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Rijjat’s smirk was still in place as if this was exactly the outcome he’d intended upon sauntering out of the darkness. “I’ve done nothing,” he said with conviction that I didn’t trust. “Yet…” he added, and I pressed the blade in further, drawing a trickle of blood from his throat, threatening to slice all the way through if he didn’t start speaking.
Remus growled next to me, a bit of his animal slipping through. I mentally tallied how many hours it’d been since I made him drink his potion, but I had bigger things to deal with at the moment.
“You have moments to tell me what you want with me, Rijjat, before I carve you up and leave your carcass for the rats. If you know my name, then you know exactly what I do to traitors and spies.” My reputation wasn't a secret, making me wonder why this man was so unfazed.
“Spies?” he asked with a laugh. “The only spy I see is the one with a blade to my throat in my own city. The way I see it, I should be the one questioning you and your purpose in Nexus. Your Raven thought they would slip by unnoticed, but all it took was a single white lie to make the little birdie give up his secrets. So I have a deal for you, lovely X.”
“I don’t do deals,” I spat. “Tell me where my Raven is.” I was getting tired of having to repeat myself.
“Oh, but you will if there’s enough incentive, won’t you? Why else would such a strong, cunning woman lower herself into King’s Animus’s service when she could be oh so useful elsewhere.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, bristling at the truth underneath those words. “Useful, unlike someone else.” I tilted his head up using the edge of my dagger. “If I slit your throat right now, who would miss you, Rijjat? Who is it that finds you so useful?”
He blinked at me, that smile still wide and his eyes still twinkling with excitement and anticipation. I realized he wasn’t afraid of me in the slightest, and it irked me. In my satchel and belt, I held so many potions that could kill a man with a single drop. My blade could end his life before he even thought about screaming for help. And yet his heartbeat was steady.
“I’ll take you to your Raven if you agree to meet with a friend of mine,” he said.
I paused. That wasn’t what I’d expected him to say at all. I thought he’d ask me for a trade, or money perhaps, knowing I was directly employed by the King and had access to more coin than the average peasant.
“Who?” I asked, somewhat curious now. Who was important enough that he would want me to meet with them in exchange for such an expensive trade? Capturing a Raven was difficult, and if one managed it, they could have access to limitless secrets. Which was why I always sent them out with a backup plan, which apparently my Raven failed to utilize if he was still breathing.
He clicked his tongue and shook his head, causing my knife to slice the surface of his skin, drawing more blood. “Now, why would I tell you that when it’s the only thing preventing this knife from ending my life? If you want to know where your Raven is, you’ll meet with my friend. No more, no less. Just a meeting.”
“How do we know this isn’t some kind of trap?” Caldor asked from beside us, and Rijjat flitted his eyes to the captain.
Rijjat scoffed. “I may be eccentric, but I’m not daft enough to pull one over on the infamous X. I do value my life, you know. I'm far too pretty to die just yet. ” He narrowed his eyes at Caldor, looking at him oddly. A pit formed in my stomach, so I spoke before he could remember Caldor’s face, even if it had been years.
“Take me to your friend then, but no tricks. If you betray me, I will peel the flesh from your bones, Rijjat.” He tore his gaze from Caldor and grinned at me as I let him go and backed up a step. I held out a hand. “Give me your weapons.”
* * *
We followedRijjat towards the outskirts of the royal city, keeping to the shadows and alleyways, though I wasn’t sure exactly who he was attempting to avoid. We’d disarmed him with little effort, which made me even more suspicious of him. Perhaps he was a Source user if he felt so comfortable without a weapon.
He walked in front of me while Caldor and Remus watched my back. The sun was high in the sky, and we were hours away from losing daylight, which meant an entire day was wasted, and we were no closer to completing our task. I hadn’t wanted to spend any more time here than was absolutely necessary, but it seemed Rijjat had other ideas.
It took an hour of navigating the dense, colorful city to come to a copse of trees that formed a small orchard, next to which was a pond with a well house. We stopped and stared at the looming structure on the other end of the pond. I’d recognize the architecture anywhere.
It was a temple. The same as the one my Ravens used to meet under to floors in secret, only this temple was still completely intact, the bright white marble shining in the midday sun, the steps bleeding towards the arched entryway unscathed. I blinked at it, trying to take it all in while my heart beat faster, my stomach filling with equal excitement and trepidation.
“What are we doing here, Rijjat?” I asked, still staring at the beauty that was Thessia’s temple.
There was a statue beside the entrance of a tall woman with flowing hair and a braided gold band around her head. She held her hands out in a cupped position, waiting for offerings from those who wished to grace her halls.
I never thought I’d have the chance to see an intact, functioning temple. In Avedin, they were outlawed, and most had been demolished years before I was born. Sometimes I still sat alone in the temple, staring at Thessia’s altar and imagining that she could hear me as I asked for guidance. Perhaps she could. Even without the finery and offerings, perhaps Thessia still watched over the shadows of Avedin.
“I told you, there’s someone who really wants to meet with you,” Rijjat said, gesturing to the temple. “Don’t tell me you were expecting a seedy underground meeting where we’d rob you and leave you for dead?” His eyes sparkled with humor that I didn’t appreciate.
Just as the words left his mouth, the sound of hoofbeats erupted behind us, growing closer by the second. My weapon was out instantly, as were Caldor and Remus’s. Our backs were pressed together with Rijjat left on the outside as men on horseback came into view. I glared at Rijjat, noting that he also had a weapon drawn, his dark brows knitted together tightly.
“What are you playing at?” I spat at the street rat. The men on horseback were sheathed in all black, with masks that covered their faces. “You fucking liar!” I couldn’t believe we’d fallen for his tricks.
Rijjat looked at me, his brows still furrowed and his eyes…confused? Surely he was faking the panic there. “I swear to you, X, this was not my doing. I do not know these men.”
“Why should we believe you?” Caldor gritted through his teeth. “The timing is too convenient for your lies to work a second time.”
Caldor was right. What were the chances that these men would appear the moment we arrived at Thessia’s temple? Very slim. They came closer, the men forming a circle around us, their horses whining and stomping, creating a cloud of dust that flew into my eyes and mouth.
I noticed belatedly that each of the men wore a belt much like the one I wore, and dangling from the belt were dozens of glass vials. They clinked together as the they continued to surround us, purposefully attempting to disorient us.
