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“It’s not funny,” she said.
“You have to admit,” Ryson replied, “at this stage, that part is a little funny.”
She released a mixture of a laugh and a groan as she rubbed her face with her shackled hands. She was ultimately grateful for the humor, for soon no more words remained, only anticipation.
Chapter 16
The Price of the Past
RYSON MOVED WITH such urgency from the tired fold of his body that Clea thought the doors to the carriage were about to be ripped from their hinges.
Clea said Ryson’s name in the silence as he untangled himself from her. His eyes searched back and forth like he could see sound. He moved to the other side of the carriage and peered through a gap in the boards opposite her.
“Ryson, what is it?” asked Clea, but it didn’t take her long to notice the bustling sounds outside. She stood.
“It’s crowded,” he said. A moment later, he was yanking the hood of his cloak over her head.
“They only get like this a few days before an auction. Hopefully, he deems that you’re in no condition to be sold, and allows you to skip this week. If you get any indication otherwise, you run, understand? The medallion is protecting you now more than anything else. You run, and you use its cover to get you through the woods without any other Venennin noticing. We will just have to hope with all the other dark presences around that they won’t pay too much attention to you. You don’t wait to recover here. You hold fast to the medallion and you run.”
The carriage stopped with a jolt, Clea stumbling against himbut holding on, determined to get an answer as she repeated, “Ryson, what’s going to happen to you?”
“There is a road not far north from the castle. After a day or so, it will take you to a trade route that many Kalex use. Veilin pass through it. Go there and hide among the travelers that have congregated there. In time, you should run into other Veilin and find a way to return to Loda.”
“Ryson,” she pushed. “What’s going to happen to you?”
“Don’t forget what I said, Clea,” he said, hands touching her arms in a natural way, and then flinching back. He looked into her eyes intently, lowering his voice as he added, “There isn’t any room for you to think about me right now. They’ve taken us to King Kartheen. He can’t be reasoned with. Any inklings of resistance, even a question without his permission could put you at risk. Be the picture of kindness. Be that symbol your family made you to be. Don’t try and reason with him. Don’t wait for me. You’ll be on your own.”
She held his eyes, poised like a soldier as he seemed to try and to read her.
Clea heard the clank of armor and the shouting of soldiers outside.
“And don’t look for me,” he reminded sternly as if he could still see the notion nestled in the determination on her face. “Princess,” he pushed.
She didn’t relent and he couldn’t make her. He seemed to sense this as he shook his head and whispered, “You don’t understand. There was a time where I could have gotten you to Loda in seconds,” he explained. “I could have stopped all this and everything after it with a word. If you only knew what afragment I am of who I once was, you’d understand that in so many ways, I’m already dead. Leave me behind. Even with this request, I’m at your mercy.”
“Ryson,” she replied simply. “You keep referencing this past version of yourself, and the power you had, the choices you would have made. Maybe you could have done all those things, but would you?”
Ryson hesitated, and in his hesitation, realized something about herself.
She’d always thought herself unwilling to sacrifice her own life. She’d risked it to heal him and was willing to risk it again to ensure his escape. Doing the same for the sake of the medallion had been a challenging obligation, but doing this felt almost natural.
Maybe it wasn’t her life that she was so unwilling to sacrifice after all.
Maybe it was something else.
The carriage door flew open, and afternoon light poured into the enclosure.
Clea didn’t flinch. Instead, she said to him, “You said you don’t remember why you kept your heart.” She remained poised as they came for her from the intensity of the light, silhouettes grabbing her roughly by the arm and hoisting her away as she said, “I think it’s because you knew it was the best of you.”
Ryson’s expression faltered and for the first, and perhaps the last time, she saw surprise on his face.
Clea braced herself as she was yanked off the carriage andshoved in the small of her back by the guard. Other hands reached from the light. Her feet landed hard against the dry earth. The sun was bright, the air hot, and she tripped forward blindly as another soldier led her. They’d traveled from the snow back into baking weather that felt deceptively like Virday.
Myken stood back against the carriage, his arms folded as he watched them take her up a forested path and then stirred away from the carriage to catch up with them. Ralth remained behind restlessly, rubbing his wrist over and over where Clea had cut him. She caught the grin plastered across Myken’s face, and she looked away as he walked beside her. She didn’t acknowledge his presence.
“Should I give you the tour?” He purred in her ear.
Her stomach turned, but she was determined to show him nothing.
