Chapter Ten
I had my skullcrusher in my hand as we moved across the tall, waving grasses.
The one advantage to this route was the lack of cover for any Hollows wanting to attack.
Trees were sparse. In fact, golden grass waved lazily in the midday sun as far as I could see.
This grass was green during the wet season, but it was dry and brittle now that the dry season was upon us.
I wouldn’t have minded except the dryness made the grass blades sharper.
I’d pulled my gloves on to keep my hands from being cut.
The day was warm but not overly so. The chill of the morning had burned away, and the sun beamed enough heat that I did not need another layer of clothing.
I was thirsty, though. My throat ached constantly, and it was natural to want to slake that rawness with water.
But I hadn’t seen any sources of fresh water all morning, so I drank from my flask sparingly.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Gaz and Nize still behind us. Dropping back, I walked beside them. “Are you well?” Gaz asked.
“Thirsty,” I said.
“I wish we’d brought some of Theud’s ale,” Nize joked. “Watery as it is, I’d take it right now.” He increased his pace and fell into step beside Finnrey, who had been quiet all morning. Gaz and I walked in companionable silence for a few minutes.
“Do you want water from my flask?” he asked.
I glanced at him. We’d been on patrol many times before, and he’d never offered me water or treated me any differently from the others. “No,” I said.
He nodded, and I thought back to our kiss on the balcony the night before the Claiming Rite.
Had it only been two days ago? So much had changed since then.
Gaz wanted me, cared for me. I cared for him too, but I couldn’t dwell on my feelings or I’d spend the entire journey feeling dejected and morose.
I had to keep alert. But I wanted Gaz to know I was still the same person I’d always been, and I did not need him to take care of me.
“Do you want a drink from my flask?” I asked.
He smiled. “I have plenty. Surely there will be a brook or pond where we can refill our flasks. The farms we passed looked healthy enough.”
We’d passed the farms in the morning and hadn’t seen any for the last hour. I glanced at the unending dry grasses and wasn’t so certain water would be plentiful. “How long until we reach the outposts?”
“Jolen said they were about a day and a half from Highcastle. But we aren’t on patrol and can move fast. If we’re lucky, we’ll reach the first outpost before dark.” He glanced up at the sky, judging the time. “I thought we’d see more settlers.”
So had I. The main purpose of the patrols was to keep settlers and farmers in the outerlands safe from Hollows.
Few settlers meant few patrols, which might mean more Hollows.
But Taio had said they’d not encountered any on their journey to Highcastle.
I studied the Zulenii ahead of us. They had fanned out, hammerlike weapons at the ready.
They seemed vigilant and ready to fight, if necessary.
“What do you make of those weapons?” Gaz asked quietly. We always spoke quietly when outside the castle walls, but he’d lowered his voice even more.
“The handles are shorter than I’d like,” I said. “They will have to be quite close to a Hollow to make contact. But that also gives them more power.”
“True. The blunt ends will do damage, but they’ll have to strike more than once.”
I nodded. “They’d do better with a sharp end.” I hefted my skullcrusher. “Still, we were told the Zulenii were mere singers and dancers. Clearly, we have more to learn about them. I should say, I have more to learn.”
Gaz gave me a quick look, and I saw the flash of anger in his eyes. “I’d go with you if I could.”
I wished he could come with me too, but I didn’t want to give either of us false hope or dwell on what could not be. “Thank you for saying that and for journeying with me. You didn’t have to agree.”
“I didn’t think twice about it, Mara. You shouldn’t have to go with that barbarian. The least I can do is keep you safe and out of his clutches as long as possible.” He spoke with such passion that I allowed him a few calming breaths before I spoke again.
“Whose idea was it for you and Nize to kill him if Cameed lost in the arena?”
“I don’t remember.” His voice was oddly flat as though he wasn’t trying to hide that he was lying.
“I’m sure you don’t. Was it the king’s idea or my mother’s?”
“I’d better not answer that.”
“My mother’s then. She doesn’t think of anything but her own desires.”
Gaz’s eyes flicked away for an instant, and I wondered if I had guessed incorrectly. “Gaz, you do know if you’d killed the prince, you’d have to kill all of them.” I gestured to the other Zulenii. “That would be a stain on the honor of Earsleh.”
“Somehow I think the king would have forgiven us.”
“And the people? You could be cast out for such a violation.”
