16. Zai
Zai
Kestrel’s chatter grated against my nerves, a constant stream of nonsense about the trees, the path, the sky.
I rounded on him. “Do you want every monster within a league to hear us?”
His mouth snapped close. Finally.
We followed the trodden path in blessed silence. I had no idea where we’d end up, but it had to lead somewhere eventually. Or so I hoped.
Several candlemarks dragged past. My broken ribs ached with every step. Keeping my bolster active all day would exhaust me, so I only wrapped myself in the soothing numbness when the pain grew too unbearable.
My stomach twisted with hunger, and judging by the audible growls behind me, so did Kestrel’s.
Neither of us had anything to eat, and the only creatures in this forsaken place were the kind with too many teeth and horns. I’d sooner starve than taste monster meat.
The sun melted into the horizon as the winding path finally unfurled into a clearing where a cluster of houses sagged against one another between the crooked trunks.
Star shells dotted the roofs and windowsills—spiral shapes the size of fists, their soft glow painting the walls and trees in an eerie green hue.
Pinpricks of white light shimmered across their surfaces like tiny imitations of the night sky.
Star shells came from lurils, the cavern-dwelling invertebrates native to the northern mountains.
As they grew, they shed their shells and formed new ones.
The discarded spirals continued to glow for years, sometimes decades, and served as popular decorations throughout the Kingdom.
Though I’d never seen so many in one place.
Someone must have gone through considerable effort bringing them here.
As if the green glow wasn’t creepy enough, half-rotten monster carcasses lay scattered between the buildings, filling the air with the stench of old death.
Voices drifted from the largest building, presumably an inn. Every instinct urged me to stay away. This seemed like the kind of place where you’d get stabbed for looking at someone the wrong way.
“Civilization!” Kestrel’s face lit up like a kid at a festival. “Do you think they have food? They must have food, right? I’d eat just about anything at this point—”
He sprinted toward the inn before I could stop him. Groaning, I followed him inside.
Lamplight flickered across scarred tables where a few shady figures hunched over mugs. A rough-looking barkeep tracked us with narrow eyes, like she expected us to steal her dirty towels.
Kestrel leaned against the bar, all smiles. “Whatever you’ve got hot, we’ll take it.”
The barkeep grunted. “I’ve got stew. Ten nuggets. Each.”
I reached for the pouch Iz had given me, prepared to hand over the entire contents for a bite of food.
But Kestrel’s voice pitched up. “Ten nuggets? What do you serve for that price? A luxury feast for royals?”
I frowned as he launched into negotiations like he was bargaining for his life. Eventually he got the price down to five nuggets a meal.
He turned to me with an expectant look. “You don’t happen to have five nuggets to lend me, do you?”
The barkeep groaned. “All that, and you don’t even have the money?”
“We have it,” I growled before Kestrel barged into another rambling fit.
Careful not to reveal its contents, I opened my pouch. It was filled with nuggets, gems, and even a few crystals—more than a palace servant earned in a month. My sister had really gone above and beyond.
I dug out ten nuggets and slid across the counter. Since I’d been willing to pay a lot more for one meal, covering Kestrel’s expenses only seemed fair.
The barkeep ladled watery stew into two chipped bowls.
We dug in without bothering to find a table.
I’d never eaten anything that hadn’t been prepared by palace cooks, and the stew was thin and bland, yet I devoured every drop.
After an entire day without food, it tasted better than any royal feast ever had.
Between spoonfuls, Kestrel peppered the barkeep with questions. She loosened up and told us how most people here were runaways with nowhere else to go. Decades ago, outcasts had rebuilt the settlement from the remains of a ghost town that had been abandoned after the rift appeared.
They’d strewn star shells around the perimeter since their glow kept monsters away. No one knew exactly why. Occasional attacks still happened, and the wielders among them had learned to fend off the beasts, but at least they’d carved out a way to survive.
When we finished the meal, Kestrel bargained for a room and secured one for a handful of nuggets, which I paid without a word. The barkeep showed us along a dim corridor to a cramped room. I stumbled into one of the many beds, too exhausted to care how shabby and dusty the place was.
Three days crawled by in a haze. I slept most of the time while my wounds and broken bones knitted themselves back together. Each moment I spent in the despicable excuse for a bedroom had me longing for the silken sheets of my own bed—the ones I’d been so quick to dismiss when I’d left the palace.
