looked spooked. ‘Are you well?’ I asked her softly.

She blinked, letting the haunted shadow pass her. With a quick nod, she turned away from me.

Falco

Quillane and I sat at the top of the stadium behind a thin gauze drape to shield us from view. We’d be able to see the action perfectly, and I sat forward, for once not having to guard what I was feeling – Emperor Feckless and I were both as excited as each other. Quillane was more subdued, worried about the entrants, but I’d told her not to mother them.

‘Half of them are children,’ she pointed out.

‘And if they’re incapable they’ll be sent home to be swaddled by their folks.’

Petir arrived at a run, erupting into our private box. ‘Majesties.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘There is a contestant who has just been tested …’ We both stared at the breathless man, his cheeks red from the exertion of having sprinted up hundreds of steps. ‘It’s Prince Thorne.’

‘What?
’ Quillane was out of her chain in an instant, and it kind of looked like she wanted to throttle poor Petir. My mind started whirling, working out the best course of action. This was not good.

‘We can’t allow him to compete like a commoner! It’s insulting to him!’ she hissed.

‘To deny him at this point would be even more offensive,’ I pointed out. We stared at each other.

‘His aunt and uncle are going to crucify us for this,’ she said.

I turned to Petir. ‘What is his character? Is he reckless? Prone to disobeying?’

‘I don’t know, sire.’

‘Find out.’ I glanced at Quill. ‘If they are used to him acting on his own desires then they might not blame us for this.’

‘We didn’t receive him formally,’ she said. ‘It’s catastrophically embarrassing and entirely your fault.’

I shrugged, taking a big gulp of ale. ‘Well, at least now we’ll get to see what the kid is made of.’

We turned together to see the contestants emerge into the arena.

Despite being quite a way below us, the ‘kid’ was immediately recognisable. And he did not look like a kid. He was tall, straight-backed and very strong. He held himself with an incredible stillness and even from here I could see perfectly the way he embodied that certain sense of regality that only true leaders possessed.

‘Get me the names of the contestants he has grouped himself with,’ Quillane told a page, and the boy rushed off, leaving us alone once more.

We both peered at the prince’s group, four people who
were
in fact children, by the looks of them. A small red-haired boy. A girl and boy who were tall and willowy, and moved in such a way that I thought they must be related. And finally a small white creature, hair and skin so sapped of colour that she was almost impossible to look upon, for the glare of the sun reflected off every surface of her like she was made of cut diamonds.

‘They don’t look like much,’ I muttered.

‘Imagine the embarrassment if they don’t win.’

‘It will not be our embarrassment, but Pirenti’s.’

‘Do you think we can afford to embarrass Pirenti?’

‘I’m tired of pandering to them. We are at peace. We shouldn’t have to feel as though we constantly walk on eggshells. Ava will not bring war to us.’

‘Who knows what she’ll do.’

‘Come now, this talk is dull,’ I announced. ‘Let us drink and be merry!’ I sculled the rest of my flagon and called for another.

Thorne

It was to be a time challenge, and our team drew the last place. I looked up at the covered box and knew the Emperor and Empress would be watching from there. As we waited for our turn from a cordoned-off area that allowed us to hear the other contestants but not see them, Jonah moved to my side.

‘Is it appropriate for you to be doing this?’

I shrugged. ‘They could have stopped me. They haven’t.’

‘The people won’t like it,’ he warned me. ‘They’ll think it’s unfair.’

‘Trust me, I am no better at rope climbing than any Kayan.’

‘Not just this,’ he said, gesturing to the tournament. ‘All of it. The fact that you could be included in the search for something so important to Kaya. They’ll think you have no right to it.’

‘And what do you think, Jonah?’

The boy’s eyes shifted to a deep crimson as he said, ‘It doesn’t matter what I think. What matters is a promise I’ll make to you now. If your presence in our lives causes harm to anyone I love, I don’t care that you’re the Prince of Pirenti – I will destroy you.’

I met Jonah’s gaze. ‘I understand. My promise to you is that I will destroy myself before I let harm come to any of you.’

He seemed slightly taken aback by that, but after a hesitation he shook my hand.