“The people have short memories and will listen to your father if he says the Zulenii deaths were necessary.”
So I was not the only one to realize how often my father told his subjects only half-truths. I’d expected Gaz to be more upset by my father’s behavior. He had always seemed to value honor as much as me.
“The concern was the reaction of Zulen,” Gaz continued, clearly speaking of some discussion he had been part of with my mother or father or both.
“But Zulen has no means of knowing their people arrived at Highcastle. For all they know, the Hollows attacked their precious Taio before he even neared Highcastle.”
I glanced at Gaz. His hard gaze was fixed on Taio’s back. My belly knotted at the look in his eyes. I’d seen him look like that on patrol, right before attacking a group of Hollows. I shouldn’t have brought him. Taio had been right not to trust him.
I grabbed Gaz’s arm and turned him to face me. “Listen to me,” I hissed. “I don’t know what you have planned, but I will not be part of it.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Do you want to go to Zulen, Mara? Are you looking forward to becoming that barbarian’s bride?”
“No, but I lost the Claiming Rite—”
“Damn the Claiming Rite.”
My eyes widened. To damn something was a serious statement in our kingdom and not said lightly.
The Hollows were damned because they were monsters and unholy.
Gaz was always the sort of person who followed rules and protocol.
I was the impulsive one who threw all of that aside. Now it seemed the roles were reversed.
“What do you think you can do at this point?” I demanded. “Kill him?”
Gaz raised his brows, his gaze still fixed on mine.
“Oh, gods. Gaz, have you gone mad? You are not a murderer!” I kept my voice low, glancing over my shoulder to see the group was a few yards ahead of us now. “Murdering a person is—”
“The Greatest Taboo,” he said. “I know our laws and taboos. He”—Gaz jerked his head toward Taio—“isn’t one of us. His people have no code of honor. Their eyes are strange, their skin is too pale. They’re too tall.”
I stiffened at this last observation.
“The Zulenii are people, Gaz. How can you even think of doing something like this?”
Gaz grabbed my hand. “You’re right, Mara. I am not a murderer. I’m angry.”
I blew out a breath.
“I shouldn’t speak when I’m angry.”
I wanted to believe Gaz had let his temper get the best of him, that he was just talking and had no intention of really hurting anyone.
He squeezed my hand. “Mara, I’ll always take care of you—"
We heard a shout, and I jumped guiltily.
But the group wasn’t looking at Gaz and me.
They were looking up at the sky where a pair of large black vultures circled in the distance.
I had seen their kind before. They feasted on death and were often present after the Hollows finished with one of their kills.
The vultures never ate the Hollows, though.
If a patrol killed one Hollow and had to pursue others, it was sometimes hours before we could return to burn the first. The vultures always stayed clear.
I’d never once seen a vulture circling a dead Hollow.
Morll said Hollow flesh was poison as it was already rotten and decayed before we ever put them down.
From the smell of them, I was inclined to agree.
I didn’t catch that sickly sweet smell now, which gave me even more reason to believe this kill wasn’t a Hollow.
The tall grass obscured whatever it was, but Gaz took off at a jog to reach the place.
Taio and the Zuleniis followed. Finnrey waited for me.
All the walking today had helped my sore muscles, but I was still tender in places.
“I don’t like this,” she said.
“I don’t either.” I didn’t mention that I liked the conversation I’d had with Gaz a moment before even less.
If we wanted to survive this journey, we had to protect each other and work together.
I wanted to trust Gaz, but I was starting to realize that nothing I’d believed about him or my father or Earsleh was what I’d thought.
Was Finnrey who I thought her to be? I glanced at her, but she pointed ahead.
“They found it.”
The group had formed a half circle, and Finnrey and I joined at the end. “What is it?”
“A deer,” Nize said. “I saw a picture once in a book.”
The creature had long, slim legs, brown fur, and a small tail. I couldn’t tell much more than that as it had been gnawed through in places.
“Hollows killed it,” Gaz said, pointing to marks on its flank. “Those are from teeth.”
I’d seen the work of Hollows before and agreed with Gaz.
One or more Hollows had caught the deer and feasted on it.
That didn’t surprise me. The surprise was seeing the deer at all.
I would have been reassured that a deer could have survived in this area—if it hadn’t so clearly been taken down by Hollows.
“The kill is still relatively fresh,” Finnrey said. “Maybe a day or two ago.”