6. Chapter 6
Chapter 6
S he woke feeling pleasantly warm. Only the tip of her nose was cold.
A moment passed as she relaxed into the softness and warmth around her, basking in the surety that she was safe.
Her eyes flew open. A bare tree branch was splintered on the ground not far from her face, and mottled leaves glistened with drops of drew.
Memory came to her in bits and flashes—the Inetians confronting them by the riverbed, Karim grabbing her hand, and the shadow that had roared through her, through them . Then his dark eyes peering into hers as he caught her when she fell, his sure fingers tucking her into their one remaining bedroll—since she’d left hers by the river with the Inetians—and his warmth as he curled up behind her to stave off the cold so they could both sleep...
She shot up and turned a horrified look to the figure beside her. Karim was still curled on his side, his back resting against her hip, his face slack in the peaceful confines of sleep. For a moment, she stared at him. He looked more at peace than she had ever seen him, the hard lines around his mouth and eyes softened to a boyish innocence. She reached out and softly brushed a strand of hair away from his face.
She froze. What in the name of the Archer was she doing?
She yanked her hand back as if she’d been burned, then carefully extracted herself from his bedroll, suddenly furious with herself, with him, with this whole damned situation. Why did he have to be so...so concerned for her? It was her duty to get him to the Rendran citadel. All she was doing was her job. The rest of it—her magic, the way he’d tucked her into the bedroll, the dagger and its sheath he’d made specifically for her—didn’t matter.
Her head ached, and she sank down onto a half-rotten log to think. A cool breeze whispered through the forest, bringing with it the crisp smell of snow and ice and frozen earth. The sun was dipping toward the horizon, casting long shadows through the trees. She could see the static of Karim’s wards crackling through them. They must have been out for three hours, maybe four.
Hazily, she remembered Karim’s declaration that the magic that had roared through her had something to do with both of them, with the way their magic worked together. Fear sliced through her like a blade across an old wound. It was exactly what she had always been afraid of. That she’d been born of shadow, just as the villagers had always claimed. That she was truly a monster.
She dropped her face in her hands. What was wrong with her? Why did this magic take so much out of her? She was usually so careful not to leave herself vulnerable, not to allow herself to be consumed by her magic, which, until now, had been small, something barely noticeable by others. Something she could easily control. And now twice, power had raged through her like an unstoppable gale. And twice she’d slumped into this man’s arms and slept like the dead. She could not let that keep happening.
Karim stirred, rubbing a hand across his face as he woke. “What’s that look for?” he asked as he pulled himself into a sitting position.
“What look?” she snapped, a little more harshly than she’d intended.
“The one you’re giving me now.”
“I am not giving you a look. ”
“You look like you want to shove a dagger under my ribs.”
She snorted. “If I’d wanted to do that, I’d have tried it while you were sleeping.” She tossed a pinecone at him. “You’d never have known.”
Karim caught it one handed and grinned. “You so sure about that?”
“I’m supposed to be impressed that you caught that, aren’t I?” she drawled.
“Of course.” He tossed the pinecone back at her, and she batted it down before it hit her shoulder.
Karim winced as he disentangled himself from the bedroll, then cast a skeptical look around them. “We’re not back near the Rendran capital, are we?”
Isabel made a face at him, even though his fear was more than valid. “I don’t think so.” The pines around them were narrow and more alpine than the forests near the Rendran capital. She thought they were still in the southern mountains. At least, she really hoped they were.
“We might want to pack up and hike along the ridge a way,” she said, pointing to where the earth inclined sharply behind them. “That might help me figure out where we are.” Again.
He nodded, then pulled himself up, rolled up the bedroll, and strapped it to his pack .
Isabel felt strangely light without her pack. Her jaw worked as she went over the contents in her head, cataloguing the things she’d lost—her bedroll, wrapped bread, cheese, and jerky, her water skin, a change of clothes, a few spare daggers. They had to make it to some semblance of civilization tonight. They didn’t have nearly enough supplies to make it for long without a resupply. And she was not sharing a bedroll with Karim again.
“Do you think they’ll find us again? Your countrymen, I mean,” Isabel asked uneasily as they started up the ridge. She didn’t like the thought that Gustav’s men could open doors across distances, cutting what should have been a multi-day journey into a matter of seconds.
“I don’t think so.” The usual surety in his voice wasn’t there. “At least, I really hope not. The groundwork it takes to track us down can’t happen in an instant. It will take them time. Our best bet is to keep moving. To make it to the citadel.”
For the first time, Isabel wondered if the wards on the citadel would be enough to keep Gustav out.
An uneasy silence settled over them as they trudged up the slope matted with fallen pine needles.
