Page 77 of A Touch of Stars and Stones (Kirrian #1)

forty-four

. . .

Aten

S hit—my head.

The sway back and forth makes my stomach roll as I come too with a fucking headache. Something tickles my fingers.

My head unjumbles as the motion feels familiar… a rhythmic pace that’s courtesy of a horse idly walking through knee-high grasses.

I’m slung over the saddle, my arms trailing in the grass as my hands tug against their bindings. In an awkward dismount, I pull my torso up so I can slide off and stumble backwards onto the ground, but at least the horse stops, neighing his disapproval.

Two satchels rest behind the saddle, so at least there’s that.

“Ever!” I push the cry and reach for the power and our connection, but as I feared, there’s nothing: no warmth, no thread, just emptiness. My power is still within me, just a little dulled, like when you can still hear underwater, but the sound’s muffled and distorted.

I check my bracelet, feeling a bolt of panic that they might have taken it as a form of punishment, but it’s still there, together with the new tie they used to secure my wrists.

I lift it to my teeth, and yank the knot undone, and then reach for my knife, surprised when my hand engulfs the hilt.

Well, well, well. Maybe Dad wanted me to actually live.

Just no longer in Kirrasia.

The horse whinnies as I approach, and I take a second look at the dark brown bay. “Are you Ever’s horse? What’s your name?” I stroke his nose, and he whinnies again. “My luck might not have all gone to shit if you are.”

The Jade fields, grasslands for miles, is all I see as I stare out around me.

Part of the natural defence of Kirrasia, the apparent never-ending vista of rolling green hills deters many from approaching the border, along with a powerful Elemental magic that manipulates the boundary into Kirrasia, which stops anyone from setting foot on our land without us knowing.

Only now, I’m on the wrong side of it.

I turn back to check for the supplies and am again surprised to find food, a water skin, clothes, and a bedroll on the other side. A pouch of gold coins is also at the bottom of the leather bag.

Nobody’s ever been banished in my lifetime. Stars, I can’t even remember my father talking about anyone facing this punishment. Yet here I am. First, the Transference, now this.

I belt up the bag and go and speak to my only company. “Nettle? Is that you?” He pulls and shakes his head. “Well, even if you’re not, I want you to be. So, Nettle, you are.” He brought Ever to me, after all.

I don’t know how long I’ve been set loose. And fuck them. I was too busy speaking with Ever to listen to what they were telling me before they knocked me out, my guess, for most of the day. It takes that long to reach the Jade over the Ember, so the border can’t be far away.

Dusk’s approaching, but that doesn’t deter me.

It’s not like they dumped me in the Variscite forest. There’s the west watch tower positioned to keep check on the water and the border.

That should be my first target, and by the time I reach it, maybe I’ll have more of a plan in mind and know how I’m going to cross back over without being attacked.

A few hours later, I’m still trekking through grasslands.

Zuns, if I didn’t know there was somewhere on the other side of all of this, I’d be rethinking my decision.

The vista hasn’t changed, and there are no specific landmarks to help me orientate, other than knowing that Kirrasia is north, and I know how to navigate north.

A familiar sound pulls my attention, and my heels dig into Nettle, sending him jumping into a gallop. The river emerges from the right, snaking over the low rise. The sound of water trickling over rocks is soothing, and I dismount and let Nettle drink.

Being on the west of the river gives me a much more accurate direction of travel as the tower is stationed close to it. It’s only a matter of time before I’ll be there and get to test how seriously everyone’s taken my banishment.

Every watch tower has squads of Warriors, usually with a Triune stationed with them.

Speed, strength, and enhanced sight will all be in use amongst them, and there’s always someone to verify the Watchers from Estereah or other Kirrians who are friendly and can pass without issue or who won’t trigger the alarm.

Even if my intention isn’t to attack, just to get close enough and survey before I make any move, I doubt I’ll be welcome. But no banishment is going to keep me on the outside of Kirrasia when Ever is locked up there.

There’s nothing to stake Nettle’s reins to, so I settle for tying the bags to the leather and hope he gets the message. I take the bedroll, drink and refill the waterskin, and stare up at the starless sky.

Tomorrow.

I promise I’ll reach Kirrasia tomorrow.

I can’t see the barrier, but I know it’s there, like something is pulling me towards it, a recognition within me, calling to the magical power charging the shield.

Turns out, it was only another hour away from where I spent the night, and with the sun up, the greens almost sparkle in the morning light, a rainbow of them, with the lightest the familiar shade of Ever’s eyes.

If I can make it across, maybe I’ll be able to feel our connection and talk to her.

My wrist vibrates like the warmth of magic is pulsating in the stone as I draw closer. Only one stride, and I’ll be through.

