Page 15 of Daughter of No Worlds

“One thing.”

A sneer cracked the bridge of Serel’s nose as he lowered his chin and spat. The spittle rolled down our master’s — former master’s — cold, unmoving cheek.

“Now we can go,” he said. And together, we slipped out the door.

* * *

I was not normallythe type to unquestionably follow, but I had no choice but to trust that Serel knew what he was doing as he led me through the familiar halls of Esmaris’s estate. Simply remaining upright consumed all of my focus.

“Do I look normal?” I whispered to Serel, after we nodded a greeting to another passing slave.

“You’re doing great.”

I felt blood rolling down the back of my legs. I wondered how long I had left before it began to pool in my steps.

“Hurry,” I said, and we quickened as much as I could bear.

Soon I realized where Serel was taking me: the stables. One of Serel’s fellow bodyguards, Vos, was stationed at the entrance. He grinned a greeting as we approached, which I returned as enthusiastically as I could muster. Vos was a friend, and I prayed that our relationship would be enough to distract him from how suspicious I surely looked.

“We have some terrific news today, Vos,” Serel said, proudly. “Tisaanah is leaving us. She just bought her freedom.”

What a good actor he was. I, on the other hand, only barely remembered to hold my smile.

Vos’s entire face lit up. He’d always been like that: his emotions took over every feature with breathless enthusiasm. “Really? You finally did it?”

I nodded, faking a beam. “Told you I would.”

“You sure did. Wow.” Vos shook his head, visibly amazed. His happiness for me twisted a knife in my guts. I wondered if he would be punished when it was discovered that Esmaris was dead — and that Serel and I were missing.

“That’s wonderful news,” he said. “You’ll be missed.”

“You will too,” I replied, meaning it. The world titled. Serel’s fingers tightened around my shoulder, disguised as an affectionate pat.

A breeze pressed my clothes to my body, and I realized that dribbles of blood were crawling down my calves. I couldn’t stand here much longer.

“I need to go before sunset,” I said to Serel, who immediately got the hint.

“Yes, she’s too good for us now.” Serel held out his palm, showing Vos Esmaris’s silver lily. “He said one of the lesser horses is fine. Not the pure breeds, of course.”

Vos barely looked at the sigil. “Of course, of course, just go talk to the stablemaster,” he said, then looked at me and grinned. “Congratulations, Tisaanah. Good luck out there.”

“You too, Vos. Good luck.”

He would need luck. I tried not to think about was Vos’s back would look like if he was punished for letting us go. What his body would look like hanging from the gallows.

Pull yourself together, I hissed at myself.That isn’t helping anyone.

We didn’t see the stablemaster, of course. Instead we went straight to the stalls where the workhorses were kept — the ponies and mutts that no one kept a close eye on. It was empty. Late in the day for a lot of stable hands to be around. It turned out, in a twist of bitter luck, I had picked a terrific time to accidentally murder my master.

I steadied myself against the wall as Serel selected a horse and threw a saddle over its back. After he bridled the animal and quietly opened the stall door, I held out my hand.

“I’ll hold him as you get yours,” I whispered.

Serel paused for a fraction of a second before nudging me out of the way. “I can’t go, Tisaanah,” he said, as if he were rejecting an invitation to lunch.

He and the horse continued down the hall, but I froze.

“What?”

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