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“It’s white river fish. I’ve cleaned it thoroughly.”
“Why not just cook it?”
“The fumes,” she said with a sigh. “I’m afraid the smell of cooking might attract Almanera and his men.”
“Right.”
“Don’t be a child, Zo,” Olly chastised, lifting a small morsel to my lips. “It doesn’t taste like much at all. I promise.”
She was right.
“We can’t stay here much longer,” Olly said. “We need a plan.”
“My people will be looking for us,” I declared with certainty. “The hovercraft Almanera attacked is the latest version from Royal One. It would have sent a last seen signal back to the palace.”
“I haven’t heard a single rustle in the forest. No movement whatsoever,” Olly remarked. “And I’ve been listening intently.”
I tested my leg again, straightening it and bending at the knee.
“How far did we walk last night?”
“About five miles, I think,” she guessed. “We overdid it—that’s why your wound was bleeding profusely.”
“Do you have any idea where we are now?”
“Somewhere near the Pass of Fortune. The water has a slightly shimmery quality, which means we’re on the southwest corner of the dragao river.”
I cursed under my breath. “That’s approximately a ten-day walk from Highblade Palace.”
“You won’t make it on that leg,” she mulled.
“Well, I’ll have to try, won’t I? Hiding isn’t a plan,” I grunted. “And who knows what Almanera is plotting while we’re here.”
She nodded. “He took us by surprise, didn’t he? Of all the possible conflicts the council and I had imagined, the borderlands had never once entered our radar.”
“There’s danger in silence, I suppose. Sometimes no news isn’t good news.”
She paused, biting her lip. The air seemed charged with unspoken words, although I could only guess what they were.
“Zoei…” Olympia began, an unlikely flush covering her cheeks. “About what you said last night.”
I glanced at her, startled. “What did I say?”
She blinked. “Uh, you don’t remember?”
“No,” I bristled, hating the insinuation that I had lost control of my own speech whilst in pain. “Why? What happened?”
“Well, I… You…” she trailed off, biting her lip.
“What?”
After a long moment, she shook her head and stood with admirable ease.
“Here,” she said, offering me her forearm. “Let’s get you off the ground.”
That was easier said than done. The soft soil underneath gave way multiple times, until Olly used her powers to harden the earth and shove me upwards into her arms. She caught me by the waist to steady both of us as I tested the wounded thigh.
Numb as it was, I couldn’t put much weight on it.
