Seven
The sky burned a dark red as the sun set low below the mountainous rocks. A soft breeze brushed against Ellegra's skin. Although there was a slight chill to the air that constantly pulled and tugged at her clothes, Ellegra felt as if she were both drowning in her sweat and shivering to death. Faine had demanded they keep walking, insisted they keep moving. It wouldn't do either of them any good if they were seen out in the open. She wouldn't say it, but Ellegra visualized Reza's crumpled form just a few miles back, slumped and still breathing. If he saw them, there would be no saving Tamshie if she couldn't save herself.
In search of sustenance, her dry tongue pushed through her desert lips, slithering along them to find some kind of heaven. Nothing. Even the trip she'd made a week before to cross through the Tsumerian Desert hadn't left her this exhausted, this hateful of the elements.
Damned curse, she growled to herself. Had she been able to control the deflections, she wouldn't feel like this. She wouldn't be staggering with every step and struggling for every breath. Her knees would not be threatening to buckle under her, and her chest wouldn't feel as if a rock wall was being pushed onto it. Each blast was energy lost that she wouldn't be able to recover. Not with a lack of food and water.
Ellegra hadn't realized she'd stopped marching until her knees hit the sand hard enough to make her head ache. Sweat dripped from her brow down the sides of her face, more pouring over her back. The wind did nothing but make the rush of anger swell inside of her. "Here," Faine said, suddenly next to her when he'd been so far ahead. He knelt down to reach for her, help her to her feet. She shoved his hands away.
"No," she said adamantly. "I'm fine."
His brows stitched together to look at her disbelievingly. "You've been stumbling the entire way. You're not fine." He reached for her again.
"I said no!" Half of her feared that her curse would come alive again, repel the Khalysrian away from her. The other, much more exhausted side of her threw down its resolve, hoping it would keep him at a safe enough distance, no matter how much energy she lost because of it. It'd been two days since she'd hired him to help her find Tamshie, and in those hours and minutes he had barely spoken more than a sentence to her, let alone cared about her well being. "I said I'm fine. I don't need your help."
Scoffing, Faine crossed his arms over his broad chest, glaring down at her. "Oh, really? Then why am I here right now? Oh, yes— to help you find your friend. So if I'm to do that, I need you to be on your feet and walking, not slowing us down."
"You say that like you actually care." Something your kind isn't capable of, she added bitterly.
Faine's eyes stilled for a moment on her face. She could she the wheels turning in his head, or at least imagined she could. But when he spoke, it was as if he hadn't had to think about his answer at all. He stepped closer, towering and leaning over her. "A person has to be alive to give out money. The dead don't make such lucrative transactions."
Lucrative, her mind echoed. That was why he was still here: for the money she offered him if he helped her get her friend back. He didn't care about her health unless it threatened his chance of avenging the pot he'd lost— the one she'd cost him in the first place.
"Get up," he ordered briskly. "We need to keep moving." He didn't wait for a retort. He turned away from her and left her to teeter on her own. Huffing and blowing dark strands of hair from her face, she triumphantly surged to her feet, careful not to upset the tedious balance of which she moved with. Faine was gone and out of view, but she followed his sandy footprints, her head bowed to watch the directions he'd traveled. By the time they finally came to a halt, she was no longer in the valley between the great canyons, but now standing on one, overlooking the tops of the other peaks and further meanders and bends below. Faine stood at the edge of one, his head slightly bowed to stare into the valley. Ellegra was far more intrigued with what lay above them. A canopy of glowing stars blanketed the purple-blue sky, some attracting more of her attention because of how bright they burned. She racked her memory for something to compare it to, but not even the books of her library had been able to illustrate the beauty of the stars with such delicate detail. As she stared at them, her mouth slightly hanging open to breathe in its glory, she realized that no one ever would be able to.
She was so entranced by the twinkling and blinking of the stars that the sound of Faine's voice nearly scared her off the cliff. "We'll camp here for the night," he said. "Drink?" He shook the flask at her.
"I don't drink alcohol."
"Good thing it's just water, then." Settling onto the ground, he turned his back to her, eyes fixed on the valley below. Following his gaze, she now saw what had him so silent. Horses pulling a large covered wagon were now rested and tied around a bar on the back of it. They had wooden bowls of water and feed to sustain them, but what drew her attention was the family of four sitting huddled around a small fire, barely big enough to warm two of them at a time. The mother and father let the children warm themselves, handing them a flask of something to share.
Ellegra watched them with reverence, smiling at the way the young girl would inch closer to the older boy. They spoke in hushed tones, but somehow she heard voices in her head.
"Do you think Mother and Father will be upset when we get back home?" Ellegra asked, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders, hoping to somehow stave off the cold shivers that wracked her body. She was dripping from head to toe, but it wasn't the cold that bothered her. It was the look on Baz's face that turned her stomach upside down.
Lying on his side and propped on one elbow, Baz lifted his brown eyes to meet hers. "I'm sure initially they'll be delighted to know we are safe, Elle." His lips quirked into a half smile before falling to its resting frown. "But we disobeyed them, and we have to pay for that."
