Raze the Night (Nightstar Book 2)

“This is…real,” said Arem, studying one of the letters closely, sounding like he couldn’t believe what he was reading.

To be fair, Ainreth was still shocked as well. This was evidence they could actually use to convince everyone that the Herald was a liar.

Ain had no illusions about some people still being in support of the war even after this, but maybe it would be enough to remove Varilik from his post.

Now that would be the dream.

“We need to show this everyone. Immediately,” Anyri said, grabbing the letters. “Come on.”

But before they could leave, someone burst in—a sixteen year old girl who Ainreth was almost sure was named Eryte.

“They put out an arrest warren for the Daybreaker!”

Ainreth groaned, looking up at the ceiling for a bit to gather his strength. “Well, we were expecting that.”

“You can just stay here,” Petre suggested, but Ain immediately shook his head.

“No. I’m coming with you. People will pay more attention if I’m the one telling them what has been going on. I can just be invisible until then.”

Ainreth didn’t wait for anyone to argue, marching out of the room and to the exit. Anyri, Petre, Aram, and a few others were following without a word.

Ainreth was still fairly tired from the prisonbreak earlier, but he managed to keep up his invisibility until they reached the main square, which was once again packed.

The captain of the guard was reading something to the crowd, most likely about Ainreth’s crimes. Not that Ainreth was listening.

He just walked over to Anyri and took the letters from her before pushing past the crowd and climbing onto the podium. Only then did he drop his invisibility, much to the gasping of everyone around him.

“Always happy to be the center of attention,” Ain joked to the shocked guard, though it came out more like snarking.

The captain had even dropped his decree from how surprised he was, but he recovered a moment later, pointing a finger at Ainreth.

“Arrest him!” he said to seemingly no one. Ainreth only then noticed guards rushing up the steps of the podium, making him roll his eyes as he threw blinding light at all of them.

The guards staggered and cried out, some tripping on the steps, others holding their faces. Hopefully this would keep them in check for a few minutes.

“Good people of Kyr-Toryl!” Ainreth shouted to the crowd, holding up the stack of letters. “Have I got news for you!”

“Don’t listen to him!” the captain of the guard yelled, attempting to lunge blindly at Ain, who just sidestepped him, making the poor man fall. It was kind of pathetic.

“Do listen to me!” Ainreth continued, knowing that he really needs to get this out there before more guards arrived. “I have proof the High Herald staged the assassination attempt. That’s why I freed the ‘assassin’, by the way.”

Cries of outrage and confusion followed, but Ainreth didn’t let that stop him from loudly starting to read the most incriminating letter of the bunch—the last one.

Ainreth had to avoid the blind guards trying to grab him by following his voice as he read the entirety of the letter. Thankfully this one was short, but it had all the important parts—the agreement about the assassination, the specifics of it, the payment, everything.

“And here is Varilik’s signature!” Ainreth added, yelling over the crowd’s shocked noises, showing the paper to everyone. He knew that only people in the first few rows would see it, but that didn’t matter. That would be enough.

“He’s been lying to all of you. He faked that assassination to gain support for his war,” Ainreth continued, hiding the letters in the inside pocket of his jacket, just to make sure the evidence was safe. “And he would have gotten away with it, too, if he killed the person he paid before I caught wind of this.”

More guards joined the fray, which Ainreth immediately tried to fight off by throwing light their way, but some of them managed to cover their eyes and look away as he did.

But they weren’t the problem compared to who showed up next. Out of the shadows of one of the guards appeared Fennrin, glaring at Ainreth.

“Surrender,” he said firmly, his eyes, despite their anger, looking almost pained. Or maybe Ainreth was imagining it. But he had to listen to what Petre had told him. There was no going back now.

“You knew the assassination was faked, didn’t you?” he asked Fenn, already knowing the answer. Fennrin must have heard him say it, and he was still on Varilik’s side, still wanted to arrest Ainreth for breaking the law.

It hurt, but it in a strange way also helped Ain see through his blinding love for Fennrin. He was well and truly on Varilik’s side, no matter what.

Fennrin didn’t need to answer. His worried, guilty gaze was more than enough.

