“By the Moon,” she breathed, drawing back just enough to study Alena’s face. “Is it truly you? Scylas said Kat was Marked and you’d both gone, but I never thought…”
“Scylas is here?” Alena’s heart lurched. “And your husband?—?”
“Dead.” Leywani’s voice was flat. “He tried to fight the Rasennans. They killed him on the spot.”
No grief coloured her tone. Relief, maybe. And Alena was glad for it.
Phoebe stepped forward, arms folded. “You’re Freefolk. How are you here?”
Alena translated, but Leywani hardly glanced at Phoebe. Her eyes stayed on Alena. “We were captured. At the end of autumn. The Rasennans somehow found the camps. They burned everything—killed those who resisted, chained the rest. A few escaped, but…”
She didn’t need to finish. Those who’d fled had likely frozen or starved before winter’s end.
“They forced us through the snow to the Achaean border. After that… they brought us here.”
Alena’s stomach twisted. “All the Freefolk are here?”
Leywani’s expression darkened. “Yes. The men work in the quarry. Some women, too. Others clean, cook… or are sent to the brothel.” Her gaze dropped. Then, softer: “But why areyouhere? And your eyes—what happened?”
The questions struck hard. Alena couldn’t begin to answer.
Outside, the wind rattled the boards.
“We’re running out of time,” Phoebe said, eye fixed on the slit of curtain. “We need to find the Non-Humans and get out.”
She was right. San and Kaixo came first. Everything else had to wait.
Alena turned back to Leywani. “I’ll explain later, I swear. Right now, I need to find my friends. Have you seen any Non-Humans in the quarry? One of them is?—”
“The mother?” Leywani cut in, her face tightening. “I think her name was… San?”
Alena’s breath caught. A sudden chill settled over her, biting cold pressing in from all sides. “Yes,” she whispered. “Where is she?”
“She had an accident.”
The air whooshed from Alena’s lungs. Fear knotted tight in her gut. Shadows flickered on the walls, the oil lamps casting the barrack into a stifling maze.
“Alena?” Phoebe’s voice broke through. “What is it?”
But Alena couldn’t tear her gaze from the sorrow etched across Leywani’s face. “She’s… San is?—”
Leywani shook her head. “She’s alive, but barely. The healer said she won’t last the night.”
The room tilted. Alena caught herself against the rough wall, quarry sounds outside hammering in her skull with oppressive intensity.
San.
“I’m so sorry, Alena. I can take you to her.” Leywani glanced towards the curtain. “She’s in the next shed.”
A warm hand settled on Alena’s shoulder. She blinked back tears and met Phoebe’s gaze. Drawing a shaky breath, she translated what Leywani had said.
Phoebe’s expression hardened. Together, they slipped after Leywani, keeping silent footsteps.
On the way, Apollo emerged from the shadows, his sleek grey coat glistening in the moonlight. He’d caught San’s scent.
Leywani jumped, a strangled noise escaping her throat.
“He’s with me.” Alena reached a hand to the wolf, and he bumped his head into her palm.
