Page 24 of A Crown of Tears and Treason
I couldn’t mourn right now. They’d be so disappointed if I bothered with emotions instead of surviving.
Whatever it took.
First, I had to take care of my basic needs. I had shelter from the elements–for now. I could go days without food. But I was thirsty enough that my throat hurt. The journey here must have been long. Marea Luminara could be traversed in two days with strong winds and a good zephyr spell in its sails, according to the Tales of Tidal Triumph, one of the books I was allowed to read; whenever it deigned to appear on the pages, which wasn’t often.
I didn’t have enough details to figure out how far away from home I was.
Home. I didn’t even know what that was for me.
I licked my parched lips. The air here was boiling.
Water. I needed water.
The carriage slowed just as the thicket became dense enough to swallow us. An unforgiving wall loomed in front, made out of black rocks that looked spewed from a volcano. It rose tall enough that I couldn’t see its top from the carriage, no matter how hard I craned my neck.
The carriage passed through the small hole at its base. The wall was so thick, it blocked out all the light for a moment.
As I turned to look at it, the lower stones seemed to move, like the wall was restitching itself. Sealing me inside.
“Don’t bother with an escape plan,” the Commander said. “That opening will be gone by the time we stop and will never reappear.”
Completelysealed inside.
“I didn’t go through all the trouble of coming here just to run away.” I’d come here to protect my family. Leaving would endanger them. It was as simple as that.
The last time I’d run away, even for a moment, my parents had been killed.
Never again.
The Commander gave me a wry smirk; maybe he and the prince had taken disdain classes together. “I trust the words of Protectorate First Family less than–”
He stiffened as the carriage halted. One of his large hands circled a dagger, even as I dug around in the corset for the switchblade.
He pressed one long finger against his lips. With quick grace, he spun toward the door, kicking it open.
Then his shoulder deflated, as he muttered a low curse and shielded his weapon. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Just as my fingers touched the hilt of my blade, he leaned to the side.
I wasn’t staring at an execution squad or an assassin, oh, no. I was face to face with the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
Chapter
Seven
EVIE
The fates and I needed to have a talk.
Because it wasn’t fair that this woman had been blessed with long, silky black hair, braided to perfection on the crown of her head, gorgeous green eyes that could mesmerize the strongest skeptic, and a perfect smile with plump lips, while they’d “blessed” me with a weird angle to my ears, pointy elbows, and a clavicle that stuck out like something sharp crawled underneath my skin and wanted to burst free.
“I was just too excited. I haven’t seen a new face here in forever,” she said, smile widening as she looked up at me. “Hi!”
“Hello.” I wasn’t a skeptic, but she’d mesmerized me all the same.
“My friends call me Kaya,” she said in a voice that was more song than speech. Talking was for mere mortals. She floated into the carriage, draped in fine scarlett silk and jewels that reflected light all around her. “And I think we’re going to be great friends.”
Kaya took a seat right beside me, our dresses touching. I shrank away. I wasn’t used to people being so close to me.
