Endure - Sara B. Larson Page 0,82

belief that I could make him and his men invincible, even though The Summoner had apparently proven to him today that it wasn’t the case.

The sound of my horse’s hooves pounding against the muddy ground seemed unbearably loud in the quiet night, and I kept glancing over my shoulder, expecting to see Dansiian sorcerers coming after me, but the city remained quiet, save for the homes that were burning. The one I’d been kept in wasn’t the only one to go up in flames. The pillaging had resulted in many houses being burned down, though that had stopped after the king’s order that they spend the night in Bikoro had been circulated.

I turned back to face the jungle again, forcing my trembling thighs to grip the mare’s sides as I urged her to go even faster. Her legs ate up the ground, practically flying toward the protection of the jungle — almost as if she knew the danger we were in.

But even as fast as she was going, it felt like forever before we finally raced past the treeline and plunged into the arms of the jungle. The moment the lush vegetation encircled us, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I pulled back on the reins slightly, slowing her a bit. I didn’t want to risk having her trip or get hurt on the rutted road in the darkness, or my escape would be short-lived.

We pressed on for what felt like hours, galloping down the road toward Tubatse and the palace. Were the rumors true — would everyone be gone when I got there? Panic and fear beat in time with my blood as the night wore on. But every time I glanced over my shoulder, there was nothing there except for trees, flowers, bushes, and the prints of my mare’s hooves in the muddy road. I could only hope a storm would work its way up again and wash away the evidence of our path before King Armando entered the jungle. Would he still burn it down if he was searching for me?

Finally, just before dawn, it began to rain again, and I knew if I kept going, I would end up falling off the mare. I had absolutely no strength left. I had to stop and rest and find something to eat. Though I didn’t dare let myself sleep. If King Armando still decided to burn the jungle down, I wasn’t sure I’d put enough distance between us to outrun the flames that would be coming in a few short hours’ time.

When I dismounted, my legs nearly gave out on me, and I had to grab the saddle to keep myself from falling to the ground. I hated how weak I was. Tears struggled for release as I let my head fall forward to rest against the leather saddle I’d been tied to for so many days. So much death and destruction … it left me breathless with grief. Contrary to Armando’s belief, I was far from invincible; I’d been extremely lucky up until this point to have survived my battles against so many sorcerers so much more powerful than I could ever dream of being. So many had sacrificed their lives to help me defeat them — without their aid, I wouldn’t ever have succeeded. Without Jude, and Eljin, and now Akio.

As if she could sense my distress, the mare swung her head around to nip at my arm softly, with just her lips. I reached forward to scratch her chin, though my arm shook from the effort and the painful wounds from the bleedings throbbed even harder.

“It’s not your fault,” I said. “You can’t control who owns you.”

I took a deep breath and straightened. There was no time for this. I had to find food and water. I could sit for a minute, to rest and let the nourishment take hold. And then we would keep going.

I had to get to Damian. I had to prove that I kept my word — I was coming back to him.

I lost track of how many days — or weeks — we’d been traveling, barely stopping to sleep, scrounging for fruit or roots to survive on, pushing forward as fast as possible to continue to outrun King Armando, when I finally pulled the mare, who I had named Nia after my mother, whose name had been Nialah, to a stop. There, in the valley before us, carved out from the belly of the jungle, was the city of