“I have a hard time believing that,” Kasik said, rubbing the beast’s neck fondly. “Here, give me your hand.”
When Nina eyed him skeptically, he said, “Let him get to know you.”
If it wasn’t for the threat of returning to the acllahuasi looming behind her, Nina would have refused. With a sigh, she reluctantly placed her hand in Kasik’s, surprised by the warmth and gentleness as he pulled her closer. She watched as he lifted their joined hands to the achipuma’s nose.
She tried not to stare at the way the golden-brown skin of his arms shifted, the muscles underneath rippling with movement.
“See? Harmless.”
The achipuma’s wet nose nudged her fingers, his whiskers ticklingher palm.Harmlesswasn’t the word she would use, but she could admit that the beast seemed friendly enough.
Nina turned her eyes back to Kasik. The golden disk lying over his chest caught her eye. The sun god’s symbol. Theemperor’ssymbol.
“What did you mean when you said ‘the emperor’s property’?”
The kamayuq sighed and lifted his head, his gaze peering over her and into the tree line surrounding them. “We’ve got a long journey ahead of us and plenty of time to explain as we move.”
“Am I expected to follow you, a stranger, into these strange woods to an unknown location for an undisclosed reason?”
The kamayuq shouldered past her. “Yes” was all said as he walked by. His achipuma followed without so much as a huff. Nina had to step aside or risk being knocked over.
She watched as they walked away. All the way past the acllahuasi, through the yard and to the base of the small hill. Surely, they would stop there and notice her absence. But when they didn’t, Nina took off in a run to catch up, cursing the thin shoes barely covering her feet, the thick robes that threatened her every step, and the throb in her jaw that only reminded her of what had happened the last time she crested that hill.
She reached the tree line without incident, apprehension pounding in her chest. The road was empty save for the walla and his beast. They had finally stopped, and he gave her a passing glance before adjusting the seat on the achipuma’s back. “We should get as far as we can before the rain comes.”
Nina looked up. The clouds were darker than before, and closer. She smelled the tang of stale water on the breeze. She missed her home and the salty air. The sound of the wind through the stalks in the fields. The call of the coastal birds as they spoke to one another.
In the morning, she would put together a plan.
For now, she would ignore the questions she was tempted to ask and enjoy the fresh air on her face after weeks entombed in stone.
“I need you to get on.”
Nina dropped her face from the sky and back to the kamayuq. He was standing an arm’s length from the beast, watching her. Waiting. She glanced behind him to the road, clearly marked and bordered by countless mossy trees for as far as she could see. She didn’t want to admit that the first time she’d ridden an animal of any kind was when they had taken her from her home, and that the experience had left her with a bad taste in her mouth, lest he think her uncultured and easy to scare. Even if it was the truth. “I think I’d rather walk.”
“It’ll be easier if you ride.”
“Easier for who?”
“For both of us.” The kamayuq sighed heavily. “Please?”
The word threw her into a memory of her sister’s hands on her shoulders, the wordpleaselike a prayer from her lips. Nina had rounded the corner to see two boys towering over Sacha, one of them with his hand in her hair, pulling back so that she was forced to look into his eyes.
Let go of her, Nina had demanded.
But the boy only laughed, and his friend, taller and older, leered at Nina.This is none of your business,girl,he’d told her.
It made Nina angry. So much so that she had begun to see a light and thought she was losing her mind. But the light was like a thread, a guide, that led straight to the boy whose hand was on her sister.
She blinked and that thin, golden thread was in her hand. She blinked again, and both boys were on their knees, and Sacha was in front of her, pleading.
I’m okay, Nina. They didn’t hurt me.
Nina had known that they would have. That they might hurt another if she let them go. But her sister was begging, and Nina’s rage was cooling,and those threads were slipping from her fingers.
Let them go, Sister. This is not who you are. Please.
Nina believed her. Sacha had always known her better than she knew herself. The boy and his friend had gone free, and Nina and Sacha went back home. They hadn’t told their mamay. In fact, they had acted as if nothing had happened.
