Kelley Armstrong - Sea of Shadows

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After three days of tramping across endless lava fields, Ronan quickened his steps at the sight of the forest. He swore he could feel soft earth under his feet, hear birds in the treetops, even smell icy spring water. If one had to pick a place to die, he supposed one could do worse.

He glanced over at his father and uncle, but their gazes were fixed straight ahead. Even the guards werent paying attention. Still Ronan didnt consider escape. There was a reason the exiles werent bound or chained. They were in the Wastes. There was no place to hide except the Forest of the Dead, and theyd be there soon enough.

Ronan sat around the campfire with the others, eating their final dinner in the livestock enclosure. Once they passed the canyon walls, theyd be expected to fend for themselves. Without weapons. In a forest rumored to be bereft of life.

For their last meal, they got water, dried fish, and overcooked rice. At least the water was clean, which was more than he could say for the murk hed been drinking.

Beside him, his father sat motionless, staring at the fire. Two of the exiles eyed his untouched food. As soon as Ronans uncle turned away, one snatched a chunk of bread and found his wrist pinned to the ground.

Drop it, Ronan said.

You little

The convict didnt get a chance to finish the curse. Ronans fist slammed him in the throat. The man gasped, eyes bulging as he struggled for breath. The other exiles laughed. Ronan knew they werent cheering his victory; theyd have laughed just as much if he were lying there with a makeshift blade in his gut. On the road, hed watched three prisoners die, their killers goaded on by the others, who cared only that the deaths lifted the monotony for a moment or two.

He didnt glance at his uncle. He knew hed be pleased. He also knew that he wouldnt have interfered if Ronan had faced a blade. If Ronan wasnt strong enough to survive, then he shouldnt. It was that simple.

Ronan set the bread back in front of his father, who hadnt moved during the entire incident. His uncle shook his head, reached over, and took the untouched meal. He broke the bread and meat and pushed half toward Ronan.

Eat.

Ronan took it, only to press the meat into his fathers hand. It fell to the rocky ground. His uncle snorted. After another try, Ronan kept the food, and his uncle grunted in satisfaction.

A single-word exchange. Thats what passed for conversation with his uncle. Ronans father had been the loquacious one, always talking, always laughing, always charming. And yet, somehow, Ronan had always felt more affection in his uncles grunts and glares than in the false and easy charm his father used on marks and family alike.

After eating the rations, Ronan walked to stretch his legs. As he neared the barn, he noticed something perched on the enclosure fence. He slowed to let his eyes adjust to the dark.

The shape looked like a cat, but it was almost half as tall as him. Blacker than the surrounding night, with a swishing, thick tail that kept it balanced on the thin wall. Its massive paws seemed too large for its body. Its tufted ears swiveled and twitched. A wildcat? Ronan recalled seeing one in the imperial zoo, but it hadnt been much bigger than a house pet.

This cat was looking off to the side. Ronan took a few cautious steps. Then he noticed what the cat was watchinga village boy had climbed the fence and was slinking along the barn to get a look at the exiles.

Ronans practiced eye slid over the boy, taking in his size, his demeanor, and most of all, his clothes. He was half a head shorter than Ronan, with his hood pulled up around his face. Perhaps thirteen summers, given his size. An easy mark. A rich one, too, considering his attirewoolen breeches, a fine cloak, and laced leather boots. Both the cloak and the boots were fur trimmed and likely fur lined. So the boy came from a family of power. That made him valuable.

As Ronan watched the youth, a plan formed. It was not a good plan or even a reasonable one, but he was a single night from exile in the Forest of the Dead. A plan no longer needed to be good or reasonable. If he took the boy, perhaps he could barter him for somethingfood, a weapon, anything that might help Ronan survive the winter.

He needed to survive. He had a sister and brother back in the imperial city. Aidra was six summers old and Jorn was not yet ten. Ronan knew it wouldnt be long before his aunt decided they needed to work for their keepfilching in the marketplace and scouting marks for their older cousins. Ronan would do whatever it took to get back to them.

He crept after the village boy, his worn boots making no sound. When he heard a noise, he glanced to see the cats yellow eyes fixed on him. Ronan supposed that ought to be some cause for alarm, but the beast only stared at him balefully. Then it made an odd chirping sound. The village boy didnt seem to hear it.

Ronan slid closer, measuring the distance. The boy had crouched to peer around the barn. Defenseless. Oblivious. A perfect mark.

Ronan sprang. The moment he was in flight, the boy twisted and dove at him. As he did, his hood fell back and red-gold hair tumbled out. Long red-gold hair. Later Ronan would tell himself that this was why he ended up on his back, with a girl on his chest and a blade at his throat. Not because shed bested him, but because hed been caught off-guard realizing he was a she.

The dagger didnt help matters. That threw him as much as her gender. Only the warrior caste was permitted to carry edged weapons, and she wasnt dressed as a warrior. And he could see enough of the dagger to know it was relatively new, not one of the ancestral blades carried by warriors.

He grabbed the girl by the back of her cloak to wrest her offand got a knee jab in the stomach, so hard it made him very glad she hadnt aimed lower. The dagger bit into his neck, and he felt blood well up. Still, that might not have been enough to deter him. But the cat was.

The wildcat had appeared beside them, silent as a wraith. It padded closer, as if witnessing a dull game of capture-my-lord, plunked itself down, and stretched, its front paws coming so close Ronan could see the tips of its giant claws. Then those claws shot out, razor-sharp talons as long as finger joints, barely a hairbreadth from his face.

The girl turned to the cat. She made a noise in her throat, a cross between a grunt and a growl. The cat sighed, then straightened and proceeded to clean a forepaw. Yet it kept its gaze on Ronan.

A hunting cat? Hed heard of such things, in the deserts to the south, where the climate was ill suited to shaggy hounds. But the girl was clearly Northern-born, with her pale skin and blue eyes.

Are you the youngest of the damned? the girl asked. To Ronans surprise, her voice was low, almost rough. With her red-gold hair and finely cut features, she looked like she ought to speak with a teasing lilt. Of course, she didnt look like she should be able to send him flying eitheror knock out his breath with a well-placed knee.