A Queen of Gilded Horns (A River of Royal Blood #2) - Amanda Joy Page 0,6
she would’ve been allowed in the Queen’s Army, though the masculine cut of her clothes was the same. “A week, then we can be sure—”
“In a week, soldiers could arrive. Do you want to remain here long enough to get caught? It was dangerous enough coming here.”
We’d searched for any sign that soldiers from the Queen’s Army had been to Orai. So far, blessedly, there had been none. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t soon arrive. This village and the family that supposedly dwelled in it were my last tethers to my father. But coming here was a risk I was willing to take.
“And yet, we are here,” Anali said, voice hard. “No need to rush and endanger us further.”
I sat up, tucked the eyeglass within the heavy belt around my waist, and began the climb down the stone. Pain stabbed at my abdomen, and the copper tang of blood filled my mouth as I bit my tongue.
The pain receded and my thoughts became unfocused. I centered my attention on the craggy rocks beneath my palms. An easy calm slipped over my skin as I worked my way down, moving mostly by instinct. I half slid, half bounded down the near-vertical wall of rock.
Soon, too soon, I reached the ground. I flexed my fingers. Thick black claws curled over my fingertips, caked with bits of clay from the climb. I prodded the bandage low on my stomach, hissing through my teeth until I was satisfied the wound hadn’t split and begun bleeding again.
Another luxury I had come to miss: healers at hand.
At the crunch of my Captain’s boots on the rocky dirt, I crossed my arms to hide their trembling. I didn’t want to remind anyone of the injury, least of all Anali. “Maybe I will walk down in the night by myself. I bet I could scale that wall quicker than the rest of you.”
I bet I could slip down there at night without any of you noticing and acquaint myself with whatever lies behind that wall before sunrise.
None could kill me but my sister. On the evening of my nameday, at the start of the celebration, the Sorceryn had placed a complex spell on Isadore and me so that only we would be able to kill each other. Its power would even bar accidents from taking our lives. The only way for either of us to die was by the other’s hand. Now that Isa was my prisoner, I was safe. Safe at the least from death. Better to use me than risk anyone else.
Anali arched a salt-white eyebrow. “So you will force me or the Prince to carry you back to camp.”
I offered her a dry smile, curling a hand in invitation. “Maybe I won’t let you.”
I was stronger now and faster than I’d been. One of the benefits of breaking the block on my magick, I assumed. Not to mention whatever strange power I now had that made climbing the Plain’s craggy hills and buttes as easy as walking or swimming. Well. Perhaps not as simple as walking. But the power coiled in my limbs had grown, and with it, so had my sense of the earth.
Anali’s face softened with mirth. “While the idea that you would easily best Aketo and me together is hilarious and might make for quite a show, it does not sound as though it will get you any closer to your goal. I understand you tire of this delay, Eva.”
“It’s been too long, Anali. We’ve been gone too long and have nothing to show for it.” All we had done since my nameday was run from one village where I couldn’t show my face to another village where the same rule held. Six weeks had passed without news from the capital, but we all knew it could come to an end at any time. My mother would have to reveal what happened, if she hadn’t already, and once she caught my scent, who knew what she’d send after me.
Two more months and Far Winter would be upon us.
Every day the air grew colder and the nights stretched longer until soon even the sun wouldn’t be enough to keep us warm. Cold would roll down from the mountains like a specter, freezing earth that had been baked dry by the High Summer sun. Snow would follow and chase most of the animals who lived on the Arym Plain south across the river until spring.