“Well, it was someone identical to you. And for that alone, I think we should listen to her, don’t you?”
I sigh, closing my eyes. A rock pounds at my temples. I can already tell a brutal headache is coming on. The last thing I want is to comply. I might have agreed if he hadn’t chained me without warning. Now, anger heats my veins, and my magic tingles at my fingertips, aching for release.
It would be so easy to kill him. If only it would get me what I need.
I force the anger down. “Fine. I’ll help you escape. But you have to swear something to me.”
He arches his brow.
“Hate the Order all you want,” I say, “but leave the innocents alone. Swear you won’t use your power against Caer Draen. Don’t bury the city in ice.”
His eyes darken. “They’re still parroting that lie, are they?” He shakes his head. I start to ask him to explain, but he continues before I can speak. “I swear I’ll never harm an innocent, whether in Caer Draen or the world beyond the sea. Happy?”
My teeth click as I shut my mouth. He’s done what I asked, though I still feel uneasy. Maybe it’s that I’m chained to the infamous exile beneath a churning twilight sky, shivering as the wind tears across the hills like a horde of wild beasts. I stare past him at the darkening horizon. Not far from here, the Order waits, ready to ensnare him.
“If this is what you insist on doing, then so be it,” I mutter.
He leads me to the horses, the chain clinking and swinging between us. I have no choice but to accept his help mounting, glaring his way as he positions my hands around the saddle horn. Once he swings onto his own horse and secures the other end of the chain to his saddle, we take off down the narrowing road.
Neither of us speaks for the first mile. I’m sure he can tell I’ll snap off his words if he tries, like that seagull pecking at the man we’ve left behind.The poor bastard.The image of him, sagging against the gnarled tree, shudders through my mind. And suddenly, all the fight bleeds out of me.
This mission has gone spectacularly wrong. How will I ever face the High Swynwragedd again? I can already hear the whispers echoing through the halls. Not only am I a wild beast who needs to be chained, I’m a useless one.
A bitter laugh rises in my throat. Looks like I did end up chained, after all. Just as I always feared.
“Why are you carrying around chains?” I ask. “Where did you even get them?” Then I shake my head. “No, wait. Don’t tell me. You planned on taking me captive all along.”
“I’ve been carrying them for a while, as a precautionary measure.” He sighs heavily. “And no, I didn’t plan to take you captive at first. You just caught me off guard. The Twin Talons Inn was the last place I suspected to meet you.”
I frown. “Because a girl in your dreams told you to avoid Caer Draen.”
“It wasyou, Swynwraig,” he says, his voice rough. “Trust me. I know your face better than I know my own.”
I press my lips together, lost for words. No matter how much he tries to explain it, I find his story impossible to believe.
A deep navy glaze covers the sky, melting into the sea. We continue down the winding path that cuts toward the coast—and the cliffs, where the Order will be waiting.I fold in on myself, wishing the hours away. But the closer we get to the cliffs, the harsher the wind blows.
At the next rise, the northern tip of the island juts out before us and ends abruptly, like a blade has sliced off the land. Far below, the sea churns, spitting froth into the air. We slow as we approach it.
“Have you ever been to the shore?” Taliesin asks, finally putting an end to our strained silence.
“The northern one? No.” Like most elves, I’ve avoided it my whole life. The Order never patrols this stretch, and even the rebels dare not settle here. The southern ocean is safe, but the waters here will scour your flesh from your bones.
“It’s a lie,” he calls over the wind.
“What is?” I ask.
“The sea.” He shifts on his horse to face me. “The waters call to those on shore. From afar, they seem inviting, like a lover’skiss. But then you realize your lover is your greatest enemy, waiting to stab you in the heart.”
A shiver goes through me. I’ve felt the sea’s pull. No matter how aware I am of its danger, my heart lifts whenever I look at it. How could something so beautiful be so deadly?
But I know why. Everything that plagues the elves of Gwalia began on Culling Day. Our gods died, the stars abandoned us, a quarter of the elves died, too. And the northern sea turned venomous. It all happened in a single night.
The sky rumbles then, like it’s voicing its displeasure at Taliesin’s words. The exile frowns up at the bulbous clouds. The air feels thin, like it always does just before a storm. I’m certain he can feel it, too.
Taliesin unhooks the chain and swings out of the saddle. “We’ll need to leave the horses here. The path ahead is too dangerous for them.”
My fingers tighten around the saddle horn. “Are you certain you want to do this?”
