Shiori’anma, most beloved daughter of the emperor. Princess of Kiata. It had been so long since I felt like my old self that I had forgotten the rest of my titles.
I’m not telling anyone who I really am,I thought to her, dusting the ashes from my arms. I spied my satchel buried in the snow, and I knelt to pick it up.
What?
I’m not staying.
Takkan was with the sentinels, loading Hasege onto the wagon to be brought back to the castle dungeon. I could hear him shouting orders, occasionally stealing glances at me. He probably thought I was going back with him, too.
I wasn’t. I needed a horse to catch up with Guiya. The closest one was Admiral, and as I began to mount him, Takkan arrived at my side.
I could tell he had a thousand questions for me, but instead he held Admiral’s reins, keeping the horse steady.
I ignored his help, pulling on the straps of the saddle to hoist myself up onto the seat. Admiral grumbled, but he didn’t resist. He no longer feared me.
“Don’t forget these,” Takkan said, handing me the cranes his sister had folded.
I thanked him wordlessly, slipping the paper birds into my satchel.
Once I was saddled and strapped, I parted my lips to bid Takkan farewell, but he jumped onto Admiral’s back behindme.
“What are you doing?” I protested.
“What does it look like? I’m coming with you.”
“I don’t—”
“You can’t expect to steal my horse and take off without me.” He kicked Admiral into motion. Takkan’s voice hummed against my ear. “Besides, I have a story I think you may like.”
A story?
Kiki landed on my shoulder. I half expected her to scoff and complain that Takkan would only slow us down. But she didn’t.
“All right,” I agreed, ignoring the flutter in my stomach as Takkan reached for the reins. “Tell me on the way.”
We followed Kiki deep into the Zhensa Forest. Snow was drifting down from the pine trees. It was difficult to talk while the wind blustered, but I could feel the questions weighing on Takkan’s mind.
By the afternoon Admiral needed a rest, so we settled by the south bend of the Baiyun, where the river grew wide.
Don’t take too long,Kiki said, flittering around our heads.I’ll search the skies for your brothers. They should have caught up with Guiya by now.She lingered to make one last quip:This is a rest stop, not an opportunity to flirt with Takkan now that you can speak.
Takkan led Admiral to the river, letting him drink to his heart’s content. I needed a rest too, though I refused to admit it aloud. For someone who’d nearly been burned to death at the stake, I was doing surprisingly well. But when I caught a whiff of the smoke that clung to my clothes and hair, my shoulders shook.
“It’ll get better,” Takkan said softly, observing me. “It’ll take time, but rest will help. Water will, too. You must be thirsty.”
Iwasparched. I hadn’t realized until he mentionedit.
I drank greedily, handful after handful. Nothing had ever tasted so wonderful in my entire life, and I soon had a stream running down my robe.
“Slow down,” Takkan said, laughing as he shook his head. “The river flows all the way to Gindara. There’s plenty more, even for a thirsty thief like you.”
I wiped my mouth with my sleeve. “Don’t you have questions for me? Like why I had a bowl on my head, and why I couldn’t speak?”
“What is there to know?” he responded. “All that matters is that you’re alive. I thought I’d lost you, Lina.”
I melted to hear his voice so achingly tender. I hadn’t thought I’d ever be capable of melting, not before this moment.
I blamed the shortness of my breath on drinking too quickly, but that didn’t explain why my knees buckled or why Admiral snorted behind us, merrily slurping the river water. The snow was melting from the trees and dripping onto our shoulders. The world around us seemed to fade away; all I saw in this instant was Takkan.
