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“That’s a dirty trick, iylvahn!” Halek called at the same time, kicking his mount forward. Our dragons sprang after him, moving

with a swaying, scuttling crawl over the dust and the stones. Moments later, there was the buzz of wings, and Kysa flew overhead,

proving that the sand dragons could not, in fact, keep up with Rhyne. But this race was between the three sand dragons and

their riders. The wind whipped at me, pushing my hood back and tugging at my hair, but with the hissing dragons, the shouts

from Halek, and the rising adrenaline as we sped down the path, it didn’t bother me. Rising in my seat, I lifted my head and

let out a whoop that bounced off the canyon walls and echoed over the peaks.

Raithe won, of course. But only because he cheated.

Solasti stood directly overhead by the time we reached the first shelter Kysa had mentioned, a large cave that had been carved

into the side of the cliff wall. It was spacious enough for all our dragons and Rhyne to fit inside, with pens and individual

stalls to safely house our mounts while we waited for Demon Hour to pass.

“Here you go, Fatechaser,” Raithe said, handing his dragon’s reins to Halek as we stepped into the cave. “Make sure you remove their saddles so they can cool off through Demon Hour. An uncomfortable sand dragon is highly irritable, and more likely to take a finger when you’re not expecting it.”

“Oh, come on.” Halek sighed, unhappily taking the reins. “I wasn’t really serious about that bet, you know. This doesn’t seem

fair.”

Kysa, already unbuckling the straps around Rhyne’s massive bulk, smiled. “And yet a wager was definitely spoken,” she said,

not looking up from her task. “The last one to reach the bend in the pass was to care for the other mounts for the rest of

the journey. The last to reach the bend was you. Or is it common for city dwellers to back out of promises that are inconvenient?”

Halek groaned. “Sparrow, help me out here,” he said, giving me a pleading look. “I don’t think a wager won by cheating is

a fair wager, do you?”

“Oh, Halek.” I smiled. “You’re forgetting who you’re talking to. I’m from the Thieves Guild. We always cheat to win.”

And handing him my reins, I walked away, Raithe’s laughter and Halek’s sputtering protests echoing behind me.

A little deeper in the cavern, I found a pair of tables surrounded by stools, a stone bench next to a barrel that held a lantern, and a trio of rough cots against the far wall.

Whoever had built this shelter for Demon Hour hadn’t done so half-heartedly.

Perching on the bench, I leaned back with a sigh, relieved to not be sitting in a bouncing, jostling saddle.

I pulled out my waterskin and took a sip, hoping the relatively cool temperatures of the cave would hold through Demon Hour.

“Sparrow.”

I looked up and saw Raithe’s lean form hovering near the table’s edge, watching me. As usual, I hadn’t heard him approach

at all.

“May I join you?” he asked, sounding strangely formal. Still calm and unruffled, but overly polite. I shifted on the bench

and retreated farther into my hood.

“You don’t have to ask, Raithe,” I told him. “You’re always welcome, no matter where we are.”

“I would not presume,” he replied, and I sensed, rather than heard, him move closer. Then there was a soft rustle of clothes

as he sat beside me on the bench. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to be around me.”

I swallowed as my heart began an erratic thumping in my chest. I wanted to fade away and hide, to remove myself from danger,

but there was nowhere to go in this cave. Besides, this was Raithe. He wasn’t going to turn around and stab me, even if I

didn’t know what being near him was doing to my heart.

“I apologize for last night,” Raithe continued, and his voice had gone very soft. “I admit, I am not adept at reading human

emotion, but I thought...” He hesitated, gazing down at his hands as if they were covered in something foul. “Was I wrong?”

he murmured.

I bit my lip, and the frantic beating of my heart intensified. Say yes, Sparrow , I told myself. Tell him he was wrong, that there is nothing between us.

“No,” I whispered. “You weren’t wrong, Raithe, it’s just...” I clenched my fists on my knees and stared at them. “It’s hard for me to get close to anyone,” I finally admitted. “The last person I tried with was Jeran and, well, you saw how that turned out.”

“The boy who took the soulstone from you.” Raithe straightened slowly. “He was your friend.”

“I thought he was,” I whispered. “And maybe, if things had been different...” I bit my lip, remembering Jeran’s last moments,

his eyes beseeching mine as Vahn drew the knife across his throat. “I’d known him for years,” I went on. “We grew up together

in the guild. I never thought...” I paused, and a tiny, bitter laugh escaped me. “But then I never thought Vahn would sacrifice

me to raise the Deathless King, either.”