"The dog would have drowned!" she protested, her voice rising an octave. Tears choked her breath. "I couldn't leave him to float down the river and die!"
Baz chuckled. "Of course you couldn't. A nine-year-old such as yourself wouldn't care about the consequences of her actions if it meant saving a helpless animal. Even it meant almost drowning because you can't swim." He threw a fistful of grass at her. She giggled and moved around the fire, where he tucked her under his arm, kissing the top of her head. "No, I think we'll be okay. You did what you thought was right. It's a trait that runs in our blood."
The younger girl leaned her head on her brother's shoulder. He handed her the flask.
A deep pang throbbed inside Ellegra's chest. Tears were beginning to well into her throat as she looked at them. Stop it, she chastised herself. That's all gone. Baz is gone. Turning away, she walked away from the cliff, sitting with her back to the valley and drawing her knees to her chest. She would not cry. Her brother was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. All she could afford to think about was getting Tamshie back, not fretting over someone long gone.
"They have food," said Faine, "and water." His voice carried a harsh edge, a tone she didn't like. She craned her head back to look at him. "We should wait until they fall asleep."
Her body tensed. "To do what, exactly?"
He turned to glare at her. "What do you think?" She whipped around to glare daggers at him. "Fine, I'll do it."
A surge of anger lifted her to her feet. "You won't do anything. We are not stealing from them."
"That's why I said I would do it. I knew you'd get too emotional about it."
Her fists clenched as she stepped closer to him, somehow building herself taller so that she looked almost level to him. "Neither of us is stealing anything from that family." Faine, shaking his head with a dubious leer, stepped around her. Her hand whipped out and latched onto his shoulder. "Hey—!"
"All right!" he shouted, whirling around to tower over her, seething and fuming. Ellegra did not cower, did not move aside from the furious rise and fall of his heaving chest. Her face remained screwed in anger, but now held a note of defiance. His narrowed blue eyes flashed with annoyance and restrained threats, but also curiosity. He glared down his nose at her, his face only mere inches from hers. Neither of them moved for several long moments. The tension in the air grew with every crackle of energy surging under their skin that threatened to lash out if either of them spoke or made a wrong move. Finally, Faine growled and pulled back, walking several paces away to sit far from her, ripping the pack from his shoulders and slamming it on the ground. He dug furiously through it. "Women," he muttered, spitting off to the side and angrily shaking his head.
Ellegra lifted her chin. "If having compassion for other human beings and being unable to steal from someone in the same state as myself makes me a woman then, yes, I am proud to say that I am. It's more than I can say for you men."
"Whatever."
Sifting through his pack, he tossed things aside. For what seemed like hours, he clawed through the entirety of the bag to the point where she was amazed it was still holding together and not in shreds. She gave up watching him and settled onto her back, losing herself in the stars. When the rustling and noise ceased an hour later, she watched him from the corner of her eye, knees drawn halfway to his chest to prop something in his lap that held his undivided attention. He glanced up at her, angry hooded eyes almost black in the night. When she looked away, she still felt his gaze linger on her face, but she didn't care. She was drawing art in the stars with her eyes. She felt herself drifting off to sleep, her eyelids sinking lower and lower before she blinked and widened her eyes again.
Something slid across the rock and knocked into her hip. Startled, Ellegra lifted her arm, seeing the gleaming blade of a dagger pointed away from her, the hilt poking her. She swung her gaze up to find Faine looking at her, eyes slanted as he watched her. "What is this?" she croaked hoarsely. She half expected him to say something as ridiculous as a fight, saying he would only fight if the odds were even.
"You don't like me. Believe me— the feeling is mutual. You don't trust me, and I respect that. Keep it. To make you feel more at ease until we find your friend." She turned it over in her hand, feeling the grip in her palm soothe her. It was beautifully crafted, she had to admit that. But she was still wary. She looked back to Faine. "I figured you would feel safer sleeping with that. Now you can stop trying to stay awake thinking I might kill you in your sleep."
She snickered. "How gentleman of you."
"I'm showing compassion." His chapped lips twisted in a smirk.
Ellegra snorted, but she couldn't hide the smile cracking her dry lips. She settled down, folding her arms under her head, and watching the faint glow of the traveling family's fire. Its light casted shadows on the walls of the canyon, and she watched as little bunnies and wild dogs ran in the light, jumping and leaping over one another before shifting into other lifeless forms like a bird with disfigured wings. Her breath steadied as she slipped into sleep, her thoughts lingering on the brother below that cradled his sister and the one she couldn't stop longing for.
❂
Scorching sunlight pierced her eyelids and burned bright orbs on her retinas as she woke. The blinding light was everywhere she turned, and not even covering her face would make it go away. Groaning, she clamped her eyes shut and bowed her head, pushing herself up on an elbow. The sun glared overhead, and with it came the blazing afternoon heat.
Noon!
Ellegra bolted to her feet. "Faine!" she shouted, dashing over to the edge of the cliff and grimacing at the empty valley. The family was gone. The blasting gusts had carried away any tracks, taking any hope of following them with the smalls grains. The remains of their fire smoldered in its spread pit. Something hit the ground behind her with a wet thud. Whirling, her hand drew out the dagger Faine had given her, knees bent in a crouch.
