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I remember the last time I traveled with an unconscious Kellyn. Temra and I barely managed to strap him to a horse. We sort of abducted him. He agreed to be our protection on the road to Thersa, but then he passed out drunk after a day spent celebrating his twentieth birthday. He’s two years older than I am.

I remember the argument Temra and I had that day. She insisted that we needed Kellyn for protection, whether he was sober or not at the moment. I didn’t want a stranger with us on the road, especially one I felt attracted to.

I would give anything to be able to argue with my sister some more.

I don’t know what I will do if I arrive in Skiro only to learn she’s dead. That I wasn’t quick enough. That Serutha couldn’t do anything for her.

Tears gather at my eyes, just at the thought of losing my sister.

“Stop it,” I scold myself, forcing my thoughts elsewhere.

But the only other thing for me to think on is the dark woods. During the day, the deciduous leaves were a stunning array of golden yellows, bronze oranges, and fiery reds. Now everything is grays and blacks. Shadows and whispers.

I haven’t passed another traveler in at least an hour. Most have probably camped for the night.

But I don’t have that luxury.

Every sound causes me to turn my head. The horses grow a bit on edge, startling at the sounds of cracking twigs, a fierce rustling of leaves.

I wish I had eyes in the back of my head. I begin to imagine dark figures creeping behind me, waiting to pounce. My skin is chilled, but I can’t bring myself to grab a blanket. It seems safer not to move.

I don’t know how long it’s been now. The exhaustion that thesword removed from me has long since returned, and I feel ready to snap at the slightest provocation.

“What’s going on?”

I jump straight into the air before Kellyn’s voice registers.

I think I must have shrieked because he tacks on, “Sorry.”

When my heart doesn’t feel as though it will beat its way out of my chest, I say, “We’re running for our lives.”

“Nothing new, then.”

He climbs up next to me, and I feel my whole self relax to have another body beside me. The dark has never scared me before, but add the fear of being recaptured, and it takes on a whole new terror.

Kellyn’s body is incredibly warm, and I hope he doesn’t notice as I sidle closer. I’m beyond relieved that he’s okay, and I take so much comfort from having him here with me. In this outrageous situation.

But I shouldn’t want to be physically close to him. I should shove him out of this cart for telling Ravis my identity and for what came after. All those magical weapons are now in the hands of Ravis’s men.

Later. I’ll rage at him later. For now, I’m just trying to grasp the fact that we’re both somehow okay.

“I don’t remember…” Kellyn trails off. “Wait, you’d just beaten Ravis and taken the sword back. His men had me.”

“I had no choice but to start swinging. You succumbed to the sword’s power with the rest of them.”

“I have no complaints.” Kellyn wraps both arms around me, squeezing me tightly to him. I feel his lips briefly against the side of my head.

It feels so nice, except for the sting of guilt that accompanies it.

“I knew you would free us both,” he says. “I had zero doubts.”

That makes one of us.

“If you’re awake, then so is everyone at the castle,” I say. “We need to saddle the horses and disappear off the road. It’ll take us to Briska, but if we go directly south, we’ll reach Skiro’s Capital much quicker than Ravis’s men.”

Kellyn releases me. “You’re dead on your feet. Let me take the horses for a bit. You rest for an hour or so in the cart. Then we’ll saddle the horses.”

“We don’t have the time. We need to go now. They’ll travel faster without a cart to slow them down.”