‘If you two are finished measuring masculinity, maybe we should talk strategy,’ Finn suggested.

‘What knowledge have you of strategy?’ Isadora asked her. It was obvious she was regretting having been grouped with three teenagers. Four, including me.

Finn shrugged, crouching to the ground and using her finger to draw the stadium in the sand. I was impressed at her ability to remember such detail – she had each of the pylons, ropes and hanging cages memorised, and marked them all out.

Jonah recounted the instructions we’d been given. ‘Each cage holds a key guarded by a soldier. We have to collect all six keys before we can unlock the box on the last platform. These nine platforms here also have soldiers guarding them, so we have to either be able to fight them or get around them somehow. Makes sense for us to split up and aim for a key each, and whoever gets theirs first can go for the sixth. Then we meet up at the last platform.’

‘Sounds like a hoot,’ Finn declared.

‘Any number of things could go wrong with that,’ Isadora pointed out.

‘Well, we can at least have a vague plan, and if it doesn’t work we improvise,’ Jonah replied. ‘Penn and Finn, you two go for these first cages. I’ll take this side one, while Thorne and Isadora, you two head past us for the keys behind the final platform.’

‘If we’re the stronger climbers, shouldn’t we be climbing the furthest?’ Finn queried.

‘What makes you think you’re stronger climbers?’ Isadora asked.

Jonah explained, ‘If we take the first cages, we’ll have to carry the keys further. It’s safer if Thorne and Isadora, who have less experience on ropes, have the least time with the keys in their possession, because if they fall after having claimed them we’re immediately disqualified. If they fall before that, the three of us can get their keys and continue on.’

I nodded, satisfied that he was right despite the obvious judgements of our abilities. I wasn’t insulted, but I could tell Isadora was.

‘The three of you,’ she said. ‘What do you plan to do when you reach your cages and the guard won’t let you take the key?’

‘We’re not quite as helpless as you seem to think we are,’ Finn said.

‘Then answer me. How?’

They didn’t have an answer.

‘The best course of action is to allow Thorne and I to get the six keys.’

‘Excuse me?’ Finn’s eyes shifted to steel grey and her air of fun-loving mischief was gone in an instant. ‘And what shall we do during that time? Twiddle our thumbs?’

Isadora shot her a pointed look.

‘You’ll waste too much time,’ Jonah protested. ‘It’s a race, remember? You can’t possibly gather all six keys between the two of you and hope to beat the other teams.’

‘And when you fall with your keys because a guard is attacking you?’

Finn sat forward slightly, and now I saw a sharp-edged smile at her lips. ‘We will not fall.’ I stayed quiet because the truth was simple. I was far more worried about myself falling than any of the others. Grace and balance were not talents of mine. And the worst part of all? I had not been kidding when I told Finn I had a crippling fear of heights.

Our time came and we returned to the arena. The crowd in the stands screamed its excitement, heady with whatever it had just witnessed from the other teams. A warder moved to meet us at the starting pylon.

‘Are there training warders amongst you?’ he asked us.

Jonah raised his hand.

‘What stage in your training have you achieved?’

‘I’m in my fourth year.’

‘You are permitted to use the magic you have been taught, but nothing further.’

Jonah and Finn both grinned at each other.

‘Please climb onto the first platform.’

We did so, scaling the ladder to stand atop the wooden plinth. The view from up here was dizzying. I edged to the middle, willing myself not to look down, but one quick glance nearly made me vomit in horror. The bottom
of the chasm was at least two hundred metres away. Clenching my eyes shut, I took a deep breath through my nose and tried to calm myself.

Bow out
. Tell them you can’t do this.

I opened my mouth to do so, but my gaze fell on Finn and I stopped. She had obviously forgotten that I’d told her of my fear, or perhaps she hadn’t believed me at the time. I spotted the guards on the platforms and saw that they were real soldiers, trained in combat. Finn, who was thin and scrawny, would never make it past the first one. I wasn’t sure what Jonah was capable of with his magic, but I didn’t think Penn would get past a guard either. Which meant I had to do this – they were going to need help.