Bow and Sparrow

CH 35

We traveled all through the night, even when our eyes drooped and our limbs grew heavy we couldn't risk it. We had to get as far away as we could. Every once in a while we would stop for a break, chew on some jerky and Rylan would look up at the stars to make sure we were headed in the right direction.

We kept a close knit group, Rylan and I in front, Anders and Knox in the back, and the twins hovering somewhere in between. They would occasionally wander off into the forest then come back, stuffing their bags with gods know what.

As the night wore on, Rylan and I fell back from the group a little ways. If they noticed, nobody mentioned it, giving us some privacy.

"Are you okay?" Rylan asked, though I wasn't sure about what he spoke of so I shrugged. A lot had happened in the past week and I didn't know how I was yet. Exhausted? Yes. Anxious? Also, yes. Terrified? More than a little. But I couldn't seem to find the right words.

"You did good back there."

"You mean when I almost drowned us both?"

"We might have to teach you to swim sometime." Rylan grinned, nudging my shoulder. Unfortunately it was my bad shoulder. I gasped, grabbing my shoulder, but it didn't really hurt. Rylan's face dropped and he started spewing apologies.

"It's alright." I rubbed at my arm. "It doesn't really hurt anymore. I just forgot about it."

We walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sound was the chirping of insects in the trees and an occasional hoot from a barn owl.

"I watched you." Rylan was so quiet I almost didn't hear him. I thought back to the shadowy figure I had seen when I was in the tower. It hadn't even occurred to me that it would've been Rylan, who I thought hated me at the time.

"I saw you." Had that only been today? It felt like an eternity since I was locked up and with everything that had happened, I could almost pretend it was all a dream. "King Tano visited me when I was up there."

"What did he want?" I noticed Rylan's jaw clenched.

"He gave me an offer. Surrender and stay in Mortham Keep." Even as the words slipped past my lips, a chill went down my spine at the thought of my meal with the king.

"What did you say?"

"I told him I'd rather die than stay with him. He took it a bit too literally, I think."

Rylan nodded but didn't say anything. It was hard to read his facial expression in the dark and it made me wonder... Did I make the right choice? I would've still been a prisoner, of course, but the others wouldn't have become fugitives. Though none of them seemed too bothered by it.

"Things aren't good in the capital right now. I overhead a few things when I was there." Rylan leaned in, lowering his voice. "There's been reported rebellions across the country. They've been keeping it quiet so far, but things are getting tense." He paused, taking a deep breath. "That's why we have a draft. They're enlisting as many people as they can to keep them from joining the rebellion."

I pondered that. I had been afraid that Rezantri was building its military force against Verdana but hearing about the rebellions almost frightened me even more. The pressure was sure to make King Tano irrational in his decisions, acting in haste.

We fell into comfortable silence, walking side by side through the woods and each of us absorbed in our own thoughts. Only the chatter of wildlife and our footsteps kept us company.

_____

We stopped to rest just before dawn, taking turns keeping watch. We couldn't afford much time so we only got a couple hours of rest each. Not that any of us could sleep much anyway, we were still on edge.