And Ainreth wasn’t a fool. If Fenn was willing to go along with something this serious for Varilik, then he had full intentions on dragging Ainreth to prison by force. He needed to leave before Fennrin decided to grab his shadow.

And so he turned invisible again, rendering Fennrin’s powers over him useless.

“Don’t let Varilik manipulate us further!” he yelled to the crowd, already jumping off the platform, trying to choose a path through the people that would result in as little shoving as possible so he could escape without anyone following him.

Finally getting past the crowd, he disappeared in an alley, zigzagging through a few streets to make sure whoever might have been following lost him.

Once alone, Ainreth stopped making himself invisible, taking a few deep breaths to gather his strength. He really needed a break, but he doubted he would get one anytime soon.

Now that the guards had been ordered to arrest him, he would have to hide out somewhere, ideally not in the capital. Then again, with the wave of protests he was hoping would follow, perhaps he wouldn’t have to worry about this.

Either way, he would go back for now. That was the best course of action. He was certain that the others were heading back by now as well. Or that they’d at least hidden out of the way.

His heart gave a lurch at the thought of Petre being arrested instead to get Ainreth to turn himself in, but then he shook his head. Things were quite bad, but they weren’t bad enough that the guards would arrest a person who hadn’t really done anything. The only thing they could harass them for was not signing the document about people with Orinovan heritage, but that hardly seemed like a priority right now.

Ainreth got going again, turning invisible just to check the square again, happy to see the guards yelling and searching around, trying to disperse the crowd, with Petre disappearing around the corner with Anyri.

Ain followed behind them, bone tired by the time they finally reached the warehouse.

He groaned as he let himself be visible, so exhausted he had to sit down on the cobbled street for a moment, taking deep breaths.

“You shouldn’t overdo it so much,” Petre told him from where they were standing by the door, Anyri already inside. Petre walked over to him, pulling him to his feet and then helping Ainreth drag himself inside, collapsing into the first chair he came across.

Petre sat down next to him, studying him with worry in their eyes. Ainreth shook his head.

“Look, it’s fine. I am stuck here for the time being. Assuming the guards don’t find us here.”

“We made sure we weren’t followed,” Petre said, apparently assuming that Ainreth was implying that they hadn’t been careful enough.

“Yes, of course.” Ain nodded at them, smiling a bit before rubbing his eyes. “But I am a wanted man now. And you are associating with me, which means you might be wanted eventually, too.”

Petre narrowed their eyes, staring at the wall in front of them instead, deep in thought. “It did occur to me. But I am with you till the end.”

Ainreth looked at them, so touched by their loyalty. “That’s…really sweet, Petre. But, you know, if you have to choose between saving yourself and being loyal to me—”

“No.”

Petre was now giving him a hard look, one that made Ain shut up very quickly.

“Right, okay. I’m just saying.”

Petre nodded. “As am I. I’ve made my choice. We all have.”

Ain nodded back slowly as he swallowed thickly. A rather lengthy silence stretched between them, but Ainreth didn’t mind. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, and they both had things to think about. Ainreth also appreciated the temporary peace. Between his injuries and the overuse of his powers, he really needed to rest.

The best course of action would most likely be to just go lay down, but Ainreth knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. There were too many thoughts on his mind, and he wasn’t tired enough to just pass out.

Though even beyond that, he felt strangely energized. He could feel himself shaking just a bit, but it was a good kind of shakiness, the excited kind. The kind that a body produced when filled with energy to do something. And that something would be being as big of a thorn in Varilik’s side as possible.

Ainreth was sure that if he said that out loud, someone would point out that this shouldn’t be personal. That their goal was to stop the war rather than cause Varilik to be deposed. But Ain would disagree with that sentiment. There was no reason not to combine both those goals.

Gradually, the people usually staying here arrived, looking unsure but not hopeless at least. Though some of the completely innocent civilians that got caught in a bad situation for not wanting to sign the document did seem upset. Ainreth could understand why, though.

Varilik was from an Orinovan family. It must have felt like an especially large betrayal to have on of their people use them as scapegoats. And for no reason, as well, aside from wanting to continue waging war on their relatives.

Ainreth hadn’t truly given it much thought how the Lys-Akkarians with Orinovan roots, especially the ones who had chosen to be soldiers like Petre, must have felt fighting against Orinovan soldiers.

