CHAPTER 18
NORTHBOUND
The road to forgiveness is rarely walked in straight lines.
– Lyran proverb
Kara twisted Whisper’s reins anxiously in her hands as they rode north.
What am I doing?
She’d betrayed her House. Her oath.
My father.
The shame rose worse than the fear – knowing she’d become a disappointment. She was riding beside a man marked as a traitor. The man she was meant to stop.
They’ll exile me for this. Or worse.
But she didn’t regret it. The words repeated over and over in her head:
He’s safe.
And he was. At least for now. And she was nothing but glad.
The first hour passed in near silence, just the rhythmic thudding of hooves she’d grown used to over the last week.
Although now there was an extra sound to break the quiet – the clinking of the Shards in Sebastian’s satchel.
When he glanced back a blush crept up her cheeks.
She looked away quickly – her stomach fluttering, traitorous and mad.
Her thoughts kept circling back to the moment at the tree, the way he’d dragged her against him.
She’d been right. He would never hurt her.
But even when he was trying so hard to scare her, she hadn’t wanted him to let go.
What did that say about her – about how far she’d fallen?
Evidently much farther than she’d even admitted to herself.
I shouldn’t be thinking about him like this.
But she was.
Kara tried not to look at him, really, she did.
But her eyes betrayed her, drawn to him again and again.
Sienna had known this would happen. Known she’d let him go.
But Kara was certain that Sebastian hated her for what she’d done.
Would do long after they retrieved the final Shard.
If they survived. She’d seen how he’d taken the grey valmare’s lead from her – so careful not to let his fingers brush hers.
She didn’t blame him, but it hurt all the same that he couldn’t bear to touch her.
She pushed the thought away – she’d earned his distance.
Her skull ached from Henry’s attack too – throbbing with each heartbeat.
Her mind felt stripped and vulnerable, like anyone could walk straight into it.
Her magic wasn’t working on the pain either.
She hoped the damage Henry had caused wouldn’t be permanent – but didn’t mention this to Sebastian. He’d likely think she deserved it.
All in all, not the most pleasant ride.
Kara shifted restlessly in the saddle, and glanced at him again, hoping he would say something. Anything. But all she got was silence. Crimson occasionally lit his fingertips, like his magic was uneasy. Or maybe he was waiting for her to attack him again.
The trail narrowed as they entered Hale territory, lush greenery closing in on them.
Thick bushes brushed their legs whilst wind gusted roughly through the leaves overhead.
It had been like that since the theft of the Air Shard – not a natural breeze, but an unsettled, unpredictable force that had set the trees creaking against one another.
But they hadn’t been downed like in Durent.
Kara hoped the inclement weather had been the only consequence for her people.
Finally, the silence between them became too much for her.
“Tomorrow we could cut across the ridge at Greenhollow,” she offered, keeping her voice light. “There’s a faster road.”
“No.”
She tried again, forcing brightness into her tone. “The streams here usually have wild herbs. I could find–”
“Maybe.” He didn’t look away from the trail.
She told herself she’d expected this. But it didn’t make his coldness any easier to bear.
So she focused on the road ahead. Whisper’s ears flicked forward – suddenly alert – just as a dry, sliding rustle cut through the quiet. A green-and-brown mottled snake burst from a nearby bush, and darted across their path.
Whisper reared wildly on her hind legs and before Kara could react, Sebastian’s voice came – sharp and commanding. “Get back!”
He swung down from his valmare faster than she could blink, boots hitting the ground hard, sword already drawn and half ignited with crimson. The movement sent the snake recoiling into the bushes.
He turned back to her, scanning her from head to toe. “Are you hurt?”
Kara blinked, startled not just by the snake but by the edge in his voice – not anger this time, but concern.
“I’m fine,” she said quickly.
Sebastian gave a tight nod, then swung back into the saddle, looking as if he’d regretted asking at all. She didn’t know what to make of that quick once-over to make sure she wasn’t injured – but she liked it. Him acting like he cared. They eased back into a canter, side by side.
“You need to watch the ground ahead,” he said, flatly – but there was still a faint tension in his shoulders.
“I was watching,” she replied irritably.
“I thought most in Hale were experienced riders,” he said, with a trace of his old smirk.
Annoyance bloomed, but then the field ahead caught her attention – wide and sunlit, the wind rushing harder here, carrying the smell of grass and warm earth. Whisper’s ears pricked. It was the kind of open run a valmare lived for.
