“Not yet,” I say, pushing away again. This time he allows it.
I’m grateful that he managed to catch me because I do not envy the fierce headache I would have if I’d hit my head.
Drekki looks at me concerned, but Worm doesn’t even bother to glance in my direction. The dragons are used to my visions by now and that causes me a point of concern. They have been happening far too often of late.
However, I cannot begrudge myself this vision because it has provided me with invaluable information.
“I know where we need to go,” I declare as I turn to Marcello.
Chapter Eighteen
When The Sun Sets
Wearriveatthevillage just as the sun is beginning to dip below the horizon. I climb off Drekki as Marcello and Worm land just a short distance away. We’re on a foothill just above the village, and I scurry over, dropping to my hands and knees to keep from being seen by anyone below. I raise myself up, resting my elbows on the cold dirt to see.
“What if we are at the wrong village?” Marcello asks in a hushed tone as he kneels down next to me.
It’s a fair question, one that I have wondered myself. Especially considering that I have very little to go on. All day as we traveled alternating on dragon back and on foot to give the dragons a break, I’ve wondered if I saw correctly. It could be that what I saw was just mountains that looked like the ones on each side of giant’s pass. The village we could be looking for could be on the other side of Nelgata for all I know.
“We had best hope not,” I tell him in return. “We will not have a welcome reception if that is the case.”
I turn so that I’m on my back and slide down the slope until my knees are to my chest.
Marcello follows me down. “They wouldn’t help us?”
I can’t help but let out a small laugh at that. “Of course not. Unless you mean help us to the grave.”
Although in Marcello’s case it will be more of a helping themselves to the grave. Leaves me in half the mind to just send him to all the worst tribes and finally let them wipe themselves out. I would consider it if my own life wasn’t on the line for the very same crime.
“Are you not the same people though?” Marcello asks, tilting his head.
“Oh, nothing of the sort. We may have been born to the same land, but every tribe is like a kingdom complete in its own right. And each tribe fights the other for dominance. No, if they see us, they will know that I am from a different tribe, and you are an Imperial. We would both be slain as enemies; I’ll probably just have the less gruesome death. Typically, I mean. Apart from your immortality, that is how it would play out.”
He shakes his head, his curls bouncing slightly with the movement. “My father always said that the people of Nelgata were divided, but I don’t think even he knows just how deep the infighting is.”
“There is a reason that your people have made such progress in conquering our lands. And it is not because we lack as warriors.”
It is because of the Imperial’s accursedunity. They walk, fight, move, live,breatheas one. It is like fighting one great warrior with the body of a thousand soldiers. It is impossible for any lone individual to do.
And so, we have lost ground and lost ground until it seemed as if the winter weather is the only thing keeping the Imperials from broaching further upon our land. We make up for this conquest by brutally murdering as many Imperials as we can and so the cycle of death and war continues.
Although if what Marcello said is to be believed, and he was planning for future major battles that means that the Imperials have pushed farther into our land than anyone in my tribe has realized.
“Where I’m from, we all work to serve the empire,” Marcello says in a soft whisper. “Every farmer, every senator, and every soldier. One can travel across all of Imperialis without someone trying to kill them.” He smiles slightly. “In most cases at least. It’s illegal to try to kill each other, but that isn’t to say that some don’t try.”
“What holds such a land together?” I murmur, turning to him. “How does it not splinter and break apart?”
Marcello raises his shoulder in half a shrug. “Common beliefs for one, I suppose. The Imperial senate seeks to work in the common interest of the people of our land. Second of all, it’s helped by a desire for peace. Many in Imperialis are not warriors, I know we don’t give that impression, I’m sure all you have met of my people are warriors, but the Imperial city is vast, and it is full of artisans and poets, our countryside is rich with farmers and shepherds. Our lands are filled to the brim with people who do not wish to fight, so why would they rise up against the empire that provides a stable economy for them and keeps them safe?”
“Such a security sounds… as if it would make you weak,” I say, trying to wrap my mind around it. To leave your house and walk down the road to an entirely different village and to feelsafe? I am no coward, but I will admit that safety is not a feeling I am accustomed to.
Marcello edges closer. “When was the last time you ever felt safe?”
His question is so direct it takes me off my guard. It proves that he sees more than I give him credit for if he could see even the turn my thoughts took. A part of me wants to brush off his question and to remind myself that I should not be revealing my weaknesses and fears to him, but another part of me also wonders that.
The curiosity finally wins out. I nibble on my lip, searching my memories for that long lost and wholly unfamiliar feeling. “I was just a girl,” I say at last. “Sitting by the fire, my father is whittling a new toy for me and my mother… she used to sing in the evenings. My father loved to hear her voice. We both did.”
Warm, safe, secure. Comforted by the steady presence of my father and the lilting voice of my mother singing. All are things that I will never have again, but I can’t help but smile at the memory. I was happy once, as a child, and that is good to remember.
