TELVIN

That night Hark came back from meeting with our client. He had more bags of gold than I had ever seen in one place. He also confirmed what Wilbern had told me. We were moving closer to the city wall to capture the rest of the royal family. There were the two heirs. One of them needed to be killed along with a few other relatives. We had very clear orders that the prince bound to Iara needed to stay safe though. The client wanted Iara alive.

The statement sent shivers down my spine. Iara was the most powerful witch I knew of. Her connection with each god was remarkable. I had seen her might first hand plenty of times. She could grow entire trees in a blink of an eye, or burn down an entire village if she so willed it. Witnessing such power made me understand why other people would want to use it. If our client captured the vampire prince, Iara would be forced to comply, despite any power she may possess. She’d be a sitting duck. My heart constricted every time I thought of harm coming to her. Harm had already come to someone I cared for.

Charlotte still couldn’t feel her legs. She was bound to a wheeled cart now. Yula had taken up caring for her. I would help carry her to and from where Yula asked and the young girl would attend to Charlotte’s needs. She would help Charlotte dress and comb her hair. The small dwarf didn’t say much these last few days either. Her eyes were blank and empty. She barely moved either, more like a sad doll than the fiery dwarf of her past. She clearly lost more than her legs that day. It made my heart ache just looking at her.

As I carried Charlotte on my back towards where our tents were set up, I cleared my throat. I had to say something. I knew if I didn’t, I’d lose her forever. “You know, we can find a cure,” I whispered.

“For what?” Charlotte whispered. It was the first time she had said something to me in days.

“For your legs,” I replied quickly. I crouched down and let her fall back on a soft animal skin Yula had laid out. “There are plenty of witches around who worship Loire. They could heal you.”

Yula started to fuss about Charlotte, moving her dead legs into a natural potion. “I heard the girl in the palace is amazing,” she added.

Iara could help us. She could fix Charlotte’s legs in the matter of moments, given the right resources. My heart pounded at the thought. Would Iara help me if I asked? Would I even get the chance to ask her?

“No,” Charlotte snapped. “I refuse to let a witch use magic on me.” She showed her disdain on her face. Why did the first thing she reacted to always have to be so negative?

“I know Iara, she would never hurt anyone,” I defended.

“How do you know her?” Charlotte snapped. “You never answered before.”

Yula’s eyes flicked between the two of us. She was like a sponge, soaking up information. I imagined she thrived off of things like this. The young girl had a knack for being present at such times.

“It doesn’t matter. Why would you choose to stay like this if she can fix you?” I yelled back. My face heated in anger. “You’re always so stubborn.”

Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from us. “I hate witches and I hate magic. I hate the immortal patronages and I refuse to work with anyone who is associated with them.”

Before I could reply, someone interrupted us. “Hark would like to see you,” the man said.

I sighed, standing. “Come on then, Charlotte.” I bent down to pick her up again, but the man stopped me.

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“Just you, Telvin.”

Just me. I gave an uneasy look to the two girls. Charlotte didn’t even lift her head, her face hidden by her hood. Yula waved me on, giving me a small smile. They would be fine without me. I’d only be gone a few minutes at most. I turned to follow the man through the tents and campfires. When we made it to Hark’s tent, he held open the entrance for me. I ducked in and sighed.

Hark was sitting at a small table, a woman at his side. He had bottles of mead everywhere, half full glass in his hand. Bags of gold coins dotted the tabletop just as much as the drinks did. The smell in the tent was thick and made my eyes water. He gave me a smile and greeted me warmly. “Telvin, how has the day been treating you?”

“I have a request, actually,” I said.

He gestured for me to sit across from him. “I do as well. I’ll let you go first then.”

I sat, crossing my legs. I let my hands remain under the table. I was nervous and I didn’t want my hands to give me away. “As you know, Charlotte’s legs are still. . . The human princess our client wants is a very powerful witch. She could fix Charlotte’s legs if you let me talk to her before we give her to the client.”

Hark’s face turned grim. He shook his head slowly. “You know we can’t do that. Charlotte is exactly who I called you here about.”

My heart dropped. It couldn’t be anything bad, right? The look on his face made me very uneasy. “Okay, what about her?”

“The vampire bitch cursed her. There isn’t a way to fix it. Get rid of her instead. She’s dead weight.” Hark leaned forward and grabbed one of the gold coin bags. He tossed it to me and I instinctually caught it. “I don’t care how you do it as long as she doesn’t slow us down when we move tomorrow.”

Get rid of Charlotte? Was he suggesting I kill her? The thought made my stomach turn. He would so easily throw away his second in command. Charlotte practically ran the guild herself when he was too busy drinking. I numbly looked back up at him. He had already turned to the woman and nibbled at her ear. She giggled and hung onto him.

“You want me to kill her?” I breathed.

“Yes. whatever you want to do, now please give us some privacy.”

I stood up suddenly, the table tilting with the movement. The glass he had been drinking from tipped and spilled on the pair. The alcohol soaked into his clothes and stained his white shirt. He stood and glared at me. “What the hell?” he cried out.

Without thinking, I reared my fist back and connected it to his jaw. He fell back, catching himself on the tent pole. He gained his balance back and spit out a tooth. Blood dripped from his lip. “You better run,” he said in a low, calm voice. His hand cupped his chin and he rolled his jaw. “I’ll give you one chance not to lose your life where you stand now.”

“I won’t kill Charlotte,” I snapped at him. “You’re disgusting.”

Before he could reply, I rushed out. I pushed people aside and ran through circles of fires. People hollered at me to watch where I was going but I ignored them. My feet wouldn’t let me slow down. I had to get back to Charlotte and Yula. We were leaving right now. When I burst into the tent they were at, Yula screamed in surprise. Charlotte was being undressed, put into a change of clothes. “Telvin, get out!” Yula cried, blocking my view of Charlotte.

“No time,” I snapped. I pushed past the girl as I took my cloak off. It was large, handing down to my ankles. I wrapped it around Charlotte and lifted her. “Pack up what you can,” I ordered.

“What’s going on?” Charlotte demanded. She clung to my shirt, her hands shaking. I had the idea she already knew what this was about. I could see it in her sad dark eyes.

“We just have to go,” I insisted. I sat Charlotte in her wooden cart and turned back to the tent.

I helped Yula grab the essentials. A few animal pelts, our few clothes, whatever food was over here, and our weapons. Yula helped me load the cart, careful to pack everything around Charlotte to make it comfortable for her.

“You don’t have to come with us, Yula,” Charlotte said. Her hands were clenched into fists in her lap. It pained her to say it. As much as Charlotte complained about how annoying Yula was, she liked her. You could tell.

“Who else will annoy you to death?” came the cheerful reply. “Let’s go.”

Charlotte let her head lower, my cloak tenting over her face. She couldn’t hide her tears though. They fell, landing on her small fists. I lifted up the handles of the cart and started pulling it along. Hopefully no one would notice us or the direction we were going. I headed towards the northern wall of the city. We would go along the beach, then up to the patch of forest. It was the easiest point of access to the palace, the way the client wanted us to enter.