“I am not Vahn,” Raithe said, very quietly.

I bit my lip. No, you’re not Vahn . But still... “Why does the queen want to see me, Raithe?” I asked. “What does she want with the Fateless?”

His jaw tightened, and he closed his eyes, making my heart sink. “I see,” he murmured, and the warmth between us vanished.

“You’re right,” he said in a flat voice. “There are things that I can’t tell you. I suppose that is a good enough reason to

hold me in the same regard as the Guildmaster.”

He rose and walked away, leaving me alone on the bench, cursing myself and wishing I hadn’t said anything.

“This is a dangerous game you’re playing, iylvahn.”

I opened my eyes blearily, hearing Kysa’s voice echo behind me at one of the tables. One cot over, Halek dozed on his back with an arm over his eyes, snoring softly. I couldn’t see the other cots without turning my head, and I didn’t want to move and alert the speaker that I was awake.

I heard a heavy sigh that had to be from Raithe. “I know.”

“She is human,” Kysa went on, and though her voice was gentle, it was a warning. “She is young. I will not ask your age, but

I assume it is in the hundreds.”

“We don’t look at age in the same way as you humans,” Raithe said. “But yes, you would assume correctly.”

“So why this girl? She is a survivor, yes. She knows how to take care of herself. And at times, she is reluctantly brave.

The fight with the abomination proved that. But that does not make a warrior. Or a hero.”

“Because I believe she can be those things,” Raithe said, his voice a little more earnest than before. My stomach clenched

and my throat tightened, hearing him speak like that about me. With a faith I didn’t deserve at all. “I can see it in her,”

Raithe went on. “She is the Fateless. She just needs to see it herself.” He sighed again, and I could almost see him raking a hand through his silver

hair. “I wish I could get her to trust me.”

“She shouldn’t.” Kysa’s voice was brutally pragmatic. “You are an iylvahn assassin who has taken numerous lives for your queen.

You are taking her to the city beyond the Maze and you won’t tell her why. Why should she trust you?”

I’m sorry. My eyes went blurry. I do trust you, Raithe , I thought, surprising myself. More than anyone. I’m just... I’m scared. I’m afraid you’ll look at me and realize I’m not the person you thought I was.

Raithe didn’t answer, and after a moment, Kysa’s voice came again, low and calm. “Do you care for this girl?” she asked softly.

A long, long pause, and then a quiet sigh. “Yes.”

“Then you should let her go,” Kysa said. Everything inside me writhed itself into a tangled mess and I had to bite my lip

to keep a gasp from escaping. “If she truly is Fateless, if she has any hope of surviving what is to come, she cannot have

any distractions. She must consider the fate of millions, and how her decisions will affect them all. And there are few things

more distracting than falling in love and worrying about the welfare of one individual soul.”

I clenched a fist into the cot. Whatever they were talking about, whatever being Fateless meant, it was not something I wanted

any part of. Worse, if Raithe expected me to somehow save everyone from the Deathless King, he was going to be even more disappointed

when he realized I couldn’t. Kysa was right; there were few things more distracting—and dangerous—than falling in love. I

had no business hoping for anything with a beautiful, pale-eyed iylvahn assassin.

Once more, Raithe was silent, and after a few heartbeats, I heard a scraping sound as someone pushed back their stool and

rose. “Demon Hour is almost over,” Kysa said. “I need to saddle Rhyne—he takes twice as long to get ready as your lizards.”

Raithe’s voice was barely audible. “Thank you, Kysa.”

The insect rider paused. “The truth is hard to hear sometimes,” she said, as I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “But

my clan has always valued clarity over sentiment. It would be a disservice to you as a fellow warrior not to extend that same

courtesy.”

Halek suddenly gave a snort and rolled over on his cot.

With a yawn, he sat up, scrubbing a hand through his hair and making it stand on end.

“Aw, man, I was dreaming of the Desert Rose house in Tahveena.” He sighed.

“Instead, I wake up in a cave with lizard dung and giant beetles. Ah, well.” He rose, stretching both arms over his head, and looked at Raithe. “I guess we’re ready to go?”

“Nearly.” I heard Raithe rise from his stool. “The dragons need to be saddled before we head out. I believe that’s your job

now, Fatechaser.”

Halek groaned. “Dammit, if I ever get the urge to gamble with an iylvahn again, just stab me and save me the misery.” He sighed,

scrubbing at his face, then turned his head toward me. Quickly, I shut my eyes so I wouldn’t be caught eavesdropping. “What

about Sparrow?”

