Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 70

In a moment, Tanwyn was finished tying the blankets and pillows together, and walked over to the window. In a deft movement, he unlocked the panes and pushed them outward, letting in the cool air. The blankets flew out, cascading to the ground while Tanwyn anchored the other end to the bed.

"Your mother should go first," Tanwyn said. "She's going to be the most difficult to get down, so we shouldn't wait until it's too late."

Cole nodded and turned to help her mother get ready. As she showed her mother how to hold onto the blankets so that she wouldn't fall, she felt the tremors in her mother's arms and body. Her eyes looked glazed over, and wouldn't focus on anything. What memories she was reliving, Cole couldn't know. But she only hoped they wouldn't be so strong that escape would be impossible.

Cole held her breath as her mother slowly inched down the sheets with a vacant stare and shudders running through her body. Cole prayed that they wouldn't completely envelope her mother until she reached the ground, and thankfully that seemed to be the case. Her mother's shoes hit the dirt and she stumbled backward, muttering to herself and worrying her hands in front of her. Cole quickly launched over the sill of the window and shimmied down the sheets until she was at her mother's side. She took her arm, pulling her close as they waited for Tanwyn to join them.

Once he was by their side, he huddled them forward to a shaded area of the courtyard. He glanced back up at the window of the inn, but apparently the guards had not yet figured out their escape. They had only a few more precious seconds before they would be seen.

"Let's get going," Tanwyn whispered, grabbing Cole's hand and pulling her along behind him as he slipped into the town roads. Cole trailed behind, holding onto her mother and Tanwyn with sweaty palms. She stared at Tanwyn's back, watching as his head whipped from side to side, suddenly wondering what he had been like in Avallen. What had he done to pass his days before all this? He was so different even now from when she'd first met him. His elegance and arrogance were replaced by fear and something else that felt dangerous when she looked in his eyes and saw its depth. He didn't belong in this world, and she didn't either. But she dreaded the idea of belonging with her mother's people, in a place she'd never known with magic and wonder. Could she ever be comfortable there? Could her mother?

Her thoughts couldn't wander far before the group ran into trouble as they exited a small street into a broader one. Up ahead Cole could see the thinning buildings give way to trees and grass as the town border ended and the large fields opened up. They only had to slip into that tall grass and inch their way toward the heavy forests in the distance to escape into the anonymous wilderness. Yet, as their boots hit the cobblestones of the main street and Tanwyn half turned to try and warn them, a group of guards already let loose a barrage of arrows that slammed into the bricks around them.

Cole yelped as she dragged her mother to the ground, just narrowly missing being impaled. She wrapped her arms around her mother, trying to make it back into the narrow street behind them. Tanwyn came up next to them, but he only briefly pushed them further toward their goal before getting up and running toward the guards.

"What are you doing?" Cole shouted, launching to her feet. But he was already halfway there. The guards, shocked that he'd come at them unarmed, flustered for a moment before drawing their swords.

"He's going to get killed," Cole muttered to her mother, wanting to help him but knowing it would be useless.

For a moment, she thought she'd see an iron sword sink deep into his neck, but a second later a shimmering trail of light burst out of his palms and slammed into the nearest guard's chest. He flew backward, landing feet away in a hard crash that rendered him unconscious. The other guards, with large eyes, backed up a few feet as Tanwyn hovered his hand over the ground, drawing up rocks into the air before hurling them at the other men.

Cole drew in a breath as she saw Tanwyn's other first clenched tightly. She quickly turned and rummaged through her mother's pockets to find that the stone was gone. Tanwyn was using it to perform magic and Cole could feel the strain it was putting on his body through their shared connection.

Neither of them was healed enough to take much of this draining magic, but Tanwyn seemed to be making quick work of the five guards blocking their way to freedom. HIs blasts of shimmering light knocked them to the ground, coupled with debris he managed to magic from the road or the alleyways and send smashing into the guards. Soon they lay on the ground, groaning.

"Quick!" Tanwyn shouted, waving his hand at Cole and her mother.

They darted across the road, coming to his side just as shouts rose up from behind them. Cole risked one glance over her shoulder as they ran for the town border, and saw that another group of guards was right behind them. While there were only three of them, they were still armed and fresh. Cole already felt woozy from Tanwyn's use of the magic, and her mother was weaving as they dashed for the tall grass.

Even as they dove into the grass, Cole knew they wouldn't get far with the guards so close on their tails. While the field would help to disguise them, the guards were too close to lose the trail. Cole could even still see them, pausing for just a second on the border of the town to quickly discuss a course of action. One, a younger looking guard who obviously was under the charge of the other two, nodded his head and began to turn around. He would be heading to get back-up, and soon Cole and the others would have no chance of slipping into the darkness undetected.

Tanwyn held still by Cole's side. Too still. She glanced at him and saw that his eyes were transfixed on the guards, taking in their every move. He must have seen the younger guard starting down the road, going to alert Thijs' men that they'd found the king's enemies. And if Thijs knew where they were, it would only be a matter of time until Queen Gethwine did as well.

She drew in a breath, her body stiffening. "What are you planning?" she whispered to him, but she barely got the words out before he was a burst of movement. He launched to his feet, his head clearing the tall grass and looked down at her briefly. His hand outstretched, she saw the stone nestled in his palm and saw the light glow from within as he drew on its magic. Fatigue washed over her from his strain, but she bit back the nausea to hold her gaze steady on his face.

His lips moved, but no sound came from them, and then suddenly Cole felt a flush of warmth wash over her whole body. It was like dipping into a hot bath after walking in a snow storm. Like eating fresh bread after days of nothing. It was every muscle in her body relaxing at once, and she sagged with the relief. But the sudden comfort was short-lived as she realized that there was no way it had happened without Tanwyn's effort.

"What did you do?" she asked, panic lacing her voice. She started to get to her feet, wanting to grab him and force him to let her know what was going on in his mind, but he pushed down hard on her shoulder to keep her out of sight of the guards who were now pressing forward.

"You no longer have to worry about my life. It's no longer connected to yours," he said, his voice rushed and his eyes straying toward where the guards were pushing into the tall grass. Tanwyn leaned down to grab Cole's hand. "Take the stone. Use it to run and hide while I distract them. Live the life you wanted with your mother."

Cole's mouth popped open as the warm stone settled across her skin and Tanwyn closed her fingers over it. She barely had time to register the feeling his skin against hers before he was already drawing away, heading at an angle toward the guards. He would draw them to the left, away from Cole and her mom, giving them enough time to use the stone and disappear into the darkness. But at what cost? To Thijs, Tanwyn would be next to useless. And Cole didn't think Thijs kept useless things around.