I stepped back before Kazan could touch me again, because if he did, I wasn’t sure I’d be strong enough to leave.
“I’ll see you soon,” I said.
His face went hard with the effort of letting me go. “Yes.”
I straightened my spine and walked to the door.
13
KAZAN
I droveinto New Knossos at dawn with a list in my head of every weak point in the regional court.
I’d been inside the building twice before. Once when Remmen made me sign the founding charter. Once to settle a grazing dispute between two of my hands that should never have needed a magistrate.
Both times, I’d studied the walls.
The pits taught a male to do that. Walk into a room, find the exits, find the weapons, find what would break if enough force was put in the right place.
Stone footings. Timber frame. Two main posts holding up the gallery. The east wall was newer than the rest and badly joined. I could bring down half the building if I hit it right.
I could tear the court open and take Maisie out through the wreckage.
It would cost me the land. The peace. Five years of trying to be something other than what I’d been made to be.
I’d sacrifice all of that.
But not if it cost meher.
Instead, I was going to stand still and use the law, and not rip the door off its hinges unless there was no other choice.
Probably.
Lorkin was waiting on the court steps when I pulled in. He wasn’t alone.
Four males stood at the bottom of the stairs, their breath steaming in the chilly morning air. Lorkin was in front, arms crossed, scarred face set in the same scowl he wore before a fight. Remmen stood beside him in his mayor’s coat, horns capped in silver. Behind them were Zarcal and Korfas, two males I hadn’t seen together since the night we took the fleets.
“You called the vanguard,” I said.
Lorkin looked me over, from my hands to my shoulders to my face. He saw too much. He always did. “You were going to come alone.”
Remmen came down one step. “We’re not here to start a war in my courthouse.”
“Good,” I said. “War is the last resort.”
Lorkin snorted.
I ignored him.
He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “You’ve got the pit look.”
“I look how I look.”
“That wasn’t an accusation. It was a warning.” His eyes narrowed. “You go in there like that, and they’ll put her on a transport before the sun clears the ridge.”
“I know what I must do.”
“Do you?”
