Page 68 of House of the Raven
Sliding an arm around her waist, I help her stand. She leans her back against the wall for support, looking dazed.
I turn to the man, bent on dragging him and his mother through the mud with the most colorful language I can muster. But I find no words because he’s sneering and patting his pocket, eyes wide.
“Thieves!” He comes at us, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Recovering remarkably fast, Esmeralda grabs my wrist and hauls me down the sidewalk, while the man runs after us calling usthievesover and over again.
By the time we round the corner, Syvilia’s Guardia is after us.
19
VALERIA
“It is unjust. The pretty fae boy uses magic to conjure his tears. Alas, for me, shedding tears at will is no simple feat.”
Olallo Pardo - Human Actor - 335 DV
Irun faster than I ever have. I’m on Esmeralda’s heels matching her step for step. She’s extremely fast and running quite unlike someone who just got bumped in the head. She weaves in and out of the many twisting alleys we traverse, like a hare leaping in fright. I worry that we might run into a dead end. I wish Cuervo was here to guide me, but I have no idea where he has gone. Luckily, Esmeralda seems to know what she’s doing.
My heart has found its way into my throat. It has never knocked against my ribs this frantically, not even during my best sparring matches with Amira.
Scenarios run through my mind where I end up locked in a rotting cell under the watch of the Syvilia guards. Only the gods know what they would do to me, to us. I don’t have my Plumanegra key to prove who I am. If I told them, they would call me crazy, white streak of hair or not. I would rather take my chances with Bastien than a group of random guards.
Ahead, the street is blocked by a tall wooden fence.
No!A dead end like I feared.
Esmeralda keeps going, undeterred.
“This way.” She slides a board to one side and squeezes through the gap.
Relieved, I do the same. Once I’m on the other side, she puts the board back into place and keeps running. A moment later, we spill onto a busy street, lose ourselves in the crowd, then disappear amongst the trees of a nearby wooded area.
Esmeralda collapses on a fallen log and throws her head back, laughing.
I come to a halt, bent at the waist, and brace my hands against stiff knees. I struggle to catch my breath as she keeps cackling like a crazy person.
Staring in disbelief, I shake my head. “What was that about? You nearly got us arrested.”
“Not even close,” she manages between intakes of breath.
“Is that even real blood?” I grab her by the chin and turn her head to one side. There is a red streak that goes from her temple to her jaw.
She slaps my hand away. “Yea, it’s real. That bastardo almost knocked me out. It was worth it, though.” She pulls something from the folds of her skirt. “This is pretty heavy.” A coin purse bounces on the palm of her hand as she assesses its weight.
“Youdidsteal from him,” I say incredulously. I don’t know why I’m surprised, but I am, which only shows how naïve and unprepared I am for… for…for everything.
“Of course, you idiot. What did you think we were doing? Playing hide and seek?” She shakes her head, her expression full of annoyance and incredulity of her own.
“Stealing is wrong,” I say, unable to help myself. Clearly, she doesn’t care about the morality of it all. If she did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
“If it’s so wrong, how come the rich do it all the time? They take more than their fair share from other folk and call it enterprising. Yet when those who have nothing try to even the score, they’re labeled as thieves and condemned to rot in jail forever.”
“It’s… It’s not like that.”
She spurts a laugh and rises to her feet. “I guess you wouldn’t think so, rich girl that you are.”
“I’m…” My instinct is to deny I’m rich because it feels like an accusation, but I trail off.