Orinovo conscripted, after all. As far as Ainreth knew, they paid well for the service, but it was largely not something the soldiers on their side would choose. It made Ainreth a little sick thinking about it, especially because of how many he’d personally killed.

And the cause of all of it was clear. This was all the fault of Queen Svytlani. They just needed to get rid of her, topple her regime. And sure, that would probably cause instability and confusion for a while, but Orinovo would be better off for it. Ain had no doubts that Lys-Akkaria was much better off voting for their leaders, rather than the kingdom it had been many centuries ago.

His musing was interrupted when he heard someone knock on the door. Petre had left to make more tonics, leaving Ainreth by the door alone.

Shrugging, he got up, groaning a bit as he stretched. He’d been sitting here for a very long time, and his muscles felt stiff and sore, his back wounds once again making themselves be known. He needed to put more salve on his forming scars.

Looking through the little peep hole in the door, Ainreth frowned when he saw a group of civilians. He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but they seemed just like the average Kyr-Toryl citizen, somewhat on the poorer side judging by their patched-up, well-used clothing.

If these were spies, Ainreth thought they were very convincing as he unlocked and pulled open the door.

“Yeah?”

Everyone in the group looked surprised that it was the Daybreaker himself opening the door. At least Ainreth assumed that was the reason for their shock.

“Sir,” the woman in front said, the first to summon the bravery to speak to him. Ainreth gave her a firm look. “Uh, Mr. Tyr-Naralyn?”

Ainreth shrugged as he moved aside. He’d take that over sir. “Just get inside. This is supposed to be a secret hideout.”

“No one else knows,” said someone in the back of the group, making Ainreth look his way. It was Arem. Of course. “I led them here.”

“More people who need protection?” Ainreth asked Arem as the new people walked past him inside of the warehouse. Arem closed and locked the door behind them, shaking his head.

“Not exactly.”

Ainreth frowned. “What do you mean?”

Arem looked him straight in the eye, as intense as ever. “They heard you read the letter. They wanted to see it for themselves. To see that it is real.”

“Okay?” Ainreth wasn’t really certain why this warranted leading random people into their hideout, knowing that if any of them ever said anything to the guards they would have to immediately disappear. “Why lead them here?”

“Because,” Arem said, his gaze growing even more intense, his eyes a bit annoyed at Ainreth’s remarks, “they said they want to help us. That they’ve wanted to help us, but that they were too afraid. The letters were the final straw for them.”

Ainreth blinked, taking a second to process that. “They want to…protest with us?”

Arem shook his head. “No, they want to fight with us. For a government that doesn’t put their loved ones in danger to stop some vague threat. That doesn’t lie to them to further its goals. And there will be more joining them after what you uncovered.”

Ainreth felt a shiver run down his spine. “You’re talking as if we’re in the middle of a civil war.”

Arem nodded firmly. “We very well may soon be. And we will need you to lead it.”

Ainreth swallowed. He didn’t like this talk of civil war one bit, and he would do his best to avoid it. But if push came to shove….

“You do realize we did this whole thing to stop a war, right?”

Arem nodded at him again, his eyes softening a bit, saddened. “Yes. And in doing so, we discovered that there is rot within our leadership. The problem runs much deeper than just the war with Orinovo. As soldiers, it is our duty to fix it, to protect our country from any threat. Even if that threat is the leader of it.”

Ain’s stomach was knotting itself into knots from this whole conversation. But despite this clear irony, he agreed. There wasn’t much else they could do when the situation was only getting more and more dire.

He took a deep breath. “I will do whatever I can to protect people. To save as many lives as I can. If that means something as extreme as leading a war…so be it.”

Despite how torn he felt about this, he couldn’t help but feel encouraged to keep going as well. If a wave of support really was going to follow now, then they had a good chance to put all of this to an end. Perhaps before anything so extreme could happen, and Varilik would be deposed by the other Courtiers.

Somehow he doubted it would be that easy, but he had to stay positive. Hope and duty were the main things driving him right now.

Arem nodded at him, looking pleased by his answer. Ainreth took a deep breath.

He just hoped this wouldn’t end in horrible tragedy.