I would do it now.
The wind builds, roaring so loudly that I think my ears will burst, until I lose all track of up or down. With a final wrenching pull, the magic blazes through my hands. I hear Grey gasp, a terrible breath that sounds like the end of a life—or the beginning of one. For one moment, I see his eyes. I hear his voice.
“Tycho.”
And then I lose all sense of myself and know nothing more.
I awaken to the king crouching over me, his worried eyes staring down into mine. The sky above is still thick with stars, but a faint pink haze has appeared on the horizon. When I blink up at him, Grey lets out a breath and sits back, running a hand over his face.
I expect to feel sore and achy, but I don’t. “What happened?” I say, and my voice is rough, like I’ve slept longer than I intended. I shove myself to sitting.
“I was hoping you would be able to tell me.” He pauses. “You were out for a long time.” Another pause, this one heavier. “I couldn’t wake you.”
I put a hand to my head. I feel disoriented and dazed.He burned out his spark. Did I do the same? “I don’t know.”
My eyes search the ground, the trees, the sky. Mercy is tethered not far off. But with a start, I realize there’s no trace of the fire I set last night. These aren’t the same trees.
I snap my gaze back to the mountains. We’re on the Syhl Shallow side.
I can help you get to Syhl Shallow.
“Where is Nakiis?” I say.
Grey frowns. “The scraver?”
There’s a note in his voice that I don’t fully understand, as if he could wrap up worry and anger and fear and surprise all in one word.
“Yes.” I hesitate. “He’s not our enemy. He helped me. He helpedyou.” I look around again. “He got us into Syhl Shallow.” I have more questions than I started with. I don’t know how he did it. The king’s magic has never allowed him to travel a far distance in the blink of an eye.
But then I realize what Grey said.You were out for a long time.
I blink at him. “I’m surprised you didn’t take Mercy to go after Lia Mara and Sinna.”
He stares back at me. His eyes are so dark and shadowed. “You thought I would leave you unconscious and alone in the middle of the woods?”
Yes, I think. But I don’t have the courage to say it.
I don’t think I need to. Grey runs a hand over his jaw again. Asusual, I can’t read much from his expression, but after a while, he rises to standing. In control, no doubt or hesitation.
“Can you walk?” he says.
I have to think about it for a second. “Yes.”
“If we’re inside the border, I don’t want to waste time. You can explain what happened while we walk.”
Good. We’ll stick to the matter at hand. No need to venture into the conflict betweenus.
But I think I liked it better when he was unconscious.
“Yes, Your Majesty.” I don’t say it flippantly, but he gives me a look anyway. I ignore it and head for Mercy’s side. I partly expect him to call after me, but instead, he begins buckling his armor into place.
There’s a part of me that feels like the last few hours were a dream. Like maybe Nakiis wasn’t here at all, and Grey just happened to wake before me.
But … we’re in Syhl Shallow. I couldn’t dream that.
I drop to a crouch and run a hand along the back of Mercy’s foreleg anyway. No swelling, no injury.
I stand, then draw my dagger and press it against my fingertip until blood wells.
