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“Can you help now? Do you know what we should do?”
His hands tighten on my sister as the horse goes up an incline. “It can’t be destroyed, and Kymora can never get her hands on it. That’s what we know for sure.” He’s thinking out loud, rather than looking for any of us to respond. “We need to take the sword somewhere it’ll never be found.”
“That’s why we tried to take it to Thersa. We didn’t think the warlord could find us there.”
“That was foolish,” Kellyn says. “She’s the most powerful and influential person in the world. Her network of spies is vast. Her army is so large it beats almost all the region leaders’ combined! And you wanted to hide in the tropics?”
“Now is the time forhelpfulsuggestions,” I say.
“The ocean,” Petrik says out of nowhere.
“What?” Temra asks.
“We get on a boat headed for the northern continent,” Petrik explains. “When we’re halfway there, we throw the sword overboard. It’ll never be found.”
After a beat of silence, I say, “It’s a good plan.”
“Then I’ll get you as far as Galvinor,” Kellyn says. “Fromthere, you can hire a ship. When the warlord tracks you to the edge of the continent, she’ll soon realize what you’ve done. Me and mine should be safe then.”
Guilt is a powerful thing, and it consumes me as I remember that while I’ve been doing my best to keep my family safe, I’ve been putting other families at risk.
We don’t make camp until late into the night, when we’ve put a significant distance between ourselves and the capital. Petrik settles into his usual routine, about to make a fire, when Kellyn warns him against it.
“Let’s not risk a fire until morning. We don’t know how near our enemies might be.”
Petrik is clearly mournful at the lack of a hot meal after a day in the saddle. He returns his pans to their pack, walking around at a near waddle, like some of the birds back in Thersa.
“Here,” Temra says, “let me show you some stretches to help with the pain. You’ll have to be ready to ride again tomorrow morning.”
Petrik groans at the thought, but he still indulges her, bending as Temra does and blushing when her rump is tight in her pants at the next stretch. He looks away.
I smile softly at the two of them.
And then, as though all the events of the day are finally registering, a wave of exhaustion comes over me.
I need a moment.
I brush branches out of my way as I find a path through the trees. The ground is covered in leaves and mulch. My bootssink a good inch into the ground with every step. My arms ache from how they were roughly handled, and my knees go weak as I finally get out of view of everyone else.
Behind my closed eyelids, I can see Kymora’s soldiers surrounding us. Every horrifying moment is repeated over and over again in my mind. The sword lunging for Petrik. Temra being carried away. The destruction caused by Secret Eater.
And then the attack comes.
Not an outward one, but one from within.
My breath speeds until the shrill sounds are all that fill my ears. I brace my hands against the bark of the nearest tree as I feel my mind falling. It plummets to a dark and empty place, devoid of hope. There is no ladder or rope to climb back out. There is no end in sight. No light to guide my way.
I am nothing but fear and panic.
On and on time speeds or maybe it stills, stops completely, leaving me behind while the rest of the world goes on.
“There you are!” a voice says from somewhere nearby, the tone furious. I spin toward it, horrified Kellyn is catching me in the midst of an attack. “We need to talk. I cannot believe you’ve forced me into—Bladesmith?”
I make a shooing motion with my hands while I try to breathe. Kellyn ignores the gesture completely, stepping up behind me. His hands curl around my arms gently, but firmly. His deep voice rumbles, “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
I don’t try to get away, but neither do I lean into the touch. I’m shocked into stillness by the contact.
“Ziva, it’s okay.”
