Chapter 13 Tobias
Tobias
“Our next step is a rescue?”
His mother’s words were level, but her furrowed brow revealed her doubt. Tobias couldn’t blame her. The five of them could barely rescue themselves. How were they going to rescue countless others?
He and Leila had discussed the dilemma through the night, grappling with the insanity of it all.
More soldiers patrolling the realm. Servants killed for dissenting.
But Leila had risked Her life to save Tobias’s family, and he wasn’t about to falter when Hers was on the line.
It was an impossible mission, but it was necessary.
Whether the others could be convinced was another issue entirely.
Raphael shook his head. “I’m sorry, how many people do we have to rescue?”
They circled the blackened wood of their firepit, all eyes on Leila. She sat poised, but Her shoulders were stiff. “A lot.”
“That’s not very specific,” Raphael said.
“The staff who remain loyal to The Savior. Who reject Brontes’s plan and thus fear for their lives.”
“And that’s how many people?”
“She said a lot,” Tobias cut in.
Raphael pursed his lips. “Fine. We rescue a lot of people. Then what?” He gestured to the brush around them. “Are they supposed to caravan with us through the woods? Because hiding five people is hard enough, let alone twenty.”
“It’s definitely more than twenty,” Leila said.
“More than twenty?”
“This isn’t up for negotiation,” Tobias asserted. “Their lives are in danger, they need our help, so we’re saving them. End of discussion.”
“These are My friends. My family.” Leila scanned the group with a fervent gaze. “Delphi, Pippa, Mousumi, Hylas—”
“Who’s Hylas?” Raphael asked.
“The point is, they matter. I’m not leaving them to die.”
Raphael opened his mouth to speak, then stopped short, grumbling something under his breath. “All right then. What do we do with them?”
“We find a place for them to hide,” Leila said. “Somewhere safe.”
“If we knew of a safe place to hide, wouldn’t we be hiding there currently?”
“It’s two birds with one stone.” Tobias spoke over Raphael. “We find a safe space for all of us.”
His stern tone had silenced the opposition for the moment. Meanwhile his mother and sister glanced at one another, then at Tobias, visibly apprehensive.
“And the army?” his mother said.
“On hold until then.”
Leila’s carriage remained tall, but the waver in Her words wasn’t lost on Tobias.
A voice inside urged him to take Her hand and ease Her worries, but he resisted.
She was a queen, and comfort would only demean Her title.
Perhaps the longing was in part for him.
Their entire journey, however well-intentioned, had been riddled with disaster.
What were the odds this task wouldn’t be more of the same?
Naomi ended the silence, picking at her dress much like Leila always seemed to. “So . . . what now?”
Leila stewed on the question, biting Her bottom lip. She turned to Raphael. “How close are we to the nearest town?”
“About five days’ travel if we’re consistent.”
“We don’t have that sort of time.”
“Is shadow walking a possibility?” Tobias’s mother asked.
The group fell silent. Tobias was out of his depth venturing through a part of the realm he’d never been to before, and his mother and sister were surely the same.
Before his mind could dip into dark places, Raphael spoke.
“If You bless me, I can get us nearer to civilization,” he said.
“I’ll use the route I traveled when searching for You as a guide. It’ll take us off course to Trogolia—”
“Which is fine.” Tobias shot a warning glare Raphael’s way.
“And once we’re in town?” Naomi asked.
“You’re not going into town,” Tobias said. “None of you are.”
Leila’s face fell. “Tobias . . .”
She knew what he was going to say; it was etched across Her knitted brow, but he had already made up his mind.
“I’m going,” he said.
Groaning, Raphael rolled his eyes. “God, this again.”
“You can’t defend yourself.” Tobias turned to his mother and sister. “Neither can you.” He glanced at Leila. “And You’re, well . . .”
“The Savior, I know.”
“I’ll assess the conditions. See what our options are. And if someone recognizes me, I’ll handle it.”
Quiet hung over the campsite, unsettling in its familiarity. Had death and danger already become so predictable?
Leila straightened, nodding as if to convince Herself. “It’s a good plan. Tobias can find us a proper place to stay.”
“There has to be an inn or something,” Naomi said.
Raphael’s eyebrow winged up. “An inn that won’t recognize The Savior? That can take in well over twenty occupants?”
“Yes. That exact inn. Glad we’re on the same page.” Tobias stood and wiped the dirt from his ass. “Let’s go.”