When awake, I talked to the locals, trying to gauge whether anyone could help me track down the Dual Wielder. But none of them seemed remotely interested in what happened beyond this scrappy place.
Kestrel tried to convince the locals to hire him, but they refused, claiming income wasn’t good enough to pay an extra hand. He never asked me for anything, but I kept paying for both of us. I’d probably have paid double without him anyway.
On our fourth night at the inn, I stared into my bowl, weighing my options. I couldn’t stay here any longer. If no one would help me, I’d have to venture out alone. I had to complete my mission, with or without allies.
Kestrel leaned his elbows on the bar and coaxed the barkeep into another story. She was halfway through a particularly nasty beast attack when the door slammed open.
A group flooded inside, loud and rough, moving with an easy swagger, as if they owned the place. The barkeep immediately abandoned us to tend to them.
A middle-aged woman entered last, wearing a wide-brimmed hat over brown curls spilling down her back. She carried herself like she’d fought a hundred duels and won them all.
My chest tightened as memories flooded me. “Tera?”
She froze, eyes snapping to me. The room went silent.
Swallowing, I forced myself to continue. “It’s me, Zai. Zaivareth. You used to train me before—”
Before she was accused of stealing from the royal coffers and sentenced to death. Before she fled. Before Mother died. Before everything cracked like brittle shale.
Her voice rang out, clear and sharp. “Oh, I remember you, sun prince.”
Gasps rippled through the room. Every eye swung toward me. Kestrel’s jaw dropped so wide it might unhinge.
Tera stared at me with narrowed eyes. “But even more, I remember your family. Or rather—how I stole from them.”
Grinning, she raised her hands in triumph, and the room erupted in cheers.
She strode to the bar and rapped her knuckles against the wood. The barkeep slid a mug of ale across to her without a word.
“That’s right.” She lifted the mug high. “I stole from the Sun King to give to those in need!”
The crowd roared.
She rounded on me, her grin vanishing. “Until your brother caught me and your father sentenced me to death.”
The room fell silent, air crackling with tension.
Smirking, she turned back to her audience. “But I escaped and forged a new path onboard the Skydagger.”
More cheers.
“Now we do what we can to keep helping people in need. Isn’t that right, crew?”
They erupted louder than ever, fists pounding tables.
“That’s right, cap’n!” one of them shouted.
Captain? Of course she’d ended up leading this ragtag crew of sky pirates.
I’d never heard the part about her giving the stolen money to people in need. But of course, I wouldn’t have. A story like that wouldn’t have served what Father considered best for the Kingdom.
I couldn’t have been older than fifteen the last time I saw her.
Back then, she had no husband or wife, no children to care for, no family she ever talked about.
She’d lived in the palace and devoted herself to training, eager to climb in ranks among the palace masters.
She’d never struck me as someone who cared about the poor.
Probably because she’d kept it hidden to avoid getting caught.
She faced me again. “What about you, sun prince? I heard you’ve been exiled. What did you do to deserve that?”
I met her steely gaze head on while my mind raced. How much should I reveal? Considering the crowd’s cheers at her barbs against the royal family, I decided to follow the same route.
“I questioned my brother’s cruel strategy.”
The room fell deathly quiet.
I chose my words carefully, leaving out how Father had promised redemption if I found the Dual Wielder. Instead, I focused on the part where Val had challenged me to a duel and beaten me bloody until Father intervened and exiled me instead.
Tera crossed the space between us in three quick strides. For a heartbeat, I thought she’d strike me. Instead, she clasped my shoulder. “Welcome to life as an outcast.”
Laughter and cheers exploded around us.
“I always liked you, Zai.” She pulled me into a hug, giving my back a few rough pats. “How about you join our pirate crew for a while? We can always use another wielder.”
Before I could answer, Kestrel bounced forward. “Kestrel! Pleased to meet you, Captain. Tera, was it? I’m with him. Zai, that is. The prince, I mean. Sun Prince Zai. We’re pals. Where he goes, I follow. Right, Zai?” He beamed at me.
I raised a brow.
Tera glanced between us before her assessing gaze landed on him. “Are you a sun wielder?”
“Nope.” Kestrel’s smile never faltered.
“Then what do you have to offer?”
“Besides being an excellent entertainer, I can also cook!”
“We already have a cook.” She jerked her chin toward one of the tables. “Orrin.”
A wiry man with a rounded belly raised a finger. “I’ve told ye, cap’n, I’m no proper cook.”