Chapter 31: 31_Joining the Barbarians
“I need to know!” Amie said anxiously. “Look, I… I would never hold anything against the Barbarians if they’ve been harmed. I’ll be… I’ll be on your side. Just take me with you.”
His face hardened as he listened to the desperation in her voice. She thought he was stupid, saying anything she could to convince him. She had no idea he was being gracious. He would rather let her go here than continue his plan of keeping her hostage to be used later. The stubborn girl couldn’t even see he was handing her her freedom, she begged to be used and taken advantage of.
Taking his silence as a sign of his weakening stubbornness, she stepped closer. “Please. Thoran.”
His teeth clenched. Staring stonily down into the clear, hazel-green of her wide eyes, he decided to disregard her safety just as much as she did. Keeping Kendrick’s daughter safe or stopping her from making stupid decisions wasn’t his duty. “Fine.”
“Steel.” Ivar was shocked.
“Take the metal plate off your gem,” Thoran continued.
Nodding, Amethyst ripped off the thin metal plate and pulled the string over her head, dropping it on the table. She put the gem into her shirt pocket and looked at him, eyes shining with determination. “Just the gem alone is enough to…” She paused. “It’s enough.”
Both Gunnar and Ivar were staring at Thoran in silent shock.
“Are you sure about this?” Gunn questioned. “You’ve always been very strict about the rules of the village ever since you made the damn rules.”
Looking at him, Thoran nodded, his gaze softening. “Trust me.”
Not wanting to say anything more, Gunn let it go.
She was looking hopefully up at him and Thoran sighed, already doubting his own sanity despite reassuring Gunnar.
“Once you leave this place with us,” he told her. “Your survival is not guaranteed.”
At that, her eyes widened but she said nothing.
He raised a brow. “You’re fine with that? You could die. If, somehow, we’re traced, you might be used to protect our people.”
Her gaze was locked bravely on his. “Fine.”
His eyes darkened. Foolish. She was so incredibly foolish, she had no regard for her own safety. “And your family won’t be able to trace you or come to your aid—”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I trust you.”
He frowned at that, staring down at her. The girl was fickler than a blade of grass in the wind. How did she go from cursing him to trusting him? And why on earth did she trust him? There was not an ounce of rationality or wisdom in the decisions she made.
“Whatever,” he muttered coldly. “We’ll take you with us.”
Amie nodded. “Also, I need you to understand something.”
One dark brow rose, his brooding eyes looking down at her.
She raised her chin. “My family wouldn’t harm any of you even if they did find your camps. I wouldn’t let them.”
His eyes filled with that distinct scorn she remembered from the first time she’d seen him. Glancing over at the other two, she noticed a more subtle version of the same look on their faces.
“What?” She was suddenly self-conscious.
“Your father couldn’t hurt us now, even if he tried,” Ivar said with more bite than she thought necessary.
“Oh. Well—”
“He’s more afraid of Thoran than he is of death itself,” Gunnar added. “You’ve got things a little mixed up there.”
“Well, then why are you worried about them finding us and discovering your hideouts?”
“Steel.” The tent entrance parted and Bjorn stuck his head in. “We’re ready to leave.”
Thoran gave him a curt nod and glanced at Gunnar. “Let’s go.”
“There’s someone else, isn’t there?” Amethyst said. They stopped and looked at her. She pointed her chin at Thoran. “You all keep mentioning how many people are afraid of you and how undefeatable you are, but there’s clearly someone you’re afraid of. The reason you guys stay hidden in the first place. Who is it?”
His grey eyes looked at her for only a few more moments, a look of plain disinterest on his face. “Me. Afraid?” His dark lashes nearly touched as he narrowed his eyes. With a scoff, he marched past her and left the tent.
With a huff, Ivar loyally followed, leaving Gunnar who winced at her.
She crossed her arms defensively. “Did I get something wrong again?”
“Aye, ’fraid so, princess. Thoran fears no one.”
“Then who’s the person you insist on staying hidden from? There is someone, is there not?”
His face darkened. “Well… there is. Him.”
