Chapter 1: Part 9 - Family Reunion

If Erin had pictured the home of the Valpari matriarch, it would have looked exactly like Blackthorn Manor. The grey stone walls, the soaring turrets, the crenellations and grand front doors. Apart from its tall windows, looking back at them like blank eyes, it was surprisingly defensible. It even had a moat, if only at the front.

According to Auri, Oska was inside. Now that she was back in the vicinity of her brother, her usual dreamy manner had resurfaced. “We used to play in the weeds,” she told Erin. “The fireweed, behind the house. The seeds would rise up like ashes.”

Erin hid her shudder. She could never tell whether the girl was trying to be ominous, or if it was merely accidental.

Amber, crouched on Auri’s other side, didn’t seem to be listening. “We’ll have to approach from the rear. We need an angle where we won’t be seen.”

“There isn’t one,” Auri put in. “The windows are eyes, watching without blinking. They see all that we do.”

This time, Erin did shudder. Auri’s words were far too close to her own thoughts. “Take the lead,” she instructed Amber. “I’ll watch our backs.”

They set off along the perimeter of the house, staying well back from the moat and those watchful windows. To say Taria Valpari was supposedly a recluse, the place was surprisingly well-kept. There were no weeds to hide in today.

Where the sweeping lawns met the wooded hills behind the house, Amber paused. “Traps,” she announced. “The whole forest is full of them.”

That made sense. They’d taken their chances with the road up to the house, creeping from corner to corner, trying to stay hidden in the long grass or under the trees. It had been Auri who’d insisted such a route was the safest way; now they knew why. Any ordinary intruder would try to approach through the woods, where they’d probably meet a sticky end.

The trees crowded surprisingly close to the back of the house. There was a strip of lawn barely twenty feet wide between the back door and the woods. If they crossed it, they’d almost certainly be seen.

But maybe they wouldn’t have to.

A door banged, somewhere behind the house. There was an indistinct shout, followed by the thunder of feet. Erin ducked behind the nearest tree. When she looked out, three men stood behind the house with rifles in their hands. Auri made a soft noise of dismay as they raised the weapons and fired with a percussive crack.

But what were they firing at?

“Amber, go round–”

She was too slow. Auri launched herself out of the trees with a sharp cry, already freeing the staff she wore across her back. Erin cursed and lurched after her, reaching for her hammer. Amber shouted something, but her words were lost to another volley of rifle shots.

Auri pulled up some distance from the riflemen. They turned, one by one, as Erin skidded to a stop beside Auri. Finally, she could see what the men were shooting at: a small figure, dressed in black, clinging to the rear wall of the house. Erin didn’t need to see his face to know it was Oska.

Somewhere in the mayhem that followed, Erin reflected that this wasn’t what she’d planned. This was supposed to be a quiet, subtle mission; she’d half thought they’d be able to extract Oska without anyone even noticing they were there. Instead, Auri was screaming wordlessly, her staff whirling around her head. Rifle bullets pinged off the shield she created and snapped against the walls of the house. More men, dressed in dark blue livery, emerged from an unseen door; Amber slid between them like a shadow, slowing their movements. Erin herself smashed her hammer into anyone who got close, flinging them away with a grunt. Light’s Memory were holding their own, but half of Queensdale had surely heard them by now.

Oska made his entrance in the heart of the maelstrom. There was no visible signal between him and Auri, but they didn’t seem to need one. Erin’s heart almost stopped as Oska pushed himself off the wall of the manor and launched himself into the air, but Auri caught him on a wave of Water magic and he slid effortlessly to the ground. They touched only briefly, pressing their foreheads together in silence, and then Oska was gone again with his daggers flashing.

Erin let him fight for only a handful of heartbeats before she called a retreat. With her brother safe, Auri came dutifully, shrinking her shield with every step. Amber and Oska appeared together, stepping out of the same shadow. Erin swung her hammer twice more for good measure, keeping the guards at bay – and that was when she realised they were being watched.

Not by the guards; they were just lackeys with cheap rifles. There was a straight-backed figure beyond them, though, with the same pale grey hair as the twins. Not Taria Valpari, surely – the woman was far too young.

Auri gripped Oska’s arm, eyes wide. “Is that–?”

Oska shook his head before the question could even be asked. “She calls herself Ruby. I couldn’t tell you what hole she’s crawled out of.”

Erin raised an eyebrow at his vicious tone. So much for a family reunion. For a moment, she thought Ruby was going to retreat, but abruptly she strode forwards. Her stride was as fluid as a cat’s.

She stopped some ten feet away, smirking at the twins as though she knew something they didn’t. “So this is the famous Auri.”

All Auri’s courage seemed to be gone. She clung to Oska’s arm, trying to hide behind him.

“Leave her alone,” Oska snapped, but the words were petulant and made him sound like a child.

Ruby just grinned. “You should come up,” she said, tilting her head towards the house. “We can have a little chat about what we’re doing here.”

“You’re trying to kill me,” Oska said.

“Do you really think so?” Ruby put her head on one side. “If I’d wanted you dead, you would have known about it.”

Erin shifted her grip on her hammer. The guards were crowding close to Ruby, rifles at the ready. The whole situation was on the verge of spinning out of control. “This isn’t the place to talk,” she said firmly, “when you’ve been holding one of my people hostage.”

“Your people?” Ruby’s gaze shot to Erin and her tone was sharp. “I think you’ll find Oska is a Valpari before he’s anything else. You should remember that.”

Auri shifted uneasily. Some of the guards did the same. Erin surreptitiously scanned their surroundings. If they made a break for the road, could they make it over the first hill before the guards started firing? Could Auri block out their bullets? Was she in any state to follow orders?

When Erin glanced back, Ruby was grinning again. “Looking for an escape route? Oska’s plan was very clever, I’ll give him that – but I think you’ll find this is the end of the line for the rest of you.”

Amber stepped forwards, wearing the smile Erin knew far too well. “I suppose we’ll see about that.”

Erin had no idea what message had passed between Amber and the twins, but the effect was profound. Amber threw something, enveloping Ruby and her men in a cloud of choking smoke. Before it could blow away, Auri stepped forwards and swung her staff, sending a burst of concussive Air magic towards Ruby. There were cries as the guards were thrown backwards, landing in a jumbled heap some distance away.

Erin was running before they’d even hit the ground. The others fell in around her. They pounded across the lawn, scrambled up the first slope, and dropped over the other side. Amber kept running, Auri with her – but Oska hesitated and Erin couldn’t help doing the same.

Together, they peered back over the crest of the hill. The guards were disentangling themselves from their rifles and each other. Ruby, on the other hand, was as straight and unbowed as an oak tree – and she was looking in their direction.

She seemed to know they were watching. Her voice rose, reaching them on the wind. “You can run, Oska, but it won’t do you any good. There’s a war coming. It’s time to choose your side.”

Oska said nothing. Silently, he slid down the hill and ran after the others, not looking back. Still, Erin hesitated. Ruby’s words sounded like nothing but rhetoric, and yet… A war? What if she was telling the truth?

Abruptly, Ruby laughed, the sound high and not entirely sane. “Make your choice, norn. Keep running – or be the first to feel my blade.”

Erin shuddered and lurched back to her feet, hurrying after the rest of her guild. These damned Valparis. If she never saw Ruby again, it would be too soon. As for a war… If Ruby was talking about Oska and Auri choosing between their guild and their family, they might have a problem. It pained Erin to even think it, but she wasn’t sure which side the twins would choose.