Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
“What are you doing?” Xavier protested, anger flaring in him at the sight of Alina being manhandled. His guards had never tried to act as chaperones before. It was no part of their role to spoil his sport.
The guard didn’t answer him, his words directed to Alina instead. “I must insist that you refrain from using magic craft on the prince,” he said in a hard voice. “If you do so again, we’ll be forced to take you into custody.”
Xavier made a noise of angry protest, but Alina’s moment of defiant control was over.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice was breathless, her eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to be threatening. It was only intended as a joke.”
“You did nothing wrong, Alina,” Xavier said, still glowering at his guards. “My nursemaids need to remember their place.” He assumed his sternest voice of command. “Which is at a respectful distance.”
The guards withdrew under the force of his glare, although they remained more focused on Alina than was necessary.
The worst part was that she’d become subdued, her fire extinguished for the moment.
They kept walking, skirting around the unstable quarry and examining the final row of cobaltite molds.
These weren’t currently in use, and looking more closely, Xavier realized that several of them were cracked.
He was just examining one when a yowl of disapproval preceded the sudden appearance of Zuzu.
The anzu seemed spent by her flying efforts, and when Xavier held out his arms, she landed in them with a flop. Her reproachful eyes made him laugh.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he told her. “You’re the one who wandered off, not me.”
He looked up to find that Alina had gone further than he realized, her steps taking her away from the final row of molds and toward the open desert. She was alone, his guards hovering close by him.
“Where are you going?” he called.
She half turned her head as she replied, but it wasn’t enough for him to catch her words before the wind snatched them away. He moved toward her, and one of his guards cleared his throat.
“Your Highness, I don’t think you should leave the camp alone.”
“So come with me,” he said coldly, still angry about their earlier behavior. “Isn’t it your job to ensure no harm comes to me?”
Not waiting for a reply, he jogged forward, Zuzu swaying on his arm as he caught up to Alina.
“Where are you going?” he repeated, once he was alongside her.
“I could have sworn I saw movement just past the broken molds,” she said, her eyes fixed on unremarkable sand ahead of them. “But when I got closer, there was nothing. Just some scuffles in the sand. Then I saw it again, but every time I look properly at whoever it is, I lose sight of it again.”
“Whoever it is?” Xavier repeated. “You think someone is hiding out here?” He scanned the area. Where could someone be concealed?
“I don’t know,” Alina said. “It might be nothing. I just wanted to investigate. I won’t go far.”
“There!” Xavier pointed, his attention caught by a glint from up ahead. “Did you see that? Like the sunlight reflecting on metal fastenings, perhaps.”
“I didn’t see it,” Alina said eagerly. “But I believe you. Should we check it out, or get more guards?”
“We’ll lose it for sure if we delay,” Xavier said. He glanced behind him, reassuring himself that the two guards were close. “Let’s just go a little closer.”
Zuzu gave a dissatisfied mewl, but she remained in place as they hurried across the sand.
The wind was setting in steadily, the top layer of sand blowing against their ankles in a near-constant assault.
It was disorienting, and Xavier knew it could make retracing their steps difficult.
They shouldn’t go far, even with his pair of guards.
When they reached the place he’d seen the glint, there was no sign of anything. Alina looked uneasily around, her brow furrowed in concern. Following her gaze, Xavier was startled to see no sign of his guards.
“Where are they?” he murmured.
“I don’t know,” said Alina. “We should head back, right?”
Xavier agreed, some instinct prompting him to reach for her. Alina started when his hand closed on hers, shooting him a look of inquiry.
He gave a lopsided smile. “I don’t want to lose you, too.”
She nodded, still looking unnerved, and her fingers relaxed in his.
The sensation did something strange to his midriff, but he had more pressing concerns.
Like the fact that he couldn’t actually see the refinement site.
They must have traveled further than he’d realized.
He started forward, only to have Alina’s grip tug against him.
“Where are you going?” he protested.
“It’s this way, isn’t it?” she said.
Xavier shook his head. “I think it’s this way.” They came to a stop, both uncertain. Xavier raised his voice, calling his guards by name.
Silence.
“There.”
Alina pointed with her free hand, and Xavier saw it, too.
A flash through the swirling sand, like the afternoon sun glinting on a weapon.
