Alysana
Alysana listened to the soft sound of the horse’s hooves thumping in the dirt. It reminded her of home.
The small farm in G’hen that she’d left behind when she was still so young and fragile seemed so far away now. She had grown into a strong young woman, Mordha was always telling her, but there was a part of her that had never let go of that little G’henni girl. She glanced back at Dailus, who was still scowling from being tied to her and the horse, and reminded herself that she was a grown woman, with her own responsibilities now. And one of those responsibilities was lying unconscious in a cart pulled by Thornton’s horse.
Alysana had seen Thornton call the flames that burned Elyasha, along with the men of the Athrani Legion, but she had not understood how he had done it. One thing she knew about the difference between Athrani Shaping and Khyth Breaking was that neither one could use the power of the other. But everything she’d seen told her that she had just seen a Khyth, Thornton, wield Athrani Shaping. It made her nervous being around him, the young man from Highglade, mostly because he had admitted that he had no control over his power.
If Aldryd were here, she thought, he would know what to do.
The old Athrani, Keeper of the Temple of the Shaper in Annoch, seemed to always have an answer. She sighed, coaxing her horse into a trot.
***
Evening had come upon them like a slow tide.
They were almost to Théas, and the great white city was spread out before them, like a long-forgotten dream. Alysana had only been there once before, during a supply run that her father had brought her on during the worst drought in G’henni history. The city was large, larger than Annoch, and spread out over a vast array of streets, roads, and buildings, with a dizzying number of people jammed inside its walls. The residents were mostly human: native Théans making up the majority of the population, with a smaller number of G’henni migrants among them who were looking for a change of scenery. There were also a good deal of Athrani scattered throughout the city, not nearly as many as could be found in Annoch or Ellenos; but this gave her hope that they would find a healer for Elyasha, or at least someone who could point them in the right direction.
She didn’t know how tolerant the people of Théas would be of their two Khyth companions, but she was holding out hope. Turning back to Ellenos was out of the question, and Théas was the only city for days. They had no choice.
As they approached the edge of the city, Alysana looked at Kethras, who was growing increasingly nervous the closer they got. He was walking beside them, taking great strides with his impossibly long legs, and glancing around like a cornered animal. She decided to say something.
“Kethras,” she began gently, “you . . . look like something is bothering you.”
He looked at her as if she had helped remove a thorn from his hand. “Something is,” he said.
Alysana looked at him expectantly. Taking the cue, Kethras went on.
“Stone, mostly,” he said. He was nervously fingering the fletching of one of his arrows. “It makes me . . . uneasy. The way men use it—they seem to put it everywhere.” He gestured at the walls as they approached, then looked back at her in defeat. “I don’t know if I will ever get used to it.”
Alysana nodded to show she understood. “Thornton told me that it has been a long time since you last ventured outside of your forest.”
Kethras nodded.
“What worries you? Maybe we can do something to help.”
The Kienari bared his teeth in an attempt at a smile. “The last time I came to a city of men unannounced, I had a knife put to my throat.”
Alysana laughed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Mordha told me about it.”
Annoch, where her sister had been standing guard and she had been waiting tables for Wern, had been Kethras’s first real interaction with humans in who knows how long.
“Then you understand why I am nervous.”
Thornton, now riding beside Alysana on the wide road that led into the city, said, “That makes two of us, but I’m mostly worried about how they’ll react to seeing a Khyth.”
To most of the party’s surprise, Dailus spoke up as well. “You needn’t concern yourself,” he said, raising his rope-bound hands. “We are far enough from Ellenos that the reach of the High Keeper does not influence the citizens. Théas is a human city, first and foremost. Everyone else is seen as . . . extended house guests.”
Alysana had not heard the half-eye say so much as a word since they made camp the previous night. She whirled around to give him an incredulous look and to say, “That is . . . actually quite useful. Thank you, Dailus.”
She tried not to sound too thankful.
“Think nothing of it,” he said through taut lips.
“Although,” Thornton said, “I’m sure we do look unusual: a captive Athrani, two free Khyth, a Kienari, and a G’henni.” He smiled at Alysana. “Good luck explaining that to the guards.”
Alysana gave him a smirk in return. “Just let me do the talking, and we will be fine.” Turning her head back to the Kienari, she said, “Kethras, do you feel comfortable enough to follow us into the city?”
Kethras nodded and looked at Thornton. “I go where he goes.”
“Then I have an idea.”