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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

ENDER

Past

I bring the stallion I’m riding to a stop in front of my brother’s shop. He lives on the upper floor but works down below, something he’s been quite happy to be able to do.

“Moving up in the world, little brother,” Tomás says.

“How so? I have nothing to my name. No home, nothing.” I don’t mean it to sound so sharp, but sometimes seeing the family he’s built makes me jealous that I’ve become stuck where I am.

I send everything I acquire to him so at least he can live his dream, and someday, I hope that means I can get away from the life of a soldier and live peacefully near them.

Tomás’s smile flickers. “You have a home with us. You know that, right? You need to quit if you’re not happy.”

“I will… they keep telling me just a little longer and they’ll let me go. I’m just… wondering when that ‘little longer’ will end,” I say. “Trust me, it’s not you. I’m just frustrated with them. But hopefully soon.”

“I apologize if I said something wrong. I only meant that in your uniform atop a warhorse… you look quite formidable.”

“The horse might look formidable, but he left his smarts at home,” I say. “On the way here, he spooked over a rabbit and nearly tripped over his own legs to get away.”

“It was a terrifying rabbit,” Tomás jokes.

“Quite terrifying indeed,” I agree as I hear a squeal a moment before my niece rushes out.

I drop down and hold my arms out just in time for her to slam her little body into me as she lets out a gleeful noise.

“Hello, my dear Edith,” I say. After my brother and I had moved from Spain to find a home here, he’d fallen in love with a local farmer’s daughter who had Edith not long after they’d gotten married.

Questionably not long if one were to count the months.

She is now four, and even if I’m away for months, she still acts like I’m the best thing around every time I get back. I scoop her up and sit her on the back of the warhorse.

“You just told me it fled at the sight of a rabbit! Get her down,” Tomás says in alarm, but Edith is giggling as the horse bends his neck around to play with her shoe.

“I’m holding her. Stop fussing so much. I’m not going to let her fall.”

“Are you two already bickering?” Eleanor teases as she comes out.

“Ma, look.”

“I’m looking. Darling, I know you’re excited to see your brother, but don’t forget you were supposed to get the jewels delivered to Herefort… and it’s already starting to turn dark.”

“Right.” Tomás walks over and gives me a hug. “It’s delightful to see you and I really hope you’re staying a while this time. I’ve missed you. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

I look at him in surprise. “Tomorrow? How lame is that horse you’re riding?”

Tomás laughs. “He’s not lame at all. He’s a fantastic carriage horse, but the moment I put him under saddle, his top speed is slow.”

“I’ll take it. I’ll be back before you put the little one to bed,” I say.

“Can I go?” Edith asks, sounding quite thrilled by the idea.

“Not if I’m going to get back any faster than that lazy horse of yours would.” I pull her off my horse’s back and pass her to her mother.

“Are you sure?” Tomás asks.

“Yes. We’ve barely traveled today. We had a break yesterday and he’s used to going all day every day when we train. We’re good. Let me change out of this stuffy uniform they make me wear when traveling and I’ll be ready.”

With the box tucked away in a saddlebag and clothes changed, I slip my foot into the stirrup and swing on. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Hopefully for good one of these days.”

“Soon,” I promise. “By the end of the year, they’ve assured me.”

“Good.”

I turn the stallion, and with a squeeze of my legs he moves away from the town and toward the village not horribly far from here.

I arrive in plenty of time and head over to the jeweler who’d purchased the jewelry my brother made.

There’s a hitching post that I tie my horse to before walking inside.

The man looks up and smiles. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m dropping some stuff off for my brother Tomás.”

He looks surprised. “Tomás didn’t come with you?”

“No, did you need to speak with him? I can take a letter back.”

He opens the box and checks the items. “Hold for a moment,” he says before slipping out the door. While he does, I wander as I look at the jewelry he has on display. None of it is near the craftmanship my brother is capable of.

The wait extends until I begin to get impatient. Of course I told Tomás I didn’t mind dropping the box off, but I’m also tired and prepared to have a drink and fall asleep.

The door opens, and when a group of men enters, I find myself rather confused.

The first man who greets me is a large man with a hand on his sword. Clearly… something is going on here. “I’m the guard of this village and we need to take you in to ask you a few questions. It’s nothing you’ve done. We’ve just had some issues in these parts.”

“If you’ve had issues, I can assure you I had no part in them.”

“Just come with us and we’ll speak about them.”

“I’d rather not. To my understanding, I am owed some money for my brother’s sale, and then I will leave.”

“Not so fast,” the guard says. “We don’t know you. You could have stolen the jewelry from the maker for all we know.”

“You think there are more than two Spaniards around? I assure you, my brother Tomás sent me here. If you have a problem with it, I will simply take it back with me.”

I stretch my hand toward the box, but the jeweler slides it away, and just as he does that, I hear something behind me.

The guard’s sheathed sword slams into the side of my head, nearly knocking me off balance.

I reach for my sword before realizing I’d left it on the damn horse since I never imagined I would get attacked.

“What in the hell was that for? I am a member of the army. My credentials are on my horse, and I will gladly have my higher-ups deal with this,” I snarl as blood drips from my head.

“You didn’t mention he was in the fucking army!” the guard grumbles.

“It doesn’t fucking matter. He’s never going to tell anyone,” another man says as I decide that whatever I’ve walked into isn’t good at all.

I slam my elbow into the man blocking the door and make a run for it when another tries hitting me with some kind of wooden weapon. I slide back, but the shop is small and with ten or so of them, I’m boxed in.

I knock one back before grabbing the box my brother had sent me with and slamming it into a man’s head, driving him down to his knees.

Trying to make a break for the door, I see one of the guards draw a sword.

I throw my arm up to block the hit as the weapon bites into me.

The fight is fast, and though I manage to take down five of the men, more just fill their places.

I’m left bleeding, and when someone cracks something against my skull, I hit the floor on my knees.

Before I can recover, I’m dragged out of the building and into the street, past the villagers watching the show, and toward the area my horse stands.

Is there some way I can reach him? Grab my sword and flee?

He’s a very fast horse. If I could just get on his back, could I escape?

“Can we even hand him over like this? Should we just kill him? I bet his brother will come looking for him. We can hand that one over,” a man says.

I’m dropped to the ground as their words tear into my mind. How dare they think they could go for Tomás? I will protect my brother… I will…

They all grow quiet and back away from me.

“Y-You… will not… touch… my brother,” I snarl as I try to crawl toward my horse. If I could just get my sword…

“What happened here?” a man asks, and there’s something about his voice that tells me I need to get away. “This is what you offer up to me? A dying man? Do you think I’m worth so little?”

“We will get you a new one, I promise. He… he wouldn’t come willingly. He killed two of the guards and knocked down three others. But if he goes missing, his brother will come looking for him and we’ll take his brother.”

The newcomer reaches for me just as I lunge for the horse.

I draw my sword free and drive it into his stomach before he can even react.

He seems startled, but he doesn’t cry out or fall away as I’d hoped.

He slowly looks down at the blade that I pull free before tearing it from my hand with impossible strength.

The man knocks me down to the ground and presses a foot against my chest with so much pressure, I can feel the broken ribs shattering beneath the weight of him.

He casually looks down at his shirt and plucks it. “I really liked this shirt, and now it’s quite filthy.”

I realize the villagers are just standing there and watching like it’s a show put on for them.

Then the man grins. “I like this one.”

And with that, he grabs my foot and begins to drag me over to a carriage that waits nearby. I try to get free, but consciousness leaves me before I can.