A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3) - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

He was with me when I woke up, but not for long. He left me with food and went to meet with Tandrin and Queen Navire. I ate and thought about the meeting. From what I had heard the night before, it seemed pretty clear that Tannix had volunteered for the task at hand. Or more likely, he'd demanded. It was just like him to take on something dangerous to rescue Mayah.
I realized with a start that I felt like myself again. My thoughts weren't swirling or confused. I finished off my breakfast and moments later, I was stepping out into bright sunlight.
Evrik was standing by the flap. He looked as ragged as the other knights, but Evrik knew how to make scruffiness look good. His eyes trailed over me, and he smiled. "I knew you'd be up today. Tannix is sure he can convince you to stay behind."
"I'm coming," I said. Last night, I had said it in a panic, terrified by the idea of Tannix going off without me. I wanted to keep him close. But this time, with my mind under control again, I meant it. They needed me if they were going to succeed. The knights were good at a lot of things. Sneaking through a city wasn't one of those things.
They needed me. I also needed to help rescue Mayah, and Vali. The knights didn't know who he was, but if we could get him out of the city, I wanted to try. I remembered Kassia's concern when she realized who had killed the king. There was no doubt in my mind that Kalvahi would execute Vali if he figured it out.
Evrik nodded. "We're all on your side, my friend. We know we need you. And if you're ready and willing, it isn't exactly fair to tell you that you can't come along. None of us would accept that, either. Goddess knows, Mandell fought through an amputation. Tannix took a pretty bad hit barely two weeks into the campaign, and it didn't stop him from riding up front."
"He did?" He had neglected to mention that, in person or in a letter.
"We don't back down," Evrik said. "None of us are designed for it. And you're one of us, aren't you?"
I wasn't designed to back down? It wasn't how I would have ever described myself, but maybe he was right. Once upon a time I would have done nearly anything to protect myself. Now, I was determined to do anything I could to protect the people I cared about. Even with Castin holding poison to my lips, it had been to protect others, not myself. Maybe giving up wasn't something I could do anymore.
I nodded firmly. "I am. I want to be part of their meeting."
Tannix didn't make a scene and barely reacted when Evrik escorted me into their meeting. He didn't seem to mind when I chimed in or pointed out details they hadn't considered. It wasn't until the plan was finalized and the meeting was over that his true feelings came out.
Tandrin left the meeting tent in a rush, as if he was trying to avoid the confrontation with his brother. It didn't work. Tannix immediately followed him. Acen, Evrik and I rushed to keep pace. Tandrin ducked into his tent, and Tannix stormed after him with barely a nod at the two knights who were standing by the entrance. We paused outside.
The fabric wasn't enough to completely muffle Tannix's words. "Finn isn't coming."
Tandrin was quieter, calmer, and harder to hear.
Evrik clapped me on the shoulder, silently trying to commiserate. Acen crossed his arms and spoke to the knight to our left. I recognized him, but didn't know his name.
"How is he taking this?"
The knight shrugged one shoulder. "Not well. If he could send Lord Tandrix back to West Draulin he would. But you're backing this plan?"
Acen nodded. "We have the experience, and time is a factor. My men are prepared to do this now, whereas another team might need a few days to prepare."
"Lord West Draulin shouldn't be leading a covert mission."
It was Acen's turn to shrug. "He's a soldier. Finn, you might as well get in there. He sounds calmer."
Tannix had quieted down, so I couldn't properly make out what either brother was saying. I nodded and slipped past Tandrin's knights. The King's knights.
Inside the tent, Tandrin was sitting in a chair and Tannix was still on his feet. Neither of them looked over at me. The argument seemed to be coming to an end.
"Are you ordering me to take him?" Tannix asked.
Tandrin's voice was weary with exhaustion. "If that's what you need to hear, yes. It's an order." He reached up to rub his face, and as he did so, noticed me hovering by the entrance. He twitched one finger, beckoning me closer. "If this is going to work, you need an expert along."
I stepped up between them. Tannix's gaze flickered over me, but he didn't really seem surprised to see me there. "There are other experts. You have intelligence networks. Spies. People who were trained for this."
Tandrin nodded. "I do. But do you know what none of my spies have ever done? Escaped Deorun twice. Earned the respect of your men. Worked with them in dangerous situations. You know why it needs to be Finn."
Tannix's left hand found his sword pommel. "Tandrin, please. I don't want—"
"And I don't want you to go," Tandrin interrupted. "We don't get to make decisions based on how much we love individuals, Tannix. We don't get that luxury anymore."
Tannix blinked. I took advantage of his hesitation to speak up. "I'm going with you. Tandrin's right. We know how to work together, and that's what you need for this plan to work. Besides, you hired me as your thief. I'm one of your men. And we aren't designed to back down."
At the sound of those last words, his retort seemed to catch in his throat. He sighed slowly. Then he nodded, slowly, as if doing it was excruciating. "We'll need to find you some throwing knives. You're not coming unarmed."
Tandrin got to his feet. "Good." His gaze flickered between me and Tannix, and he nodded firmly. "Good. Well, once we start, things are going to move fast. Go get your men ready. And Finn?" He paused. There was weight behind that pause. We all knew it. "I'm glad I gave you the Champion ring. You deserve it, now more than ever. I'll make it official once all of this is over, if..."
Even though I knew exactly what he was thinking, I was relieved when he trailed off. It was a little bit easier to ignore the risk when the words weren't floating around.
I tried to give him a convincing smile. "Thank you." I wanted to seem brave, and competent. But the unspoken implication was still there. And if this was going to be the last time I would see Tandrin, I wanted him to know exactly how I felt about him. So I stepped closer and hugged him.
