The Changeling

11

Several sennights passed and though the journey hadn't been strenuous, it took much too long to reach the halfway point. Everyone was short-tempered with each other and conversation was at a minimum. The heat of the days intensified as they drew nearer and nearer to the Citadel. Clothing layers kept getting shed, though no one dared put down their weapons. Just because a trip could be boring, didn't mean it would stay that way.

The tension was a burden and a boon for Cetlali. Ezren turned out to have little need of her. He was suddenly quite adept at roughing it out in the woods all on his own, fetching his water and arranging his plates. The most frustrating and worst of all, every single action was done with a chilling intent. Cups placed down too hard beside her made her jump.

Passing by with a harsh, disappointed sigh would leave her reeling and wondering what she could have done wrong. He had a moody

tenacity for shutting her out of conversations. It tainted the entire glorious experience of traveling the Great Propter to Epoubodaz.

Cetlali decided it might be best to keep her distance from Ezren during the day. There was plenty to do to stay busy. The nights where she walked into her tent and found her cot nestled next to his wall filled her with dread. She always found it there every single time, no matter who set up or where they stopped for camp. No matter how often she moved it, it went right back.

The first time she had the audacity to have her cot moved into a more comforting position, a faceless guard must have repeated it back to Ezren. The next day, she recalled a severe conversation happening between Ezren and Lovou. She couldn't hear what they said, but the way Ezren tugged Lovou's massive form away was chilling, hissing his words with a grip like iron. She felt a virulent rage watching a mountain of a man made into a molehill. Too quick, Lovou morphed from that fierce beast she loathed. There, in that nodding head, was a

cowering boy she recognized. Swathed by unruly hair covering his face, blotting out the pale whispers in the only way they could. That night and all the nights after it, Loraeta's tent was next to Cetlali's. Lovou went out on perimeter checks. It would have bothered Cetlali, but she was unsure of the reasons it should have.

Preoccupation with her cot took

precedence, anyway. Night after night, furious tears streamed down her cheeks and threatened to spill during flights of exhaustion. She spent most of her evenings tugging the damn thing across an ever rumpled tarp covering the lumpy, soggy forest floor. Each morning before dawn, she attempted to move it back into place.

She didn't want to risk Ezren or one of his retainers barging into her space. Comments about the drag marks inside her tent made her not only more careful, but much more efficient.

She started taking to only moving the mattress across the space. It was far easier, anyway.

She spent her remaining time shadowing Loraeta and the Wai sisters — which was the

boon part of it all. She cherished the days she rode with the female Rangers, listening to them all speak free of the constraints of men and their sensitivities. Loraeta was funny in her own prim way. Raucous laughter echoed down the line while she and Dourgah told some of the more interesting fights and some of their more paltry opponents. Inoue and Fiera snickered often acting out caricatures of their sister and Loraeta as the women boasted and praised each other for their well-known prowess.

Even Vae Encarnita engaged in saucy conversation. The previous warden of keep duties at Cazar Shcomou followed Ezren to the Citadel, despite her entire life spent with the Cazar as her home. She'd always been an uptight and discerning woman. Cetlali had to admit she missed spending time with her, tenacious as Vae Encarnita was behind her salt and peppered hair. Cetlali spent much of her time as a young child at the attendant's side learning the duties of a cupbearer. When she got promoted to steward, Vae Encarnita was no longer in charge of her like the other attendants. Cetlali felt like Vae Encarnita's