24

Ash

We have a new plan, which involves getting ourselves to Capper Point at the speed of thought, but I lag behind as we trudge under a vast and velvety night sky. It’s filled with brilliant stars and a waxing quarter moon gliding high overhead. The storm has passed; the air is frosty. Dirt and sparse blades of grass crunch under my boots. I don’t know how I keep moving. My legs are dead weights. Inside, I beg for a rest as we climb yet another hill.

This farmland is peppered with black sheep, all camped for the night, chewing their cud and huffing out foggy breaths. We stumble through strips of chaff crosshatching the fields, remnants of where the farmer dropped hay. It’s early in the year for the stock to need hand feeding. It’s going to be a hard, cold season by the look of it.

“At least they have warm wool coats.” My hands are shaking, my toes and fingers numb. I’m certain my nose is red as an apple.

“You’re worried about your appearance?”

I’m freezing, is all.

“I would think you’d be more focused on the recording after such curious events.”

Irritation warms my skin. First of all, the weather is part of the recording. And second of all, curious?

“Out of the ordinary?”

Extremely out of the ordinary is more like it. My limbs tingle with new circulation as I map out in my head what has happened in the last twenty-four hours.

“It’s not far now.” Marcus interrupts my thoughts. He’s recovering, keeping up with Kaylin, thanks to Piper’s healings. I’m sure she never thought her skills would be tested so deeply on our way to Aku.

“If they don’t all mutiny at what’s coming next…” Kaylin’s words drift back on the wind.

Wait. Was that Kaylin, or my inner voice?

“Can you not tell the difference?”

I can barely tell my left foot from the right just now. And it’s not only the exhaustion or cold wearing at me. If I allow my thoughts to sift through the last hours, from the moment the Gollnar scouts caught us and everything that transpired since… I shudder. Definitely more than curious, or out of the ordinary.

“Don’t linger there.”

No. I won’t. I can’t. I realize abruptly that my inner voice’s banter has been intended as a distraction to help me keep going.

“Am I?”

I’m too worn-out—and grateful—to argue. I shake my head to clear it. “Why are we talking about mutiny?”

Kaylin turns to me, brows raised to sharp points, but doesn’t reply.

“You’re hearing things,” Marcus says. “No one’s mentioned mutiny.”

You? I ask my inner voice and receive a cerebral snort for an answer.

Strange. I tap the side of my head with the heel of my hand. “Water in my ears, I guess.” I want to say something to Marcus about De’ral, now that I’ve seen his phantom for the first time. But the horror of it all… I best leave it for a private chat.

Kaylin studies the sky as Samsen’s phantom flies over us in the form of a sparrow owl this time, better to escape notice if other enemy savants patrol the air. The bird is the size of a child’s hand, a brown dot in front of the twinkling stars. Being smaller than the phantom’s full form, some of its mass has to be left behind, and it isn’t hard to see where it’s gone. Samsen sports a feather cape that falls to his thighs.

At least one of us has something warm to wear.

“Look at the lights!” Belair gasps as we reach the top of the hill.

It’s like the stars have touched down to illuminate the city of Capper Point. So many lanterns. The spectacle flows in a V-shape, two fingers of settlements, one on either side of the Ferus River. We’ve come out on the north branch, which I hear Kaylin say is a good thing. But b’lark the bones, I don’t see his mouth move. Has he said it aloud or am I delirious? Imagining things?

“Imagination is a resource,” my inner voice observes.

Food and sleep are a resource, too, and I’ll need some of both if I’m ever to make sense again.

“We’re nearly there.”

I know Kaylin spoke those words. Watched him do it, which is a relief. He’s definitely excited, and I catch the feeling, too, allowing it to warm me. Still, we have problems ahead.

“How are we going to hire a sloop without a coin between us?”

“Over that rise is a ranch house.” Kaylin points the way. Is he trying not to smile?

“Will they help us?”

“Not exactly.”

“Then why are we headed there?” I tuck my frozen fingers into my armpits and shiver. This would be a good time for him to explain things clearly.

“It’s on the way,” Kaylin says.

“What kind of answer is that?”

“A true one.” He heads down the hill at a jog.

I run after him. “You’re being odd, Kaylin.”

“Ash…” He says my name like he’s pleading his case.

I give a little laugh and relax. “I’m not cross with you, Kaylin. It’s just… Please, one of you, tell me what’s about to happen.”

Marcus steps up beside me, his hand on my shoulder. “Kaylin can get us coin and supplies for the crossing to Aku.” His eyes go to the farmhouse.

I turn back to Kaylin. “Explain.”

“Very well, but Marcus says you won’t like it.”

“Gaveren’s stuggs!” I snap, my nostrils flaring. “One of you spit it out.”

“Ash!” Piper chides me.

“Sorry.” I send her a beseeching look. She’s offended, but not Kaylin. He can hardly hide his smile.

