Page 103 of A Wayward Movement

The other man had ignored the exchange, peering into the darkness. “Looks like they’re coming.”

Alina strained to see what he saw, but there was too little light. She reached out with her other sense instead, detecting the Dust stirred up by what felt like the movement of a small number of people. She could feel the unnatural blockage that made it impossible to grasp onto the Dust. Not that she would have realistically been able to harness magic from another human’s movement, anyway.

Soon, her eyes were able to confirm what her senses felt. The figures appeared, slightly darker spots against the blackness of the star-lit sand. Two of them carried something between them. It wasn’t until they reached the group that Alina realized it was a large crate.

Large enough to carry a person.

“Good work, you’re right on time.” The voice was familiar to Alina, but she couldn’t immediately place it. “Any problems?”

“None,” the refinement worker said. “In fact, she hasn’t fought us at all since we met with her aunt.” He sounded suspicious. “Your information couldn’t be wrong, could it? What if the man we’ve been watching was a decoy, and she’s the real one?”

“Not a chance,” the newcomer said confidently. “The prince would never in a hundred lifetimes agree to that. He’s very protective of her.”

Alina shifted slightly, the man’s features just discernible in the low light.

“Blair?” She gasped out the name, and his eyes flew to her, startled.

“Why is she awake?” He sounded angry, an emotion she’d never heard from him.

“Her aunt wanted to speak to her,” grunted one of Alina’s captors. “Like I said, she hasn’t fought at all since then.”

Blair studied Alina’s hunched form. His calm returned, although he still didn’t look pleased at being exposed.

“Of course she didn’t, you idiot, she’s in complete shock.” He sighed. “It can’t be pleasant to find out your family wants you dead, but don’t worry. The rest of us don’t want to waste your life.”

His sympathetic tone made Alina sick to her stomach. So much made sense. She knew now who’d told her aunt that she was Xavier’s point of vulnerability. And no wonder the guard planted in the city hadn’t been taken by the kidnappers. If Blair was in league with them, they would have known all about the trap the team was laying.

“Why, Blair?” she whispered. “Why would you betray your country?”

She said the words hollowly. His duplicity wasn’t capable of doing much damage, not when she was still so numb from her aunt’s much greater betrayal.

“I have no grievance against Siqual,” Blair told her. “Or against those skilled with magic. But our crown is too squeamish. I was serving in Carrack during the recent clash they had with an agent from the continent. He definitely wanted to destabilize Carrack, but he had other goals, too. I was the only one astute enough to explore what they were. The continent is working on a way to store magic, and they’ve made incredible progress already. Imagine what a huge advancement this could be for the Peninsula. But no one here wants to accept that there’s always a cost to advancement. It’s worth it.”

“Even when it’s a human cost?” Alina choked out.

Blair shrugged. “To tell the truth, I don’t know what exactly the cost is, and I prefer not to. No offense. But it’s always better for forward progress if the ones who make it happen don’t see how it’s actually carried out. You can’t make leaps forward when you’re hampered by guilt or other emotional considerations.”

“I can see there’s no risk of that with you,” Alina said bitterly.

“One day,” Blair told her, “the ability to store magic and use it on demand will be widespread and useful to all. And everyone will be glad to forget the cost of getting there. It’s just an unfortunate middle step.”

Anger burned in Alina at the thought of Benji and all the other missing people being used as stepping stones. But she held her tongue. She didn’t want Blair to become suspicious before she reached wherever Benji was being held. She hoped fervently that the linking enchantment was working. Were the team following, even now?

She didn’t even catch the signal Blair gave to the man standing beside the cart. A swift movement was all she was aware of before blackness descended.

Alina woke to a dull pounding in her head. The surface she was lying on was hard, and she shifted with a low moan.

“Alina!”

The hiss brought her eyes open. Darkness met her sight, no shapes discernible.

“Alina, is that you?”

She knew that voice. Benji! She sat up suddenly, only to give a cry of pain as her head hit something hard.

“There’s not enough room to sit up properly,” Benji told her. “Try flipping onto your stomach and shuffling forward.”

She did as he said, realizing as she inched along the stone surface beneath her that the gloom was a little less absolute up ahead. Her questing hands found something cool and hard blocking her way. She realized after examining it with her fingers that it was iron bars.