“You don’t have to hide it from me. We do share a bedchamber wall back home.”
Theo turned from him. Esaias was the only one who knew about the nightmares, but not out of choice. He’d been at Theo’s side when they first flooded his mind in the infirmary during the war. Esaias had witnessed his screams, but Theo couldn’t bring himself to tell him what happened in Oystein Castle. Theo had failed as an officer. He would take it to his grave, as should’ve happened that night.
“I’ve heard you a few nights since you’ve been home. When did they come back?”
A long period of time had gone by when sleep had been scarce and, with it, the nightmares. He’d assumed it’d been easier to stuff down any lurking worries with Gris and Esaias by his side when he returned to the fighting after he’d been healed. By the time the war had ended, Theo could count on one hand the number of dreams he’d had. Luana’s forces had come back to Godwin in a trickle. Esaias had seen the walls of their home a season before Theo had, but the first thing Esaias had uttered to Theo upon his return wasHow are you doing? Theo had assured his cousin hewas well and ready to come home, but that night, a nightmare had woken him from a restless sleep.
Theo returned his gaze to Esaias, but there wasn’t a glower or a tap of a foot waiting for his response. “A few weeks ago,” he confessed.
Esaias leaned against the monument and rubbed a thumb along his shadowed jaw. “It’s different now. It doesn’t feel like it used to three years ago.”
No, it doesn’t.It felt an eternity and only a few moments had passed all in one, but he knew Esaias didn’t mean Duncaster. Luana Bay had been Theo’s home for all his life and Esaias’s for most Sunreign seasons until he turned eighteen and moved there permanently. That had been eight years ago, but Theo still had the catch of breath when the season changed and feared Esaias would leave with the warm weather.
“Do you ever wonder if it was worth it?” Esaias asked.
Theo stared at his cousin. He was a strong warrior with years of sparring and training to build his strength. The years of war rations had trimmed a bit of his childhood fat, but it only added to the number of women flocking to him at night.
“It wasn’t,” Theo whispered coldly.
“I’m not ready for another war,” Esaias blurted out.
“There won’t be one.” It felt like a lie after what the high priestess had said, but Theo couldn’t afford to believe her ramblings.
He spotted something glowing on the edge of the towering buildings. He narrowed his gaze to a person shrouded in a dark cloak, with serpents wrapping their boots. His hand slid to his empty belt where his pouch had once hung.The thief.His pouch had been secured tightly and wouldn’t have fallen off in the tumble. They’d cut it off.
“What are you looking at?”
“I think I found the person who stole my pouch,” Theo whispered.
He stepped off the path to avoid the detection of the streetlamps and slipped through the darkness. The thief was short and nimble, hiding in the shadows of a cask or crate. Esaias slipped his dagger into his hand asthey made their approach. Theo motioned for Esaias to circle around to cut off an escape before he palmed his own dagger. He took a deep breath and followed the thief.
Periodically, they glanced over their shoulder, but they were unaware of Theo’s presence. He lurked closer, getting a better view of the scoundrel as he followed them into an alley. The clattering of a rubbish bin startled Theo, and a silverling jumped from the bin and took off down the alley. Theo tracked its silver movements until his eyes caught sight of the thief as they stared back at him before taking off.
Theo raced after them, splashing through puddles as he turned down a back alley between the tight buildings. His breath was warm, but the air was hotter and burned his lungs. A coppery taste seeped into his mouth as he raced faster.
The thief was light on their feet, shifting into various forms as the light of streetlamps and backdoors came into view and shunned them to the shadows. They vanished once again into the darkness, but Theo heard a clattering and continued his pursuit. The thief climbed over a pile of crates and jumped over a tall wooden fence.
Theo didn’t think twice before he scaled the fence and hurtled himself to the other side to continue his pursuit. The thief looked back and accelerated.
Theo rounded the corner, but only a single circle of luminescence stood in the alley. He took a moment to catch his breath, but a stifled scream raised the hair on his arms. Esaias pulled the thief from the shadows with his arm wrapped around their neck and his dagger pressed against their abdomen.
Their hood slipped. The thief was a woman who couldn’t have been any older than them. She revealed a youthful face, with black hair pulled into double braids and freckles scattering her sunburnt cheeks below golden eyes. Not a hint of fear hid behind her gaze. Her eyes navigated to the dagger in Theo’s hand, raising a brow. Something within her eyesbrought a sense of déjà vu over him.
“I suggest giving him his pouch back.” Esaias’s voice had lost all its humor and was laced with lethal warning.
“How do you know I have it?” she snapped. Esaias strengthened the grip his arm held, and she winced. “Alright!” She reached into her cloak.
Theo raised his dagger, but she only retrieved his pouch, tossing it at his feet.
Theo pushed the woman’s glare from his mind and squatted to grab the pouch without taking his eyes off her. A quick glance showed not a single hilt or glimmer of a sword poking out from underneath her cloak, but it didn’t mean a dagger wasn’t hidden somewhere on her person.
“Are you going to arrest me?” she asked, struggling in Esaias’s hold.
Theo rifled through the pouch, not bothering to count the silver and gold pieces but to feel his hand grasp around the small painting at the bottom. Relieved, he stood and gripped the buckle of his belt.
“Depends,” Esaias said.
“On what?” the stranger asked.
