AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Did he earn them from people looking to rid themselves of their belongings, or did he cheat and manipulate the people of New Solas, grasping them from the clutches of the vulnerable and unwilling?
“We can’t get on our way until you tell me what’s wrong,” he says, sensing my immediate reservations. I see him studying me over, noticing how I space out every time I look at him. “So just talk. I can’t help you if you don’t talk.”
His charm is not without note.
I avert my gaze, not wanting to gaze at him for too long. I thought volvath demons were supposed to be more grotesque, more hard on the eyes… But Kazrith actually is a bit handsome. He has strong features and a sharp smile. His dark eyes are intense, but they fill me with a sense of ease.
Why am I thinking this way about a demon?
Shaking those thoughts away, I focus quickly on my father. He was the only thing keeping me sane in captivity. He’s the only attachment I have left. If anything were to happen to him, I couldn’t live with myself.
And if I tell Kazrith about him, and I’m wrong about his intentions, he could use the information I give him to hurt me.
But it’s my only option. So I start to speak then trail off.
“My father…”
Kazrith nods.
“Yes, you mentioned him,” he says. “I thought it was odd that you volunteered that information to a total stranger.”
He looks ahead at the beckoning open road. “But like I told you, we can’t exactly go back to your dad’s place. Zathex is going to be looking for you there. It’s the one place he can track you down.”
I swallow, afraid that saying it out loud might make it more real.
“He probably thinks I’m dead,” I confess. “And I’m kind of all he has left.”
An unnaturally strong breeze blows by, but the carriage remains strong as the trees look like they might uproot themselves. I see another carriage in the distance, covering my eyes against the sun’s harsh glare, and the bustling docks just on the horizon.
The longer I wait here, the more likely it is he’ll find me. And then all of this will be for nothing.
My foot throbs. I wonder if Kazrith has any bandages in this carriage.
“So what do you propose?” Kazrith asks.
He’s not dismissive of my ideas and looks to me seriously for suggestions. I don’t sense any pretense here.
“And if we’re able to let your father know you’re okay, would you be more willing to consider my offer?”
The challenge is that if he leaves me unattended, Zathex is more likely to discover me. If I go back into the city, Zathex will also find me.
Is there any way to get the message to him without compromising my location?
“If you had some stationery or some way of passing along a message, maybe you could let him know?”
Above me, birds call out from the trees and then begin to flock together. I tilt my head up to watch.
I’ve heard this is how they keep track of each other, the karasu cawing out and fluttering wildly across the branches of a barren tree.
Kazrith scratches his chin.
“I know somebody in New Solas,” he says. “Maybe I could let him know by karasu, and he could tell your father?”
I ponder over the implications. Now not only would I be involving Kazrith, but a third party as well? My options are starting to not look good.
“Or you could just send a message directly to my father,” I propose, which drives him to shake his head.
“No,” he says. “Zathex will be expecting that.”
