Rthan
If a prisoner of war ever had a good chance to escape, this was it.
That's what Rthan thought as he watched Brena run from the practice ground.
Had she forgotten? He was the same man who had attacked these Initiates just a few weeks ago. And now she had left him alone with them. No guards. Far from the tors. Close to the river.
The wind blew along the riverbank. It carried a hint of salt. It reminded him of the sea… a sea he might never sail again.
Then he heard the Merfae.
Their voices were clear and strange—like a song, but sharper.
They called his name.
"Rthan! Rthan! We have answered your call! Come to us, Rthan!"
Pride filled his chest. So his call to the Merfae yesterday had worked. They had heard him. They had come.
He stepped toward the river.
The Initiates parted, unsure what he was doing.
Brena's voice echoed in his head:
You are in charge of the safety of the Initiates.
He froze.
The siren call of the Merfae pulled at his soul, but her words tugged at his mind.
He stood, unsure.
Behind him, the Initiates got louder. Some of the boys—led by the troublemaker Tamio—started a fake spear fight.
Rthan glanced toward Brena's daughter. The younger girl was, as always, trying to stay calm while being teased by her sister's group.
Brena trusted you.
You promised not to escape in front of her daughters.
Rthan took a breath. He straightened his back. He turned away from the fae.
"Back into positions," he told the boys. "Tamio, that means you."
"Fa!" Tamio swaggered forward. "You're not our teacher. You're our enemy. Why should we listen to you?"
The muscles in Rthan's back tensed.
The boy wasn't wrong.
If Rthan had been a true Zavaedi of Yellow Bear, he could have shown his power right now—with a sharp strike across Tamio's jaw.
He could beat the boy in a duel. And Tamio knew it. That made this moment even more dangerous.
Rthan noticed Tamio exchanging little looks and signals with his group—six other boys moving into a loose half-circle around him.
They had weapons.
He did not.
The boys kept taunting him, louder and louder, pushing each other toward the first attack. Even the drummers had stopped playing. Everyone was watching. No one breathed.
Rthan stayed still. He took the insults. He fought his rising anger.
Muck it all, he thought. They really believe they can hit me and get away with it.
And they could.
If he fought back—even just to defend himself—everyone in Yellow Bear would think he tried to escape. Even Brena.
And he had just given up a real chance to escape.
I have to talk my way out of this, he thought. And I've never been good with words.
Tamio struck first.
But Rthan was already behind him.
He grabbed the boy and flipped him over. Tamio hit the ground hard, flat on his back.
The other boys didn't like that. Their leader had been humiliated.
All six rushed at Rthan at once.
Six against one.