“So, we’re not talking about what happened at the river then?” Karim asked when the silence stretched out. “About what happened with our magic? ”
A stone settled in Isabel’s chest. “There’s not much to talk about,” she said shortly.
Karim stopped, an incredulous look on his face. “I very, very much disagree with that assessment, Isabel.”
Fear sliced through her. She really didn’t want to talk about it. Not when she had no idea what to say. “Why don’t we figure out where we are first. Then we can talk about whatever you want once we’re somewhere safe.”
“Fine.” His voice was tight. “I’m holding you to that, just so you know.”
She did her best to push down the sick feeling in her stomach. She just wanted to get him to where he needed to go safely, without the Inetians or the Medirans or the chanters or whoever was mixed up in all this getting to him. Then she would be done, and she would never have to think about him or what had happened with their magic ever again.
They moved through the alpine forest, their boots skidding on loose stones and sliding on rain-slick leaves. The sun dipped toward the horizon—total darkness was only a few hours away. Isabel tried not worry. They still had time.
“Wait,” Karim said suddenly from behind her. “Look.”
She stopped and followed the line of his finger. A puff of white smoke, thick and curling, rose over the trees where the rise dropped into a small valley. A sign of civilization .
“Well, that’s the first good thing I’ve seen all day,” she said.
They hurried through the trees toward the rising smoke, their boots slipping on the detritus, then stumbled onto a rutted wagon path. It wound down the mountain and into the valley. Isabel signed in relief. It looked well worn, as if it saw frequent use.
The path evened out as they reached the valley. They moved to the side as a group of men on plodding farm horses passed them. They were dressed in tunics of bright reds, greens, and blues.
“You here for the festival?” one of them called as they passed.
Isabel and Karim exchanged a look. “Of course,” Isabel said.
“Village is only a twenty-minute walk that way,” another of the men supplied. “You’ll be there quickly.”
“Thanks!” Isabel called after them.
“Festival?” Karim asked when they’d passed.
“Apparently so,” Isabel said. A festival? Where were they? At least the knowledge that there was a village ahead was helpful.
They pressed on, and soon the trees fell away, and the promised village emerged from the mountainside .
Squat wooden houses with thatched roofs lined the road. Chickens wandered in gardens that burst with squash and cabbage and other greens. Lanterns of enchanted orb fire in a variety of colors were strung between the roofs, and children ran through the streets, chasing each other with sticks. Villagers lingered in the lanes, laughing and talking excitedly. The scent of roast meat wafted from somewhere, and Isabel’s stomach gave a sudden growl.
Her mind struggled to catch up with what she was seeing. There were more people in the streets than this village could usually hold, she was sure.
“Oh,” she said suddenly, clarity washing over her like sunlight. “It’s the autumnal equinox. I completely forgot.”
Karim glanced up at the sky for a second. “And that’s some sort of celebration, I assume?”
She nodded. Not just any celebration. It was one of the most important nights of the year in small communities like this one. A celebration of the harvest and wishing for a bountiful year ahead. Isabel’s chest ached suddenly, remembering the whirling dances in her village, the roaring bonfires, the mouth-watering smell of roast hog—how she and her parents and her sister would sit out beneath the stars, looking up at the constellation of Asaragus the Archer as they toasted to a good year ahead .
A two-story building came into view on their right. Isabel stopped, scanning the sign above the door.
“I know where we are,” she said, relief crashing over her like a wave. So, she had managed to do something helpful in her rampage of power after all. “This is Medina Acil.”
“It’s what?” Karim stepped up behind her, peering at the sign above the door.
“Medina Acil,” she repeated. “It was supposed to be our last stop before our trek up to the citadel. It’s only a few miles from here.”
They had once again traveled a few days’ journey in not much more than a moment.
Their journey would be over soon. They could bypass Medina Acil entirely and make it to the citadel tonight if they really pushed for it. Karim would be safely ferried away in the mountains, and Isabel could go back to Rendra, back to her old life, back to the only thing she had ever wanted—to move unseen through the darkness, forgotten, her job to fade away into shadow.
“Okay, then,” Karim said, a sudden fierceness in his voice. “We’re not going anywhere tonight. We’re going to sit down, eat some good food, and forget about all this for one night.”
Isabel opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. “The chanters won’t have a read on our location for a few days at least. We’re safe for now. And I plan to have some fun for once in my damn life.” His eyes bored into her. “And maybe then you’ll actually talk to me.”
Her jaw clenched, and she wanted so badly to come up with a snappy retort, but her mind was blank. They should push on to the citadel. The quicker he got there, the better. But they were also tired. And the scent of roast pig was wafting into her nostrils and her stomach was growling. And tonight, she knew there would be dancing—the reels and jigs she had grown up with. The one thing she had been able to enjoy.
Her heart squeezed again, and against her better judgment, she heard herself saying, “Okay.”