Still, Piper’s correct. I have no right to use the name of Gaveren the Great in a curse, peace be his path. As the stories go, he was the most celebrated savant of all times with a warrior phantom larger and more powerful than any ever raised. Well, before De’ral that is. “I just want to know what the plan is. Plain and clear.”

“Lass, the plan is to sneak down to the farmhouse and steal what we need.” Kaylin looks at me expectantly, like he’s waiting for a thank-you.

My body stiffens and the heat of anger flushes through my veins.

Marcus must see the emotion on my face. “We don’t have a choice.”

Today, for the first time in my life, he frightened me. His phantom did, anyway, with the indiscriminate slaughter, and now theft? “What path do you think you’re on?”

Marcus avoids my eyes. “The sheep farmer’s wealthy. It’ll do no harm.”

“And that makes it right?”

“No. Obviously, I’ll reimburse them—”

“How?”

He prattles out possible ways as I fire back reasons why they won’t work. But he does want to make it right. That’s something. And, when challenged to suggest a better idea, I can’t, so I let it go. For now.

We continue the hike toward the farmhouse at a stealth run. The high cliffs of Capper Point are visible in the distance, the waxing moon lighting a brilliant path across the ink black sea and the deep-water harbor.

“Tall masts?” I ask.

“The port’s clear of warships,” Kaylin says after a glance. “They’ve sailed on.”

“That’s good news.”

“Aye, and if we run the whole way, we’ll make it before dawn.”

We reach the farmhouse and drop down into the grass, studying it from twenty-five yards away, breaths puffing warm air into the icy night. The windows are dark, but a porch lantern glows under a wide verandah.

Belair catches up to us. “And what exactly is the plan?”

“We’re going to rob these good people, race to the harbor with the spoils, and hire a sloop to Aku.” I recite the plans, laughing as I do. Clearly, I’m delirious with fatigue.

His eyes sparkle. “Who’s going to pull off this theft, or do I have to ask?”

I tip my head toward Kaylin.

“Go now and give the farmhouse a wide birth,” he says. “I’ll meet you on the main road. If you hear barking or angry voices, run!”

“Practiced at this, I see.”

He chuckles. “Aye, lass, and be glad of it. Now go.” But he lingers, just a second, and I know he’s waiting for something from me. Something other than exasperation. So I soften, just the slightest, my lips hinting at a smile.

His face lights up, and with a grin that warms me from the inside out, he bounds off in the direction of the farm.

…

We wait in a culvert beside the road. It feels like ages, but according to Samsen, who is still in phantom perspective, it’s only minutes, and going well. Apparently, Kaylin is sprinting toward us with an armload of loot. I don’t know which I want more—dry clothes, food, or water. After going over the falls, I thought I’d never want to drink again, but jogging up and down hills for two hours straight changes that. I strain to hear his approach.

“An apple for the lovely lass…”

“He’s singing?”

“I don’t hear anything.” Marcus cups his ear.

I yawn and rest my hands in my lap. In that moment, Kaylin appears, loaded with booty, and drops a dark red apple into my open palms.

“Oh.” I polish it on my shirt before taking a huge bite. “Thanks,” I say around the mouthful.

“My pleasure.”

Kaylin pulls apples and pears from the pockets of his newly acquired sheepskin jacket and tosses them to the others. He has a whole loaf of bread, a waterskin, two fisherman sweaters, four more sheepskin-lined vests, and a finely woven blanket. My limbs tingle, my body energized. “For your crimes, my sailor, I forgive you.” I bounce up to my tiptoes and kiss him on the cheek, intending to immediately jog off.

Except Kaylin doesn’t realize what I’m doing until it’s too late. He turns my way, likely to speak, and catches the kiss smack on his lips.

The light touch lasts for longer than the peck I intend, my face warming when I lower back to the ground. “That… I’m…” My finger plays on my lower lip. For a wordsmith, I’m having trouble finding a decent response. But I can’t blurt out what I’m really thinking—that I want to kiss him again.

I think Kaylin is more surprised than me, if that’s possible. His usual cockiness is gone, replaced by a bewildered gaze. His hands still rest on my hips. How did they get there?

I check if anyone saw our little exchange, but they are all busy donning warm clothes on the fly and stuffing food into their mouths. I keep watching, though, using the moment to collect myself before turning back to Kaylin. “Where’s your food?”

“Oh. I…uh, I ate it on the way,” he says and pats his belly. He’s visibly off-kilter, and I can’t deny that I enjoy this change in dynamic. “This is for you.” He shrugs out of the coat and tosses it to me.

“But you’ll freeze.”

He blinks a few times, then laughs, his confidence trickling back. “Not a chance.” He holds the coat for me to slip my arms into.

“On to Capper Point,” he says to us all, his sparkling eyes resting on mine.

But I see through his mask.

I shocked him. I did. And against all better judgment, I hope I have a chance to do so again.