“Exactly. So let him check the perimeter and keep an eye out, too. I’ll be right behind those trees. Shouldn’t take long. I only have to?—”
“No.” He grimaces. “I don’t want any details, sister, thank you. Go on, hurry up. I’ll wait for you to sleep. If Sedrig wants tokeep watch, that’s fine. I’ll take the next one. Remember not to go far.”
“Yes, big brother. I’m just going to those trees over there.” I stick my tongue out at him, and grab the satchel, a reflex move because I don’t trust Olm with either man. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”
Then I drag my tired feet over to the thicket.
I’m not a prude but I’m relieved to have some privacy. I’m lucky it’s not that time of the month, or I’d have suffered. Bleeding is no joke, much less so on the road.
Lifting my skirt, I crouch down and relieve myself. I’m getting up when a twig breaks nearby, startling me.
Straightening, I let my skirt drop over my legs and turn, my heart pounding. “Eis? Is that you?”
A boot crunches on dead litter and a tall man appears, only it’s not my brother, despite the same fair hair.
“Sedrig.” I swallow hard. “Found any wildcats?”
“Only you.”
I take two steps back, clutching the satchel to my side. “What do you want? Can’t a girl have some privacy?”
He laughs, a low sound. “We’re in the wilderness, girl. There is no privacy. And I know what you’re here for.”
“Leave.” My back hits a tree trunk and bile rises in my throat. “Eiras will hear us and be here any moment now.”
Sedrig keeps advancing, cornering me. “Sure. But first give me the magical book. Give it here.”
“No.”
“You’re heading for the Library of Areon. You two are crazy if you think that’s a good idea, and I’ll save you the trouble. Give me the book.” His head tilts to the side. “Such books are worth a fortune. Warlocks can master the monsters. They make great weapons.”
“You don’t know anything about these books. They have entire worlds inside them. Master them? Ha. You’re the crazy one.”
In the stark starlight slanting through the branches of the trees above, his face appears twisted and… are those horns growing from his head?
“Dark fae,” I whisper, panic rising in a swift tide, drowning me. “You’re dark fae. Oh Gods…”
Eiras must have heard him. He must have wondered at my delay. He’ll come find me. All I need to do is get away from Sedrig.
“I’m one of those fae “infesting” the mountains, like you said.” His mouth stretches in a too-wide grin. “You know stories, so you think you know history. My people had to flee the plains and cities and hide so they wouldn’t be killed or thrown into the dungeons. It didn’t matter whether they were innocent or not. The new regime abhorred real magic. Only those with barely any power were allowed to live in peace.”
“Your kind enslaved my kind for centuries.” I’m backtracking, my shoes sinking in the soft soil. “That’s why you were forced to flee. And now, with your magic so misshapen, your kind has become monstrous, shifting into beasts and trees, and you’re still coming after us.”
“I’m impressed.” The glint in his eyes says he’s really not. “Now give me the book. I never thought I’d stumble across such a treasure on these deserted paths. Give it here, girl.”
In my panic, I do the only thing I can think of: I whirl about and start running. As if I can outrun a fae male. In the woods. On unknown terrain. The twinkling stars can only offer so much visibility.
With a loud curse, he runs after me, steps thudding. A chase. It’s a familiar situation. A familiar rhythm. I fall into it without much thought.
Thieving means I have done a lot of running in my life and my legs are strong. They serve me well, even tired as they are from all the walking I’ve done today. I race through the thicket and out the other side, then down a gentle slope to a stream. Keeping an eye out for finnfolk, I splash across it, but it’s shallow, so probably not preferred by the eldritch.
More than once I think I can still hear his footsteps pounding after me, but after a while, they fade. Has he lost me in the starlit landscape? With his keen fae senses and his magic, he shouldn’t have trouble finding me.
Unless Eiras caught him. My chest tightens at the thought of my brother in danger, but if I head back… then the book might get to them, persuade them to take it to the palace, and who knows what it will do?
I stopped running a while ago, slowing down to a walk. I don’t know where I am, except I’ve gone up and down hills and had my yellow dress caught in thorns and bushes. The air smells of pungent herbs and wet soil. Animals scamper away as I drag my feet.
At last, I come to a halt. The mountains loom over me, a line of jagged, black teeth. The plain is behind me. I could just turn around and walk back.
