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“Where did he go?” Jeddak said, stopping behind me.

“Yaro! Where are you?” I called again, refusing to look back at Jeddak.

Silence filled the bramble. It was starting to get dark. Well,darker. The bramblelands were always shrouded in shadow.

“Careful,” Jeddak whispered, stepping closer to me. “It could be a trap.”

My pulse quickened. I told myself it was the potential danger, not the closeness of Jeddak’s warm body.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw spearpoints materialize out of the bramble before I saw the men holding them.

Jeddak jumped in front of me right as one of the Bramblemen thrust his spear forward. The tip caught Jeddak in the arm.

“Jeddak!” I cried.

He growled in pain and reached for his staff. Kah reared back, ready to strike, and I grabbed my knife.

“What’s going on?”

It was Yaro. He appeared along the path, biting into a piece of fruit, like he was either unaware or unperturbed that this altercation was seconds away from becoming a bloody mess.

“Trespassers,” the Bramblemen answered in unison, leveling their spears at us. Their eyes narrowed at Jeddak, probably wondering why the bramble’s poison from his spear hadn’t already rendered him unconscious. “Their footsteps were so loud we could hear them from a mile away.”

Yaro put his hand on one of the spears, gesturing for them to stand down. “The queen has granted them right of passage through our lands.” His tone indicated he didn’t quite understand the queen’s reasoning either. “I’m leading them to the river road.”

The two Bramblemen lowered their weapons but kept looking at us like prey.

The muscles in Jeddak’s back remained tense. He didn’t move, keeping himself positioned between me and the Bramblemen. I kept my hand on my knife.

“Is there any news from the border?” Yaro asked them, making me guess that these men were either scouts or border protectors.

“The borders are compromised, Yaro,” one of the Bramblemen said. “A band of Rathalans are blocking the river road and camping at the edge of our northeastern borders. They haven’t entered our lands, but we’re waiting to see what they do. We’re heading back to the city now to report to the queen.”

Jeddak glanced back at Kah. “The river road is inside the Kovak kingdom. We’d never allow an enemy on our soil.”

“What if they’ve taken Askeland?” Yaro said.

“Impossible,” Jeddak snapped, his jaw tightening. The low rumble in Kah’s throat reinforced his sentiment.

Now that the threat had dissipated, I realized I was standing close enough to Jeddak to breathe in the woodsy scent of his skin. I quickly stepped away to put distance between us. I could feel his eyes following me.

“What does this mean?” I asked Yaro.

“It means your route to Askeland has been blocked,” Yaro said.

My breath caught in my throat. I looked directly at Jeddak for the first time that day. “Wait, is there no other way there?”

Jeddak was silent, the news of the Rathalans making him look like he wanted to punch something. I noticed the blood dripping down his arm, realizing I would have been the one injured—or worse—if he hadn’t stepped in front of me.That doesn’t excuse the lies, I told myself.

“Thereisanother way,” Yaro said when Jeddak didn’t answer. “You’ll have to go through the Forgotten Forest.”

“What’s the Forgotten Forest?” I asked.

Again, Yaro was the one to answer. “It’s a forest located west of the river road, between here and the bear kingdom.”

“And?” I said, knowing there was more to the story if Jeddak looked troubled. “Will it take longer?” I didn’t have any more time to waste.

The other two Bramblemen clearly didn’t want to sit through the explanation. “We have to get to Nekhanan by morning. Farewell, Yaro. Don’t linger at the border.” After throwing us another suspicious glance, the scouts faded back into the black bramble like they’d come. I found myself breathing more easily once they were gone.