Chapter 173: Ares in Emberfall

Cassian woke to shouting.

At first, he did not understand what was happening.

He opened his eyes slowly, still half-buried beneath the blanket, his mind struggling to pull itself out of sleep.

"Search the perimeter!" Another shout came.

Cassian sat upright, his heart immediately began to race.

Something was wrong.

He threw the blanket aside and reached for the dagger beside his bed before stepping out of his tent.

The moment he emerged, he saw warriors moving through the camp.

Damon came out of his own tent three paces away with his hair in his face and his shirt unlaced, and the two of them looked at each other.

"What is going on?" Damon said, to nobody in particular.

One of the men turned and saw them and came over immediately.

"The prisoner from last night, my lord. He is gone."

"Gone," Cassian echoed.

"Yes, my lord"

"What do you mean, he is gone?"

"He has escaped, my lord."

"I know what gone means. I am asking you how the hell that happened."

"We do not know, my lord. When we..."

Damon was already walking while the guard and Cassian followed behind him. They moved quickly through the camp until they reached the small tent where Alistair had been held.

Two guards were standing outside and both looked terrified.

Damon shoved past them.

"What happened?"

"We don’t know, my lord."

The tent was empty and the ropes that had bound Alistair were lying on the ground.

Cassian stared at them, his expression hardening.

"Ares."

Damon turned to look at him. "What?"

Cassian pointed toward the ropes.

"Ares freed him. That is the only explanation as to how he was able to walk out of here.

"He would not do that." Damon countered. "We have a plan."

"Wouldn’t he? Then where is he? You and I are here because the noise woke us up. Where is Ares?"

Damon did not answer.

He did not need to. They both knew their brother. Ares never made a decision without a reason and he had been unusually interested in Alistair from the moment the man walked into their camp.

"That fucking idiot." Damon swore, storming out.

Ares’ tent was only a short distance away and Damon reached it first.

He threw the flap open and true to what he had been thinking, it was also empty.

Cassian came up behind him.

"Fuck." Damon dragged both hands through his hair. "That fucking..."

He stopped himself. There was no point. Ares was gone and if he had freed Alistair, then he had already left the camp.

"He never listens," Damon muttered.

Cassian looked at him. "He is going to get himself killed."

Neither brother wanted to say what they were both thinking.

Ares was walking straight into enemy territory with a man they had every reason to distrust. A man whose loyalty belonged to his own ambition.

Damon turned toward Cassian.

"What do we do now?"

Their entire camp was already on edge. If they suddenly moved soldiers toward Emberfall, Lucius’ patrols would notice and it would only be a matter of time before he figured out someone had infiltrated the city.

It would put both Ares and Ayla in danger.

Cassian exhaled slowly.

"We cannot do anything. We cannot risk alerting Lucius’ patrols that something is wrong in our camp."

"So we just sit here and carry on as usual?"

"Yes"

Damon stared at him.

"You are joking."

"I wish I were."

Cassian looked around the empty tent again. "We need to trust that Ares knows what the fuck he is doing."

...

The gates of Emberfall came into view.

Alistair Veyr rode at a walk with his hood up and one hand loose on the reins of a horse, his cart creaking and shifting behind him.

The guards immediately raised their weapons as soon as they sighted him.

"Halt!" They barked.

The horse slowed and came to a stop in front of the guard.

"Show yourself." The guard commanded.

Alistair sighed and reached up to his face, pulling the hood away.

The guard’s eyes widened in shock.

"My lord Alistair." he bowed. "I had no idea you were out here."

"Open the gates." Alistair ordered.

The guard looked toward the cart, his hesitation obvious.

"We would need to search the cart, my lord."

"Search my cart?" Alistair echoed.

"Yes, my lord." The guard swallowed. "My lord Lucius has asked that everything entering Emberfall be searched and vetted."

Alistair gave a short laugh.

"And did my brother inform you that he sent me on important pack business?"

The guard said nothing.

"Did he ask you to disrespect his twin by searching him like a commoner with a fish barrow?"

"No, my lord."

"Then why are we having this conversation?"

The guard swallowed, still hesitating.

"What is your name?"

"Fedric, my lord." The guard answered.

"Come closer, Fedric."

The guard hesitated, glancing at the other guard before he slowly approached.

Alistair leaned down from his horse.

"Do you love your head, Fedric?"

Fedric’s eyes widened. "Yes, my lord," he sputtered.

"And would you like to lose it?"

"No, my lord."

"Then open the fucking gates."

Fedric bowed his head immediately.

"Yes, my lord."

He turned and signaled to the guards.

The heavy gates began to open.

"Good." He clicked his tongue and guided the horse forward, the cart rolling behind him.

Alistair rode through the gates without looking back. Everything had gone according to plan.

He guided the horse toward the stables which was empty then he climbed down and led the horse into one of the stalls, securing the reins.

He looked around to make sure no one was watching before he moved to the back of the cart.

His fingers found the latch, opening it.

Ares stepped out of it, looking around the empty stables.

"Put this on" Alistair handed him a bundle.

Ares opened it up to see a guard’s tunic, a leather chest piece, a plain helmet with a nose guard.

"You can pass for one of the men," Alistair explained. "It is easier now. We are all on high alert in preparation for the war, so there are new faces on every stair and nobody has had time to learn them. Keep your chin down and your hands busy and nobody will look at you twice."

Ares took the bundle and set it on the edge of the stall and began to work the tunic over his head. The wool smelled of another man.

"Where do I find Ayla?"

"Ayla is heavily guarded. Lucius is not taking any chances with the one thing that is going to assure him victory. Give it two days and you can leave with her?"

"Why two days?" Ares eyed him in suspicion.

"Because it is the anniversary of my family’s death." Alistair said.

"My brother will want to commemorate it and I intend to ask him to make it a feast. There will be food, drinking, soldiers moving in and out of the palace, servants everywhere. It will give us the perfect opportunity to get Ayla out without anyone being the wiser until it is over."

Ares picked up the helmet and turned it over in his hands, and the dent above the ear caught the light.

"Why would you betray your own blood?" he asked.

Alistair’s jaw tightened. He looked at Ares, his eyes flat and emotionless.

"You leave the why to me and you make sure you hold up your end of the deal when you win."

"I will," Ares responded.