My foot steps out tentatively, and I take another, the humming intensifying before everything returns to normal, the feeling inside of me calming, and my senses sharpening.

“Ever!” I shout her name as loudly as possible inside my head and will it to travel the distance.

Just as an arrow digs into the ground by my feet.

I track the trajectory, seeing the tower a hundred meters away, the same tower that was invisible on the other side of the barrier, less than a meter away.

Fuck! I knew it would be close, just not this close. I take a few steps and break into a run, but another arrow follows the first, chasing my feet into a sprint. With my hands up, I dive back over the barrier, retreating from the attack. As I go through, I lose sight and the sense of power again.

“Well, that went well.” Nettle plods up towards me.

They know I’m here now. It wasn’t the best plan of stealth, but they can’t cover the whole of the border. That’s the weakness, so I intend to exploit it.

Taking Nettle’s reins in hand, I set off on foot, keeping the deep dragging sensation to my left.

We walk for an hour more until the urge to step back over and assess my position again becomes too much. I’ll be way out of range of the watch tower, but I don’t know where the smaller camps are or if they will be tracking me.

“Wait for me, Nettle, you hear.” I nod to the horse and then step through the barrier again. This time, I’m alert to my surroundings first, looking for scouts or officers. If there’s no sign here, I can make a run for it?—

Warriors: a blur of motion, racing, approaching from the west. They’re going to chase me all along the divide at this rate. I step back out of Kirrasia and pull the Ciro knife from my back, sinking onto the balls of my feet, ready to see if they come to me.

Adrenaline surges, dragging my power to life, and my mind runs over my options, sorting through the moves I’ll have to make to overthrow and gain the advantage.

My mind is slow, and my power isn’t responding as quickly in Estereah.

But as I wait, it isn’t Warrior officers that cross a few feet from me. It’s Calix and Crimson.

“What the… How did you know I’d be here?” I ask, as relief and gratitude hit as hard as one of Calix’s right hooks.

He cocks his head at me. “It’s obvious. It’s the closest watch tower to the border, it has a strategic position against the sea, and it’s where the alarm sounded when we were infiltrated. My guess would be that you’d try here and then find a weakness. We’ve skirted and patrolled.”

I never give him enough credit.

“Are you okay?” Crimson asks with more kindness than I’ve been used to.

“Fine. But you shouldn’t be here. You’ll be missed,” I warn.

“Like fuck. We’re not gonna let you get banished, Ten. You’re mad if you think otherwise,” Calix yells. “And they can’t banish us all.”

“We’re on the wrong side of the border, Calix. This is my punishment. My battle. They fired at me the moment I stepped over, and you being here won’t stop them. They won’t hesitate.”

“Well, the arrows led us to you,” Crimson defends, but silence follows. “There are scouts on our heels, so I hope you have a plan?”

I have considered one way. It won’t be easy but…

“Our father thinks Orion’s having some sort of episode, and there’s talk of him being challenged.” Calix changes the subject, and the plan fades.

“By whom?” I ask, appreciating the intel. My father would never allow a challenge. Stars above, isn’t everything that’s happened over the last few months evidence of that?

“Unknown. But you can’t just hover over here like this. We always said we’d stick together, so say the word, and we’re with you?—”

“I’m not fucking running, Calix. And I’m not accepting being banished, either. And even if I were, I could never ask that of you. But right now, Ever is in a cell, and we still don’t know who came for her the last time. I’m not doing anything until she’s safe.”

Crimson lets out an angry sigh and walks back and through the border, vanishing from sight.

“Look, everything’s changed, Ten. Training is confined to class, and there’s a curfew.

It’s like the Orders have decided we’re all under attack.

It’s only been a couple of days, but there’s been a shift in The Chamber members.

If you’re not planning on staying in Estereah, you need to come up with something because there’s no way you’re going to walk back in and get to her. ”

“I can’t just leave,” I yell, my jaw flexing with frustration.

“You mean you can’t just leave her ,” Calix corrects. He stares at me, and I can see he’s daring me to protest. But there’s no point. It’s the fucking truth.

“I have no right to ask, but?—”

“You’re gonna do it anyway. Go ahead.” He shrugs.

“Get her out, Calix. Help her. Please.”

For a moment, I stand, staring at my best friend, hoping that he understands and sees how important this is to me, willing him to see how important she is to me.

He nods. “Stay out of sight between the watch tower and the first camp. We’ll find you.

” He holds out his arm, and I swing mine around his shoulders in an awkward hug.

They risked everything to come for me, perhaps still hoping that what we wished for Aslendrix to grant as children might still materialise, and I’ve offered nothing back.

And helping Ever will be something I can never repay.