Page 105

He laughed, vanished into a side room, and reappeared with a pair of sandals on his feet and a bag over his shoulder. My stomach felt like a tangle of knots. I opened my mouth to tell him my plan, what I needed him for, but before I could drag the words out of my chest he was off down another hall and waving me with him. We left the building, back into the night air and the sick scent of iron. The Nameless didn't stop us as we left the compound.

“Where’s your faerie-man? Or didn’t he want to see me?” Oraik frowned my way. “He didn’t want to rescue me, did he? I thought we were finally getting along.”

“They took him,” I said. I bowed my head, following him down one of the sloped streets of the city, crowds thin in the late hour.

“Who took him?”

“Outlanders. We couldn’t fight them off.”

Oraik tripped over his own feet, stumbling forward until he caught himself and turned on me.

“What?”

“Four days ago. And two days back the Ward fell.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. But I’m getting him back.” There wasn’t time to waste. I started striding down the street again.

“Yes, good,” he said, all seriousness. He took after me. Glancing his way, I saw his brow furrow. “From… across?”

“I need your help to do it.”

Oraik yelped and smacked my arm lightly. I stopped again and turned to face him.

“Meda, are you asking permission to murder me?” Oraik wanted to know.

I wrinkled my face at him. “Of course not. I just need a few drops of blood. Fresh blood, or else I’d leave you here.”

He lifted his eyebrows and stared down at me. His weight was still unsteady, so much so that even without moving Oraik began to tilt and had to catch himself.

“So you’re going to break a stone, and cross over the Ward, and bring Kalcedon home,” he said.

“Yes.”

“And you want my blood. So you can break another stone.”

“Could you keep your voice down?”

“Promise you aren’t going to murder me.”

“I wouldn’t,” I protested hotly. “Not you. But if you won’t help, I’ll have to find…”

He held up both hands, stopping me mid-sentence.

“Darling. You’re off to do something incredibly idiotic and probably painful, and make the Temple look foolish in the process. You can’t honestly expect me to stay home?”

Chapter 48

By the time we reached the harbor, the chain was already down for the night. This inconvenience afforded us the time to purchase supplies. I could not have made myself wait for them, otherwise. But Oraik insisted on buying food and blankets.

I asked him if I could borrow money, not that I knew how to pay it back, to buy a pigeon in a wicker cage. At the dawn bird market he fell half in love with one whose iridescent neck reminded me of the Ward’s flicker. I silently bought the plainest, calmest one I could find at the dockside market. Oraik told me I was making a mistake, until I quieted him with a grim look.

We left in early morning after staying up all night. I was able to get us a few hours west before my eyes kept closing on their own, and I had to drop anchor. I woke at noon, impatient to keep moving.

“Should I take over?” Oraik offered when he woke two hours later.

“Maybe later. I’m alright for now.”