Maybe it was strange to hug the King. But it didn't feel strange when his arms tightened around my back. He just felt like a brother.
"You're going back?" Castin was looking at me like I had lost my mind, and maybe I had.
Kovin had woken up sometime the night before, but he was asleep again and I didn't want to bother him. Castin, I had no qualms about bothering. I shook him awake the moment I sat beside his mat and told him the entire plan. Every part of it.
Castin wasn't wearing a tunic. Pristine white cloth was wrapped around his torso snugly, keeping the bandaging in place on his back. Two cords hung around his neck, one with the Anniva amulet I had given him, and one with his marriage stone. I could see the scar on his hip. The one Kassia had sewn shut and threatened to slice back open.
He was lucky. If our plan ended the war, he wouldn't need to fight again. He could heal and go home to Stria and Gale, to Baisan and Ninavi and the boys. He would make it out of the war scarred but physically intact, and that was more than a lot of men could say.
But I hadn't come to hear him tell me that I was being stupid. "They need me. And I need to help get Lady Mayah and Vali."
"Vali." It wasn't even a question.
"He helped us. He doesn't deserve to be killed for it," I said.
Castin shook his head. "He did it because he hated the king, not because he really wanted to help us."
"Does that mean he deserves to be killed? After he had to..." I chose the nicest word I could think of, "work... for the king?" There was something from Castin's past that I had always suspected, even though he had never mentioned it. "You understand that, don't you?"
It didn't take him long to understand what I was implying, and he scowled. "Did Baisan tell you?"
"No, of course not." I watched him carefully, saw the tension release from his shoulders when he heard that Baisan hadn't betrayed his trust. "I guess I've just always sort of suspected. Was he a Telt?"
Castin's eyes darted from side to side, and when he spoke, it was hardly louder than a whisper. "Yes. It only happened once. But I've thought about... well, if I was older, or if I knew how to fight back then, maybe..." He shrugged, and unsuccessfully tried to hide his wince when the shrug hurt his back. "I understand why Vali wanted to kill the king. But that doesn't make it your job to save him. Or Lady Mayah. Leave that to the lords and soldiers, Finn. Don't go back into that city."
It wasn't the easy. "Cast, would you follow Stria into Deorun?"
My brother sighed; eyes downcast. He reached to fiddle with his marriage stone. "Finn."
"What about Baisan?"
He looked up. "I'd follow him anywhere."
"Take how you feel about Stria, and how you feel about Baisan." I lowered my voice, even though the only person close enough to overhear was still fast asleep. "Combine those feelings. That's how I feel about Tannix. I have to follow him."
Castin looked down at his hands. The fingers on his right hand twitched like they wanted to fiddle with a knife. "That isn't fair," he quietly said. "Going back without me. After everything we just did to get out."
This was the argument I had expected. "I need to say something."
He recognized something in my tone and looked up to meet my eyes again.
"I just don't want you to think that you're..." That wasn't the right way to start. "If this doesn't work, if I die, it isn't your fault. You got me out of there. No matter what else happens, we escaped Deorun together. I want you to tell the others that story. Tell Gale that we fought off hundreds of soldiers together. All right?"
He just looked at me. I knew, without any doubt, that if I didn't make it out of Deorun a second time he would blame himself for not being with me. I just hoped that he would remember this conversation, and it would help him get through it.
Finally he spoke. "I can tell them that. But you're the better liar. It'll be more believable coming from you."
I smiled. "Well... I guess I'll just have to tell them myself, then."
He nodded firmly. "Good."
And that was that.
We rode to the Ady River as the sun was setting. There wasn't anything to talk about. The plan was clear and as simple as possible. I was going to lead them into the city using the secret door. I was going to take them through the tunnels into the prison, and then out into the city streets. They were going to kill anyone who got in our way as we made our way through the city to the front gates. Whatever guards were on duty would be tired and hungry. They would be taken prisoner, if possible, killed if not. Then, we were going to open the gates for Tandrin and Queen Navire.
The part of the plan that hadn't been completely cleared with Tandrin complicated things just a bit. A few of us were going to go to the castle instead, to find Mayah. And Vali, if I could. It was up to me to find them. Which meant that I was going to go one way and Tannix was going to go the other, towards the gate, where he needed to be.
We left the horses when we reached the river. Valari and Karian had come along just to lead the horses back to camp, and they asked Zianesa to bless us before they rode off into the darkening desert. Then we were alone. It felt right to be with the men again, on the edge of something dangerous. They thrived in dangerous situations.
I thrived in dangerous situations.
We stood in a circle by the banks of the river. I looked at every one of the knights, taking in any lingering injuries, anything that could change the way they would move or act. I mapped out the hallways in my head and remembered what Acen had tried to teach me about fighting.
"It feels," Tannix broke the silence. We'd been waiting for it, but it still seemed to catch us all off guard. "Like this is the moment to say something. About bravery or loyalty or brotherhood. But I think we've been through enough to not need a rallying speech. We know each other too well. I can't say anything you don't already know. There's nothing new to say. Except that if this works, it'll be the end of the war." His left hand was resting on his sword pommel. His right reached up to tap his chest.
For a moment I let my mind catch on that little action. I wondered when he had started tapping the amulet, and why, and if anyone had asked him about it. Was it because he believed in Zianesa's protection, or because it reminded him of me, or something else entirely?
Then he looked at me and broke through the thoughts. "Finn, lead the way."
When all of this was over, I would ask him about the amulet. First, we had to make it through this night alive. I offered prayers up to every goddess and god I thought would help, and led the knights to the edge of the river.