When he reached Lael, the pale sun had set and there was no time to try and break into the vault to get Shai's pendant. That would have to wait until after the raid.
The group of hooded Watchers that had gathered at Lael's fence-line extinguished their torches when Aliah and Ellersly arrived. A tall figure stepped forward. His hood concealed his face like the others, but the moonlight caught a glint of silver at his throat. He wore a thick chain full of empty pendants: his trophies. It's Akan. Samael's right-hand man.Aliah's stomach clenched. Why is he joining our group tonight?He pushed the unsettling knot of fear aside.
Something else bothered him. When did Samael become the Leader? Was Zev right when he said Elchai was dead?The thought that Aliah could've been working for the ruler of Death all along made him shudder. No. Samael's message was to bring Shai to him and not to Elchai.Elchai must still be alive.He bit the flesh on the inside of his lip. Aliah realized Akan was giving instructions.
"Tonight we raid the West quarter. Go in pairs. Take a sack for your goods and meet back here at the signal." His voice barely rose above a whisper.
A small voice asked, "What's the signal, sir?" A pale kid with orange hair, who was barely thirteen, leaned against the fence. Aliah recognized him as Sol from the last Reading.
Akan turned and walked through the cut portion in the fence. He spoke to Sol over his shoulder. "The signal isn't relevant for you, kid. My orders are to leave you in the Borderless overnight."
Someone poked Aliah in the back as everyone moved through the cut in the fence into the Borderless beyond.
"Poor kid. I guess he's not recruited, just receiving punishment." A soft voice said in his ear.
Aliah looked down into a dark face with even darker eyes. He smiled and shook his head.
"Yeah, Rhys. After this he'll probably never want to be recruited." Aliah kept his tone even, hiding the apprehension gnawing at his stomach.
"Well, I'll keep my eye on him," Rhys said. "See that he stays behind when we come back and doesn't try to follow us. If we don't enforce the Laws and follow up with punishment, what good are we?" Rhys ran ahead leaving Ellersly and Aliah to catch up.
The path the Watchers took wound through the dense woods of the Borderless. Every so often the hooded group would cut across a campsite occupied by the Borderless people, huddled around a fire. Sad eyes set in sunken faces stared at the Watchers as they passed. The homeless wanderers posed no threat to Aliah and his group since they were the aged, the frail, and law-breakers exiled from Lael. Minds fractured by fear and years of pain, they only waited for Death. Some even poured the Essence out of their own pendants before the Watchers came. Most sat shivering under a tree, waiting for Death. Aliah turned his face away. These were his mother's people, and now they were Eliana's.
Akan's bird call signaled the group to stop. Three of the Borderless sat in a semi-circle around a small fire passing a rusty can around. The one closest to Aliah sat with her legs crossed, a grey Laelite blanket around her head and shoulders. She pushed a stick into the can, scooped some mush onto the end of it then nibbled at it, her eyes flicking to Aliah's. The two others stared into the fire with flat expressions. She set the can on the ground then folded her hands in her lap.
Every muscle in Aliah's body tensed as Akan left the front of the line and walked back. He pointed at the Borderless woman.
"You! Hand over that Laelite property. The blanket and the pendant." The flames mirrored in Akan's dark eyes danced, making him appear more sinister. The rest of his face remained hidden in the shadow of his hood.
The woman glanced at Aliah again before looking back into the fire. She didn't move. Why is she refusing?A shudder rippled along Aliah's back. She didn't know what Akan was capable of. He stepped between Akan and the woman then slapped her face with the back of his hand. His knuckles stung with the contact. The woman gasped and fell sideways, her hand holding her cheek.
Akan laughed. "You want the trophy, Ace? She's all yours."
Aliah grimaced at Akan's nickname for him. Aliah ripped the chain from the woman's neck as she cowered on the ground. Her eyes fixed on his. He stared at her until she looked away. If she didn't appear submissive Akan would kill her. He popped the top off her silver pendant and tipped it into his palm, keeping his thumb over the opening without anyone noticing. He made a display of blowing on his hand while the woman, still her holding her face, whimpered on the ground.
Akan laughed again then signaled the group to move forward. Aliah hung back. When the Watchers were out of earshot he shoved the woman with the toe of his boot. She looked up at him.
"Eliana, hide that blanket. And don't stay so close to the larger camps next time. You're right in the Watcher's pathway. I wanted to tell you that Shai is... she's okay. She's safe."
Eliana sat up and took her hand from her face, revealing a red wheal. He pocketed her necklace and pulled the hood away from his face a little. Her eyes widened and she nodded. The other two, a man and a woman, never moved.
"And... sorry about all that." His voice cracked. He turned and ran to catch up with his group.