He was here, he was alive, and I would find him.
I located the tent the oracle had told me about and went inside.
Xander wasn’t there.
It was another man, faced away from me. Chained to the ground with a gag in his mouth.
The oracle had been mistaken.
I was about to leave when the man turned to look at me.
The entire world came to a complete stop. White noise rushed in my ears and my lungs would not cooperate. I couldn’t breathe.
All I could do was stare.
“Haemon?” I asked in disbelief.
My brother nodded.
With tears in my eyes, I knelt down and got the gag out of his mouth. “By the goddess, how is this ... how are you ... what’s happening?” I asked.
“Lia.” He sounded so weak. He was gaunt. His eyes were sunken. They hadn’t been feeding him properly. I saw open sores on him, new bruises, and older bruises that had faded over time. There didn’t seem to be an uninjured part of his skin.
I wanted to hug him, but I was afraid I would make his pain worse. “What did they do to you?”
“Look at you. You’re so grown up.” His voice. His smile. I had forgotten them. “Why is your hair red?”
As I sawed through the thick ropes at his ankles, I realized my entire family owed Doria an apology. Haemon had been alive the whole time and we hadn’t believed her.
“This doesn’t feel like a dream,” he said.
“It’s not. I’m here.” I put my hands on his legs so he could see that I was real.
“How is that possible?”
“I came to rescue my husband and found you instead,” I said.
“Who are you married to?”
“The king of Ilion.” I clenched my teeth together as I resumed cutting. Why was this rope so difficult?
“Alexandros? He was here earlier but now he’s gone.”
That stilled my motion as my heart stopped. “What do you mean, he’s gone?”
“He escaped hours ago.”
The sigh of relief I let out ... I had thought my brother was telling me that Xander was dead. “How do you know he escaped?”
“There’s not much to do here besides listening. He got out of his chains and stole a horse. The guards have been panicking, not sure what to do. Artemisia doesn’t know yet because she’s been in war council all night and they’re afraid to tell her.”
She wouldn’t take the news of her prize possession fleeing very well. Someone’s head was liable to get flattened.
But I had seen her walking around a few minutes ago. Did that mean the war council was done? Would she come looking for Xander?
She would sound the alarm as soon as she discovered he was gone. Which would prevent me from sneaking Haemon out.
“Did he know you were here?” Xander would have saved Haemon, I was sure of it.
