Lunar Marked

The second explosion hadn’t been nearly as shocking as the first. Though even as it shook the ground, I had no idea where it was. In truth, I was still too stunned to even pay it much mind. 

Lena hopped up onto the horse with a grace I couldn’t hope to match. Luckily, some sentinel gave me a helping hand, allowing me to climb up in front of her. 

We had a horse to ourselves, surprisingly. Though neither of us held the reins. Instead one of the men on another mount was guiding our horse along. One of Lena’s arms gripped around me tightly as we began the strut through the edge of town, the other holding onto the saddle. 

Both of us stayed silent, and I might have been relieved that no one was attempting to speak with us, were it not for the situation we were in. Continually, I kept trying to think up some way out of this. Only to come up completely blank. 

Had we ruined everything?

Had I ruined everything?

The thought sat poorly in my stomach, and I wasn’t sure if it was that or the slow-moving horse leaving me overcome with nausea. 

As we moved, another sound, one slowly rising in volume, met my ears. A strange stomping noise that I couldn’t quite place. I didn’t have long to ponder it, as dozens of sentinels riding horses poured down the streets ahead. I’d knew what a handful of walking or running horses sounded like, but I’d never before seen or heard so many in one place. 

Lena’s arm gripped me tighter, as a man parted from them, riding up to meet us. 

The Praevus didn’t even wait for the man to stop before saying, “Tell Revon that his orders haven’t changed. Every house, execute anyone who resists. We’ll be catching a few rats hiding away in the mines in the meantime.”

“Sir,” the man acknowledged, before riding back off.

It was then that I knew what it meant to feel truly lost. As much as my mind kept trying to grab at solutions, each one as ridiculous as the last, there was little hope left in me. 

The best I had was to hope that Camilla would somehow swoop in and rescue us. Or for us to get lucky and escape to go find her. 

They hadn’t tied us down to the horse. In theory, I could just jump off and make a run for it. Yet I feared what the Praevus and his sentinels would do in response. 

Execute anyone who resists. I wasn’t completely stupid, though part of me was questioning just how true that was. If their “orders were the same,” as he’d said, then he wouldn’t need to repeat them. He’d spoken it all aloud for my and Lena’s benefit—a plainly stated threat. 

I gripped the saddle tighter, wishing I had even the stupidest idea of how to get out of this, just as the slightest hint that something was… off made me pause. 

A violent blast slammed into my side—so fast that I only caught on to it just as my head smacked into the ground. The air left my lungs, and I gasped out, struggling to breathe. My ears began to ring as the world around me lost focus, twisting and turning in a hazy blur. Vaguely, I could hear shouting, and cracks of smaller explosions, though I couldn’t tell from what direction. 

I rolled over onto my back, sucking in breath after breath as the ringing slowly began to fade. Leather boots strode up to my side, and my eyes could only just make out the Praevus standing above me. 

Someone said something, though I couldn’t quite hear it. 

Then through the ringing haze, Emver waved his hand and said, “No, let her go. Some other soldier will take care of her. The maid is the important one.” 

 It took only a few seconds for my mind to catch up. 

Lena?

— — —

Lena ran. She ran as fast as she could, dodging down side streets, ducking behind corners, and overall, trying to stay out of the sight of the sentinels crowding the streets while making her way back to the mansion. 

She didn’t know if Camilla would be there. A terrified part of her knew she wouldn’t be. Not to mention that Camilla didn’t believe she could take the Praevus and his sentinels on—else she would have already. 

But what else was she supposed to do?

Where else was she going to search? And who else could she go to?

So she ran, praying to any of the gods who might listen that she’d find Camilla. That somehow, despite all the odds, they would all get out of this alive and well. 

As the estate came into view, her heart began to sink. She hadn’t found her on the way, and chances were, she wouldn’t find her there. Then she would face a choice. To go back out, searching aimlessly until she got caught, or killed.

Or staying inside and hiding, hoping this all blew by like a bad dream. 