“We are,” she said. “More skilled than Thorne anyway.”
Really, Kara?
“Unlikely.”
“Hmm, if I beat you to that hill, does that make me the more ‘experienced’ rider?”
He glanced at her sidelong, surprised and mildly amused. “You wouldn’t keep up.”
“Only one way to find out.” She needed this. Needed him to look at her like something other than a threat. So she leaned forward, Whisper’s ears flicking back in anticipation.
Sebastian’s mouth twitched. “You’re going to regret that.”
“Let’s see what you’ve got then.”
They kicked off together – hooves hammering, wind tearing through their hair. The grey surged ahead first, Sebastian low in the saddle, every movement controlled. Whisper answered Kara’s urging with a smooth, powerful stride, drawing level.
For a breath, she looked across and caught him looking back – not guarded, not furious. Just alive.
Then she took the lead.
He muttered a curse behind her, and she laughed under her breath.
He was there, on her shoulder, pushing hard to catch her.
She coaxed Whisper enough to stay in front and block him from overtaking before the bend.
They slowed only when the slope ahead forced them. She felt his gaze before she met it.
“You cut me off,” he accused.
She glanced over innocently. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You do.”
His eyes held hers too long, his expression searching.
“Sounds like an excuse,” she laughed, though her pulse raced under his stare. She squeezed her knees into Whisper’s sides and together they cantered gently down the hill.
After a few minutes, she asked, “How long until we reach the Fire Shard?”
“Four days,” he answered without looking at her. “Three, if we pushed hard. But we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“The Shard’s at the temple on the Thorne–Fatàn border. The road there is volcanic ground – old lava flows.”
She pictured it: cracked earth, fissures hidden under the ash. “So if we push too hard, we would–”
“Break a leg. Probably yours, definitely the valmares.”
“Sounds welcoming,” she muttered.
A corner of his mouth pulled up. “You’ve never been to Fatàn before?”
“No. They creep me out to be honest. All prophecies and predictions.”
His head turned, and he looked like she’d said something completely absurd.
“You mean exactly the reason we’re here?”
She rolled her eyes. “In general. Not this one.”
He looked at the road ahead again. “I don’t have a choice you know, but you do. You could go back home. Think of some excuse.”
Kara turned towards him. “Do you want me to leave?”
He hesitated.
Please don’t ask me to leave.
“It would keep you alive.”
“That’s not an answer.”
The faintest crease appeared on his brow. “Your power could be useful,” he admitted grudgingly.
“Well, then. I’m with you.”
The trail descended into a long stretch of grassland and they picked up their speed, conversation falling away.
Nightfall came quickly – it had been late already when they’d left the camp.
Kara couldn’t believe all that had happened that day.
Had she really only woken up with Henry in Caldris territory that morning?
It felt like a lifetime ago.
Exhaustion pulled at her. Days of hard riding, the emotional toll of everything had wrecked her – she was falling asleep in the saddle. She wanted nothing more than to lie down.
Whether Sebastian noticed or was equally as exhausted, she didn’t know, but he slowed his valmare and said, “Shall we stop and make camp soon?”
She nodded gratefully.
They veered off the road into the trees. The canopy overhead was so thick it blocked out most of the light and a clear stream bubbled nearby. Hale territory through and through – if she had to collapse somewhere, at least it was somewhere green.
She dismounted.
Instantly regretted it.
Her vision swam and the world tilted, off balance – she grabbed the saddle to stop herself from falling.
Whisper nickered worriedly beside her, and the dull ache in her skull stabbed so hard that she had to close her eyes.
When she opened them again, Sebastian had gotten halfway towards her before he’d stopped himself, hands clenched at his sides.
It was like reaching for her would break some rule he’d written for himself.
“What’s wrong?” His tone was guarded, but there was something under it.
“My head,” she admitted.
His expression flashed with concern then, she was sure of it. “Still?”
“Whatever he did...” Kara rubbed her temple with a pulse of emerald, teeth gritted against the pain. “My magic isn’t working on it.”
“Dark magic,” he growled. “He shouldn’t even know how to use it.”
Her legs gave out from under her and she dropped hard on the grass.
“He wanted to use it on you,” Kara said, looking up at him. “Said he could make you see things if he had to.” She swallowed, remembering the cold certainty in Henry’s voice. “It made me feel sick.”