“We need to be on the road within the hour,” Kadin said over his shoulder, interrupting the debate. “Or sooner. The moment the king discovers our absence, he’ll have the guards out searching for us. We need to be long gone before then.”
I wrapped my arms around my legs, staying quiet and letting the men forget I was there as they re-told the stories from each of their viewpoints.
Even an hour felt too long.
If King Gaspar found Amir’s guards, and they found me here... I shivered in the cool morning air.
The sky grew lighter as we entered town through the main gate, nodding at the guard as we passed by.
It’d be dawn soon.
Once we were out of hearing range, Kadin pulled the horses to a stop beside the wall, climbing into the wagon bed to join us, all business now. “Arie, Naveed, go pay for the lamp.” He handed Naveed a bag full of coin.
Though he didn’t waste time thinking on his decision, I still knew what it meant. He didn’t trust me to go on my own yet. I supposed I deserved that.
I stood to climb down after Naveed, accepting his hand. Though he couldn’t speak, his smile was encouraging; at least his opinion of me hadn’t changed.
“Illium and Ryo will take the wagon around the bend,” Kadin continued, “and pull off into the foliage to wait for us.”
The older man nodded, but didn’t stop whittling. Ryo jumped into the front and grabbed the reins. “You got it, boss.”
Kadin hopped down onto the road, landing softly on the stone beside me. “Daichi, Bosh, you’re with me. We’ll gather everyone’s belongings and meet at the wagon.”
I nodded along with the others.
“No mistakes this time,” Kadin added. Without another word, he turned away from me, leading the big man and the gangly teen off into the narrow streets.
Naveed took us to the auctioneer and gave me the coins. Though the auctioneer yawned at the early hour, complaining we’d pulled him out of bed, he was quick to give us the lamp and take our payment.
My fingers wrapped around the simple green-glass lamp, expecting to feel a sense of its magic or power of some kind, but it felt like any other oil lamp with cool glass that warmed to my touch.
I handed it to Naveed even as we walked out the door, hoping to earn some trust if he told Kadin later.
The only true difficulty was pretending not to understand Naveed right away, even though his thoughts were so transparent to me.Let’s go to the wagon now.He pointed toward the city gates, miming what he wanted.
“Um, I’ll just follow you,” I said, as if unsure.
When we reached the wagon, the others were already waiting.
Ryo clicked for the horses to take off and we were bouncing along the road out of town only seconds after climbing in.
I settled onto the same bale of hay in the corner where I’d been before, watching Naveed hand the lamp to Kadin.
The men fell into conversation, and I relaxed as the sun rose, enjoying the rarity of no one thinking about me, until I felt Kadin staring.Not bad at all.
When I glanced up, he gave me a small smile. Even though he didn’t mean for me to hear the thought, I still felt heat rise in my cheeks until I was sure I was bright red.
For a split second, I imagined what it might be like to live like this—free to do whatever I wanted. Be whoever I wanted.
But it didn’t last.
The road behind us stretched off into the distance, reminding me that I was only traveling further and further from home and the people who needed me.
Pressing my lips together, I swore to myself that the next time I saw Gideon, I would find a way to ask him for help. My Gift was a death threat and Amir’s was a weapon; Gideon could solve both problems.
“It’ll be two days before we reach Baradaan,” Kadin spoke up. His thoughts revealed that the men already knew, but he was telling them again for my sake. He was uncomfortable with me now that he knew my secret, but was trying not to let on.
He turned back to face the road and whatever lay ahead of us.
