Page 80 of Crown of the Dunes

“We can only hope,” I said.

“If only we could find a way to get to it.” Keera sighed, frustration now tinging her words.

The memory of why I had been searching in the library struck me.

“I did find something,” I said, extricating myself from her hold. I glanced over the bed for the journal. I had dropped it on the covers, forgetting it completely in my haste to wake her. Now, I picked it up again.

“This likely holds the secrets to entering Kelvar and Alyx’s chambers, but some of the pages are missing,” I said, holding it up before her.

Equal parts hope and apprehension lit Keera’s features as she took it from me. “Where could they have gone?”

At that I grimaced, the vision of a familiar wooden chest filling my mind. One that had always sat near a low table in a dimly lit tent.

“I think I know where we can get them, but it won’t be easy.”

Chapter twenty-one

Keera

Iclucked my tongue as Daiti pointedly ignored me. With a huff of frustration, I slipped into his stall.

“One would think he didn’t even miss me,” I griped, slapping his flank lightly. He didn’t turn to face me, instead leaving his neck arched over the barrier between his stall and the next.

“I can guarantee you he did,” Erix murmured behind me, keeping his tone quiet to avoid disturbing the sleepy quiet of the stables at night. “He wouldn’t let anybody besides me or Alza approach. More than a few members of Clan Katal earned hoof-shaped bruises before they learned.”

I stood on my tip toes to look over into the next stall to see what had transfixed Daiti. If we had not been in a hurry, I might have laughed.

“He seems to have made a new friend now,” I commented.

The familiar mare, Cail, that I had ridden during my convalescence, lay on a smattering of hay. Despite Daiti’s fervent interest, she kept her nose tucked and dozed lightly. Apparently, her calm patience extended to persistent stallions as well as injured riders.

I put my hand on the far side of Daiti’s neck and hauled his gaze away from Cail. He let me, although he let out a snort of annoyance.

“You find another pretty female and all of a sudden I’m not interesting anymore?” I asked as I finally gained his full attention. He blew out a breath over my face in reassurance. I smiled despite his stubbornness. While I had found a few minutes to come visit him every day, I had not had time for a proper ride since the coronation.

Now, I was just a few minutes away from having Daiti out under the open sky, among the sands where he could let loose.

He suffered me to strap the few packs I had brought with me to his back, although one of his ears turned back to indicate that he disliked the process. Indiscernible murmuring drifted from the stall on the far side as Erix did the same with Alza, talking quietly to her as he did so.

After just a few moments, we both led our mounts out of their stalls into the stable. Kaius, made aware of our plans, had made sure none were present to witness our departure in the dead of night. He would ensure nobody noticed that Erix was absent from helping him in the stables for a few days. Aderyn was the only other person who knew of our plans, concocting a story of how I was dedicating a week to private study, setting myself to the problem of the approaching famine.

It was not completely untrue.

Still, Erix and I both wore the nondescript tan of a Kelvadan rider, with hoods pulled low and the free ends covering the lower portion of our face. We were not a queen and her prisoner, but two anonymous riders headed out into the wilds.

Both Daiti and Alza seemed to sense the need for quiet, setting their hooves carefully as we filed out of the stables and passed through the gate leading out of the palace courtyard. As we descended through the city, a quiet rushing began in my veins. Despite the gravity of our mission to recover the lost pages from Kelvar’s journal, I couldn’t help the growing excitement blossoming in my chest.

After months of sleeping within the palace walls, constrained by responsibility and expectation, I was about to be free among the dunes. Erix and I slipped through the city gates and exchanged a glance as we paused there. The mountains stood like a wall at our back, and the horizon stretched out endlessly under a velvety sky, lit only by a narrow crescent of silver moon.

In unison, we mounted our horses and rode out into the night.

I surreptitiously rubbed my legs with my clenched fists, trying to relieve some of the ache from my hips and thighs. Erix and I had ridden for days on end before, but it had been weeks since I had spent this long on horseback. Daiti’s back was far broader than Cail’s, and my body protested the posture.

I bit my tongue though, not wanting to stop. The sun had now risen high in the sky, its intensity burning away the lingering sense of mental tension that lingered within the palace walls. Out here, your only true opponent was the elements, and they had no ulterior motives.

Erix glanced at me sidelong. “I can tell you’re uncomfortable. You don’t have to try to be sneaky about it,” he said.

I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “While we were apart, I could barely feel your presence. Now you can apparently read my mind.”