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Chapter Thirteen
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“SHOW ME THE REST OF the village,” I say to the boy-brats as soon as we’re done eating. It’s an uncomfortable meal—people pretending not to watch me while I’m well aware they do. My skin crawls with unease; I can’t wait to get out of the dining hall.
As soon as we’re outside, I can breathe again. I have two little hands in mine and a member of the royal guard who watched us for a bit, then left when Silann waved excitedly at him. Keeping an eye on the wee ones, then. I can’t blame them. I’d do the same.
Halfway through our tour, they’re ready to turn around. I can tell by their twitching when we get near the back of the village.
“We’s not allowed any farther, Shally,” Latjo says.
“Why not?” I ask, pretending I’m completely lost by the new direction we came.
“No brats can go beyond the buildings. ‘Tis against the law,” Silann says.
I crouch down until I’m eye-level. “What’s out there?”
“Cages. Where’s the prisoners are kept.”
Silann hushes him. “Not s’posed to talk about them. Not s’posed to look at them. Not s’posed to go anywhere near them.” His eyes dart around like he’s expecting Hisa to catch them again.
“Are there prisoners there now?” I ask, wondering if Bakog lied and we had the first two captured all along.
Silann’s bony shoulder shrugs.
They both look scared, and protectiveness surges up inside me. At least I know where the cages are—I’ll be able to seek them out on my own. For now, I can’t scare the little ones. I hug them both to me, and with a grunt, I stand, one in each arm.
They giggle and wrap their arms around my neck as I stomp—acting as though they’re mighty brutes—back the way we came.
There’s no way I’ll expose the boys to my clan. Yet part of me can’t relax knowing where they’re held.
Eventually Hisa approaches. “Mum is looking for you two,” she says carefully. “Weren’t you supposed to go home after breakfast.”
“Aye,” Latjo scowls. “But she was in the furs with poppa.”
I gasp, but Hisa giggles like that’s a normal thing. And then the little boys giggle because they shocked me.
“Well, they’re done now, you little weirdos. Scat before your big, scary poppa comes this way looking.”
