Page 66 of The Seeker

I fought to clear my head, to brush the illusion aside. He didn’t even know I was headed to Shianp.

I blinked, thinking he would be gone when I reopened my eyes, but he was still there, kicking up clouds of dust as he crossed the street to reach me. He wore an outfit similar to mine, his white shirt tucked into his dark breeches. Though it had been a season, he looked as I remembered him. Not merely because we’d spent our whole lives together, but because his face was the same one I saw in the looking glass each day.

He stood in front of me, also in a state of shock, then his arms gripped mine and he yanked me into a hug.

“What are you doing here?” I breathed into his ear, too shocked to formulate a better question.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he replied as his underlying doubt reached my empathy magic.

We pulled back, and I rested my hands on his biceps as he had with mine. If this was an illusion, I wasn’t ready to let it go.

I don’t know how long we stood like that, just staring at each other, when I peered over his shoulder, searching. “Where’s Helene?”

He blew out a puff of air. “It’s a long story. Do you have a moment to sit with me somewhere?”

I opened my mouth to answer, only for Otho to call for me. “Runa!”

It was a challenge to tear my gaze from my brother to wave Otho over from where he stood in the doorway of the Moon Flower Inn, but his relief was palpable, his features relaxing as he spotted me and moved closer.

“Otho,” I breathed. “This is my brother, Milo. Milo, this is Otho, the current Viscount and General of Ralheim.” I didn’t release my hold on him, still worried he was an illusion that would evaporate the moment I let him go.

My brother paled.

“Nice to meet you,” Otho replied, holding out his hand in the common Ralheim greeting. My brother released me to accept it, giving Otho a once-over even as his nervousness peaked. It was odd to think that the two of them hadn’t met, when they both meant so much to me, but I hoped they would get along.

“I was asking Runa if she could come sit with me,” Milo explained to Otho, apparently choosing not to broach the subject of what Otho was doing with me, in Shianp, no less.

His gray eyes turned to me. “Actually, I have to run an errand. Keep an eye out for the rest of our traveling party.” I nodded in agreement, and he frowned at Milo. “Make sure she gets back here when you’re done.”

Milo nodded and Otho gave me a dip of his chin before jogging down the street, out of sight.

“Come.” Milo motioned to the inn across the street from where we stood. It too had a hand-painted sign but instead of flowers, stars dotted the words “Night Sky,” which had been etched over the door. “This is where I’m staying.”

On the inside, the Night Sky Inn appeared almost identical to the one Otho and I were staying at. Milo guided me past the barren reception into an open back room, which was outfitted with chairs and several round tables. Several of the tables were occupied, many individuals drinking tea and eating small pastries.

I turned to my brother. “I don’t have any coin on me,” I whispered, peering over his shoulder, wondering if it was too late to call Otho back for some coin.

“Not to worry. I do.” He pulled out a chair for me, waiving over an elderly woman carrying a tray loaded with teacups and saucers.

The moment we were seated, she set one in front of each of us, filling the cups from the teapot, which was also on the tray. She set a plate of white cookies between us. Although I’d already had the treat on the street, I reached for one, nibbling on it while I waited for the tea to cool.

Milo did the same, sitting back in his chair. “So, tell me, how are you in Shianp?”

I almost rolled my eyes at the fact he was making me speak first. So typical. “I came to speak to the king.” I sighed, setting the cookie back down. Everything I’d been unable to tell Otho earlier came rushing back. “I was going to ask him to interfere in Heimland, to stop the war, but now that it’s supposedly over, I need to think of how to ask for future help and protection for the Seid.”

“And you think the king will help the Seid?” my brother questioned, lifting his tea to his lips only to wince and set it right back down with a clink.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Like I said, my plan was much easier before. The war was destroying Heimland, and I wanted to ask him to end it before it became completely desolate, but now . . .”

“It is completely decimated anyway,” Milo admitted. “That’s why I’m here. The work I was doing in Ralheim dried up, and Helene is with child and⁠—”

I almost dropped my cookie, catching it before it hit the edge of the wooden table. “I—congratulations,” I sputtered.

“Thanks,” Milo said, but he didn’t smile or feel ecstatic. “I would be happier, but as I said, I’m without a job and⁠—”

“What happened to the mill?” I knew it was rude to interrupt, but I couldn’t stop myself. Something about my brother’s admission was causing my nervousness to renew with vigor.

“Not enough work.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know how much Otho has told you, but Heimland lost so many people this last season. There isn’t enough work, food, or anything, really, to go around. My boss at the mill barely has enough work to keep himself fed. He wanted to help me—it nearly killed him to turn me away when he knew I had a little one coming—but he couldn’t keep me on and I knew that. I went to the university next, to see if I could come on as a teacher, but most of the students have left—all the men to the war, and the women to work to make ends meet when their men didn’t return.” He shook his head, and I could see his hands shaking. “You were right, Runa, the war did affect me, and I was too stupid to listen when you tried to warn me.”