Her eyes went to the fae. He moved like a river drifting through a centuries-old wood. Dark water easing around every object in its way, adapting to uncertainty. Surprisingly light-footed, his large boots absorbed the impact with near soundless grace. He continued scanning the woods every few paces. Ever aware and always alert. A true predator.
Orelia turned her attention back to the map and tried not to think about when the tracking stone would reveal another name and the predator would have to be unleashed again.
Next to one of the ships printed in Goldbottom Bay he’d writtenThe Crimson Curtain. She’d heard stories of pirates and tavern brawls, seamen who dabbled in dark magic, and captains who dealt in even darker lurking in Bellstown.
The three cities around Goldbottom made up the Triangle and held the majority of the wealth in the continent. Carraba was oldmoney, housing the nobles who didn’t live in the Capitol, with Bellstown being a shipyard and pirate haven. Ricaboro was the most affluent and vivacious. She’d always wanted to see the infamous glittering city, but they were headed west, and Ricaboro was north. Disappointment slouched her shoulders.
Orelia got lost in the map. Only a few towns were unmarked, but Vade truly had been all over the world. Envy crawled through her before turning into the thrill of knowing she was now able to discover places for herself.
She tripped over upturned roots, and after righting herself, realized Vade was far ahead. Orelia folded the map and hurried along, the sound of running water growing louder as she approached.
Thank the gods they were close to a river.Her half-empty waterskin was a reminder that the day would only get warmer, and she needed to stay hydrated. She was about to call out to Vade when he went preternaturally still, his focus locked on something in the distance.
She followed his eyeline and stopped dead in her tracks. Orelia wasn’t quite sure what she was seeing, but every hair on her arms stood straight up.
eight
Three men slunk outfrom between the trees, each with shaved heads and faces painted in earthy shades of brown and green. Each wore a single piece of clothing covering their entire body up to their necks, and the fabric changed colors as they crept closer, blending in with their immediate surroundings. The bows and arrows they had pointed at her and Vade were nearly impossible to pick out against the forest backdrop.
Orelia stilled as the men fanned out, surrounding her and Vade. She searched their painted faces, finding their ears round.
Witches, humans, and druids were the only races with round ears. Witches could only be female, and none of the men possessed the bright yellow-green color of a druid’s eyes.
These men were human.
One of them stopped twenty paces away, keeping his arrow pointed at Vade, who had yet to draw a weapon. “What is your purpose here, travelers? You are far from The Wooded Road.”
Orelia couldn’t place the dialect, but she was more focused on the strange purple light that had begun swirling around the tip of thespeaker’s arrowhead. The other two muttered something indistinct, and their arrowheads caught, glowing the same color.
She tucked herself into Vade’s side.
“My wife and I were just coming to the river to fill our waterskins before we headed back to the Road,” Vade said coolly.
She recoiled at the word ‘wife’ and the man questioning them didn’t miss her reaction. His eyes flicked to hers, and he cocked his head ever so slightly. “There are no signs of fresh tracks on the Road, so I know that not to be true.”
The men flanking them each took a step closer, bows taut. Orelia was careful not to even breathe wrong, lest she find out what the purple magic would do to her.
“This part of the woods is off limits, and travelers must stay on the path,” the speaker remarked. Another cock of his head, eyeing them both. “Everyone knows that. So, I’ll ask you again, what is your purpose here?”
She didn’t know there were places you could and couldn’t go out in the open. Her eyes bounced between the three painted faces, landing on the man to her right.
The whites of his eyes were unsettlingly stark against his face paint, and his eyes were so sunken under thick brows that he looked less human than the others. But it was his unsettling smile that was too wide for his face that frightened her most.
Vade stepped closer, shielding Orelia from the disturbing man’s view. She leaned into him, fingers clasping his shirt.
He tensed under her touch. “And I will tell you again, we were coming to get water,” the fae said with an edge to his voice.
The speaker’s blue eyes narrowed. “Where are you from?”
“Minro.” Vade’s arms remained loose at his sides, as if the arrows pointed at his chest posed no threat.
“Minro, lads. You hear that?”
The other two laughed. “Oi. Minro,” one said, making the other laugh harder.
The speaker gestured at Orelia with his arrow. “She may be, but youdefinitelyare not.” The glare he gave Vade said he wasn’t buying their story. “Show me your travel papers.”
“I cannot,” Vade said.
