CALYTRIX
“Faolan.” I tapped his shoulder.
He stirred. “Hmm?”
“Wake up.”
“Mmmm…wake,” he muttered, rubbing his face and stretching.
I hated having to disrupt the warmth of his arms around me, but he’d told me to tell him if that feeling of being hunted got worse, and it really had. I itched with it. It woke me before dawn, and I’d lain with it as long as I dared, but I’d had to wake him.
“Remember the feeling I had?”
“Yes?” He opened one eye and barely smiled in that roguish way he did.
“You told me to tell you if it got worse.”
With that, he was awake.
He rose quickly from our single bed we’d squashed into and turned to look at me. “Tell me,” he asked simply.
“I don’t know. It’s just that feeling of them closing in around us, and I can’t shake it. I guess—I feel like we should be moving and not laying here making ourselves a target.”
“Let’s go then.” He stood. No doubt, no question, just a trust in my instinct and a willingness to act to keep us safe at all costs.
As we dressed in silence, he listened and even glanced out of the tiny attic window. He didn’t seem stressed, but I was on edge. We made our way down to the tavern, and I was surprised that even at such an early hour, there were fae who’d stayed at the inn gathering, beginning to start their day and head out into the town.
I looked at every face, but Faolan just pressed on. Neither of us had cloaks anymore, lost in the mayhem of the last couple of days, so keeping moving was the best thing we could do.
Faolan tossed the key on the innkeeper’s counter and swiped a warm loaf from the basket as we slipped out of the inn without speaking to anyone, into the early morning bustle of a river port town. I would be glad to see the back of this kingdom and the feeling of being hunted that was always over my shoulder.
We moved quickly through the milling fae and headed for the forest from where we’d arrived. The faster we were out of sight, the safer I would feel. In the cover of the trees, we stopped.
He slowly turned, staring out into the trees and listening. I was grateful to have his heightened senses on my side.
“Anything?” I whispered.
He shook his head, but kept listening, narrowing his eyes in the direction we’d come in. Then he blinked and looked down at me.
“Are you good?” he asked, checking in.
“Yeah, just nervous.” I didn’t want him to think I was overreacting.
“Are you ready to go?”
I nodded.
“We need to get away from this town towards the coast, then I’ll risk flying us.” He offered his hand.
I took it. “Okay.”
We set off, walking quickly while sharing the bread he stole. That itchy feeling never stopped, but I felt better to be on themove again. We kept a good pace for about half a candle mark, leaving the town far behind us. We kept clear of rivers, which was no easy feat as they were everywhere, intersecting across the whole kingdom.
We approached a clearing and slowed, both sensing the need for caution. The space was empty, but the forest surrounded it on all sides, providing plenty of cover for anyone wishing to stay concealed, like us.
“We could keep going, stay hidden and probably walk for days before we reach the coast, or we could fly now that there is a space for me to take off. What do you think?”
I looked around, wishing I could sense something more than my own anxiety. It was a risk to fly and expose ourselves, but if we didn’t, we would never get to the First Kingdom. And as much as I never wanted to set foot there, if Nova was alive, that was where she would be.
