Chapter 29
“This looks like a good place to stop for the night.”
Ciana glanced around at the small outcropping of trees, all scraggly branches and small leaves. “Really? A little exposed, don’t you think?”
Sebastian shrugged, but there was an uncertainty in the set of his shoulders. “I’m not sure we’re going to get much better, Cee. It’s almost sunset. Besides”—he glanced behind them— “Delaynie looks about ready to strangle Quentin. She deserves a break.”
Ciana twisted in her saddle, a smile spreading across her face. Delaynie sat beside Quentin on the driver’s bench of their small, covered cart, arms crossed and back leaned against the hardwood as Quentin chatted at her animatedly.
“I don’t know,” Ciana said. “It looks to me like she’s having a great time.”
Sebastian grinned. “Well, regardless. This stretch of the marshlands is about as bare as it gets. I think we either camp here or we end up traveling well into the night looking for something that might not be any better.”
He had a point. They’d been traveling south for two days. The desert dunes of Kreah had slowly shrunken, rocks sprouting from the ground before tall grasses and spindly trees erupted beside them. The air grew more humid, moisture beginning to dot the ground in small puddles and pools.
Now the marshes spread around them in all directions, green-gold stalks waving in the damp breeze. It was marred only by small copses of trees like the one they stood under, but even those were few and far between.
As far as Ciana knew, they were still in Kreah, but she didn’t think the Idrixian border was far, either.
“—and that’s why I think the desert sphinxes live in the mountains west of Kreah. Kiira was definitely full of shit; I bet they’re not even that dangerous.”
“If you decide to go find out someday, I’m not sewing you up again after,” Delaynie said as the cart rolled to a halt. She slid from the seat, brushing her auburn hair from her face.
“C’mon, little wolf.” Quentin grinned, following her down. “You’d just let me bleed out?”
“Yes. Without hesitation.”
Quentin pouted. “You don’t mean that.”
“Enough.” Sebastian slid from his horse and strode forward, clasping Quentin on the shoulder and turning him back toward the cart. “Let’s pitch the tents and make camp. The girls will tend to the horses.” He glanced back over his shoulder, giving Ciana a small half-smile and a wink.
Ciana smiled back, doing everything she could to ignore the heat rising in her cheeks.
Delaynie huffed a laugh. “If you keep blushing like that every time he looks at you, you’re never going to convince the Vathan King that you’re there as a marriage prospect.”
Ciana swallowed, sobering instantly.
Right. The real reason Mariah was sending her to Vatha. Not just as an emissary or an ambassador, but as a potential match. The king was young and rumored to be searching for a consort. Ciana, Mariah had been told, was perhaps just his type.
The idea of it had excited Ciana at first. That’s why she’d agreed to it. To flirt with a young king so he would allow them access to his kingdom’s heavily protected archives? That sounded like an adventure.
As the days had passed and the longer she’d spent with her thoughts, the more her anxiety grew.
She’d thought she was ready for this. But so many memories and so much trauma had just been shoved right back into the front of her mind.
Was she really ready?
Ciana heaved a sigh, dismounting her mare and starting to work on the buckle to the saddle and girth.
Delaynie watched her for a moment, not moving. “What? You know I’m right.”
“Maybe I’m just trying to enjoy a few more days of it while I still can,” Ciana said softly. The girth strap came loose, and she tossed it over the top of the saddle.
She’d told Delaynie before they’d even left Desva, needing to confide in a friend.
For some reason, she hadn’t yet been able to tell Sebastian.
There was a tenuous peace between them, some of that old comfort and stability and warmth finally coming back, and by the gods the last thing she wanted to do was wreck it.
She knew she would have to tell him eventually—she would need his help to keep up the ruse.
She just wanted one fleeting moment to know what it all could be. Or maybe what it would be one day when this war was won.
Delaynie’s icy stare stung the back of her neck.
Her friend heaved a sigh and strode for Sebastian’s horse, setting to work on the tack.
The girls worked in silence, a familiar routine they’d settled into these past few days on the road.
Sebastian and Quentin passed them both again, arms laden with the canvas packs of folded tents.
Thirty minutes later, the three horses were untacked and grazing in the tall grasses just beyond the copse, the two tents were pitched, and a fire blazed beneath the straggly trees. The sun was half-set, deep shades of red and amber and orange streaking the sky.
