Kasik pushed off the enclosure and frantically searched for her face among strangers. The wholesome community from before had morphed into a trap. Every tent was a possible prison. Every tool a weapon. His hand automatically went to the tumi at his hip to find it gone. How stupid he had been to let them disarm him so easily. With orwithout a weapon, he would find Nina and he would tear down anyone who got in his way.
There was no other choice. He had given too much of himself to fail Emperor Maicu now.
“Kasik?” He knew it was her before he whirled around. He would recognize her voice anywhere, had heard it even in his dreams. Kasik feared he would never get used to his name in her mouth, the way its hard edges softened, the way it made him want to drop to his knees and beg her to say it again. “Is everything all right?” she asked.
Nina seemed perfectly fine, besides the furrow in her brow as her eyes touched every part of him.She had one hand extended toward him and the other wrapped in her tunic. There were no shadows over her face and her eyes practically glowed with happiness. She was perfectly unharmed. The only danger there washim.
Kasik swallowed and stepped closer. “Can we speak privately?” he asked, glancing at Shayim, who stood a few paces away, watching them with those strange, shrewd eyes.
“Of course,” Nina replied, but her words were hesitant, and she nodded imperceptibly toward Shayim. It was strange how much that small gesture reminded him so much of Samaq. How he knew exactly what Nina was telling Shayim without words. He wondered if she trusted everyone she met so easily, and it was only him she saved her disdain for.
Instead of being worried, he was only annoyed.Jealous.Kasik wanted Nina’s implicit trust. He wanted that wordless language. What a fool he was.
Nina followed him between two tents, past the edge of the clearing and into the line of trees that soared above and blocked the sun. The brush wasn’t as thick in this part of the forest, and there were bright orange-and-pink flowers shooting up from the ground in random clumpsthat spread farther than he could see. Emperor Maicu had the same flowers in his garden at Amaru Kancha, except they were smaller and shorter and more... contained.
These flowers were unrestrained, and they grew stronger for it. It made him wonder what would happen to Nina if she stayed in a place like this.
Hands on his hips, Kasik turned to face Nina. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she leaned heavily on her right leg. Her hair was in two braids, one over each shoulder, the ends tied with a thin piece of twine. In her dark eyes, he saw himself reflected.
“I think it’s best if we leave sooner than we planned,” Kasik said quickly. “Tonight, if possible.”
“What? Why?” Nina’s eyes narrowed. “We agreed to wait,” she said. “You needed to gain back your strength, and I told Shayim I would listen to what she had to say.”
“I think you’ve heard plenty.” Kasik gestured over her head, back toward camp and the chatter and bustle of people and life. “And what she has to say matters very little to our plans.”
“Why are you being like this?”
“In case you’ve forgotten, they took us against our will, beat me, threatened you, and are keeping us captive. I’m not being anything other than reasonable.”
He saw the way Nina pulled away from him, and he prepared himself for what she was going to say. This was the look exchanged between her and Shayim. This was the thing he did not know and would not like. “I want to stay,” Nina said in a rush.
“Stay?” Kasik repeated like the fool he was.
“I know we agreed to leave but I need to—”
“What youneedto do is listen. You cannot stay.” Nina opened her mouth to argue, but Kasik stepped closer and bent so that they were ateye level. “Do you think the emperor will not find this place when he comes looking for you?”
“That’s the thing,” she said excitedly. “Shayim explained that with her attay, she’s able to change perception. The camp is hidden from those who do not know of it. That’s why they were so surprised when they found us, and why they were so eager to know how we had foundthem. We are meant to be here, Kasik. I know it.”
How Kasik wished he could carve her smile into his skin. He knew his next words would tear it apart and he would likely never see it again. “No, Nina. You knownothing. We were only led here because the achiyanga set us off course. This was an ill-fated coincidence. Nothing more.” Kasik straightened and pinned his gaze over her head, afraid that Nina would be able to hear the lie in his voice. He hardly believed his own words, but he knew that if he did not say them, he would lose this fight. In fact, he might lose it regardless. “If I leave you here and return to the emperor empty-handed, do you think he will not demand to know the truth?”
“You canlie. It’s not that difficult.”
“Just as you’ve lied all this time?” he said sharply. Nina’s mouth snapped shut, and he stepped away, unable to curb his hurt. “Did you ever plan to return with me, or were you simply biding your time for the perfect opportunity for escape to present itself?”
“If that were the case,” Nina said, her voice just as sharp, “I would have let you be eaten alive by the achiyanga. Or not bothered to heal your wounds.”
“I think you did those things to appease your own conscience. But what will happen when my death, and the deaths of all these people, are on your hands simply because you refuse to accept your fate? I cannot lie, Nina. If the emperor asks a question, I am bound by my duty to the empire to speak the truth.”
“Well, I am not.” She crossed her arms and stared into his eyes. Shewas unyielding in that moment. “And I never agreed to your plans, or the emperor’s. I want to make my own choice. I want to stay here. I want to befree.”
“These people are notfree,” Kasik spat. “They are trapped by their choices just as you and I are. These trees are the bars of their cage, and when the emperor finds it, because he will—attay or no attay—they will all be burned for it. I watched him murder his brother in cold blood to get what he wanted. You are a fool if you think what you want matters.Youare what the emperor wants, and he will never allow you to slip through his grasp.”
Kasik’s chest heaved with the force of his words. They were just as much a reminder for him as they were for her.
Nina said nothing in return, but the way her eyes shifted between his, soft with seeking at first, then hard with determination, exposed her every thought.
Who are you?her tear-stained eyes said.
