“Is he all right?” Kiva asked, strapping Sinvarra around her waist.
I shook my head.
A door down the hall opened, and Auma exited, her fingers nimbly tying off a final braid.
I looked from the door to Kiva. “That’s the room you came out of this morning.”
She smiled sheepishly, and I nearly toppled over. I’d never seen an expression like that on her face.
“Nothing happened,” she hissed. “We just talked.”
“And slept. Together. In the same bed.”
She swatted at me and I laughed, dancing out of her reach. My amusement faded as Ericen and his guards joined us. The prince didn’t look to have slept, and an air of tension prickled between him and his guards.
He still flashed me a smirk when he saw me staring. I quickly looked away, reflexively seeking out Samra. Ericen and I needed to talk, but I worried the captain would judge me for it and hold it against me during the alliance meeting. What would the other leaders say if she told them I was friendly with the enemy prince?
We made for a strange group as we set off through Terin’s streets. Res coasted on a current above us, though he kept sending hints of questioning annoyance toward me, as if he didn’t understand whyhedidn’t get a horse too.
That simple flicker of self-indulgent Res-ness made me breathe a little easier.
Ericen had been denied a horse per Kiva’s argument that it would make escape far too easy. Instead, she’d secured one end of a long rope to his restraints and the other to the saddle of her horse, looking far too pleased with the arrangement.
At the edge of town, we followed a wide, dirt path into green grassland, sparsely populated with bush-like trees. Bright orange and yellow flowers popped up through the long fingers of grass, swaying in a gentle breeze that chased the worst of the heat from our skin.
Auma had given each of us a thin, light scarf to protect our necks and faces from the sun, and by early afternoon, we’d all lifted them into place.
I thought about asking Res to give us a fog cover, but I could still feel his ever-present fear about his powers, a feeling that was beginning to worry me more and more. I’d hoped time would ease his franticness about what had happened, but I could still feel him coiled tight, as if curled around a wound. There had to be a way to help him.
If I couldn’t, this would all be for nothing.
As we rode, that feeling from the day before rose up in me again. A gentle tugging, almost like the cord between Res and me. It would come and go like a breeze, so faint and fickle I was half convinced I was imagining it. More than once, I caught Aroch studying me from Kiva’s shoulders when the feeling evaded me, as if he saw something I couldn’t.
I broke from the cat’s strange gaze by ducking my horse behind Caylus’s and pulling up on his other side. He fiddled with something on the horse’s back.
“Is that a glass arrow?” I asked, surprised to see the Illucian weapon in his hands.
“I took it from the ship.” He turned it over in his hands. The glass shaft had a strange cast to it, as if impure. “They use them so earth and battle crows can’t deflect them, right?”
I nodded. “Wind still works, but it’s hard for a crow to do when they’re being shot at from more than one direction, and it’s not as reactive. Not to mention it’s hard to control where it goes afterward.” I tapped the point. “That’s Alorr metal. It’s incredibly lightweight and durable, and it’s only found in the Alorr Caves in Jindae. It wasn’t until Razel conquered them that Illucia introduced the arrows to their arsenal. Like black gold, it’s too refined for a crow to manipulate.”
“Hmm.” Caylus turned the arrow over without looking at it, his eyes rolled up slightly to the side. Recognizing the look, I dropped back to give him space. He’d be lost in his thoughts for a while.
We traveled until the sun began to set, the terrain shifting from rolling grasslands to patches of wide, sparse trees with bushels of leaves. When the trees began to coalesce, forming a thin forest, we found a shaded spot and set up camp.
Res all but collapsed onto his back, his wings spread wide in a dramatic flourish, as the soldiers set about laying out bedrolls.
Ericen hardly seemed bothered from the trek, though he scowled as Kiva tied his bound hands to the exposed root of a tree, forcing him to sit with them lashed behind his back. I wanted to say something, but I could practically feel Samra watching me.
After tending to the horses, we ate and retired to sleep.
Rolling onto my side, I stared through the canopy at the spread of stars. We were a day’s ride from Eselin, set to arrive late tomorrow afternoon, the day before Belin’s Day. Soon, Trendell would either agree to support Rhodaire against Illucia or leave us to our fate.
What was I supposed to say to them?
Dread crept along my skin like a scurrying insect. The kingdoms’ leaders weren’t the only people I had to face tomorrow. I touched the empty spot on my wrist where a feathered bracelet had once hung.
Estrel.
