Page 41 of Sea of Stars

I looked up and saw the old woman biting her lip. She was clearly thinking hard. It was something I had seen Mahlia do so often. I gulped, deciding to go with my gut feeling.

“Hey!” I yelled over at the group.

They all grew quiet and came closer to listen to what I had to say. This wasn’t going to end well for me, but I had to tell them. I tried to think of how I could say this in a delicate way, but there was no right way to say the words I was about to.

“I really can help you find Mahlia. I have her mother,” I said almost in a whisper.

The old man choked on nothing but air and looked down at me bewildered. Without hesitation he leaned in and punched me hard right across the face. Everything was black once again.

This time when I woke up I was lying on my bed. I grabbed my wrists. They were red and sore, but unbound. I sat up and looked around, noticing that I was alone. Jumping off the bed I ran to the door and swung it open. The corridor was empty. “Hello?!” I bellowed as I ran for the staircase. As I turned the corner I stumbled right into Denton.

“Denton, where are they?” I asked.

“They left, Breghton,” he shrugged. “They took the owl with them. I thought you’d be happy they were gone. Nothing but trouble I’d say.”

I could feel my temper rising. “Grab your things, we’re going after them.”

“What for?”

“I think that the old man and woman were Mahlia’s grandparents. And I guess the rest of them are her friends.” I said this almost as a question, because the idea of her hanging out with a human and brutarian was humorous and uncomforting at the same time. “I believe Mahlia’s in trouble,” I added. “We need to catch up to them.”

Denton’s eyes grew wide. He was the only one that knew my secrets. We had grown up in the same village and were close friends. It was also refreshing that he called me Breghton instead of king. He was the only one I could ask to accompany me to track down the strange group.

“They left at daybreak. Do you think we’ll be able to catch up?”

“What time is it now?” There was no way to tell in the dark hallway.

“At least midday. We’ll need to leave right away.”

“Were they flying on the owls?” I asked, knowing if they were that it was hopeless. Divinare owls traveled faster than any other creature. I waited restlessly for his response.

“I’m really not sure. I wouldn’t think so, since there was a brutarian and a human with them. The owls could pick up a human, but a human is too heavy for the owls to fly very far.”

I nodded, hoping he was right. But there had been quite a few owls, and several working together might even be able to lift a brutarian. I started walking, heading down the stairs with Denton on my heels.

“Breghton, wait here for a second." I turned and saw Denton entering his own bedchamber. I waited outside, drumming my fingers against my leg. I was thinking about the Assassin’s Dagger when Denton emerged with a few bundles and two swords.

“Some provisions," he said. "Catch,” He tossed one of the swords at me handle first. I snatched it expertly from the air and let it slide into the belt around my waist. Denton sheathed his sword, slung one of the bundles over his shoulder, and handed the other bundle to me. He locked his door and continued down the hallway. “What should we tell the guards of your departure?”

Our boots clicked on the stones as I thought over the question. “I guess that we're leaving to find more supporters.”

“They’ll wonder why some of them aren’t accompanying us.”

“I don’t believe they’ll question me, so they can wonder all they want. Are any of the pronghorns trained for travel yet?” We had captured some of the horned animals in the desert on our way here. But they were proving to be unruly.

“I think there’s been some progress with them. Let’s stop by the stables before we leave. “We’ll catch up to them in no time if the pronghorns are ready for riding,” Denton said excitedly.

He was right. It had been almost impossible to capture the animals. But we had cornered and rounded up three, two males and one female. Hopefully we could take the males, since they had the more menacing horns on the top of their heads.

As we made our way into the courtyard I was happy to see that the sun was out for a change. We crossed over the matted dirt toward the stables. Denton unlatched the wooden doors and they swung open with a loud creak. There were no divinares in sight. The trainers must have been on a break for lunch.

“Should we look for the trainers?” Denton asked. “We need to know if it’s safe.”

“There’s no time.” I approached one of the pronghorns and looked into its stall. He was just the right size for a divinare to ride. Before I could change my mind, I undid the lock and entered. The pronghorn looked unsettled but stayed still. “It’s fine. They’re tame enough. Let’s get going.”

Denton looked like he wanted to protest, but he went into the adjacent stall anyway. I reached up and grabbed the thick rope around the animal’s neck. I stepped up onto a pile of hay and then jumped onto the pronghorn's back. His short, light brown hair was softer than I remembered. The trainers must have bathed him. The animal didn’t hesitate. It bolted, straight through the wooden door of its stall, breaking it easily. I squeezed my legs against the animal’s sides and held on tightly to the rope. I heard a loud crack behind me and knew that Denton’s pronghorn had done the same. I clenched my teeth as we tore into the courtyard. Divinares started shouting from all directions. I saw the trainers running toward us, fear all over their faces. I pretended not to notice.

“Open the gates!” I yelled at the guards. I didn’t have to worry about any questions from them. They obliged, knowing that if

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