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I sat on a cot in a tiny room, knees drawn to my chest and the lights off, listening to footsteps scurrying and pounding outside

my door.

Arham, Captain Gahmil’s second-in-command, hadn’t been pleased. When he first saw the dead abomination and the captain’s severed

arm, still lying in a congealing pool of blood, his face had gone white, and he’d had to stagger away to collect himself.

When he returned, he had a lot of questions for all of us, demanding to know where we came from, why we had fled Kovass, and

how Captain Gahmil had died. It was clear that he wanted someone to blame for the debacle, but after a long interrogation

in his—or, rather, Captain Gahmil’s former office, he reluctantly let us go, with the assurance that the strider would be

turning around and heading back to Damassi straightaway.

When we emerged from the office, we found a crowd had gathered outside, all shouting and talking at once. Word of the abomination

and the captain’s death had spread like wildfire through the strider, and passengers were demanding to know what was going

on. We left Arham with the unenviable task of explaining the situation and retreated to our quarters to hide from the ensuing

rage and panic. At least, that had been my intention.

A tap came at the door, rousing me from my thoughts.

The door was locked, of course, bolted from the inside.

I hesitated, listening for what would come next.

I didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, especially a stranger.

I’d had my fill of talking and explaining for the day.

If I didn’t answer, anyone who wasn’t Halek or Raithe would assume I was asleep or not available and leave.

If it was Halek, he would certainly let me know it was him. Raithe... I wasn’t sure.

“Sparrow.” The iylvahn’s voice drifted quietly through the door. “It’s me. I need to talk to you.”

My heartbeat quickened. Suddenly, I both wanted and didn’t want to see him. After a moment’s hesitation, I pulled myself to

my feet, walked to the door, and shoved back the bolt.

He stood at the threshold as I pulled the door open, his face half hidden in the shadows of his hood. Moonlight filtered through

one of the tiny round windows on the wall, casting him in a strange aura of silvery blue. Seeing him, feeling those pale eyes

on me, my stomach gave a weird little flutter. I wanted to find a dark shadow to slip into, but in this tiny room, there was

nowhere to hide.

Raithe stood there, quietly waiting. I swallowed these sudden strange feelings and gazed up at him, frowning. “Well? I’m here.

What did you want to talk about?”

He blinked slowly. “I would prefer to do it out of the open,” he said in a low-pitched voice.

Someone passed behind him in the hall, hurrying by with their head down, and Raithe went perfectly still until they had gone.

“We can go to my room to talk, or somewhere more private if you wish, but not in an open hallway where anyone can overhear us.”

Alone in a room with the iylvahn. The last time I was alone with him, he had been threatening me at knifepoint. Granted, he’d

had good reason, but that didn’t change the fact that Raithe could kill someone as easily as swatting a fly. If he wanted

to murder me in this tiny room, I’d be dead before I knew what was happening.

Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Raithe narrowed his eyes. “I mean you no harm, Sparrow,” he said seriously, though there was

no edge to his voice at all. “You will be safe in my presence, I promise.”

I sighed and stepped back through the door. “Come on in, then,” I said. “Just watch your head. There’s not a lot of room.”

I perched on the edge of the cot as he ducked his head and came through the door, then closed it firmly behind him. For a

moment, he stood there, head bowed, as if gathering his thoughts, then turned to face me.

“I spoke to Arham again,” the iylvahn said, leaning against the opposite wall. “Well, technically, I suppose he’s Captain

Arham now. The strider has officially turned around and is on its way back to Damassi. It has just enough fuel to reach the

city. It will be several days before we get to the other side of the Dust Sea.”

I nodded, excitement and nerves prickling my stomach. I had never seen Damassi, but I had imagined what it was like countless

times.

“Damassi sits at the edge of the Stoneshard Mountains,” Raithe continued.

“And beyond them are the Barren Steppes. It is a wasteland of rock and flat earth, but Irrikah, the city of the iylvahn, waits on the other side. That is my destination. Once we reach the steppes, I’ll be heading home.

” He hesitated again, regarding me with those pale blue eyes from the shadows of his hood. “I need you to come with me, Sparrow.”

I blinked at him. “I thought you weren’t giving me a choice.”

