Page 98 of Secrets of Graves and Gold

Alek sighs and hugs me tighter, his lips brushing my temple. “I’m still sorry it didn’t work out better. And I think you need as much of a break as you can get from working more magic. It looked like it’s starting to wear you out.”

The uneasiness lingering in my gut won’t let me argue. I’d already come to the same conclusion myself. “I think that should be manageable. But I guess we’d better get up so we can all figure out exactly where we’re going from here.”

He lets out a softly disgruntled sound and nuzzles my cheek before seeking out my lips.

I sink into the kiss, wishing I could give myself over to it completely. Wishing we didn’t have so many threats looming over us.

“I love you,” he murmurs after he’s eased back. “Nothing else matters if you’re not all right.”

I stroke my fingers into his thick hair, a swell of emotion momentarily stealing my words. “I feel the exact same way about you. So don’t push yourself too hard either.”

The scholar snorts as if that’s impossible, but he sits up and we clamber out of the shelter.

Casimir has the small pot I lifted from the Order camp braced over an equally small fire. I spot several little white orbs bobbing in the bubbling water.

“I found some ground fowl eggs,” Stavros says from where he’s checking Toast’s shoes. The stallion eyes him warily but seems to have accepted that the former general means no harm. “Only bird that lays in the winter. We should get going as quickly as possible, but we can eat them on the way.”

Rheave emerges from between the trees, holding up one of our canteens. “I filled all these up at the stream! And I also saw…” His gaze latches on to me, and he gives me one of those smiles that’s all daimon, eager and mischievous. “Ivy, come over here.”

I gamely walk over to the spot he indicates several paces beyond the edge of our cramped clearing. He grasps the branch of a nearby tree and clambers up it, disappearing momentarily between the needled boughs.

“Hold out your hands,” he calls down.

When I do, he shakes the branches above me. A deluge of glossy brown nuts almost the same shade as his hair rains down, some into my waiting hands, others pattering across the forest floor.

Rheave leaps down to collect the strays. “I know I’ve seen people eating these before—they seemed to like them.”

I can’t help laughing. Somehow our situation seems less dire when the daimon in our midst is all but conjuring a meal out of the sky.

Stavros considers our loot when we’ve carried them back to the camp. He claps Rheave on the back. “Nice find. Pry the tops off with your teeth, and you can get at the softer flesh inside the shell. They’ve got an almost toffee-like flavor, and they’re quite filling too.”

Rheave and I distribute the nuts between us. I stuff my own portion into a pocket and hurry to collect the rest of our supplies.

By the time Alek and I have folded the blankets for our packs and pulled apart the shelter, Casimir has finished cooking and doused the fire with the pot water. Stavros kicks dirt over the spot to cover the most obvious signs of our stop here.

“Where are we going now?” I ask.

The former general glances toward the sun, shimmering through the trees just above the horizon. “At this point, I can tell where the scourge sorcerers’ march is going. Since it doesn’t look as if they’ve faltered in their ambitions, we should aim to get there first so we can alert the king and summon reinforcements.”

My pulse stutters. “How can you be sure?”

The former general passes out the last of the dried plum Voleska included in our packs. “There are only a few cities with fortified palaces that the royal family would move to when facing a threat like this. The march has been heading southeast since we crossed the provincial border. There’s only one option they could be heading to: Regica. And that’s the one I’d have expected King Konram to choose given every other consideration.”

Rheave offers his hands to me to boost me onto Toast’s back, since there are no stirrups to help. I’d insist that he should ride first, but after how stubborn he’s been in the past, that’d only waste time.

“Are you sure we can get to Regica quickly enough?” I ask as I swing onto the stallion’s back. “The conspirators running the march must know they have to hurry too.”

Stavros smiles grimly. “One of the benefits of having a small party.” He boosts Casimir onto the other horse. “We have less to pack up and less to carry than they do. And I’d suggest we rest as much as we can while we have our turns on the horses. We can use the blankets to make a sort of sling. If we stay on the move for as much of the night as possible as well as the day, we should continue to pull ahead of them.”

Sleeping on horseback? Julita mutters. That’s army men for you, I suppose.

The thought of the tiring journey ahead of us makes me feel about as dejected as she sounds, but I gather my spirits as well as I can. “How much farther do you think we have to go?”

“I’ll have a better idea once we’ve gotten a look at a crossroads sign, but if we keep a good walking pace and limited time at camp, I think we can cover the distance in four or five days’ time.”

I drag in a breath. Okay. Less than a week, and we’ll be done with the trek.

And facing the king who wants me executed again. So much to look forward to.

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