My (borrowed) horse flew through the night, following far enough behind Nox’s pack that I could just barely see them cresting the small hills. I wished I’d grabbed a pair of gloves. My fingers were nearly frozen to the leather reins, and my entire body shook as the wind beat against me. Clenching my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering so hard, I raced north after the others.
I kept my distance when the five figures ahead of me came upon a small village and slowed. Three of them broke off and headed toward a town square. I recognized the back of the tallest, largest one to be Nox. Two smaller forms flanked him and silently made their way down the street and out of my line of sight.
I stopped my horse right on the outskirts of the square, dismounting and tying her reins to a tree. Her hooves would make too much noise, and even though Nox and his group were distracted, their Shifter hearing was strong. I didn’t need them catching me just yet.
I wasn’t even sure why I was doing this. Pride? Curiosity? The need to know everything? All were viable options. After being locked up for so long, the idea of an adventure was too good topass up. And when I heard the name “Mysthelm” last night, my thoughts had spiraled.
What did my kingdom have to do with Drakorum? Mysthelm and Veridiahatedeach other. Our two lands had gone to war over three hundred years ago when the Fates, our mystical deities, promised the victor a wealth of magic never seen by humans before. The Veridians won, and Mysthelm was left powerless. They’d been holding a grudge ever since. There hadn’t been any contact in centuries until the late King of Mysthelm reached out to broker a marriage of alliance with Empress Clarissa a few months ago.
Which was why I couldn’t understand why Mysthelm would be sending cryptic shipments to one of the Veridian provinces.
A small part of me—okay, a pretty large part—entertained the idea of simply running away altogether. I had my freedom. I could get a headstart before Nox found out I left, and at that point, would he even bother tracking me down?
But I wasn’tthatreckless. A stranger who couldn’t control her supposed “magical powers” on the run in a foreign empire wouldn’t last long. I had nowhere to go. And as much as I hated to admit it, Nox and his group were the best chance I had of finding my family and learning my magic.
I just had to prove myself. Prove that I was more than a traitor, a backstabbing friend, and a liar. Prove that I was worth taking a chance on.
Prove it to him or myself, I wasn’t sure.
I kept my sights trained on Nox and the two others as they slipped into a narrow alley. Following now would give me away—the path was too tight for them not to smell or hear me. Quickly scanning the streets, I saw a rickety ladder propped against a nearby building. I darted across and scrambled my way up onto the low rooftop. Keeping low, I tugged my scarf over my face and my hood over my bright hair. I’d foregone my glasses, afraid they would break or get in my way, but I could still see fairly well—I mostly used them for reading.
“ —been compromised. Fall back,” I heard Nox say from my viewpoint right above them. “They can’t know we’re here.”
“I got it, Boss. You stay. I’m not leaving until we find out what’s on that ship,” a female voice I recognized from last night—Tessa, maybe—said. I risked a quick glance over the side of the rooftop and was so surprised, I nearly lost my balance.
I couldn’t see them. Their voices filtered up to me, but nobody was there. IknewI’d seen them leave their horses and walk down this alleyway. And yet…it was completely empty.
A low growl echoed from somewhere on the deserted street. “Tessa, I swear, if you?—”
Nox’s voice cut off, and a moment later, the awning connected to the other end of the roof bowed beneath an invisible force. Almost as if something landed on it. I stumbled backward and held my breath, waiting for someone to catch me, but the weight disappeared from the fabric as suddenly as it appeared.
“Remind me to have a littlechatwith her later,” Nox said, irritated.
A third male spoke, a husky voice I recognized from last night. “Nox, you can’t?—”
“Is your illusion holding?”
A pause. “Yes.”
Illusion. That must be why I couldn’t see them. I’d never witnessed that magic in action before.
“Good,” Nox said, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps leading out of the alley. “Don’t let it fall, or we die. No pressure. I’m going after her.”
I peered over the rooftop toward the port beyond and saw a dozen workers moving about the various decks, with the daunting shadow of a ship spilling out onto the night. A sail with the familiar crest of Mysthelm billowed in the wind, and I involuntarily shivered.
The port was crawling with workers wearing eerie lion-shaped masks, concealing their true faces. It made my skin prickle. Rollingmy shoulders, I cracked my neck from side to side and took a deep breath.
Life as a maid wasn’t exactly conducive to late-night raids and climbing off rooftops, but before that, I’d done my fair share of sneaking around. When the orphanage kicked their inhabitants out at fifteen because there were too many mouths to feed, you were forced to roam the streets of Mysthelm. There wereplentyof hours spent pillaging for spare coin or idiots with big pockets.
Never from quite so high, but still.
I lowered myself onto the awning, dangling my feet over the edge until they found purchase on the window lip. Grabbing on to the upper ledge, I shimmied down the wall, then braced myself and jumped. A brief pang jolted up my legs as I landed in a crouch.
The port was a wide, open space, with multiple docking stations leading out into the dark waters of the Sea of Scarab. The only ship in sight was the one from Mysthelm. Men moved to and from the gangplank, rolling large wooden barrels out from the cargo hold and into the backs of black carriages waiting in the center of the road.
Consider me intrigued.
I hugged the walls on the outskirts until I reached the railing overlooking the ocean. The gangplank to the ship was straight ahead. If I could just?—
