Chapter 2 #3
“I’m fine.”
“You were nearly eaten.”
“I noticed.”
Esa ignored her. Her hands moved down Imani’s arms, checking for blood, torn fabric, burns, anything the adrenaline might have hidden. She crouched to inspect the graze along Imani’s hip, pushing aside the damaged fabric before Imani could swat her away.
“Esa.”
“Stop being difficult.”
“I’m always difficult.”
“Yes. It’s one of your more dependable qualities.”
The pixie took Imani’s face between her hands, turning it one way, then the other. The examination slowed when she reached Imani’s brow.
“Something is different about you,” she murmured, staring at the empty space where Imani had glamoured the crown.
Esa’s observation dried her mouth. She debated whether to tell her the truth, then, before she could change her mind, swiped her wand over her face.
The illusion fell away, and for the first time since dropping from the trees, Esa truly looked spooked. Leaves and branches tickled Imani’s head as another gust of wind wove through the vegetation.
Esa’s hands dropped. “This is… well, this is surprising.”
Imani reached up and touched a petal. “Indeed.”
“What happened to make you leave?”
Imani blew out a breath. “A great deal.”
“Tell me.”
“I don’t want to talk about all of it.”
Esa studied her, then gave her a curt nod, a small mercy that made Imani’s chest ache.
“I let Kiran see the crown,” she said. “And he decided I was dangerous. He… he was never going to let me go.”
“That sounds like him,” she muttered. “And then?”
Rubbing her thumb over the Drasil, Imani deliberated. She could barely think about what happened between her and Kiran, let alone speak it out loud.
Esa merely waited.
“We parted ways,” Imani said eventually.
A scoff escaped the pixie’s mouth. “You expect me to believe Kiran simply let you walk away?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“What happened to you?” Imani asked, desperate to change the subject.
Esa pushed a lock of blue hair out of her eye and exhaled through her nose.
“When Magnus died, the binding broke. The one tying us all to Niflheim. I felt it disappear during the attack. One second it was there, the next it was gone. Everyone was running, screaming, trying to figure out who was alive and who was dead. I decided waiting for someone to bind me again would have been foolish.”
“So, you escaped.”
“I escaped very quickly.”
“How?”
“Through a service passage, over a wall, stole a cloak, nearly froze to death, threatened a stable boy, stole his horse too.”
Imani blinked. “You threatened a child?”
“He was seventeen and extremely rude.”
“That makes it better.”
“I thought so.”
They both exchanged an amused look.
“I came south,” Esa continued. “I thought you would come back to the Draswood eventually. You always return to places that hurt you.”
“That is an offensive observation.”
“It’s also accurate.”
Imani pressed her mouth into a hard line but didn’t reply.
“I waited by the eastern settlements,” Esa went on. “Watched the roads. Listened to rumors. Yesterday, villagers started talking about a woman matching your description. Then this morning, there was a commotion close to one of the inns.”
Scraping a hand down her face, Imani suppressed a groan. It hadn’t been one of her finer moments.
“Yes. Very subtle.”
“I was being hunted. I’d like to see you escape perfectly under such pressure.”
Esa gave her a look, then waved her hand dismissively. “I followed your trail into the forest.”
“You tracked me?”
“I tracked everyone looking for you and went the opposite direction.”
“Clever,” Imani mumbled.
“I know.”
Her hand closed around Esa’s wrist before she could think better of it. Esa glanced down as her eyes narrowed. But Imani did not let go.
“You came for me,” she murmured.
“Of course I did. I still need your help getting to my brother,” Esa huffed.
Imani knew about Esa’s ulterior motives, but she still came. “I don’t know what happens next,” she admitted.
“Neither do I.”
“Helpful.”
“I can lie if you prefer.”
“No.”
Imani finally released her wrist and straightened her cloak, giving her hands something to do.
Esa pushed her hair off her face again and pointed through the trees. “We should keep heading east.”
Imani followed the direction of her hand. East would take them farther into Draswood, away from the settlements, roads, and open stretches where Kiran or Tanyl’s hunters could find her more easily. The deeper forest would be harder going, but that was precisely the advantage.
Kiran could search from the air all he wanted, but beneath miles of overlapping canopy, roots, ravines, and Norn magic that already recognized her as its own, she had a place to disappear.
More importantly, the chapalus had just proven what happened when the Draswood perceived something near her as a threat. Leaving that protection for an exposed road would be foolish.
“Deeper into the forest,” Imani said.
“Exactly.”
“Then east.”
They left the disturbed clearing behind and pushed farther beneath the canopy in silence, but Imani’s thoughts were loud in her head.
Whatever had happened in Niflheim had changed too much for either of them to pretend they were simply resuming where they had left off. Yet Esa had come looking for her. Imani had let her see the Crown of Life. Neither had demanded more than the other could give.
For now, that trust would have to be enough.