“What man?”
“Someone she met in passing,” Zev replied.
“Did you mention the map to him?” Cassiel asked.
The breath stalled in Von’s lungs. Map?
“No, I didn’t!”
Zev exhaled heavily. “We are fortunate that nothing happened. This was my doing. I shouldn’t have stepped away. From now on don’t stray from us either.”
“We can only hope that man didn’t believe you, whoever he was.”
“The commander didn’t seem like a bad man. He was kind to me.”
“That means nothing,” Cassiel said coolly. “We cannot risk lingering here. You better hope our provisions will last until we reach the next city. Corron is not but four days from here.”
Zev’s shadow moved away from the others. “Take her and wait for me outside of town. I’ll find you.”
“Where are you going?”
“There is something I must see to,” was all he said before jogging away.
Cassiel grumbled as he moved into Von’s view. He had a striking countenance that almost seemed to radiate light. Dyna followed when a group of drunk merrymakers stumbled by. They stopped to heckle her, asking to have a turn after him.
Cassiel shoved her behind him. “I’ll only say this once,” he said to the men in a low, guttural snarl. “Go.”
The single word promised violence, but Von doubted he could defend her against so many. Drunk men tended to be bold, sometimes sinking into salacious depravity, they wouldn’t otherwise resort to while clear of mind. He had seen it happen enough that he prepared to intervene, but the drunks cackled and went on their way.
Cassiel leaned against the coarse bricks of the alley wall and rubbed his face. “Are you cursed to attract trouble?”
Dyna winced. “Please don’t be angry, Prince Cassiel.”
He’s a prince?
The young man groaned and pressed on his forehead. “It’s one mishap after another. Can you attempt to not be so reckless?Please. That is not a word I say often.”
“Yes,” she said with a smile in her voice.
“Zev said this was all his doing, but it was you who wandered off.”
“Forgive me for not waiting. Landcaster is so enthralling I’ve gotten ahead of myself.”
“There is nothing enthralling about this filthy town. It reeks of chamber pot.”
She laughed, the delighted sound echoing in the alley. “There is a lovely canal that passes right through the square, did you see?”
“That is the sewage system …”
“And there are so many people. I think there were thousands!”
“The local population is hardly a thousand. I’m beginning to wonder what your village must look like.”
“One day I will take you. First, you must show me Urn. The village elders that would leave North Star in the summer always returned with incredible stories of the outside world.”
“Is that so?” he said, his tone hovering between mild mocking and disinterest.
“Yes!” She buzzed with excitement. “They spoke of the Azure mines where the pulverized sapphires cover the ground, glittering like the ocean. And of the mischievous pixies of the Phantasm Moors who dance and sing if you sew them new clothes. Even of the great train in the west that travels from the Saxe Sea to the Dragon Canyon.” A smile rose to her lips as she gazed at the blend of rich orange and violet streaking across the sky. “There is much I’d like to see.”
