Endure - Sara B. Larson Page 0,36

jaw as the horse huffed from the sudden mad dash through the darkness. I dismounted from Mira as well.

“Who goes there?” one of the guards shouted at us in Antionese.

“What are you doing?” I whisper-shouted at Eljin angrily.

“We have to let them go.” He looked up at his horse mournfully. “From here on, we go by foot.”

“What?” I clutched Mira’s reins protectively. It was inconceivable that I’d gone from being afraid of her to devastated at the thought of leaving her behind so quickly.

“Hurry, there’s no time.” Eljin let go of Gusto’s reins and moved back to slap him on the rump. The horse tossed his head and trotted forward hesitantly, glancing back at Eljin as if in confusion.

“I don’t understand,” I argued, still not letting go of Mira.

“The men might think we’ve stolen the horses, since we avoided the city. If we let them go and make a run for the wall, they’ll let us go. My guess is no one from Antion cares about who goes in to Dansii. Only who comes out. As long as we don’t take their horses with us.” He walked over to where I stood, one hand on Mira’s hot flank. I could feel the rise and fall of her breathing, the warmth of her body. It had been foolish of me to let myself grow attached to her. Stupid to let myself care for an animal. I should have known it would come to this.

“Hurry, Alex.”

“Reveal yourself at once or we will open fire!” another guard shouted.

I looked up to see him advancing on us, an arrow drawn tightly in his bow. Another glance revealed the men on horseback rapidly approaching. With a choked cry, I stepped back and followed Eljin’s lead, slapping Mira on the rump. But she only sidestepped a bit, her head swiveling around to pin me with her big brown eyes.

“Go, you stupid animal! Go away!” I flung my arms in the air, spooking her enough to make her trot away a few steps, but then she stopped again. Tears stung my eyes as I shouted at her. “Go, Mira!”

Eljin shouted at her as well, making a motion as though he’d thrown a rock at her. Although he held nothing in his hand, that finally startled Mira enough that she turned and trotted off after Gusto, who was headed toward Bikoro and the other men.

Wiping angrily at my cheeks, I turned away.

“I’m sorry,” Eljin said quietly next to me, but I just shook my head.

“Now what?” I forced my voice to come out hard and steady. I’d pretended not to care for years; I could do it again. She was just a horse.

“Duck!” Eljin shouted as he suddenly leaped toward me. We both tumbled to the ground as an arrow whizzed past to embed itself in the soft earth beyond where I’d been standing.

I reached for my own bow and arrow, but Eljin stopped me. “They’re Antionese. Just tell them who you are.”

Another arrow flew past us, barely missing Eljin’s shoulder.

“Antionese with terrible aim,” I agreed.

As one, we both rolled away and then jumped to our feet. I lifted my hands in the air, making a show of not reaching for my bow. The guard stood only twenty feet from us, another arrow notched and ready to fly.

“Don’t shoot!” I yelled. “We’re Antionese! Don’t shoot us!”

The guard wavered. Behind us, I heard a whinny. Unable to resist, I glanced back to see Gusto and Mira galloping away toward the jungle, the men on horseback in pursuit. Eljin had been right; they’d only cared about the horses.

“You have to do the talking,” Eljin muttered beside me. “He’ll question my accent.”

I faced forward again, to see the guard lowering his bow.

“What is your business here?” the guard yelled.

“We need to get into Dansii.” I started to walk toward him, and Eljin followed. When we got closer, the guard’s eyes widened, traveling back and forth between our faces. Our scars.

“What business do you have that would take you to that forsaken place?”

“It’s the king’s business,” I said.

His eyes dropped to the royal insignia on my vest as I came to a stop directly in front of him, and he immediately stiffened, having gone pale, probably realizing he’d almost shot one of Damian’s guards.

“I — if the king orders it, then …” he stuttered, glancing over his shoulder. “But you still have to convince them to let you in.” He jerked a thumb toward the gate. The other Antionese soldiers were watching