Page 35 of The Threadbare Queen

Erdene didn’t answer, but she knew.

And she was very afraid for everyone if that risk paid off.

Chapter 10

“Idon’t see why she gets to sleep in the cart.” Evelyn’s voice was a whine in the background.

Ava didn’t want to go back into the cart anyway, despite the chill of the night air and the cold of the dew on the ground. The further from Fernwell and the warmth of the sea they traveled, the colder the temperatures, but she did not want those rough wooden walls enclosing her again.

It had brought back the trapped feeling that came with years spent locked in a cell.

“If you sleep in the cart, love, I have to stay awake all night guarding her. You’ll have to drive and be with her on your own during the day while I sleep.”

Evelyn thought about that. “We could use the magic rope. Don’t listen to whathesays. He likes frightening people.”

He sighed. “Don’t think I’m not tempted, but she was looking a little fuzzy around the edges toward the end there. I don’t want the Speaker after me. And I want to be able to go back into Grimwalt when I need to in the future, without looking over my shoulder the whole time.”

“Hethreatened that. We don’t know if it’s true.”

“I’ll keep you warm under the stars. It’s just until the border.” Sirna’s voice changed tone. Not wheedling—it was stronger than that—but persuasive, giving Evelyn a chance to accept the reality for herself, without him having to force the issue.

Ava couldn’t see her face, but she guessed the woman was pouting.

“Let’s make a bed for ourselves.” There was a little too much cheer in Sirna’s voice, and Evelyn grumbled under her breath, but she helped him.

Ava was content to lie where she was as they moved about, even if the thin shift was getting damp and clinging to her skin from lying on the ground. The movement of air around her, the vastness of the sky above, was worth the price.

“I’ll think of a way we can do it,” Evelyn said, as they eventually stood over Ava and Sirna pulled her to her feet. “Don’t think I won’t.”

Ava simply closed her eyes against her hard, angry face, and Sirna had to bodily lift her into the cart.

She heard the click of a padlock key turning, and understood she had been shut in, but this time, there was no rope dragging her down.

She could sense it, though.

It sat on the shelf above her. It felt as if it were probing for her living spirit, like a snake licking the air, and she shifted away from it, taking a blanket and curling up on the floor at the end of the bed, right by the door.

When she slept, she dreamed of Luc, calling for her in the forest, and she couldn’t answer because a snake had wrapped itself around her and was squeezing out all her air.

* * *

Evelyn forcedher to get up early, and every step Ava took made her joints creak, as if she had become an old lady.

Sirna tied the long, blessedly unmagical rope around her waist to let her relieve herself, and she barely had the energy to stumble deep enough into the woods to be out of sight.

When she came back, panting, with perspiration on her brow from the effort of the short walk, he didn’t untie her. Instead, he had her sit next to him on the driver’s seat, and Evelyn disappeared inside the cart, where it was far warmer.

The air was cold enough to hurt as she breathed it in, and her breath came in puffs. She still only had on a rough-woven shift, and she shivered uncontrollably.

“Evelyn, get her a blanket.” Sirna eyed her with dislike, as if her teeth were chattering to annoy him.

“Can’t you get me some clothes?” Ava hunched over, trying to trap the warmth of her body. She needed shoes, too.

“Where from? Evelyn hasn’t any to spare. And what with? I haven’t been paid what was agreed.” He sounded bitter about it. “Andhimselfmade me destroy what you were wearing.”

Evelyn had referred to the rider ashim, now Sirna was calling himhimself. They either didn’t know his name, or he’d threatened them with dire consequences if they spoke it.

She closed her eyes against the disappointment, and drew up her knees, hugging them tight.

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