Page 56 of The Omega Slave

Tsaria remembered Flynn and how he was with Jael, and his heart ached for them both. Jael must think he’d been abandoned, and he’d be right.

What a waste. Tsaria had made so many foolish mistakes. In protecting his heart, he’d probably lost it.

He heard running footsteps, and a man hurried over and whispered something to Draul. “Good,” Draul answered. “Ask him to come and warm himself here and see to his horse.”

Tsaria heard the hooves and assumed this was the rebel with the information they sought. Draul stood up as a man in a cloak came striding over to them. Draul shook his hand and pulled him in close. “Come and sit. Tell us what is going on.” The man sat cross-legged on the matting by the fire, accepted a mug thatVeda passed him, then pulled back his hood and stared right into Tsaria’s eyes.

Tsaria gasped in shock and stared back, open-mouthed.

Draul glanced between them and frowned. “You two know each other?”

Tsaria couldn’t have found words if his life depended on it.

“You could say that,” Tomas said slowly, “Tsaria is my little brother and I haven’t seen him for over eight summers.”

The silence was suddenly all-encompassing. Tsaria didn’t move. He couldn’t get his frozen limbs to do anything. Tomas was in the human alliance? Draul sighed. “I know this is shite, but we don’t have time for family reunions now. What do you know?”

Tomas dragged his eyes from Tsaria. “Iskar is dead, and Damatrious is blaming Kamir’s dragon—”

“No,” his tongue suddenly loosened. “Kamir would never kill anyone.”

Tomas eyed him. “Well, someone did. I couldn’t get into the main hall, but seven members of the ruling assembly are also dead. Damatrious has summoned Kamir at twelfth bell to be charged and if the majority of the assembly find him guilty, he will be cleansed by fire.”

Veda paled and covered her mouth with her palm as if she was going to be sick.

“What does that mean?” Tsaria asked, even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

Draul looked at Veda and she lowered her hand. “It’s an ancient punishment,” she said. “Not been used for centuries. It basically means my brother will be tied to a stake and burned alive.”

Her last word was choked out and Draul drew her into his arms. Tsaria was on his feet before he even realized it. “We need to go.”

Draul looked at him. “You said you didn’t know how to bring forth his dragon.”

“True, but I will never find out hiding here,” Tsaria said.

“That was you?” Tomas asked, disbelief obvious in his voice but got to his feet. “Then you ride with me. We haven’t time for carts, and we need to be quick. We barely have four bells before the twelfth.”

Everyone else stood, but Tomas shook his head at them. “Be ready at the south gate, but you can’t come with me now. I cannot get more than one inside.”

Draul nodded once. “We have fresh horses waiting.” Except it became clear that Tsaria had only ever sat a horse once in his life, so Tomas picked the largest of the two and Draul practically lifted Tsaria up so he was sitting in front of Tomas.

“Ready?”

No. But if he had any chance of saving Kamir he had to be.

Chapter twenty-four

They were silent for a time. Tomas wasn’t driving the horse hard, which Tsaria could understand as he was carrying double, but then the terrain became rocky and Tsaria knew they were above the cliffs near the Market of All Souls. Tsaria knew he should say something to Tomas, but he didn’t know what.

“Did you know we aren’t blood-brothers?”

Tsaria jerked so hard, if Tomas hadn’t had his arms wrapped around him, he would have fallen off. “What?” he whispered, and would have doubted Tomas even heard him above the noise of the hooves if he hadn’t answered.

“I don’t think Alain remembers, but your ma came to the farm when you were a newborn.” Tsaria could barely do more than shake his head. “She was a slave from one of the bigger houses, cast out because she got pregnant. When Father found her she was half frozen, curled around you in the barn. My own mother had left for a better life not long after Alain was born. Father was cruel even then, and a band of troupers came through. Ma could sing and she just left.”

Tsaria wanted to ask, “Without you?” but that would have been cruel, so he kept his mouth closed. “Father grew more bitter every day, but when your ma arrived, it seemed to give him a second chance. I was convinced he loved her. She could cook like a dream with barely anything and she always smiled.” Tomas was silent for a moment, and Tsaria didn’t break it. “You were toddling and into everything, and Father, Alain, and I were in the fields. Not sure exactly what happened, but the door was left open, and you got out. She’d put you down for a nap and was making bread and didn’t know you were up until she went to wake you and you’d gone.”

Tomas hesitated while the horse picked his way through a pile of rocks before they hit a smoother track.

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