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When she began marching away, I reached out to catch her wrist. She turned to face me. I could see the hurt in her eyes, of unhealed grief and invisible wounds, like a mirror to my own soul. Suddenly, the world around us faded, leaving nothing left but this fragile bridge between us that I desperately wanted to cross. My gaze flicked to Raven’s lips, and before I could stop myself, I’d moved so close to her that I could hear her breath hitch.
“Don’t,” she breathed.
The word fell like a wall between us.
I released her hand and stepped back.
Kah didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. I knew I wasn’t thinking clearly. Skies, I hadn’t been thinking clearly since I first met Raven in Malengard.
But even if I’d lost her trust forever, I still planned to protect her with my life. “I know you’re angry at me, Raven, but you can’t run away from me out here, k’da? The Rathalans are close by, and who knows what dangers await us in the Forgotten Forest. Like it or not, we’re going to have to stick together if we want to make it to Askeland alive.”
“Fine.” She exhaled. “But no more lies.”
“No more lies,” I promised.
“All right, then let’s go,” she said flatly, striding ahead without looking back.
I sighed, following behind her. We headed north into the valley, scrambling down rocks as the light faded and the temperature dropped. The terrain was rocky with clusters of dry bushes and scraggly trees—very few places to hide if the Rathalans had scouts in the area.
Kah huffed as Raven and I moved slowly, trying not to twist our ankles in hidden crevices or slide on loose gravel. He wasn’tthe least bit hindered by the rocks, bounding from one to the other like a blazen antelope, obviously eager to get back to Askeland—or what was left of it.
When it became almost too dark to see, I caught up with Raven. “Here,” I said, pulling the moonspar from my pocket and handing it to her. It had come to life again now that the moon had vanished behind the clouds. “Queen B’kara returned this to me, and I’ve been meaning to give it back to you.”
“I wondered if I’d ever see this again,” she said, pausing to study it. Then she looked up at me from under her long lashes, her face glowing from the pale light of the moonspar. “Were we crazy to think we could get through the bramblelands with nothing more than this and that old map?”
“Skies, yes,” I said. Kah snortedyestoo.
A faint smile touched her lips before disappearing. “Jeddak, what does your king want with the Azurstone?”
Her question caught me by surprise, but of course she’d be worried about that, the closer we got to Askeland. I was worried too. “Honestly, I don’t know,” I said. I didn’t know what power the stone held, and until now, I didn’t care. All that mattered was finding it so I could save Lila. But what would happen if the stone ended up in the wrong hands … and I was the one who put it there? “What do you know about the stone?”
“Skyler said it’s the lifeforce of our tribe,” she said.
My jaw tightened at the mention of Skyler.
Raven continued, “He said that if any one person absorbs the power of the Azurstone, they’ll be able to control or destroy the magic in all of us. And the Zavien tribe will be wiped out of existence. But maybe that’s what the White Widow wants …” She trailed off, lost in thought.
“The White Widow?” I asked, confused. Kah was listening intently too.
“The White Widow is the Magi who tried to steal the stone from my tribe,” she said.
Great,anotherperson after the stone.
“I have to find the Azurstone before …” she paused, “anyone else does.”
“You mean, before I do.”
Raven’s eyes met mine. “It depends. Would you give the stone to your king, knowing it would destroy my tribe?”Destroy me, she seemed to say.
Blazen skies, this was exactly the reason I’d never asked too many questions about the stone before. It made everything too complicated.
“Would you?” she repeated, her voice a strained whisper. She knew the stakes if I didn’t follow the king’s command.
I ran my hand through my hair, glancing up to the dark sky. “No. I wouldn’t.”
It was the truth, and that’s what scared me.
Dry leaves rattled in the cluster of trees nearby as the wind picked up. I felt Kah’s eyes watching me.
