Emberhawk - Jamie Foley Page 0,81

were, she’d grown tired of the unidentified spice that was apparently used in every Emberhawk dish.

“Oh, yeah. You have no idea what you’re in for.” Ryon fished around in his pack. “There’s even an inn that serves Malaano food.”

Kira knew she was beaming like a child, but she couldn’t help it. “Thank the stars! Can we get a meal there before I leave?”

Leave . . . the word bore an unexpected sting. She missed her family, and she needed to deliver Inowae’s medicine, but maybe she shouldn’t rush away from this famed city before she got a chance to see the sights.

“Sure thing,” Ryon said. “There won’t be any carriages leaving for Navarro this late in the day. I’ll get you a room at the inn for the night, and you can head out first thing tomorrow if you want.” He pulled out his mask and tied the ribbon around the back of his head with practiced speed.

Kira didn’t want to talk about leaving anymore. “You wear a mask in your hometown?”

“Just so we can make it through the gate quickly. The faster I report to Brooke, the faster we can have dinner.” Ryon’s wink was visible through the mask’s thin eye slit. “Don’t tell them you know my name, okay? Or anything else, really. Please.”

He must mean “Idryon.” Kira followed him down another path that curved toward the city through clustered squash vines. “I won’t. But who is ‘they’?”

“Pretty much everyone. But mostly any soldiers and the chieftess.” He finished the knot and let the green ribbons fall down his back. “I’m sure she thinks I’m dead by now.”

Kira fidgeted with her belt. “What are you going to tell her?”

“About the Emberhawk pyramid and the Roanoke, yeah?” Ryon’s pace increased. “And everything else.”

Kira’s elation drained away like water from a spilled canteen. Will they come after my family, then? Will they take our land for the shrine’s hill?

No, she decided. Despite all the rumors, there was no actual war. The tribes weren’t crossing the border and pillaging. And for some reason, she trusted Ryon to ensure that wouldn’t happen.

Besides, that’s what Tekkyn’s unit was for: protecting the border. Just the thought of her brother soothed Kira’s spirit. Surely he was alive and looking for her.

She straightened her back. “Please take me to the inn before you talk to the Jade Witch.”

“Don’t worry,” Ryon said without turning around. “I promised to get you home safe, and I will. But I need to report in immediat—”

“Please,” Kira interrupted. She had no desire to be in the room when Ryon informed the leader of the Tribal Alliance that she’d shot one of her soldiers and that her brother had been involved in his torture.

Ryon sighed. “All right, but I’ll need to trade in some goodies before I can pay for dinner.” An orange eye peered at her through the window in the painted wood of his mask. “That place isn’t the cheapest in town, you know, since they have to import their fancy rice and fish and stuff.”

“Hold up, there!” someone shouted.

A thick wall made of birch wood and its open double gate loomed before them, its guard towers overlooking a cobblestone street busy with crowd and carts. Reptilian xavi hissed against the pull of their riders’ reins, surprising Kira with their abundance. The two-legged beasts seemed more muscular and their crown-feathers more dull than the ones Malaano soldiers rode.

But Kira couldn’t find the source of the shout. Hadn’t it called out to them? Trepidation quickened her pulse as they drew nearer and Ryon stopped at the gate’s edge.

“It’s Ryon.” Ryon waved to the guard tower, and Kira jumped when she spotted a pair of disembodied blood-red eyes watching them from the tower’s edge. She stepped closer to Ryon and hovered in his shadow.

“Ryon is missing in action.” A figure snapped into existence around the eyes, which squinted at them through an amber-painted mask. “Show your face.”

Ryon lifted his mask and gazed up into the guard tower.

“Welcome back.” The guard raised his arm and splayed his fingers in a gesture Kira didn’t recognize. “The chieftess will want your report immediately. And I’ll want to hear the story.”

Archers appeared along the stone wall with arrows aimed at them. Kira’s heart jumped into her throat as they slowly released the tension on their strings and removed the arrows.

“I’m headed straight for her,” Ryon said, the picture of calm beside Kira’s panic. “Is she in the Great Hall?”

“Yes, but she’s not available,” the amber mask