Meena continued shaking her head. “It doesn’t have to be too late.”
“No,” the man used his orb to gesture toward Meena.
Her instincts wanted to flinch but she inhaled sharply to cover her own movement, hoping he hadn’t seen her fear.
“I didn’t mean right here in this situation,” he continued. “I was talking about the state of things as a whole.” His hands, still holding the orb, made a small arc at eye level to emphasize his words.
The arcing motion reminded Meena of the way Celesta said her name with her hands. And that reminded her that this man was looking for Aizel. “Are you from Istroya? Your green eyes remind me of ...” Meena snapped her mouth shut.
This Majis was likely sent from Gareth to assassinate Aizel, so Meena knew she shouldn’t reveal anything about her friend to the intruder. It seemed most everyone wanted to kill Aizel, simply because she was Majis. Except this man here was a magic-wielder as well. Shouldn’t that mean he would be Aizel’s ally instead of enemy? Meena reined in her racing thoughts, knowing she had said too much already.
“You do know too much already,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “What do my green eyes remind you of?”
“They’ll be looking for me in a moment,” Meena replied, as confidently as she could. “They sent me to grab some items, which shouldn’t have taken long, so they’ll miss me.” Her confidence wavered as she realized she was trying to convince herself, not him.
“They sent you to grab items from this tunnel?” His eyes darted up and down the empty tunnel again, which was completely bare of anything except dirt and dust.
Meena almost rolled her eyes. If it was one of her brothers, they would tease her mercilessly about such a useless excuse. The stranger seemed to have actually believed her.
“It was less to grab and more to put,” she said. The longer she talked, the more time she would have to come up with an escape plan. She lifted her shoulder, showing off the small chest under her arm. “I was going to place this further up the tunnel, but the wind called me further in ... I mean, theyarelooking for me.”
“The wind?” He was peering at her again, quite intently.
“Forget it.” Why had she mentioned the stupid wind?
“The wind called to you?”
“Do you ever stop asking questions?” Meena asked.
“What did it say?” he asked another question.
If it wasn’t for the serious tone of his voice, Meena would have thought he was making fun of her. Before she could respond, she heard another set of footsteps. This time they were coming from the entrance on her side. She exhaled in relief. Whoever it was would be from the castle. Maybe someone had seen her descend into the tunnel, or happened upon the open door in the hall and had come down to investigate.
Pushing herself off the wall, she repositioned her weight so she could break into a sprint—away from the intruder. “I told you they were looking for me.”
But the stranger was no longer paying attention to her. He immediately extinguished the light in his hand.
More than willing to take her chance in the dark, Meena dashed forward. Before she had taken a single step, a firm hand caught her wrist, holding her in place.
“I need you.” His quiet whisper sounded like barely more than a scratch in the dark.
“I doubt that,” Meena whispered back. Then, realizing she was not the one in hiding, she opened her mouth. “I’m here!” she yelled.
The hand on her wrists tightened, pulling her backward. “You said they know you’re here.” His voice was both confused and ironic.
“And there’s a strange Majis with me!” she yelled.
A light glowed in the far distance, and Meena twisted her wrist, straining forward.
The footsteps increased in pace, and Aizel dashed around the corner. A magical orb of light glowed between her two hands.
As soon as he saw her, the stranger stepped forward, keeping his grip on Meena’s wrist and pushing her to his side.
“Watch out!” Meena yelled to her friend. “I don’t know if he’s dangerous.” She stopped trying to escape, and instead leaned against the stranger, trying to use her weight as a shield for her friend.
“Sol?” Aizel slid to a stop, looking between Meena and the intruder.
“Aizel?” Sol pushed forward, easily sidestepping Meena’s attempt to hold him back.
