“Immalon,” Thane answers.
The taller guard’s eyes narrow as he scrutinizes us. “We are to believe the Queen of Immalon welcomedyoufour in?”
“Check the saddles.” Thane gestures to the horses, and both guards make their way around them, studying the brown leather saddles. Each one has a symbol of a circle split into four, and each section of the circle contains an image of an element.
“How do we know they aren’t stolen?” the tall one interrogates.
“How would we have stolen horses from a tribe ofelementalists?” Rynthea asks with a scoff. “They’d have killed us before we could even blink at a horse.”
“Magic,” the shorter one shoots back. “I’m sure one of you wields it. Which one of you is it?”
“I do.” The guards put their attention on Thane again, scanning him thoroughly, possibly seeing him as an even bigger threat. “And I didn’t use any magic in Immalon. They helped us escape a broken bridge. We were wounded, and they healed us, then sent us on our way here, as we’d already planned.” Thane pulls the collar of his cowl lower, revealing the fresh scar on his chest.
The guards look between each other but still don’t buy it.
“Queen Xiaodera told us not to mention we were in Immalon to anyone but the Gadonian council,” I say. “I assume speaking to the guards is safe, too. She values the relationship her tribe has with your city.”
The guards’ shoulders soften, but only a notch.
Then the short one says, “We’ll need to run this by our council. Stay put.”
“Great,” Algar says under his breath as they march off.
…
After a quarter hour, the guards return with two people trailing them. One is a woman, the other a man. A veryfamiliarman. He passes through the gates and looks at Rynthea in both shock and awe. Everyone is always surprised to see a minotaur. As I take in his wavy, dark-brown hair, bronze skin, and the cleft in his chin, there’s no mistaking who he is.
“Enver?” I gape at the sight of my childhood friend.
He fastens his eyes on me.
“Love of Thelanor,” he breathes. “Is that you, Zaira?”
We run toward each other, and he reels me in for a tight embrace. I nearly cry into his shoulder.
“I can’t believe it’s you!” He laughs. “My goodness, it’s been so long!”
“It’s me!” I confirm.
He jerks back with his hands gently squeezing my upper arms. “You look— I mean, how is this possible? You should be in Meriva. What are you doing here?”
“I still live there, I’m just…travelingat the moment.”
“And you’ve come all this way to Gadonia?”
I nod, smiling. “Just for tonight.”
I can tell he has more questions, but when he looks at my crew, he refrains. “Well regardless, this is wonderful. You’ll have to catch me up on everything while you’re here.”
“Should we allow them entry, sir?” the tall guard asks.
“Of course!” Enver waves an inviting hand at us, gesturing for us to come inside. “Welcome them in and get them something hot to eat! This night has just become ten times better!”
Chapter 37
After eating, Enver leads us out of the dining hall and through the city, where the shops, taverns, and merchant stands are still very much alive.
Each building is adorned with brilliant glass bulbs of light humming with magic—a Gadonian invention that only their citizens are able to produce.
