Page 86 of The Blood Traitor

He didn’t need to say it for Kiva to still hear the words.

Her grip tightened around her reins, the leather digging into her palms.

“C-Can I learn, too?” Tipp asked eagerly.

Jaren’s voice was indulging, even teasing as he answered, “That would require you waking up at a timebeforewe have to drag you out of bed and onto your pony.”

Hearing the affection in his tone made it almost impossible for Kiva to keep her eyes down. She needed this conversation to be over so he could ride ahead again, needed him toleave.

“Well, m-maybe if dawn was later in the d-day...” Tipp said, clearly put out.

“I say we try it,” Ashlyn declared. “Good thinking, Cresta. We’ll begin tomorrow morning.”

Cresta pressed her lips together, fighting her outward response to the praise. She gave a terse nod and rode forward, prompting their group to return to their previous positions, and Kiva’s grip on her reins to relax.

The remainder of their passage through the harsh Jiirvan desert was spent with Kiva continuing to repress her feelings and simply focus on meeting Caldon’s attacks over and over, until Cresta’s earlier assumption came true and shedidbecome exhausted. But at least her fatigue made it easier to quiet her mind and ignore her grieving heart. And when Galdric finally announced that they were near enough to Hadris’s capital for him to windfunnel them the rest of the way, Kiva was too tired to experience anything other than relief that they were nearing the end of their journey.

She did, however, retain her wits enough to dismount before Galdric swept them up in his wind magic again.

Of course, this time Zephyr couldn’t have cared less, acting as calm as a lamb when they touched down on the outskirts of a different kind of desert, the sand an eerie gray, almost black color. Kiva prodded it with her boot, marveling over the unusual shade, before turning her gaze to the city before them.

Unlike Zadria and Yirin, there were no fortified walls around Ersa, so the inky sand dunes crept right up to the outer edges of the nearest buildings. But it was those buildings themselves that caught Kiva’s attention, because they, too, were a near-black shade, as if forged out of ebony sandstone. Their flat rooftops allowed multiple structures to be stacked on top of each other, rising skyward, and between them were colorful scarves and strings of lanterns stretching through the empty air in a haphazard manner.

“I forgot how dark this city is,” Cresta murmured, eyeing the streets that, even from a distance, appeared gloomy and disordered.

Kiva looked at her, surprised. “You’ve been here before?”

Cresta hesitated, as if debating whether or not to reveal more of her life, before finally sharing, “Once, when I was very young. My mother had friends here, so she brought my sister and me, before —” She looked away, her jaw tightening at whatever she recalled about her sister’s tragic end. Her tone was bitter as she finished, “My father wasn’t pleased that we’d traveled so far without him. He made sure we were all aware of that after we returned home.”

Kiva almost wished Cresta’s father was still alive so he could be made to pay for how he’d treated those he was meant to have protected. Judging by the look on Caldon’s face, she wasn’t alone in her thinking.

But Cresta caught both of their expressions and scowled at them, making it clear she didn’t want their sympathy.

Caldon quickly turned his gaze back to the city. “I have a love-hate relationship with Ersa,” he said. “Aesthetically, it’s unique. But it’s also a bit like opening up an unusual piece of fruit to find the inside is rotten.”

Jaren stepped up beside them, leading his horse, Nightshade, by the reins. “It’s bad form to speak ill of how other rulers run their kingdoms, especially those who, if not our closest allies, are certainly not our enemies. But I agree that Hadris has suffered under King Sibley’s reign. He’s too busy spending his citizens’ gold on food and drink and courtesans to look outside his windows. Crime is rampant in Ersa, but rather than patrol the streets, his Royal Guard have orders to stay close to him while he carouses all day long. Last time I was here, he seemed to have no idea what was happening in his very city, and certainly not beneath it.”

Kiva diligently kept her eyes ahead rather than on Jaren as he spoke, but peripherally, she was aware of him frowning toward the dark mass of buildings.

“What’s h-happening beneath it?” Tipp asked, squinting down at the sand.

“A labyrinth of twisting, deadly underground streets where the worst of humanity trade everything from poisons to people,” Caldon answered.

Seeing the widening of Tipp’s eyes and his impossible-to-miss curiosity, Kiva made a sound in the back of her throat, and Caldon, realizing his error, quickly added, “They also eat young boys for breakfast. Boil them in a big pot while they’re still alive. So don’t even think about wandering off, because we won’t be coming after you.”

Tipp snickered, seeing right through Caldon’s lie.

“Cal’s right,” Ashlyn said, causing Tipp’s humor to vanish into shock. “Not about the cannibalism — don’t be ridiculous. But itisa dangerous city, and we all need to stay together. Those of us who are going for the ring, that is. Eidran, are you still seeking out the anomalies?”

The spy nodded and answered, “Different strategy this time. If Galdric’s information is correct, this community lives closer to the city than the last, but it’s nearly sunset, so we’ll head there now and find an inn to stay at overnight, acting as if we’re just passing through. People are chatty when they’ve had a few drinks. Once they’re comfortable with us, we’ll try to get some answers out of them.”

Ashlyn nodded her approval and looked to Galdric. “You’re with him again.”

Galdric seemed resigned to this now, aware that he was the only one who could lead Eidran to the anomaly settlement, but regretting having ever said so.

“Who else is going with them?” Ashlyn asked.

Kiva noted the difference between this time and last time when the princess had ordered Cresta and Torell to follow Eidran — even if Cresta had disregarded the command. It was yet more proof that the two were now considered part of the team, rather than a rebel general and an escaped prisoner.

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