Serik chews the inside of his cheek. “You realize this is outrageous? Not to mention dangerous?” I fold my arms and stand taller, gathering up every shred of ammunition I can think of to volley back at him, but a sly grin creeps across his face and he claps. “Which is exactly why I like it. Let’s raiseanotherrebel army and find ourselves a missing king.”
We skirt around the city center and down to the river. My feet hesitate when they reach the wheel-riddled streets of the grazing lands. The shepherds won’t be glad to see me, and they definitely won’t want to follow me—not without Temujin.
“Do you want me to go first?” Serik grabs my elbow, but I shake my head and take a decisive step forward. I’m done hiding in the shadows. I’m done trailing behind like an obedient dog. From now on, I think for myself. Speak for myself.
Trust in myself.
With a nod of encouragement, Serik falls in beside me and we advance across the frozen fields. With every step, I let the night peel away, fluttering to the ground like fall leaves until we’re standing, exposed, in the middle of the grazing lands.
The shepherds huddled around their cooking fires murmur and point. As the gasps escalate to shouts, more and more people pour from their tents. I want to draw my hood or retreat behind my hair. But I raise my chin and let them look. I let them see the good and bad, the fair and ugly. All of it.
All of me.
“What areyoudoing here?” someone demands.
“Did you come to incinerate our camp like the Sky Palace?” another shepherd jeers.
Serik lunges forward, but I grab his elbow and pull him back. “I came to guide you to safety,” I say with far more conviction than I feel. “Zemyans have infiltrated the capital. Sagaan will fall and you will fall with it, unless you come with us now.”
The majority of the multitude stares as if slugs are dripping from my mouth. A few outright laugh.
“Where’s Temujin?” several voices call. “If what you claim is true, shouldn’t he be leading us?”
“Temujin has joined ranks with the Zemyans. The aid he provided was not as selfless or as noble as it seemed.”
Cries of disbelief and disapproval pelt me like arrows. A good portion of the crowd turns away. My breath goes with them, sucked from my belly as if jabbed by the butt of a saber. The burning hollow it leaves hurts even more than expected.
“You’ll be the first to perish!” I yell. “The Sky King made it clear he won’t protect you. And Temujin’s help extends only so far as it benefits him. I’m begging you, let me lead you to safety. To freedom and a better future.”
“And where exactly is this ‘better future’?” a sardonic voice presses.
The question is clearly a mockery, but I answer anyway. “In Verdenet! We will reinstate King Minoak. And prepare to make a stand against Zemya.”
The laughter is so loud, it slaps me across the face.
A bone-thin man steps forward. “Do we look prepared to ‘make a stand’ against an army?”
“Not to mention we won’t survive the journey!” another disembodied voice adds.
“Actually, you will.” Serik steps forward and raises his hands. When nothing happens, he waves his arms and pumps his fists. The shepherds start snickering and Serik’s ears turn pink. “I’m still hammering out the kinks,” he grumbles. After another unsuccessful minute, the crowd turns away.
“Blazing, burning skies!” Serik slams his hands to his sides with a growl and a torrent of heat blasts across the grazing lands, rippling just above eye level. For several glorious seconds, it feels like a summer’s day.
The shepherds wheel back around. A stampede of people rushes toward Serik, grabbing at his hands as if he can distribute warmth like ration sacks.
“Whether or not Zemya attacks, you won’t survive the winter here,” I say. “But with us, you’ll at least stand a chance.”
The shepherds exchange furtive glances. Their scoffs become hushed conversations.
“We can’t just march a caravan this size across the grasslands to Verdenet,” a woman calls. “We’ll be caught fleeing. Or the soldiers in Verdenet will kill us on sight.”
“So we’ll make sure they don’t see us,” Serik says, throwing me a sly glance.
I bite my lips together and look down at my hands. A few short months ago it would have been impossible. I had relinquished the power of the sky. I had consigned myself to Ikh Zuree and given up all hope of reclaiming my former life. Of unburying Enebish the Warrior.
But now …
I am prepared and well practiced. I ferried hundreds of warriors across the grasslands. It may not have been for the purpose I originally intended, but itwasfor a purpose.
