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34
SILAS
Jurak slowedthe ship as we approached the dark scar stretching out across the land. A deep trench marked the path of the ship, leading us straight to the burned out hull.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked, staring at the damage with a solemn expression.
Momentarily, I wondered if Jurak knew the man who had been piloting Imrys's ship, and if they might have been friends, but I didn't dare ask. I had to stay focused, and Jurak didn't know me well enough to confide in me anyway.
"Take us down. I'm going to search it."
His hand went to the console and we started our descent, but even as he followed my command, he muttered, "Don't know what you're searching for. There won't be anything to see inside of there."
I knew he was probably right, but I couldn't walk away without at least checking. A tiny sliver of malice inside me hoped that I would find Imrys charred to death, but then I wouldn't have the satisfaction of facing him myself.
I prepared myself for all of the possibilities. Dying in a fiery crash was a gruesome way to go, even if he was a traitor.
As the ship touched down, Jurak gave me the okay to open the door and I hopped out. My breath caught in my throat as the smell of burning fuel accosted me, and I fought back a coughing fit. Pulling my robe up to partially cover my face, I moved in.
Unlike our own crashed ship, this one had not left an easily accessible entrance. Bits and pieces had been ripped away on its final landing, and the remainder of the body was still giving off heat, warding off the cold that had settled over the land. Carefully, I stepped around piles of debris, making my way over to the ship's nose.
The glass was shattered, the ship crumpled with such force that I couldn't climb through to look around inside. Even if I could, I might burn alive inside. With a grim sigh of resignation, I turned away and trudged back to Jurak.
"What did I tell you?"
"If Imrys is in there, we'll never know. But I'm not willing to take any chances. If he got out, he could be anywhere by now. We have to keep looking."
"I have a better idea," he said, stepping aside so I could hop aboard. "If you really think he's going to come back, we set up a patrol. We can fly circles around the palace, day and night. Keep an eye on things. Make sure nobody comes around who shouldn't be there. I'd say there's more than a good chance that landing did him in, but I don't blame you for being cautious."
If he had escaped the crash, he had at least two days' lead on us, wherever he was headed. Judging by the time it had taken Anya and I to walk back from our own landing, Imrys could reach the palace in the next day.
"Let's go back," I decided.
Jurak nodded and repeated the takeoff procedure. As he worked, I went to the back and grabbed the blanket and pillow I'd discarded earlier and threw it down on the floor of the narrow hall. He gave me a confused look, but I shrugged.
"I haven't slept in days. When we get to the palace, set up a perimeter and keep an eye on things. Wake me at the first sign of movement."
Jurak grunted his assent, and I set about trying to make myself comfortable on the hard floor as the engines fired and the wind bounced us around. Even with exhaustion weighing heavy on me, I struggled to sleep at first. Every time I closed my eyes I saw Anya's face when I realized that she'd lied to me. The guilt and shame.
She should have told me, but it wasn't herfault. She hadn't killed my grandfather. She hadn't called the storms and set them upon Divoron. But had I known…
Had I known, I would have known that the threats my grandfather warned me about were coming to fruition all around me. I would have recognized the danger all around me. I liked to think I would have seen that personal glory had nothing at all to do with this, anymore. What was birthright when you were fighting for your very survival?
And it was those thoughts that lulled me to sleep along with the rocking of the ship.
