Despite his eye color, this was the most human he had appeared in the short time she had known him. He no longer seemed so foreign. Her grin grew,wanting to stare at his softly glowing face for an eternity.That’s a dangerous line of thought, Iyana.The smile fell from her face.
She sighed dejectedly as she stood. “Well, we should probably go. I still need water, and I have no idea how long it will take us to get back to my village. I don’t even know where I am…” Altair seemed as reluctant to move as she was, but stood with impossible grace.
“Getting back won’t be a problem,” Altair said. He smoothly pulled her to him. Lifting her from her knees, he cradled her gently against his chest. Her arms instinctively found their way around his neck, and she noticed his scent was earthy, like soil after a rain, with a muted sweetness reminding her of ether. He glanced down at her with a wicked grin.
“What are you—” she began to ask, but then the desert was passing by her in a blur while Altair appeared to not be moving at all. Iyana glanced at his face, which was currently blank without emotion, and back to the passing scenery. A moment later, they halted abruptly on the outskirts of Imothia. Altair set her down on her feet. She swayed, dazed, then fell to her knees and immediately vomited onto the sand.
Chapter 6
Emmeric
Emmeric narrowed his eyes at Imo. “What do you mean I’m not going home? Is that a threat?” He paused a moment as another thing she had said struck him. “How did you know my name?”
The old woman chuckled, waving her hand dismissively. “Goodness, no, boy. Do Ilooklike I could threaten you?” He surmised she was going to ignore how she knew his name.
He glanced her over once more, assessing for potential threats. “Others would say no, but I think you have some tricks that would best me if I tried anything.”
Again with the soft laughter. “You’re smart. You’ll need that.”
Millions of follow-up questions burned inside him, but something told him he’d only get more cryptic answers in response. Imo hadn’t been the most forthcoming person so far. He couldn’t understand why he was being held hostage instead of being executed, what their plans were, if Imo was sane or not, and if anyone he knew was still alive. Talon was on the forefront of his mind again. Also, what in the nine hells had the shooting star been about? He renewed his efforts to slip his bonds with a vigor he didn’t previously possess. Something was about to happen. He’d been feeling it down to his bones since the raid began.
“Can you tell me if any of the men I came here with have died?”
Imo regarded Emmeric shrewdly for a moment that stretched into eternity. Did she notice he was trying to free himself? “You care for those murderers?” she eventually asked.
“I care for one, but he is nomurderer.”
“Your prince,” Imo stated knowingly, nodding her head.
Emmeric shook his head emphatically. “No, not the prince. Although I’d appreciate if you didn’t tell him that. It could get me arrested for treason.”
Imo appeared genuinely shocked at this revelation, then broke into a wide smile. Her teeth were all still in perfect condition, and blindingly white. “In answer to your question, all but one left here alive.”
His heart sank in fear. Visions of Talon dead in the sand flitted across his brain. Imo noticed his terrified expression. “Oh,” she said. “A lover, perhaps?”
Emmeric’s eyes snapped to hers. “What? N-no,” he stuttered. He coughed lightly, trying to tread around such a question. “Uh, no, not a lover. Just a—a long-term friend.”
Imo winked at him. “Such things are not taboo here in Istora. I have known many a man to take other men into his hut.”
“Look, he’s a childhood friend, okay? A brother. Nothing more than that.” He felt as if his face was on fucking fire. Imo was slowly nodding to herself. She probably thought he was lying. He tried to recover from his embarrassment. “Can you describe the dead man?”
Imo shrugged. “He was older than you, younger than me. Around fifty years of age, gray hair. Sound like your… friend?” She raised an eyebrow.
A deep breath that came from the depths of his soul shuddered free. “No, that’s not him.” His lack of caring for a fellow soldier unnerved Emmeric, but as long as it wasn’t Talon…
“What does he look like, thisfriendof yours?” she asked. Imo definitely thought he was lying.
Talon’s laughing face crossed his brain, and Emmeric couldn’t help the grin the image brought forward. Shit, he wasn’t helping himself with the ‘not lovers’ angle. “He’s got long, bright red hair and blue eyes, but a lighter shade than mine. He’s usually smiling or laughing, but probably wasn’t in the context of last night. And he has a tattoo, same as mine.” He angled his left arm towards Imo to show the blue dragon twining around his arm.
“I saw him,” she said. “Unlike you, he actually was helping people out of their burning homes and ushering them away from the rest of you.”
Godsdammit, Talon.Emmeric had talked to him about this. They both wanted to help instead of hurt, but they had agreed to be mostly bystanders unless their life was in danger. Tal shouldn’t have actively helped evacuate the villages. It was reckless, a surefire way to earn a noose around his neck. Emmeric only hoped nobody had seen.
Imo nodded pensively at his silence, then her eyes became distant. She turned her head as if she was listening for something in the distance. Finally, the ropes loosened around his wrists. As the blood came rushing back into his fingers, he bit back a hiss of pain. He couldn’t let Imo know he was free. He opened and closed his fists slowly, trying to ease the pain, while holding on to the rope so Imo wouldn’t see it fall. Her head snapped back to him.Oh shit, I’m caught.He tried to hide any possible guilty expressions.
“My granddaughter has returned. Come.” She stood slowly on creaking knee joints and walked out of her hut without him. She called over her shoulder, “And do nothing that will cause me to restrain you again, boy.”
Emmeric followed Imo outside, rubbing his wrists. There were definitely going to be bruises tomorrow. She had shuffled away from her hut, not looking back—seeming to trust he’d follow without question. Glancing around, he mentally debated with himself about making a break for it. No other dwellings or people were nearby—only desert and cactus off into the horizon. It was then that he noticed a girl on all fours vomiting profusely. There was a tall man next to her, and he was—was he shimmering? It must’ve been the heat waves from the desert floor. The sun was rising higher bringing an oppressive heat. Emmeric began to sweat. The foreboding feeling he’d been carrying since the night before intensified.