That must be his guards. They moved confidently forward, dismayed to reach the place and once again find nothing.
A stir of movement in the corner of Xavier’s eye made him turn, but all he could see was sand.
In every direction, just innocuous, vegetation-less sand, glowing in the afternoon light.
“I don’t like this,” he said.
“Me neither.” Alina sounded nervous. “I’m so sorry I convinced you to come and investigate. How could we get lost so quickly? I thought we stayed close to the site.”
“I thought the same,” Xavier reassured her, squeezing her hand. “This isn’t your fault. And I’m not sorry I came. Otherwise you’d be lost out here alone. At least now we’re in it together.” He paused, then added, “Us and Zuzu.”
The anzu purred, settling more comfortably into the crook of his arm.
Xavier didn’t like the fact that between the bird and Alina’s hand in his, he had no free arm to draw his sword if needed.
But there was no way he was letting go of Alina’s hand.
He was sure it was the only thing that had kept them from losing each other like they’d lost the guards.
“Do we stay still, or move forward?” Alina asked.
Then she gasped. “There! One of your guards, I saw him!” She tugged Xavier forward, and he followed obediently.
They ran across the sand, the occasional movement catching his eye as well and giving him hope that they were going the right way. But once again, they found nothing.
“I’m sorry,” Alina said again, her voice wretched. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me! I was so sure…it was like a compulsion, I had to follow…”
Her words trailed off as they stared at each other, comprehension finding them both at the same time. Xavier let out a groan.
“Alicanto magic,” said Alina, her free hand covering her eyes in a moment of embarrassment. “I’m such a fool. The glints we saw were the lights of their eyes. They lured us one way, and the guards another, probably.”
“I’ll never hear the end of this,” Xavier sighed.
“One day in the desert, and I’m already falling prey to alicanto magic.
I should have known better, but it’s just so ingrained to think of it as a nighttime peril.
I know the workers told us they’ve been coming out during the day, but I didn’t even think of it. ”
“Me neither,” said Alina. “But they got us, no question. I don’t really understand it, though. Their wings are supposed to flash silver or gold, depending on what they’ve eaten. How could we miss that in the full sun?”
“Because they’re not eating silver or gold,” Xavier realized grimly. “They’re eating chameleon steel, which doesn’t resemble either. Instead, it has—”
“Camouflaging properties.” It was Alina’s turn to groan. “So their wings can blend with the surroundings now? That will be of great interest to a number of researchers, I imagine.”
“And they can research it to their hearts’ content once we’re no longer lost in the desert with the infernal things,” Xavier said dryly.
“So what do we do?” Alina asked. “If we keep trying to find our way back, we’ll just get more lost, right?”
“I suppose we should stay where we are, and wait to be found,” Xavier said. “Surely we didn’t go too far.”
“There’s no telling,” Alina said uncertainly. “I’ve always been told that alicanto confusion blurs your sense of time along with direction.” She looked around. “The light seems to be fading. Surely it wasn’t close to evening when we left the camp?”
“I still think we should stay where we are,” Xavier said. He flashed her a grin. “Someone will find us. You may not know this, but I’m considered quite important. I imagine a few people will be looking for me.”
She shook her head, but there was a smile on her lips as well. When she started to withdraw her hand, Xavier intertwined their fingers, gripping more tightly.
“Don’t abandon me,” he said plaintively. “If you let go, they’ll lure you away from me, and I’ll be stuck with no one but Zuzu.”
“Once you realize it’s alicanto magic, the spell is broken,” Alina said impatiently. But she stopped trying to pull away. “I don’t think they’ll bother us anymore.”
The words were barely out before something clanged into Xavier’s metal bracer with enough force to knock him sideways into Alina. They both stumbled, only just avoiding falling onto the sand.
“What was that?” Alina demanded.
He had no chance to reply before he was assaulted again, the clash of something against his bracer accompanied by a sharp pain. He looked down to see a hole in the metal, his arm exposed.
“They’re eating your bracer!” Alina gasped.
“Well.” Xavier felt a spurt of ill-timed mirth as he was swooped again. He grinned mischievously at Alina. “This could become awkward.”
“How can you possibly flirt at a moment like this?” Alina cried, as a second camouflaged alicanto performed a nosedive onto Xavier’s shoulder.