Neither sat well in her stomach. But she knew what choice she would ultimately make. 

A hand gripped around her arm, one of the sentinels finally catching her. She turned around, throwing a punch, only to swing at nothing. The unseen sentinel jerked her toward the looming darkness, pulling her behind a building, and placing a hand across her mouth just as she was about to scream. 

Lena was just about to bite down when a soft voice shushed her. 

“Quiet.”

She blinked, and then squinted her eyes, trying to see through the shade. “Camilla?”

Her heart nearly gave out on the spot. Emotions sliding from abject panic to the most intense relief she’d ever felt in her life. Lena had found her, against all odds. Or perhaps, Camilla found her. 

“Where’s Pearl?”

Right. Pearl. This was going to be difficult. 

“She’s with the Praevus.”

Lena expected a response, but no immediate one came. As her eyes adjusted, she finally managed to vaguely make out Camilla’s figure, her body almost entirely covered in the strange magical shadow that she wore like an outfit. 

“Let’s go,” she finally said. 

Before Lena could respond, she found herself being quickly pulled along at a run that she could barely keep up with. 

“Where—I” Lena gasped out. “I haven’t told you—where they are.”

Camilla stayed strangely silent. 

Lena slid to a halt, pulling her hand from the sorceress’s grasp. 

Camilla turned to glare. “We’re leaving.” 

Leaving? No. Nononono. “We,” Lena began at a shout, before quieting at Camilla’s gesture. “No. I won’t leave her. We won’t leave her. Or Rosetta. Not—not to him,” she insisted.  

She wouldn’t leave them to die. 

“There’s nothing we can do. Nothing I can do,” the sorceress said. Though they both knew that was a lie. “This isn’t the time to argue about this.” Then as though to rub the salt in further, she added, “Rosetta’s safe. I can take you to her.”

The comment left Lena stunned.

Then the moment passed as she realized Camilla had used the comment to try and manipulate her. As the sorceress tried to tug her forward, Lena once more snatched her arm from her grasp. 

“What is wrong with you?” she hissed. 

The sorceress stepped forward, leaning down over her with a look full of venom.

“I don’t want to die,” she growled back. “I want to live. To escape from the man that’s held my life in his hands for most of my life.”

Then, in the most defeated voice Lena had ever heard, Camilla said, “I—I can’t watch someone else die. I can’t. 

“Not again.”

The silence dragged, only the chaos of a crashing door in the background bringing Lena to finally speak.

“Fine. Fine. If you won’t save her. Then I will. By myself.” 

She turned, not even bothering to wait for a response, when instead of stepping away, two arms scooped her up, throwing her over a shoulder. Lena gasped out, thrashing to try and get Camilla to release her. Yet the sorceress might as well have been made of iron for how little she budged and how useless Lena’s kicks and punches seemed to be. 

As Camilla carried her, moving at surprising speed, she whispered, “I won’t let you get yourself killed over nothing. That maid you love so much is waiting for you down in the mines.” After a pause, she added a solemn, “I won’t ask you to forgive me.”

Lena’s writhing stopped, not from the mention of Rosetta, but from the part after. 

The mines?

That was precisely where the Praevus claimed to be heading. 

She opened her mouth to speak, only for Camilla to shush her. “Stay quiet,” she said, just as they moved in sight of dozens of sentinels. Lena froze, yet Camilla’s pace barely slowed. Somehow, as she dashed from shadow to shadow, none of them ever seemed to spot them. It was amazing just how good at this the sorceress was. 

Then the noble girl took a moment to truly think about it, particularly about where they were headed. She needed to tell Camilla about what the Praevus said, but she didn’t necessarily need to tell her now. In fact, it seemed quite prudent not to. 

Perhaps it was best to wait until a much more optimal moment. Like, say, when they were already deep into the mines. Decision made, Lena committed to continuing the act of the upset girl wanting to save her friend. 

Camilla, I hope you will forgive me for this.