Page 41 of The Enemy's Daughter

Of course he will be. I can’t escape him. Spinning, I flee the kitchen, annoyance over a multitude of things hastening my steps—until I’m reminded of his little dig earlier. I whip back around. “You know, not having running water doesn’t mean I live in a shack.”

Tristan’s lips dissolve into the tiniest of smirks. Then one of his memories floats to the surface of my mind.

I don’t think he meant to send that, so now I’m really intrigued. Only it’s like a bubble that won’t pop. An important thought I can’t remember. It’s infuriating. My head tips to the side as I try to parse out what he accidentally sent me. “Have you seen where I live?”

A flutter emerges in my stomach. It’s briefly there and then gone. Tristan’s face reveals nothing.

“Is that how you knew what I looked like in the forest? You’ve seen me before? At my house?”

The flutter kicks into something stronger.

But then Tristan’s cup lands on the counter with a thud, and he slips by me like I haven’t said a word. “Good night, Isadora.”

14

After several hours of lying like a stone in a riverbed, listening for any sign that Tristan might still be awake, I finally crawl out of bed, more resolved than ever to leave tonight.

Because I read the papers I stole from Farron’s office.

As if the weight of returning to unite the clans weren’t enough, now there’s the urgency of needing to warn the Saraf of what Kingsland is preparing. I can’t believe how much they’ve studied us. Those papers were so detailed. They’ve recorded our numbers, studied the design of our arrowheads, and even know the range of our smaller bows—all so they can outmatch us with long bows and plates of armor we can’t penetrate. They know we train only our men in combat, so they’ve stockpiled crossbows to enable anyone without skill to be armed against us, even children. And, most critically, there’s one page with the exact offensive positions they would take should it come to war.

This information could mean our survival.

I just have to get past Kingsland’ssupposedfence. A fence I’m now almost certain doesn’t exist. Yes, Enola and Tristan have bothmentioned it, but the Saraf, my brother, even my betrothed have never spoken of it. Surely Liam, out of all of them, would have told me if such a barrier existed.

As far as I’m concerned, Enola and Tristan are just foxes trying to play me. So I need to be smarter.

My pulse is thunder in my ears as I pad along the hallway and rush down the stairs. I stumble as my weak muscles give underneath me, and it’s only my grip on the railing that saves me from tumbling over the last step. For long seconds, I lie on my back, trying to catch my breath and calm my fear. There’s no denying how dangerous this is. How getting caught, especially with the papers I stole, will mean imprisonment—if I’m not shot on the spot for looking like an intruder.

Don’t get caught.

Those words become my chant as I sneak out the front door and into the cool night air, walking around the house in the direction of the trees. After watching the sunset from my room, I think I need to head southwest to get home. The boots I found on my way out scuff the grass noisily. Already, my meager supplies—a jam jar of water, pain pills, and pages and pages of stolen Kingsland secrets—weigh too much, causing me to limp.

I wasn’t sure if I could or should steal a horse because it would make me conspicuous and louder. But between my pain, slow progress, and finding the horse barn unlocked, my decision is made.

Luckily, the horse I painstakingly saddle in the dark is not afraid of the night, and I let his better eyesight be our guide through grass and around the brush and trees. It doesn’t take long before I spot a bright light searching in the dark—soldiers guarding the perimeter. I jerk the stallion to a stop as the light flicks in my direction.

This is the edge of Kingsland.

My horse whinnies, stopping my heart. I push us on slowly. The light does another sweep, this time going wide, then comes directly at me. This blasted technology. I try to move us out of the way, but it seems to chase us, as if sensing we’re here. I stop, hoping it will pass by, but it doesn’t. When it’s only feet away, I give up and snap the reins. “Eeeya,” I say quietly. We break into a gallop, finally getting away, but the hoofbeats are so loud they sound like boulders crashing to the ground. We just have to get past their—

The horse’s momentum halts, and I’m sent flying through the air. I land hard on my hip in the grass with my arms shielding my face. The light crosses in front of me before sweeping the other way. That’s when I see why my horse stopped.

A tall metal fence stretches out in front of me.

I stare into the darkness, then crawl closer. An unfamiliar buzzing sound emanates from it as I reach out. I assume it’s electricity, but how bad can it—?

Every one of my nerve endings explodes with pain, and I crumple back to the ground. I can’t move my body. Can’t catch my breath.

I can’t leave Kingsland.

Tears fill my eyes, blurring the night sky as my new reality sinks in.

I don’t understand. Why didn’t Liam tell me there was a fence?

The air smells like home. Like trees and rain and pollen with a hint of smoke. It hurts to be so close, yet so far away. But then I blink, and the blurred stars above me clear. And with that clarity comes a new idea—one I can’t believe I didn’t think of before.

It’s time to talk with someone who wants me gone as much as I want to leave.

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