The blade glints in the moonlight, hiding the pale line of blood it’s drawn beneath.
“I don’t even want to know how you managed to get that,” Kai breathes, the muscle in his jaw ticking with frustration. I keep the knife firm against his neck as I hear the last of the Imperials fall to the sand with a muted thud.
“We are being ambushed, Gray. What do you think you’re doing?” he mutters, eyes searching my face as I scan the sand and figures approaching.
I look down at him from where I’m casually sitting. “I think I’m getting rescued.”
Confusion crumples his face while a smile spreads across mine. “How…?” He pauses, disbelief painting his features. “How could you possibly—”
“Aye, Princess!”
My heart leaps at the sound of his voice. I’ve never been so happy to hear that ridiculous nickname.
His hair blends in with the ring of firelight he’s just stepped into. It’s a curly mess falling over his forehead, while the face below is splattered equally with dirt and freckles. The smile he gives me has tears springing to my eyes. I never thought I would see another friend, alive and well.
“What, you just gonna sit there all day or get over here and give me a hug?” Lenny asks, raising a skeptical pair of eyebrows.
I glance at the Enforcer glaring up at me when a sharp voice answers the question I hadn’t voiced. “I’ve got him, Paedyn, don’t worry.”
Smiling, I look up to find Leena doing the same. She has a crossbow trained on the prince while a sly grin plays at her lips. Her long black hair is tied at the nape of her neck and flung over a shoulder. She is tiny and terrifying and I’m tearing up just looking at her.
I don’t hesitate before scrambling to my feet. With my eyes locked on Lenny, I’m stumbling toward him, bare feet shifting in the sand. Then I’m staggering to a stop, staring up at the face I thought I’d never see again.
“All right.” He spreads his arms open with a slight shrug. “Come here.”
I nod, letting the knife slip from my hand before stepping into his embrace. My forehead meets his chest with a comical thump. I feel his laugh vibrate through me as he wraps his arms around my back to give me an awkward pat.
“I missed you, too, Princess,” he says into my hair before pulling away to look at me. “I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again. At least”—he looks away, suddenly serious—“at least not before the rest of Ilya saw you.”
“Yeah, me too,” I whisper, blinking back stubborn tears. Then I’m hugging Leena while she holds a loaded crossbow in hand, which somehow feels fitting.
“It’s good to see you,” she breathes. I nod, smiling as another figure steps from the shadows.
“No heartfelt greetings for me? I’ll try my best not to take offense.”
“Hello, Finn.” I laugh, wrapping my arms around him and the bow now resting across his back. “I knew you were here before I even saw you.” I turn to look at them all. “I knew I was safe.”
“Oh, really?” Finn raises an eyebrow at me, his brown hair glinting auburn in the dying firelight.
“The arrows.” I gesture to the dozen littering the camp and its former occupants. “Those are the Resistance’s arrows. The ones you make with the red arrowheads.” Finn smirks at my knowledge of his handiwork. “And I knew that you were the one firing them, because you always carve an F at the bottom of the shaft.”
He shrugs. “Maybe I make the best arrows for myself. And maybe I want to make sure no one else takes them.”
“Typical,” Leena huffs from where she still aims at the Enforcer.
“What are you guys doing here?” I ask, turning toward Lenny.
He runs a hand over the back of his neck. “Why don’t we take this conversation on the road. We’ve spent enough time in this desert.” He glances at the prince who is looking anything but pleased. “Finn, do you have the rope in your pack?”
After fishing the rope free, Finn throws a smug smile over his shoulder at an already irritated Leena. “See, I told you we’d need to tie someone up on this trip.”
“Yeah, I just hoped it would be you,” she mumbles.
Despite Kai making no move to fight him, Lenny hesitates before binding Kai’s hands behind his back. It’s obvious he never dreamed he’d be taking his prince as a captive, seeing that he swore an oath to protect him. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this to you,” Lenny sighs, “but if you run, we shoot.”
Kai is silent as he stands and scans the scattered bodies. His expression is suddenly blank, apparently emotionless, as he looks at the men. I’ve watched him slip on dozens of his masks, so I recognize the moment he fixes another one into place.
