“His former partner may wish to see him again,”Kseniareplied but it sounded weak even to my ears.
“She’ll kill him.”
The words hung in the air for a moment, suspended in time, as everyone turned to me once more, watching as I was informed of my fate. I’d already known, of course, that was a possibility. Adrian might kill me and, if truth be told, she would be well within her rights to do so. But I knew Adrian better than any of these fools. She could be convinced. And if there was anyone who could do the convincing, it might just be me. That was the only hope I had, the only one I could hold onto.
“She might,” Kseniaagreed with a shrug of her shoulders.
“And yet he travels with you,” Rainier said slowly, suspicion lacing every word. “Unbound.”
“The Viper is prepared to meet his fate,” Roman grunted, speaking to the riders for the first time. “It's better than what awaits him if he does not.”
Rainier watched Roman for a moment longer before his gaze trailed back to me.
“I see,” he said slowly.
With that, something shifted in his expression. He clapped his hands together and gave a nod.
“Well then, if you're to bePrima’sguests, then we're honor bound to escort you,” he announced and I fought the urge to show my surprise at the sudden change of heart. “Let’s start with that tedious encampment on the other side of this ridge, shall we?”
Chapter Thirty
Adrian
“I do not hate the upper ringers born into their luxury. I do not hate the Deckers born into their poverty. I hate the gods who left us here and created our separation and I will not apologize for that.”
— Last Words of Third Ringer Lawson Price, Executed for the Crime of Heresy, 1898
I'd thought the desert would never end. After over two weeks of walking through the endless heat, nothing on the horizon but sand, it was easy to believe that’s all there was. But then we finally crested a particularly large rocky dune and found ourselves looking down upon a new form of wilderness.
Tall trees stood like sentinels around a muddy riverbed, sparse vegetation littered a landscape of dirt and moss, and large, lithe animals with soft tawny fur stood drinking gracefully from the water. Beside me,Zyagasped. I echoed the sentiment.
“What is this place?” Hugh whispered in awe at our side.
“Welcome,” one of the leaders announced loudly, stepping forward with a grin, “toArchí.”
“This is theFallen’sfabled city?” Darius asked from my other side, his tone obviously unimpressed. “All I see are trees and rocks. This is whatPrimaof House Viper has managed to pull together after two millennia?”
“Move, Reed,”Gryfongrowled from behind us, pushing Darius forward until we all began making our way down the hill.
“I’m sure it’s hidden,” Roxy was saying quietly, obviously seeking to ease the tension between her boyfriend and the grumpy warrior behind him. “It would need to be defensible, of course. Being out in the open and obvious wouldn’t do them any favors in an attack.”
I nodded in agreement even though I was hardly listening. I could barely do more than stare up at the enormous, towering trees above me. Actual trees. To me, such a thing had never been more than legend, a descriptive detail from our oldest stories dating back to before the creation of Sanctuary, stories that were so rarely told everyone had ceased to believe they were real. But I remembered. My mother had always liked to tell us stories. The ones about the world beyond our walls, however unbelievable they were, had always been my favorite.
We walked toward the river and then waded into it. It wasn’t deep but the current was strong and it took a large portion of our warriors to keep the horses from panicking during the crossing. The rest of us stepped carefully, slowly forward and focused on not drowning. Not that I would, given my Gift of breathing underwater. But they didn’t need to know that. In fact, the less they knew about my so-called Blessings, the better.
We emerged on the other side of the cool river, soaking and teeth chattering. I didn’t mind the cold. After so long in the scorching desert, it was a welcome relief. But some of the others were muttering about how it was past time they built something called a bridge.Gryfon, I noticed, ignored both them and the water, striding as easily forward in the river as he had on land.By the time we emerged on the other side of the river, he was halfway into the trees and moving toward the denser part of the forest.
“Through the trees,” one of the warriors instructed unnecessarily, waving us along like wayward children he was assigned to keep an eye on.
“Obviously,” Zya muttered under her breath.
I snorted and we both exchanged a smile as we stepped into the heavy tree line.
“Primahas already welcomed you here, right Adrian?” Kane asked from behind us.
I turned and gave him as reassuring of a smile as I could muster.
“We’ve spoken,” I told him. “She knows we’re coming.”