A quiver of arrows was haphazardly thrown down as Faine strode over to her, a bow in one bloody hand and a roasted snake in the other. "Breakfast," he said, pushing the tail into her hand. "Well, lunch." Pausing to glance at her, he took the blade from her hand and sliced the dead animal in half, leaving her a larger portion than she wanted. Looking at it, she felt her stomach tighten and bile rise in her throat. She didn't want any part of it.
She thrust it back out to him. The carcass swayed in the air between them. "We don't have time," she said coldly, mildly disgusted. "We need to get moving. We've already lost too much—"
He stepped back, shaking his head at the food. "We have enough. It's fine; I saw the way they went." He turned and crouched over his pack, shuffling through it.
Groaning, Ellegra marched past him, dumping the distasteful meal around his neck. "I don't care. We've been following them for days, and every day the winds carry their tracks away. We need to go. Now."
"Hey," he barked. "Woman!" Glancing back, she found him standing now, eyes narrowed with dark shadows under them. "I just spent half the morning trying to find us food, and this was all I got. If you think you can find your friend on your own, then be my guest. But I want my payment now."
Huffing, Ellegra was practically foaming at the mouth when she relented and stomped over to him. She snatched the dismembered snake from his outstretched hand and kept her back to him as she ate, cautiously picking out scales and things that hardly passed as food.
Faine rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I should make you pay extra for this." She glanced over her shoulder at him, her brows drawn together in a glare. "Oh, yeah. Maybe even triple, the way you're acting like such a spoiled princess."
Ellegra sputtered and choked on her food. Coughing, she pounded on her chest, shooting daggers at Faine as she heaved. When she'd cleared her airways, she stood straight and pointed a slender finger at his chest. "Do not call me that."
"It's not like you've given me anything else to call you," he said bitterly. "Unless you give me something, it's either Princess or Woman. Take your pick." His arms folded over his chest.
She ground her teeth. "Do not call me Princess."
"Then give me something less flattering to call you."
It felt like smoke was burning out her nose and ears, her eyes set ablaze and devouring him in the flames. "I don't give my name to strangers I don't trust."
He feigned a gesture of mock hurt, clutching his chest with his hand. "I'd hardly say we are strangers, Princess. We're on a journey to save your friend. That makes us partners."
"A partner I don't trust."
He shrugged, returning back to his severed snake. She noticed its head was already gone, prior to it being roasted. The thought of seeing fangs like the ones it must have had gave her chills. "It would make my job a lot easier. This way you can stop scolding me after I save your life."
Biting the inside of her cheek, she blew out hot air from her nose and resumed her eating. He's just trying to get a rise out of you, she told herself. Finishing her food, she wiped the corners of her mouth and cleared her throat. "Tell me one thing, Faine." He didn't speak or look at her. She took his silence as compliance. "What exactly did you see when you found us?"
He groaned. His hands and food fell into his lap. "Didn't I already—"
"Well, I want to hear it again."
Sighing, he dusted his hands off and set the last bit of his snake down. Bones lay scattered around his feet. "I got there just as they were putting your friend on a horse. I thought she was dead."
Ellegra swallowed, pushing down a clump of tears lodged in her throat. "And me? What did you see?"
Now he watched her with an intense stare, eyes flickering sky blue in the sunlight, a hint of curiosity glinting as he studied her from head to toe. "I got there just in time. You were unconscious when I found you. Two of them tried to grab you. I shot one, and the other ran off." His voice lowered. Something about his tone told her he knew more than he was telling her, but she couldn't think about whether or not he had seen what she'd done to Reza and the others.
"Who is 'they'?"
His shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "Men dressed in an assortment of colors. Gold, black, red."
Ellegra thought back to the palace guards, recalling their uniforms of gold and blue. "Those weren't palace guards. Those aren't the traditional colors."
"I didn't think so."
She thought of Reza. He hadn't been wearing any of those colors, just shabby brown pants and an even dirtier shirt. He couldn't have been a part of them— he'd already notified the guards of the underground fight. Even she knew he wasn't smart enough to call in reinforcements as a safety net. "One of them, his name was—"
"Reza," they said. Ellegra looked up at him. He knew. "Reza is a drunk who can't handle a loss," Faine finished.
"My friend, she said something that made him upset. He busted the fight to catch us. And then he followed us." There were still pieces she was missing. Who were the people who attacked her in the canyon? Why would they bother taking Tamshie?
"Reza isn't associated with the men who took your friend."
"How do you know?"
"Because Reza doesn't have the brains to go outside of his circle of friends. Even he wouldn't mess with those guys."
"Then how did they know we were here? He must've been with them. The timing is too much of a coincidence."
"Not if they were already here." Something clicked inside his head. She could see the cogs of his brain grinding against each other and come to a halt, a solution. "There are bands of communities who don't believe in the Mastran. Their acts of rebellion are quiet but always devastating and sudden. They didn't have to know you were here. The valley is their hunting ground."
Ellegra's mind absorbed it, but it didn't make sense. "For what?"
His jaw locked and his fists clenched at his sides. "Slave trading."