“Yes,” he replies. “And then there is the danger of the blight in the east.”
“Which we’ll encounter either way?” I ask. “Given that we have to travel east for either option.”
He nods, continuing to study me with his bronzed eyes.
It suddenly feels as if he’s testing me.
As if the option I support will tell him something…But what?
“You would prefer the more dangerous option?” Gallium asks him.
“I think we can handle the danger,” Thaden replies swiftly. “I don’t like the delay in reaching Asha.”
I turn to face the south, even though I can no longer see the fae encampment from this location.
Thaden seems confident they won’t pose a threat to us and if I don’t support him, I’m worried it will be obvious I don’t want him to reach Asha to “help” her.
On the other hand, I’ve already shown him that I no longer care about her safety.
Or… if he thinks I’m acting out of hurt because I believe what I said about the darkness of her power… Is he trying tomakeme care about her?
My forehead creases as I peer back at him, aware that he has the ability to hear how fast or slow my heart beats.
It’s just as well that I learned to live a life of subterfuge. Humans taught me to hide my emotions, to blend in and disappear. For many years, Gallium and I even dyed our silver hair to brown, so we didn’t stand out. We both learned the value of being invisible and compartmentalizing our emotions to control our responses.
Where he stands, now behind Thaden, Gallium gives me a shake of his head, his green eyes conveying his worry. “It’s achoice between our safety or Asha’s.” He arches his brows at me. “I know which choice she’d make for us.”
“The safer path,” I murmur.
But which wouldIchoose if I were really angry with her?
I tip my chin. “Then we take the so-called dangerous path. We go through the fae encampment.”
Thaden’s eyebrows rise. He looks genuinely surprised. “You would choose that path just to spite your sister?”
“No.” I turn the corners of my mouth down. “Because it’s the smarter path. I’ve spent the last two days in Queen Karasi’s pocket. She has showered me with gifts and treated me like some sort of pet. I don’t fear passing across land controlled by her army. And as for the rest of the journey, we don’t know what else lurks in these mountains. The wasteland around the Cursed City taught me that the environment is constantly changing. The longer we’re out in the open, the more dangerous it will be. So, to my estimation, going south first is safer.”
If the blight that exists in the east is anything like the Sunken Bog outside the Cursed City, then it’s far more dangerous than any fae.
By the way Queen Karasi described the blight that had taken over her lands, it’s far worse than the Bog. She showed the first signs of real emotion, true horror, when she spoke of it.
The longer we take traveling through it, the more dangerous it will be. Thaden is stronger than I am—and Gallium is stronger as well. I need to be smart in my decisions.
I can’t help Asha if I’m dead.
I tip my head at Thaden. “Why are we still standing here? I thought you wanted to move fast.”
His forehead creases as he peers at me for another moment. There’s a question in his voice. “I was certain you’d rather leave your sister to her fate.”
I press my lips together again. “Just because the best option for her is also the best option for me doesn’t mean I’m choosing it for her.”
He tilts his head, an acknowledging gesture. “Okay, then.”
Gallium points in the direction of the encampment. “Let’s at least pass on the eastern side of the camp. Going through the center would be foolhardy. I scoped out pathways leading from the castle yesterday. There’s a narrow pass farther along this way that circles behind the castle and then leads back down the mountain. It’s winding and dark, and I don’t think the fae use it, but by my calculations, it should let out on the eastern side of the fae camp.”
Gallium’s eyes meet mine as he passes me, already headed in that direction.
His fleeting smile tells me he trusts me.
