“I have to run, Elex,” he said. “I won’t let them drag me away to be some slave to their Legion.”
I grabbed my brother and wrapped my arms around him. He was all I’d had since Mitera had died.
“They’ll kill you, Erix,” I said, my face in his neck.
“Maybe,” he said. “But I know for sure that if I stay, I’ll die anyway.”
I was so scared I could barely breathe. This was my brother. My twin. The only person who had always been in my corner. I couldn’t lose him. But I knew what happened to Mageia who ran. They were killed like rabid dogs.
“Illyria?” I asked. He nodded.
“Mitera wanted us to go there. I figure if nothing else, they can use the help of a Fire Mageia,” he said.
“What… What will I do?” I asked.
He shot me a sad smile.
“Anything you want,” he said.
I nodded, but I didn’t really believe it.
“After dark?” I asked. I was terrified of running but was just as scared of staying.
He nodded.
“We…we’ll need supplies,” I began.
“I’ve got it covered,” he said. He grabbed a bag that had been hidden behind some old shipping crates. He opened it. Inside were some clothes I didn’t recognize, some dried meat and bread, and even some coins. Where the hell had he gotten coin?
“Wha— where—” I stammered in disbelief. I’d never owned so much as a single coin in my life.
He shrugged.
“Davidus. He had been planning for this for a long time. I guess he had a half-brother who was taken by the Legion a long time ago,” Erix said. “He told me where it was, just in case he didn’t…didn’t make it,” he said quietly.
My brother and Davidus had been friends for a long time. There were a lot of supplies in that bag. More than would have been needed if he had been planning for just one person.
“Was he… was he expecting us to go with him?” I asked.
Erix looked away.
“We thought we’d have more time to prepare. Doesn’t matter,” Erix said, his eyes suspiciously bright. “He’s gone now.”
“Oh, Er…” I said, wrapping my arms around him again. “I’m sorry.”
He tightened his hold on me for a moment, then released me.
“C’mon. We gotta get going,”
After Mitera’s death, we’d made plans, but part of me had hoped we’d never have to use them.
Since we were at the Summer Palace, the plan was that should we develop our powers while we were here we would steal a boat from the docks. There were no neighbors for milessince the king liked to ride in private and the riverbanks were too steep to bother placing guards along them. There were skiffs and other small boats docked that were used to ferry village workers across the river to the palace and back when necessary.
With a skiff, we could travel downstream and escape to one of the nearby towns. We figured if we traveled by night, we’d be able to get far enough away that no one would recognize us as being in the king’s household, if we camouflaged our hair and kept the damn tattoos hidden.
When a biological child of the king was born, we were all tattooed on our right shoulder blade with the outline of the sun and stars symbol of the king of Alexandria. If we became Elusian the design would be filled with gold. If we became human, the symbol would be filled with blue. If we became Mageia, it was filled in black, essentially blotting out our lineage.
“Shit. Wish we’d had more time to prepare,” I whispered.
