Auriel didn’t hesitate. He took my hand again, urging me forward, his feet practically flying until we reached another grouping of trees. Then he pulled me against him, just as blue sparks lit up the sky, glowing through the cracks of the leaves and branches above us. Flattening ourselves against the trunk, I watched in horror as dozens of ashvan riders rode past. More than I’d ever seen take to the sky at once. Every time one passed, a new one appeared until the view was nothing but the constant shimmering of blue lights.
My eyes widened, trying to make sense of it. Not even during akadim attacks in the past had the riders been summoned in such great numbers. For my entire life, every hour on the hour, the ashvan flew over Bamaria, looking for threats, and checking for akadim. But it was obvious in the way the horses raced across the sky now, obvious from the sheer number that had been activated that this was a hunt. For me.
The bells started again. Once more ending abruptly, but instead of silence, their rings were replaced with a sound that made me jump. A male voice, its volume amplified to an alarming degree.
“Attention, citizens of Bamaria. This is Turion Dairen Melvik, Bamaria’s Second, acting Arkturion for Waryn Kormac.”
I stilled. Aemon’s Second, and cousin. The man who’d relished in punishing me my first day of soturion training—the bastard who’d relished in punishing me any chance he got.
What the fuck was this? I knew we had amplifying spells. They were often used in the arena or at large parades and events in the temple. But I’d never heard of one being cast out throughthe bell towers. I never knew we had the capabilities to project a message out to the entire country at once.
Because if we had, why had we never used it before? Why hadn’t this been a part of our protocol when there was actual danger? When there were akadim on the loose? Or when my sisters had been kidnapped? When Haleika and Leander had been—Fuck.
All this time, and they’d never bothered. Instead they’d waited to use this on me? The last person in the world to be a threat to my own people.
My hands clenched. The lives that could have been saved if this had been implemented. The wastefulness of it all!
“Do not be alarmed at what I tell you,” Dairen’s voice boomed. “The Council of Bamaria is instituting an immediate curfew for the entire country. No one is to leave their home until further notice. All university and academy classes are canceled. Everyone must return home now. You have fifteen minutes to seek shelter indoors, or face arrest. The forsworn traitor, Lyriana Batavia, former Heir to the Arkasva, murderer of the Emperor and Lumeria’s Arkturion, is at large in Bamaria. She was last seen in Urtavia with an unknown soturion male. Be on the look out. Lyriana has dark brown hair that turns red in the sun, tanned skin and hazel eyes. Her soturion companion is reported to have blond curly hair, and green eyes, wearing golden armor. Report any sightings immediately. And, Lyriana, I know you’re out there, so listen closely. We will find you, we will find your associates. And you’ll wish we hadn’t. Choose now to turn yourself in and surrender. Resist, and your consequences will be dire. Anyone found assisting her will face the same.”
“Auriel,” I hissed. My body felt hollow. I knew they’d consider me a criminal and a traitor. That they’d hunt me and my loved ones down. But the reality of it, the nearness of it, felt completely different. I was injured, and I didn’t even have thebenefit of an energy boost from any Valalumir shards to fight back.
I wasn’t even sure I could call on Asherah again. Not anytime soon. I had hardly any energy left, and my arm was steadily becoming more and more painful with every breath I took.
“Just focus. Keep your hood up,” Auriel ordered. “And your head down. Follow me.”
“What about you?” I asked. I could try and hide my hair and face beneath my cloak, but Auriel was completely exposed. Every soturion who survived the beach had seen him. One look from them and it was over.
He frowned, then bent down on one knee before me, ripping another piece of cloth from the bottom of his cloak. When he stood, he took my dagger once more and cut two slits into the fabric, before he placed it over his head, sliding it down across his temples. The slits became eye holes for him to see out of. And the remaining material covered his head, masking his curls. He finished it off by tying the ends in the back. There was no hint of blond, or any other way to identify him.
Except for the green eyes. And the familiar shape of his jawline.
My heart panged. It was so much harder to see him like this. Harder to not see Rhyan looking back at me.
“Ready?” he asked.
I blinked, my throat dry, then followed his lead deeper into the woods where the silver moontrees had grown together in tight clusters, the ground thick with twisted tree trunks. We raced over them, and continued on, reaching a slope in the ground that would lead us down to the Urtavian river.
I could hear boots against the ground. Someone approached.
“Hold on.” Auriel led us into a controlled run. We were moving quickly, light on our feet, but not so fast that our breathing gave us away.
Above the trees, the ashvan continued to circle over the woods, forcing us to remain in the shade when we weren’t sprinting between clearings, and leaping over bouts of uneven ground. We reached the end of the woods, where the trees were growing more sparsely. A waterway was close by.
I tugged on Auriel’s hand. “Auriel,” I hissed. “The city.”
“We need to blend in,” he said. “Pretend we’re soturi until we find a hideout.”
I shook my head. “They’ll notice us,” I pointed at his mask. “You’re not exactly blending in.”
“We need to try,” he said. Then he stilled, his shoulders tensed.
Boots stomped on dry grass only a few yards away.
“Get behind me,” he mouthed. “Now.”
We switched places, just as a soturion stepped out of the shadows, brandishing his sword. He wore the armor of Ka Batavia.
“Lyriana, I presume?” he asked. His eyebrows raised as a slow smile swam across his face. “And you must be the male companion?”