He turned on his heel, eager to abandon the conversation and stares.
Another journey to a town he’d never been to with people he’d never met and perils he couldn’t prepare for.
Perhaps he should’ve been frightened, but he had become accustomed to a life teetering on the edge, always one second away from falling.
A soft hand pressed against the center of his back. “Thank you,” Leila whispered.
Her eyes were that sharp amber color he’d first become acquainted with, glittering despite the cover of shadows. “It’ll be fine.” He couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s get Your sisters back.”
The darkness of his thoughts vanished once She squeezed his hand, then reappeared the moment Her touch slipped away. As She walked off, Tobias called out, “Should I be jealous of this . . . Hylas?”
Her melodic laughter fueled his grin before the task ahead set in. He dug through his scant belongings, packing his satchel and sheathing his sword while Raphael gathered their blankets nearby.
“Quit being such an ass.” Tobias slugged Raphael’s arm. “You’re making it hard for me to have your back.”
Raphael started. “You have my back?”
“Not for long.”
He threw his cloak around his shoulders and headed for their horses, tossing his satchel across the rear of his stallion.
His fingers worked unconsciously, looping knots and tightening buckles, but his mind was already traveling the path ahead.
Brontes had increased patrol throughout the whole of the realm.
No matter where they headed, Tobias was at risk.
By the end of the day, he’d either have a roof over his head or a spear in his back.
“You’re sure?”
The echo of Leila’s words gnawed at Tobias’s brain.
No, he wasn’t sure. No, everything wouldn’t be all right.
Well, She would be all right. But Tobias?
That was up for debate. Regardless, after Raphael shadow walked them closer to the populace, leaving Leila and the others in the woods was the right answer.
They needed the cover. He, on the other hand, could venture into town. If he died, it didn’t matter.
He’d ridden for three miles before reaching any sign of people.
Raphael’s directions had been annoyingly precise, and when the red brick walls and clay tiled roofs peeked over the tree line, Tobias’s muscles strained.
He pulled his olive hood overhead and situated his cowl over his face.
This should be easy. He’d done it before.
Never mind that the town was unknown to him, that sound and activity had become alien at some point after the pool.
Setting his jaw, he nudged his horse forward, engulfing himself in a new, foreign world.
He trotted down the street, passing draped riders atop spitting camels and donkeys pulling carts of wheat.
The sun’s rays beat down on him, but it was the occasional glance in his direction that burned, a soldering iron against his flesh.
An inn—that was his objective, the only logical solution amid a slew of impossibilities.
Even then, how would he go unnoticed? How would Leila, let alone Her staff?
He swallowed the thought, a worry for later.
He scanned the shopfronts, searching for a watering hole, for levels and stories.
Find an inn—humble and unassuming, a place for them to disappear.
A steed whinnied in the distance, followed by the familiar clinking of metal plates.
An armored patrol mounted on horseback appeared through the summer heat, a spear at each soldier’s side, swords strapped to their backs.
Tobias tightened his grip, steering his stallion to the nearest hitching post. Traveling on foot was more discreet, and he knotted the reins as the patrol clattered by, his head low and body braced.
The sound faded behind the din of voices, and he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword before continuing his trek.
Babies screamed in their mothers’ arms while traders grunted beneath the goods hoisted on their backs.
Tobias split his attention between the shopfronts and the surrounding people, the brown faces shining with sweat, the dark eyes racked with fear.
He’d felt tension back at the capital, but something was different, bubbling beneath the surface, barely contained.
Two women in blue Ethyuan robes spoke beneath their shawls, their smooth accents punctuated by anxiety.
“An absolute beast. He’s going to kill Her.” The woman recited a prayer under her breath. “Once the crops begin to die, we’ll know the deed’s done.”
“It’s madness, all of this.” The other woman shook her head. “I never trusted him. Not from the start.”
Red and silver flashed in the distance—a second unit, on foot—and Tobias cut down an alleyway, swerving between baskets of grain and pressing his back to the wall.
He watched from a distance as the soldiers passed, then gazed at the chipped plaster in front of him streaked with bird droppings and littered with placards:
TOBIAS KAYA
FUGITIVE
Transgressions include abduction of The One True Savior, treason, larceny, blasphemy, and murder
A sizeable reward to the person who apprehends him, dead or alive