“Shh. I’m here, I’m here.” My brother’s outline appeared in the darkness.
I smacked his arm. “Don’t scare me like that.”
“Don’t talk so loud,” he hissed back. “You sure nobody saw you leave?”
“I’m sure. Everyone’s too drunk to see much at all.”
A tall, skinny boy stepped forward then. He looked a little older than us, with shaggy blond hair falling over his eyes.
“This is Xanthias,” my brother introduced him, then motioned tothe small shadow pressed at his side. “And Melitta.”
“I thought there were going to be more of us?” I asked.
Melanthius hesitated. “Some pulled out.”
“Cowards,” Xanthias spat.
“They won’t rat on us, will they?” I asked.
“Nah, they’re cowards but they ain’t no rats,” Xanthias muttered. “Come on. We need to get moving.”
Xanthias and my brother led the horses outside: two giant, dark stallions, the largest I had ever seen. As I went to follow them, a small hand landed on my arm.
“I am happy to finally meet you,” Melitta whispered. I could not place her accent, halting yet sweetly melodic. “Melanthius talks a lot about you.”
Through the darkness, I could only just make out her face—pretty and round, with wide, bright eyes. I noted the way her hand rested protectively over her slightly swollen stomach and was surprised by the sudden rush of emotion clogging my throat.
“Come,” Melitta gently urged. “They’re waiting for us.”
We hurried outside to where my brother and Xanthias were checking over the horses.
“They’rehuge,” I murmured.
“I thought about using the old mares the king never rides,” Melanthius said. “But he’s gonna discover we’re gone no matter which beasts we take. So we might as well take the fastest mounts to get us to the mountains, then we go on foot.”
“We’re leaving the horses behind?”
“They can’t handle it up in the mountains,” Xanthias answered me. “Too steep.”
“That’s why we need to move fast,” Melanthius reiterated. “Get as far away as we can before anyone notices we’re gone.”
“Hopefully that won’t be until late morning at the earliest.” I hid my fear behind a shaky grin. “Callias made sure the wine was strongenough to knock out an ox.”
The last dregs of daylight drained away as we made our escape. Melitta rode with Melanthius, while I was with Xanthias. The stallions galloped over the dry earth, thundering hooves falling into rhythm with my racing heart. The wind screeched in my ears, ripping at my hair and clothes with invisible claws. I buried my face in Xanthias’s bony back, battling the near-constant fear that I was about to fall to my death.
After a time, my legs began to ache, my arms sore from where I had been gripping Xanthias so tightly. When I felt I could last no longer, the horses finally slowed. We were at the base of the mountains now, jagged peaks etched in stark moonlight.
“We’ll go as far as the horses can manage,” Melanthius told us, pushing ahead.
A new kind of terror seized me as we ascended the steep mountain path. Two or three times, our horse stumbled, struggling to find purchase on the loose, rocky terrain. Eventually, the beast refused to move, obstinately ignoring Xanthias’s barked commands.
“Let’s leave them here,” my brother called as he dismounted. “We’ll continue on foot.”
My thighs were on fire, but adrenaline numbed the pain as we broke into a run, scrambling farther up the mountain. Night had fully fallen now, Nyx’s darkness devouring all detail from the world, turning our surroundings into a shapeless, heavy mass. I could just make out the trees crowding close, their spindly branches like veins sparking across the moon-dipped sky. In the distance, a wolf howled. We all pretended we had not heard it.
Xanthias led the way, though I questioned if he truly knew where he was going. Our aim was to walk until we reached the sea, then we would find a way to pay for safe passage to take us far away from this land. A few days ago, the vagueness of this plan had been masked by the thrilling glow of possibility. Now it dawned on me how fragile ittruly was.
But there was no turning back now.