Ciana was chewing a bite of dried fruit and salted pork when Sebastian sat on the stone beside her, his thigh and shoulder brushing hers.
The warmth in her cheeks spread to the tips of her ears, and she had to fight to swallow.
If Sebastian noticed, he pretended not to. Instead, he unfurled a small piece of parchment from his pocket and spread it over his knees, studying it with a furrow to his brow.
Ciana cleared her throat. “Where do you think we are?”
He smiled softly and leaned closer. His warm scent of leather and pine wrapped around her, and her lips parted.
“I think we’re about here.” He pointed to somewhere in the southeast of Kreah. “And based on how we’ve been traveling, I expect we’ll reach the Idrixian border tomorrow.”
“Really? Tomorrow? Already?” Her words came out far too shrill for her liking. Sebastian gave her a curious look, like he was about to ask her what was wrong but decided not to.
“Yes. We’ve made good time.” He folded the map and slid it back into his pocket.
Across the fire, Delaynie stood behind a shirtless Quentin, surveying the still-healing wounds on his back.
She gave him a small tap on his shoulder, and he turned, murmuring something with a wicked smirk.
Even in the dim light, Ciana could see the furious red that spread across Delaynie’s face.
But that didn’t stop her from lifting her chin in the air and striding away, settling herself on the stone beside Ciana with her own dinner in hand.
Ciana met her blue gaze with a raised brow and a bubbling giggle, but Delaynie studiously turned her attention to the fire.
“I would pay some serious coin to know what was going on between those two,” Sebastian whispered. She shivered at the brush of his breath against the shell of her ear.
She turned back to him with another nervous giggle. “I’m not sure any of us really want to know.”
“Fair point.”
Ciana stared into the flames as they crackled and popped around the wood. “What do you think Idrix will be like?”
Sebastian shifted. “Well,” he said, “we don’t know much about it. Even less than we do Vatha, I think.”
Ciana nodded. This was what she remembered, too.
“I think all we have to go on are the merchants who imported goods and foods that only grow there. But you’ve met them; they’re even more tightlipped about their homeland than the Kreah traders are.” Sebastian ran a hand through his hair.
Ciana fidgeted, twisting her hands together. Sebastian caught the movement but didn’t say anything.
“Do you—” She swallowed, then tried again. “Do you think they have magic there?”
Sebastian was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know. But if you want to know more about yourself, looking to Idrix won’t be the answer.”
“I know.” And she did. Those winds danced in her veins, awake for the first time in twenty-one years. They elated her and terrified her more than anything else ever had.
Who was she to have such a gift? That wasn’t her. She wasn’t someone powerful. She was bright and fun and a light to those around her, but strength was not something she ever wanted.
She just wanted to be safe.
A warm, calloused palm rested hesitantly on her forearm. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head with a quick jerk. “No.”
Sebastian didn’t push her further. He never did.
They fell into a familiar silence, watching the fire as the sunset turned to dusk and dusk faded to night. When the stars and moons shone bright above them, Sebastian finally pushed to his feet. “You should get to bed. It’ll be another long day of travel tomorrow. I’ll take the first watch.”
“You sure, Seb? I don’t…mind.” Quentin yawned around his words, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand.
Sebastian chuckled. “Yes, you oaf. Go get some sleep.”
Quentin grumbled but pushed to his feet. His bottle-green gaze landed on Delaynie, twinkling with mischief. “Final offer, little wolf. Before you know it, it’ll be just me and you on the road. Don’t you think we should get a little cozier?”
Delaynie looked down the bridge of her nose at him. “You’re more likely to sleep in the cart than share a tent with me.”
Quentin only grinned, leaning down close to her face. To her testament, Delaynie refused to flinch, though that blush returned to her pale cheeks.
“Good thing I love a challenge, little wolf.” He retreated, sliding between the canvas flaps of the tent he shared with Sebastian. Delaynie released a shaky exhale, slumping slightly.
Ciana glanced at Sebastian; they both bit their lips to keep from laughing. She stood, brushing the lingering sands from her lightweight trousers.
“Thank you,” she said quietly to Sebastian. “For not pushing.”
He smiled warmly, taking a tentative step closer. She could smell him again—everything about him was so comfortable and familiar and safe. The desire to lean in, to fall into all that warmth and never come up for air, was so overwhelming she nearly swayed on her feet.