I tug my shoes back on before helping stuff a few bedrolls into their packs while the three make quick work of untying horses for themselves. “What’s the matter, Princess?” Lenny asks after noticing me shifting on my feet. “These horses not up to your standards?”
“No horse is up to my standards,” I mutter before adding much louder, “Could I just ride with you?”
I can see the exact moment he realizes the Silver Savior is afraid of horses, and I’m not going to let him say a damn thing about it. “I’ll hurt you, Lenny. You know I will.”
He raises his hands in surrender, shrugging as he says, “I wasn’t going to say a thing.”
“Like hell you weren’t,” I mutter, watching as he frees the rest of the horses we can’t take with us. After I find my knife in the sand and return it to my boot, Lenny struggles to smother his laughter while doing little to help me get onto the beast.
The prince walks in front of us as we leave the carnage behind to begin heading back toward Dor. “What is happening back in Ilya?” I ask into Lenny’s back as I wrap my arms tightly around him. “And what happened in the Bowl after the final Trial? Oh, and the rest of the Resistance—”
“Easy, Princess,” Lenny cuts in. “We have plenty of desert before Dor to answer all of your questions.” His eyes flick between Leena and Finn riding to the right of us. “Uh, either of you want to tell her?”
“Not particularly, no,” Finn says evenly.
Lenny reaches over and claps him on the back, smiling sweetly. “We all know you’re the best at telling stories. Go ahead, man.”
“I am, aren’t I?” Finn smiles before shaking his head. “Which is why you need the practice…”
“Can someone please tell me what the hell I need to be told?” I blurt, blinking at the both of them.
“Move,” Leena orders before pushing her horse around Finn’s to ride beside me. “Ugh, you have no idea what I’ve had to deal with.” She combs small fingers through the length of her hair, composing herself. “Paedyn, the Resistance… the Resistance is done. It’s over.”
I run my fingers over the ring on my thumb, shaking my head at her. “What… what are you talking about? What do you mean it’s done?”
Leena glances at the boys before continuing with a sigh. “The fight in the Bowl was brutal. We weren’t prepared for the number of Imperials that rushed in. Every number we had calculated, every detail we had learned from our spies on the inside, was wrong. Nothing went right that day.”
“Yeah, Calum was cut off before he could even deny that us Ordinaries are diseased and weakening the kingdom,” Finn adds.
I nod, remembering how outraged the crowd was at learning how many Ordinaries had been living among them. “Is he alive? Calum? What about Mira?”
“We’ve heard that the king has them.” Lenny shakes his head, rubbing a hand behind his neck. “They’re probably being interrogated as we speak.”
I shudder at the thought of what Kitt is doing to them, to the Resistance leader and his daughter. “And everyone else in the Bowl?” I ask softly, fearing the answer. “Were they all…?”
Leena shakes her head at the sand. “Any Resistance members that weren’t lost in the battle at the Bowl are on the run. Just like us.”
A heavy silence settles over us at the thought of so much death. So many people that I led into the arena. So many innocent lives lost fighting for what they believed was right. What is right.
“So, that’s how we ended up here,” Finn says finally. “And how we found you.”
I smile, shaking my head at the three of them. “How did you know it was me?”
“Well,” Lenny chimes in, “it helped that the group of you was laying around a fire. Helped us see you while you couldn’t see us—even if you were awake. As for knowing it was you…” He laughs, turning to tug at my unraveling braid. “Most of this was covering your face and reflecting the light.”
“You were like a little beacon in the night,” Finn says cheerily.
I laugh lightly, watching Leena roll her eyes before adding, “The Imperials weren’t hard to take care of, considering they were asleep. Not to mention that you took care of the Enforcer for us.”
“Yeah, well, none of them would have even woken up if Leena”—Finn throws a glance in her direction—“hadn’t hit a guy in the arm and sent him screaming.”
Even in the pale moonlight, I can easily see the fire burning in Leena’s brown eyes. “That,” she says through clenched teeth, “is because you bumped me.”
“Whatever you say, Leeny,” Finn singsongs, earning him a jab to the ribs.
I listen to the two of them bicker until Lenny leans back toward me. “How have you been, Pae? I mean, after everything?” He glances behind him, seeming to take in all of me with a single look. “I wasn’t sure if you were even alive. We eventually went back to the Resistance house—your house—and it was—”
“Burned to the ground?” I finish for him. “Yeah, I was inside it when that happened.” I glare at the Enforcer walking several yards ahead of us, hoping he can feel my gaze burning into his back.