“Leave her be,” Raithe said quietly. “Her dreams have been nightmarish of late, and the journey is only going to get harder

from here. Let her sleep a little longer.”

Halek walked off, grumbling about debts and cheaters under his breath, but I didn’t hear Raithe leave. I kept my eyes closed,

and a moment later, I felt a presence by my bedside. I inhaled deeply, both to keep my breaths slow and even and to calm the

rapid thumping of my heart, which would surely give me away if he heard it.

“I know your life has been hard,” Raithe whispered. My pulse spiked. Did he know I was awake? But he went on without acknowledging

me. “I know you don’t believe you could be Fateless, much less want to be Fateless. But... we need you, Sparrow. You don’t understand yet, but you will. Soon.”

My heartbeat quickened. It was a struggle to keep my face neutral, to not respond to what he was saying. Even more so when

cool fingertips touched my cheek, gently brushing a strand of hair from my face. Outwardly, I did not respond, though inside

it felt like my stomach leaped up and curled itself into a ball.

“Whatever your decision,” Raithe went on, “even if you can’t trust me, I will protect you. I promise.”

He walked away, leaving me inwardly gasping on the cot, both relieved and wishing desperately that he would return.

The next two days followed the same pattern: ride our dragons through the endless, snaking pass until Demon Hour forced us

to take shelter in the caves and crannies carved out by those who had made the journey before. Sometimes Kysa would ride beside

us, sometimes she and Rhyne would scout ahead, perhaps bored of our mounts’ inability to fly. Halek told stories of all the

places he’d been and often pulled me into friendly games of Triple Fang or cards. We didn’t gamble, as I hadn’t a coin to

my name. But it was a way to pass the time while we waited for Demon Hour to subside.

Raithe was distant now. Outwardly, his demeanor didn’t change; he was still polite and controlled, with a quiet confidence that infused everything he did.

His faint, easy smiles didn’t fade, and he maintained that subtle sense of humor that surprised you if you weren’t expecting it.

But he was definitely cooler toward me. Never cold or unfriendly, just.

.. reserved. Sometimes, I thought I felt him watching me, but when I peeked up at him, his gaze was always somewhere else.

I tried not to be affected by it; I tried telling myself it was a good thing.

Don’t get close. Don’t let down your guard.

Trust leads only to betrayal. Love leads only to heartbreak .

But the mantras I continued to tell myself faded whenever I saw him smile or heard his rare, quiet laughter. I remembered

the kiss, the look in his eyes when we were alone, and my emotions continued to swirl wildly whenever he was nearby.

On the morning of the third day, about an hour after the suns rose, the steep, vertical walls of the pass fell away and we

found ourselves at the edge of a sprawling desert. The ground wasn’t sand, but cracked red earth that rose in uneven steps

and plateaus to the distant horizon. There were no trees, cacti, patches of grass, nothing green. A few scraggly bushes, barely

more than clumps of thorns, dotted the landscape, poking up through clay and rock. The air shimmered with heat, causing the

horizon to waver and strange shadows to dance across the plains.

“Welcome to the Barren Steppes,” Kysa said, sounding both relieved and joyful to be home. Even Rhyne raised his head with

a strange huffing sound that I took for happiness. “If we hurry, we should reach Carapace Basin by nightfall.”

Raising an arm to shield my eyes, I peered across the endless expanse.

To my mind, it was full of nothing, but I knew the different insect rider clans roamed the steppes, as well as groups of feral malkah who viewed everything, even sentient creatures, as prey.

According to all the stories, it was a dangerous, barren, hostile land that did not take kindly to outsiders.

Even the various rider clans did not tolerate intruders stomping through their territory.

I was glad we had Kysa showing us the way.

“Just out of curiosity,” Halek commented, squinting as he gazed across the barren landscape, “how are we going to avoid Demon

Hour if we’re out on the steppes? I don’t see any caves we can duck into.”

“There’s an oasis not far from here,” Kysa replied, gesturing northeast. “It’s a small underground spring, and it’s in neutral

territory, so all the clans can use it. We can refill our water containers there.” She gave Rhyne a tap with her spear, and

he lumbered forward, going northeast without being directed. “Just watch out for stonebeaks near the spring,” Kysa warned

over her shoulder. “It’s breeding season, so the males will kick you to death if they have a female.”

“Oh,” Halek said as we nudged our dragons and headed into the steppes. “So just like in Tahveena.”