“You should have told me there’d be one today.” She slowed her steps for a breath until I was beside her once again. “Where is there room for a track? We’re on top of a mountain.”
“You’ll see,” I said, and I found myself eagerly anticipating her reaction when she saw it.
Shazeera, Zara, and I walked abreast while Baz, Zamir, andKestrel followed until the crowd grew so thick we were forced to walk in a single-file line. In that fluidly graceful way of hers, Zara pulled herself onto her mare’s back, and the two followed me so closely that I could feel the horse’s breath on my neck.
“Shazeera said you may ride, too, if you’d like,” Zara said after a few moments, her tone slightly surprised.
“Thank you for the offer,” I said, meeting the mare’s steady gaze, “but I wouldn’t burden you with my weight.”
“She says she was only being polite, so her back thanks you.”
I let out a scoff, but the corners of my mouth were curving up. So, the horse had a sense of humor as much as Zara did. Interesting.
“You speak to Neo like I do Shazeera,” she said after a moment of quiet walking. “But are you close to Neo—closer than fellow soldiers, I mean?”
“He is like my brother—that’s the best word I can think of in the common tongue—but he is much more than that. We’ve been together since he was a fledgling, and I was a child.”
“I understand,” she said, reaching out to touch her mare’s neck. “It’s the same with Shazeera. She is my heart’s sister. We grew up together, too. Each of us is bonded to a horse from nearly the moment we can walk…and ride. Before that, we’re kept with our mother’s horse.”
“Heart’s sister,” I repeated. “Yes, I think I know what you mean.”
“And does everyone have one—an eagle?”
“No. Only those who can trace our lineage to the first Eagle Riders—the ten original men and women.”
Her lips parted in a little O of surprise, and I was momentarily captivated. “We have a similar story with our earth magic. Those of us who are direct descendants of the first six who weregiven earth magic from the Earth Mother herself carry on those bloodlines.”
“It is similar, though, of course, we weren’t given the ability to use magic.”
“True, but flying on eagles seems to be working out for you despite not having magic,” she said with a wry smile.
“There is nothing like flying,” I said with a glance up at the clouds. “The vastness of the sky, the freedom of being so far above the earth that it’s only you, your eagle, and the wind.” I gave her a knowing look when I saw her hanging on my every word. “You enjoyed flying, too, I think.”
A tinge of pink filled her cheeks, and she shot a sheepish look at her horse. “I think it’s safe to say it was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done in my life. The emperor was surprised I felt that way.”
“He asked you about it?” Some unidentifiable emotion flitted through me then, making my shoulders tense. I didn’t realize Altair had spent time with her, enough to talk about things together. And immediately, I admonished myself for the thoughts. Soon, my cousin wouldmarrythe First Daughter. Of course they should talk to each other.
She glanced back to check on where the others were, and when she saw they had fallen back out of earshot, she said quietly, “The emperor has told me of his fears of flying—and the horrible way his father treated him because of it.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised that Altair confessed this to her. There was something about Zara that was calm and trustworthy, like you could tell her anything—any dark secret—and she wouldn’t judge you for it. But the fact that he had grated on me more than I expected. “The previous emperor was a very hardman, and his treatment of Altair took its toll on him. It made him desperate to surpass him as emperor.”
“I can understand the need to live up to a parent’s expectations,” she said. “Though my mother was always supportive and kind. She always thought I would inherit her healing abilities. No one expected me to have the power to call the wind.”
“It’s not an ability that’s passed down in your family?”
She hesitated. “No—not on my mother’s side at least.”
I turned what she said over in my mind, examining it. I had assumed her father was one of the Children of Earth, but this suggested otherwise. “And what of the others who have manifested this power? The ones you warned us would retaliate should anything happen to you?”
She shifted from foot to foot. “We’re not sure of this power’s origin. As we told you before at the peace treaty signing, it manifested in response to the war.”
She looked uncomfortable, which I found curious. What secrets were they hiding about this wind power? Besides the fact that I didn’t quite believe there were many with the same power—despite their efforts to convince me. But before I could decide if I should question her further or not, the noise of the crowd increased tenfold.
We had finally arrived at the race, even though the press of people was still so thick I couldn’t see. Instead of following the people down closer to the start of the track, I led Zara and her mare higher—not just for a better view, but to be in a stronger position to protect her.
“I don’t understand,” Zara said as she dismounted so her horse could haul herself up the steep incline. “Where’s the track?”
“Down there,” I said, with a nod toward the screaming crowd.