“I won’t force you.” Abruptly, Raithe pushed himself off the wall, stepped close, and knelt so that we were eye to eye. My

pulse jumped at his nearness; this close, I could reach out and brush the silver strands of hair hanging over his forehead.

“You saved my life.” Raithe’s voice, low and soft, made my heart thud in my chest. “We survived the Dust Sea together. If

you decide to leave us when we reach Damassi and set off on your own, I won’t stop you. I am asking—if not as a friend, then

as someone who faced down the Deathless King with you and lived—will you come with me to Irrikah and speak to the queen? I

am not exaggerating when I say the fate of the kingdoms could depend on it.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. This was somehow worse than being threatened at knifepoint. There was no way I could refuse,

not with those pale eyes pleading up at me. Besides, Raithe might be an assassin and a killer, but, at least for now, our

goal was the same: Stay away from Kovass and the Deathless King. That seemed like a good reason to keep him around.

“I have nowhere to go, Raithe,” I said at last, feeling a sharp pang at the truth of those words.

“My whole life was in Kovass, and... it’s gone now.

Everyone I knew...” I paused, taking a moment to breathe as memories crowded in, familiar faces that I doubted I would see again, even if they had somehow survived.

“So, yes,” I finished, “I will come with you to see your queen. Might as well.” I gave a twisted little smile.

“It’s better than meeting the king who wants me dead. ”

Raithe sighed, his lean shoulders slumping in relief. “Thank you,” he said simply, bowing his head. “And I promise I will

protect you on the journey. No matter what we run into. Even if we meet the Deathless King himself.”

I squirmed at the sincerity in his voice. “Unless we run into another abomination,” I said lightly, and dredged up a smirk.

“Then I might have to protect you again.”

“Perhaps.” His faint smile was wry. “I underestimated you,” he said, gazing up at me. “I met a thief in Kovass and thought

she was only that. Clever and cunning, but only interested in possessions and what she could steal. Unwilling to put herself

at risk to save others. Today...” He paused. “Today, I saw, for the first time, someone who could truly be the Fateless.”

Now I was even more uncomfortable. I still didn’t know what this Fateless was, I just knew it wasn’t me.

Strangely, it wasn’t the thought that I was the Fateless that bothered me. I knew what I was: a simple thief. That had never

been a concern. But the thought that Raithe would be disappointed when he realized the truth—that I wasn’t Fateless, or brave,

or special—for some reason, that made my stomach twist. It was unnerving; the only person I had ever strived to make proud had been Vahn, and look how that

had turned out.

A banging on my door made me jump. Raithe rose swiftly, hand already on his sword, as voices echoed through the wood from

the other side.

“Is she here? The one who killed the giant monster?”

“I don’t know. These are the guest quarters.”

“Well, she has to be here, then. Knock louder.”

I grimaced, shrinking back against the wall. This was what I hadn’t wanted to happen. I hadn’t wanted people to learn I had

killed the abomination, but word of the battle had spread. And now people were looking for me.

I gave Raithe a desperate look, and his jaw tightened. He crossed the room in a single stride and pulled open the door, revealing

a pair of men on the other side. They jumped when they saw the motionless, unamused visage of the iylvahn staring at them

with cold eyes.

“Oh.” One of the men took a step back. “The iylvahn. You were in the battle as well, yes? I am looking for the young woman.

Is she here?” He rose on tiptoe, trying to peer over Raithe’s shoulder.

Raithe didn’t move. “What do you want?” he asked in a voice of stiff politeness.

“Ah, well. You see, I would like to hire her. All of you, actually.” The men retreated another step, now that it was clear

that Raithe was not letting them into the room. “Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are businessmen from Jorlan, the closet

neighbor to Damassi.”

I wrinkled my nose. Businessmen was another name for the merchant princes, the elite class of traders who had gotten so rich from their various dealings that they rivaled the nobility in wealth and power.

They were despised by nearly everyone. The commoners hated them because they acted like nobles, and the nobles looked down on them for daring to be prosperous.

But since the merchant princes controlled much of the trade between cities, they weren’t too worried about either side.

“We saw the abomination before it was dumped back into the Dust Sea,” the other man went on. “Magnificent, and terrifying.

To kill a creature like that must have taken a great amount of skill.”

“Is there a point to this?” Raithe asked. Still coldly polite.

The first man cleared his throat. “Well, you see, a creature like that, even dead, must be worth a great amount of money to