There was a flap against the tent, and Alysa let her bird back in. He landed on her shoulder.
“Do you speak from experience?” I asked.
She pulled something that looked like dried fruit from her pocket and handed it to Harrow, who attacked it with his beak almost immediately. “Not the same as yours. But Reid and I, well … he told me a lot of things I didn’t want to hear. I didn’t want to believe him, but once I had an inkling of not all being as it seemed, I couldn’t ignore it.”
I nodded, understanding that better than I’d like to. Alysa’s story was different from mine but shared a core. She’d been a daughter of the Blessed. Selected. Then she’d learned the truth about the adamas gem, about how Rodric used the magic of sadness to calm his citizens into complacency. Once she knew, she’d given up everything. I, too, had been unable to ignore everything I knew to be wrong with Kavios after my mother’s accident. I hadn’t been able to talk to anyone about it—it was treason. It’d made for a solitary existence, one that I was certain Alysa had experienced as well, at least before the Storm. Maybe that was why I found the words surfacing.
“He lied to me.”
She gave me a soft smile and waited patiently for me to continue.
“I feel so stupid. How could I have not seen it? I told him things I hadn’t told anyone—ever. And he didn’t tell me the most important thing about himself.” I sighed. “And now, breaking our curse and having a chance at saving Kavios depends on the two of us being able to be vulnerable with each other.” I shook my head. “I can’t do it again.”
Even as I said it, I knew I had to try. For Kavios. And that angered me as much as the rest.
Alysa squeezed my arm. “If it helps, I have a feeling there were very few, even in the Feared, whoknewthe truth. Reidused to be one of them, and he said he only half-jokingly suspected.”
Did it help? I wasn’t sure. The information about Reid was also unexpected. Though if Reid had been the one to expose the truth to Alysa, it didn’t surprise me that he’d been part of the rebel group fifty years ago, when her story took place.
“I’m sorry he lied to you,” she continued. “I can guess that you’re a woman who doesn’t trust easily, but I’d encourage you not to assume everyone will let you down as he did.”
I dropped my gaze as I felt my cheeks heat with shame. Worse, a deep well of hurt reopened in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t deal with this now. We had real problems to solve. “He didn’t let me down. I let myself down by trusting him.”
She narrowed her gaze as the tent flap opened again and Hart and Reid entered. Reid’s gaze shot immediately to Harrow before focusing on Alysa. “Really?”
Alysa shrugged, unbothered by his exasperation. “I needed a moment with Chaos’s Champion. If Harrow accidentally sounded the alarm and sent you to the eastern edge of the camp, what can I do about it?”
It seemed she could do something, because she handed the bird another slice of dried fruit as his reward.
If Hart was annoyed at Alysa’s distraction, he didn’t show it. He pressed her on the supply wagons and when the next wheat delivery was expected. Reid knew all the answers. They watched the roads carefully, likely to ensure no one wandered off the Oldwood Path toward their hidden camp.
Our next chance to enter via a supply wagon was in two days. With that information, I excused myself to find my parents. The bag slung across my body held the fewpossessions I’d traveled with. Now among them were the papers Alaric left for me in Linia.
Hart followed, and as soon as we were far enough away so as not to be overheard by Alysa and Reid, he spoke. “Are you alright?”
I shook my head but answered, “I’m fine.”
His laugh was dry. “I felt your discomfort.” He dipped his chin to find my gaze. “And the sadness was unavoidable.”
“So we’re doing this now? Just acknowledging everything we feel from the other?” I was doing my best not to consider the senses his emotions triggered. I had also ignored the fact that I knew precisely where he’d gone when he left the tent with Reid. If I focused hard enough, I could block out this … awareness.
“Don’t you think we should?” he asked.
I glanced away. “I don’t know. I’m really not sure how any of this is going to work. But if we’re assuming the important locations for the trials are in Kavios, it seems like we have two days before we have to figure that out.”
He raised his hand like he wanted to … what? I wasn’t sure, but he clenched it at his side before I could decide. “Did Alysa agree to help?”
Tactics, I could do. “She needs more reassurance before asking her people to make that choice. If we get closer to breaking the curse, I think she’ll listen.”
“Alright.” He hesitated. “Just call if you need me.” Then he turned and walked away before I could think about how that would work.
Last time Hart brought me here, there’d been maybe fifty people. I would have guessed thirty tents to accommodate everyone. With what Alysa had said, an increase in taking in Kavios, I’d guess there were closer to seventy now. They likely needed to consider moving their camp farther into thefoothills. The surrounding boulders may no longer be enough to hide it. Still, I found Mother in the second row, seated outside their tent. She almost swayed with the breeze across the grass. Her blond hair looked gray in the sunlight.
“Mother, it’s me, Ember.” I searched the area for Father but didn’t see him. It seemed odd. He had never been far from her at home. That had been part of the problem, why I had to start work at the family jewelry shop so young.
“Ember!” she said, opening her eyes. They were bright blue, instead of the dull gray they sometimes turned when she was low on youngleaf. A wide smile crossed her fragile features. “You’re back.”
I nodded. “Where’s Father?”