Her eyes widened at the confirmation. “Really?” It suddenly seemed outlandish. Someone who could make the formidable Thoran Steel falter in his arrogance? “Who? Who is it?”
Anger filled Gunnar’s whiskey-coloured eyes and a hard swallow worked his throat muscles. “The devil. That’s who.”
She stared at him in a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. “The devil?”
“Right.”
“The devil and yet… and yet Thoran doesn’t fear him?”
Gunnar’s anger made way for a light smirk. “Aye. The devil fears Thoran.”
*******
When they walked into the clearing in a dark, secluded corner of the forest, Milana knew they’d found the place. Alerted by one of the guys Eroz had come with, they’d followed him to the secluded area.
The Barbarians were long gone, but it was easy to tell they’d been here.
“The air still smells of smoke and meat,” murmured Eroz, his nose twitching as he looked around.
She nodded absent-mindedly, trying to keep her head on right. The skin around her eyes still prickled, tender from her wiping away tears. Her pride did sting, but her heart ached harder. She’d been idiotic enough to think she could steer someone as mysterious and cold as Cyrus in the direction she wanted. Instead, she’d frightened him and sent him running. Great.
Tears blurred her vision.
“Princess Milana.”
She turned around. “Yes.”
Eroz held open his palm as he approached her. “Found this note nailed into a tree with this metal hanging around it."
The moment Milana saw the metal plate in his hand, her body went cold. With a gasp, she snatched it out of his hand. “This is Amie’s necklace. But why’s it detached? We can’t trace her if she doesn’t have this!”
Eroz’s expression fell, his eyes darkening. “Oh, hell.”
Struggling to remain calm, Lana spread open the note. There was a lot scrawled on it and it was clearly Amie’s handwriting.
“Oh, God…”
He looked worried. “What does it say?” It was written in a language he couldn’t read.
“That she’s… she’s not in danger, she’s just busy. And she’s taken the plate off so we can’t trace her.” Milana nearly felt dizzy. “She says she’s sorry and that she’ll be home soon. We should trust her and not tell Mother.” She frowned at the note. Amie was insisting on them keeping it a secret from their parents because their father had done something wrong. Well, there was no surprise there, doing wrong was King Kendrick’s favourite pass-time. But how did that involve Amethyst? What on earth was she up to? “This child’s lost her mind.”
Eroz sighed heavily, staring dazedly into the forest. “Natalia’s going to kill me.”
“My mother’s going to murder us all.” She slowly shook her head, guilt crawling into her heart. How could she have allowed herself to get so distracted? Amethyst was missing and, instead of looking for her, she’d spent the night in Cyrus’s arms and spent the morning crying. Instead of taking this seriously and searching for Amie with everything in her, she’d allowed herself to get up to complete buffoonery.
Sighing, she pushed a hand into her hair, gripping it.
“What if she actually needs help and was forced to write the note?” Eroz suddenly asked. “To throw us off.”
Milana shook her head. “Then they wouldn’t have let her write it in a language they don’t understand. She’s fine, just insane. Damn it, we could’ve found them if we searched overnight instead of resting. It’s all my fault, I have to take responsibility for this.”
Eroz looked sympathetic. “Then it’s you and I, both, Princess. Either we all take the blame or we admit that Amethyst is an adult and she made these choices for herself. An elaborate plan that she carried out behind our backs, you couldn’t have known.”
“I should have! She’s our baby sister—”
“Again, she’s an adult,” he interjected gently. “Not a baby. Now, we’ve got some wolves scouring the area trying to pick up a scent or anything we can use to track them. If we find nothing, we just keep moving, keep looking.”
Swallowing, she shook her head. “It would be no use. Barbarians vanish like spirits, they use the darkest, most dangerous trails in every forest or mountain. Places normal people haven’t even discovered yet. We wouldn’t even imagine looking in the place they are, much less would we find them.”
At her reasoning, he grimaced, glancing around. “What would you like to do?”
She looked at him, horror filling her green eyes. “I’m afraid… we’ll have to go back and tell my parents.”