Lenny shakes his head. “You are a little cockroach, you know that?”
“Plagues,” I snort. “You really know what a girl wants to hear, don’t you?”
“No, I mean, I’m convinced you can survive anything.”
“Yeah, well, I’m convinced that’s becoming a curse,” I say quietly.
“Come on, don’t say that,” Lenny says softly. “Don’t live to die. Die because you lived.” A pause. “Or something like that. Listen, you’ve earned every breath. So enjoy it.”
I sigh. “Well, there’s not much to enjoy in the desert.”
“My company.”
“Like I said,” I say with a smile. “Not much to enjoy.”
“Watch it, Princess,” Lenny warns. “I’m the one controlling this beast you’re so scared of.”
I roll my eyes at his back even while squeezing him tighter. We’re silent for a stretch of sand before Lenny says, “At least I’ve been able to see your face every day. You’re plastered all over Ilya.”
“In Dor, too,” I add. “Tando. Probably Izram.”
“The price on your head is…” He lets out a low whistle.
“Yeah,” I sigh. “That’s what happens when you murder a king, I guess.”
I can feel him preparing to ask before he finally opens his mouth. “Paedyn, how did that even—”
“I was running back from the castle,” I say quietly. “I made a promise and couldn’t leave without something.” I fidget with the unraveling hem of my vest, feeling the phantom of Adena’s skilled fingers. “And he was just standing outside the Bowl, bloody and holding a sword. Then… then he just attacked me, like he’d been waiting for the moment.” I shake my head. “He said things about my dad and the Resistance, but it’s mostly a blur now.”
Lies.
I relive the moment every time I close my eyes.
Lenny turns, tracing the jagged scar down my neck with worried eyes. “He did that to you?”
I swallow. “You didn’t see what I did to him.”
The carving below my collarbone stings with the reminder, but I pull my vest tighter around myself. No one will see how he’s ruined me.
“I’m sorry you were alone,” Lenny says gently.
“Cockroach, remember? I always find a way to make it out alive.”
He laughs quietly while I study the sky, spotting the first pink clouds crowding the horizon. Taking a breath, I ask, “How’s our new king doing?”
Lenny shakes his head before running a hand over his face. “There… there are rumors.”
“Rumors?” I repeat.
“The whole kingdom is talking about it,” Finn chimes in, riding up beside us. He’s gone mad. Simple as that.”
“That,” Lenny throws him a look, “is the rumor. All we know is that he hasn’t left his office since the death of the king, and servants talk. They say they can hear him mumbling through the walls and always find his food tossed from the window.” He shrugs. “Maybe he’s just grieving, and it will all be over soon. Or maybe…”
“Maybe this is the future of Ilya,” Leena says softly.
It’s suddenly difficult to swallow. I know firsthand how affected Kitt was by his father when he was alive. And now that I’ve killed him…
“How is Ilya? The people?” I manage after clearing my throat.
Lenny shrugs. “Well, not great. The Elites are also mourning the ruler that single-handedly made Ilya the strongest kingdom by banishing the Ordinaries.”
“There are a lot of people who hate you—let’s just say that.” Finn’s tone is joking, though the topic is anything but.
I look away, shaking my head. “I’m not surprised. Not only do they hate what I did, but they also hate what I am.”
“The people are restless,” Leena says softly. “Our new king has yet to show his face to the kingdom, and it’s made many feel neglected in a way.”
“The queen isn’t doing well either,” Finn adds. “They think it’s only a matter of time now.”
My eyes trail to the prince ahead of us. His eyes are on the sky, watching the darkness hint at the promise of pink skies. I let out a shaky breath. His mother is dying, and he was sent on a mission to retrieve me. A mission that is now taking far longer than anyone expected.
Did he say goodbye to her before he left? Did he make a promise he now cannot keep? Did he—
I push the thoughts from my head, bury the worry beneath my layers of loathing for him.
The prince’s well-being is not my problem.
And with that, I turn my attention back to the boy before me and the beast beneath us. “Lenny, you need to teach me how to ride one of these things.”
