Page 47 of Sea of Stars

A plan started forming in my head. When Harish fell asleep later, that would be the time for action. Maybe he would sleep so soundly that I could steal the knife and then Denton and I could ride off with Mikado. But if Harish woke up during my escape, he would kill us. There had to be a better plan than this. The first step was clear though. I had to tell Denton that Harish was working for the humans, and I had to tell him without Harish noticing.

The loud splashing of the river eventually faded as Mikado plowed onward. The sky was sunny and cloudless. The storm had left just as quickly as it had come. Mikado was slower than usual. He was just as worn out as the rest of us, but he continued to run.

I looked down at the hilt of my sword. I had a plan that would work. “Let’s give Mikado a few moments of rest,” I yelled to Harish and Denton. “His pace is slowing. And look,” I said, pointing with one hand. “There’s some shelter. We’ll be safe there if another sandstorm picks up.” There were some rocks clustered in the distance forming a cave-like structure.

“We ride until dark,” Harish responded, ignoring my request.

Demanding that he stop didn’t necessarily go against any of Harish’s rules. But I wasn’t in any position to make him angry. Luckily Denton agreed with me.

“I could use a break too," he said in a slightly whiny voice. I knew how Denton got when he was hungry. "My legs are sore. Let’s stop and eat and then ride until night.”

Harish sighed and steered Mikado toward the rocks. I jumped off his back and walked into the small cave. The air was drastically cooler due to the shade. I slumped, leaning against the rock wall. I needed to get Denton alone to tell him the plan, but Harish sat down right beside me and started devouring some stale crackers. I grabbed a few, watching the crumbs fall on my pants. It was time to see if my plan could work.

“Oh, Denton!” I exclaimed. “Harish was telling me the craziest story to distract me from the pain of my wound earlier. Tell him, Harish,” I said charmingly.

Harish’s drew his lips together. His face grew red. It looked like his head would explode at any second. “It would bore you,” he said quickly to Denton, but not before Denton saw his weird reaction. Hopefully Denton would realize something strange was afoot.

“No, no, Denton loves history,” I continued. “Isn’t that right, Denton?”

Denton nodded. He looked back and forth between us, clearly confused. “What’s the story about?” Denton asked curiously.

Harish remained silent. I felt like there was a lot more to the story than Harish had originally told me. What I really wanted, though, was for Harish to get so angry that he’d storm off and leave time for me to talk to Denton alone. But it was clear Harish wasn’t that stupid. He began talking. “It was about the humans' and brutarians' roles in the assassination of King Averis.”

“You mean the alliance between King Septon and Griswar?” Denton asked.

Harish nodded and laughed. “Yeah, Breghton had never heard about it before.”

I cut in. “Who was Griswar?

“The king of the brutarians,” Harish replied. “Mortwar’s father”.

I stayed quiet for a while, eating the crackers that Denton had handed me. Mortwar was the most brutal, uncivilized monster I had ever met. Now I knew why. His father had done the unthinkable and made a pact with a human. After the humans and brutarians were victorious against the divinares, Mortwar's father was murdered in his sleep. I thought about how long ago that had been. Mortwar must not have been much older than I was currently. Now anger defined who he was. Brutarians were known for their viciousness. I wondered if they all had good reasons to be angry.

For a moment I almost felt pity for the brute. But I had lost a lot too. Mortwar had taken so much from me. He had killed my parents when I was so young that I couldn’t even remember their faces. He had murdered my sister. I stopped chewing and closed my eyes. Most recently, even though it was many years ago now, he had killed my little brother. I had no family, no one to rely on but myself. All I wanted was to slit Mortwar’s throat. If that made me just as bad as a brutarian, so be it.

I sighed. “Should we get going again?” I picked up some of the crumbs off my pants and ate them while I spoke.

Denton and Harish rose. Denton lifted his satchel over his shoulder and headed out toward Mikado. I got up and quickly took a few steps towards him, but then felt Harish’s hand on my shoulder. “Your days are numbered,” he whispered into my hair. His hand fell from my shoulder as he walked past me toward Denton. I cursed under my breath. Any hope I had of talking to Denton in private was gone. I’d have to stick to the rest of my plan without Denton’s help.

I hopped onto Mikado’s back and situated myself behind Denton. I considered whispering to him as we once again began moving, but it was too risky. Harish might overhear me. I would need the element of surprise on my side. As we rode on I began to grow impatient. I would have to act soon. I looked at the sky, searching for a hint of the time. For a moment I thought I saw a flash of white in the sky, but it was only a cloud. There were still hours of daylight left.

I tilted my head to peer over Denton’s shoulder. Harish straightened his back. It looked like he was trying hard to maintain his posture, despite how tired he was. Now was the time to act. I grabbed the hilt of my sword and pulled it free. I held it beside my body, ready to thrust it forward, deep into Harish’s back.

Denton must have seen the glint of the blade caused by the sun. He turned back to look at me, wide-eyed. “What are you doing?” he mouthed, bewildered.

I thrust my blade forward to show him my intentions.

“Are you crazy?” Denton mouthed again. He placed his hand on the side of my sword and pushed it away.

I had no intention of listening to Denton. Instead I pulled the sword out of his belt and put it in his hand. I gestured again, showing him that I wanted him to stab the other side of Harish’s back. Denton shook his head back and forth animatedly.

The ground suddenly shuddered. Mikado stumbled slightly but continued to run forwards.

“Did you guys feel that?” Harish asked, and turned his head toward us. For a second he looked truly startled. His eyes were big and his mouth gaped open. But it was only for a second. I thrust my sword forwards, but Harish dodged the blow, falling off Mikado’s back. To my relief, Mikado continued to run. This was even better than my plan. I didn’t want to kill Harish, I just wanted to get rid of him.

I slipped my sword into its sheath. Without Harish’s extra weight, Mikado ran faster. Denton leaned forward and grabbed the rope around Mikado’s neck in order to make sure we didn?

?t slip from his back. Even though Denton didn't know the truth about Harish, he did know he had been lying about his role at the castle. Thankfully Denton seemed as eager as me to leave Harish stranded in the desert.

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