“I killed him. I wasn’t about to let him run to whatever pirate scum he had hiding.” Jayme crossed over, grabbing her pack from Vi before starting down the stairs once more, leaving Vi little other option but to follow hastily behind. “Old man’s waking up. We need to get out of here before they find the body.”
“But we didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Even if that’s true, do you want to be held up long enough to try to prove it?” Jayme hissed.
“No…” Vi paused at the front desk, fishing through her pack. She put one heavy gold coin on the counter for the damage to the door as the man stumbled from his back room.
“What’s the—” he muttered.
“Sorry for the door, thanks for letting us stay!” Vi shouted over her shoulder as she hastily followed Jayme into the night.
She searched around the inn for signs of the scuffle. The blood trail led around the corner of the building, footprints in the sand surrounding the drops. But it passed out of Vi’s field of vision.
“Jayme, is the body—”
“Yes.” Jayme glanced over her shoulder, three steps ahead and not slowing. “A town like this? They’ll leave it to the animals. It’s not worth their trouble to pursue us. We’re outsiders, he was an outsider, they won’t care for any of us and they’re not going to mourn him. He’ll be food for the wolves by tomorrow night.”
“He was masquerading as a soldier. Do you think the army will send a search party after him?” Vi stumbled on the wheel ruts in the road she’d been so careful to avoid earlier.
“If the army hasn’t sent a search party this far afteryou, they’re certainly not going to send one after him.” Jayme reached out a hand, helping Vi catch her balance. They stilled for just a second, catching their breath. Her friend seemed so calm, so stable, even now. “And you heard him, he was working for Adela… Or at least some kind of pirate claiming to be the infamous pirate queen. He may not have been on any kind of soldier roster at all. Maybe that’s why so few people knew anything about him—he was pretending the whole time to get to you.”
A shiver ran down Vi’s spine that had nothing to do with the desert’s icy chill at night. She could handle assassins lurking around corners—those were the devils she knew. But assassins lurking under the guise of people she should be able to trust? Vi didn’t know if she could handle that notion.
“Then—” Vi swallowed, trying to find her words and make them sound stronger than she felt. “—Perhaps it’s a good thing I got away from the army. Maybe I’m safer incognito.”
“As long as you stay that way,” Jayme agreed. “Now, come on, we’ll get some distance between us and Inton and set up camp. Try to get a few hours of sleep before we continue on to Norin.”
Vi didn’t know if she would manage to sleep at all after the incident. But if anything would help, it would be further exhausting herself. She fell into step behind Jayme, focusing on the road while worrying the wooden bead on the bracelet Ellene had given her.
It didn’t matter if the Adela Fallor worked for was real or not. He’d said there was a bounty on her head… and that meant more than just the elfin’ra were likely to be after her now.
As long as she was Vi Solaris, Yargen’s Champion, nowhere was going to be safe.
* * *
Three days later, and without any other incident, the great city of Norin came into view.
Vi couldn’t imagine a more perfect time to see the city than in the early hours. Towering walls of raw stone rose up and out, curved to sheer away dangerous sandstorms from the city proper. Even taller than those were the looming buildings that rose to meet the castle at its center.
The many glittering lights of lamps and houses sparkled on a shadowed background, the city cast in a dark outline by the first pastel rays of sunrise bleeding across the horizon from the east. It was as if someone had painted it with a starry brush—a beauty that took Vi’s breath away.
Much like when she had left the Crossroads, the majority of the city slumbered. Houses were quiet and storefronts were occupied by only a few lone workers. Residential alleyways were still, windows just opening to let in the early breezes of dawn.
Also like the Crossroads, the architecture of the buildings mirrored that of the traditional West—squat, flat-roofed, structural beams poking out at the corners and edges here and there. But the construction here was, on the whole, even older. Which said something, given that the Crossroads had served as a central market of the Main Continent for centuries.
Norin was the ancient bastion of Mhashan—its original capital, the origin of the religion of the Mother. And itshowed. The rich areas were steeped in old money, and the poor areas had a coat of grime that was just as ancient.
The streets were more full than she expected as they plodded along. There were other travelers and merchants, and men and women going to work for the day. None of them made any effort to stop or bother her and Jayme, though there were a few looks here and there—mostly at the soldier.
Where the Crossroads saw travelers of all types regularly, Norin was almost exclusively populated by those of the West. Jayme’s fairer Eastern skin stood out here. Vi only slightly blended in, thanks to her father’s bloodline. But overall, even she looked pale by comparison.
Vi’s focus mostly stayed on the structure dominating the sky before her.
The castle had grown by the hour and now it was almost impossible to look anywhere without seeing some part of it. The edifice was imposing, rigid, and done in mostly black stone—a stark contrast to the sandstone she’d seen across the majority of the West. But she didn’t know if the stone’s coloration came from the stone itself, or centuries of exposure to the nearby sea.
“It’s truly a marvel,” Jayme murmured from her side.
“It is.” Vi hadn’t realized that they’d both come to a stop, admiring the structure. “How does it stack up to the Imperial Castle?”
