Page 251 of Children of Fallen Gods

“Tisaanah?” I heard the shout from outside. Seconds later, and Serel pushed his way through, already on his knees beside me, wrapping me in a rough embrace. “I was so afraid you were never going to wake up. Gods below, after a month, I—”

Amonth?!

I was only looking at Sammerin’s face. Something in it made my stomach churn with dread.

“What happened?” My voice was hoarse.

“We fled,” Sammerin said, quietly. “Fast.” There was a wrinkle between his brows. Something he was not saying.

Panic rose.

“Where’s Max?” I asked.

Neither of them answered.

“Where’s Max?”

Silence. Horrifying silence.

I tried to get to my feet, stumbled. Serel tried to stabilize me, but I yanked my hand away.

“We had to leave fast,” Serel said, quietly. “After the collapse at the Scar, the Syrizen were already looking for you. And Sammerin. And all of us. Ishqa brought you back to us.”

I didn’t care about how little sense any of that made. I didn’t care about how casually Serel mentioned Ishqa’s name, or that he knew Ishqa at all. I didn’t know why he was telling me any of this when it didn’t answer my damned question.

My head whipped to Sammerin. Sammerin, who was looking at me with this terrible, terrible sadness.

“Sammerin. Tell me where he is.”

And then Sammerin said, quietly, “He is in Ara.”

In Ara?

Where werewe?

Bile rose in my throat. I forced myself to my feet, ignoring Serel as he tried to steady me, as if I were a newborn deer about to fall. I pushed past Sammerin and stumbled outside, squinting against blinding sunshine. The smell of the ocean hit me all at once.

Ara’s ocean? No, that smelled thick and weedy. This… this was dry and salty.

When my eyes adjusted, I was looking at a beach. Large tents, like the one I had stumbled out of, were set up along it. People — men, women, children — were going about their business outside. It was clear that this was a settlement that had been here for some time.

Slowly, people stopped. Stared at me in silence.

It took me a moment to realize that these were the Threllian refugees. Only one of them approached me. Filias, who took two steps forward, then stopped, lips parted, looking lost.

They were all looking at me with suchpity.

“Where are we?” I demanded, to no one in particular.

“We are in Threll.” A gentle voice came from behind me. I whirled around to see Riasha, books stacked in her arms, as if she had been on her way somewhere important.

All the air left my lungs. “Threll?”

“We fled. Do you remember, child?”

I did not remember. I didn’t remember anything.

“Of course you didn’t. You were… in and out. Ishqa told us everything, as we left. He brought you to us. Told us of the Fey war, and how they have allied with the Threllian Lords.” Hatred flickered in her eyes. “The new Arch Commandant hunted everyone who had anything to do with you. Just like you feared. So we fled. Barely escaped, if I’m being honest.” Her gaze rose past me, to Filias. “And now we are here. Biding our time, until we can fight.”

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