Page 131 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

A loud, angry hiss was followed by the rustling of leaves and sticks as the two snakes slithered away.

“Hey!” one of the soturi yelled. “You can’t just throw rocks like that! Our soldiers are out there! You could hit one!”

I stared at the ground. “Sorry. Thought I saw…red eyes.”

“Akadim?” asked the soturion.

“I thought so,” I said.

“Fuck. Call it in,” said the second soturion. He turned to me with a frown. “You know, you’re wearing your cloak all wrong.” He stepped forward, peering at me with interest.

I knew I was wearing it wrong—I was wearing it over my armor, hiding any sign I was from Ka Batavia.

“I’m not a soturion,” I said. “It’s my boyfriend’s cloak.”

The soturion rolled his eyes. “Better investigate,” he told his friend.

“Girl!” yelled the first. “Give your man his cloak back. You look ridiculous.”

The second burst into laughter.

I didn’t respond. I started walking away, praying they were satisfied with me and more concerned with the alleged akadim in the woods. I took one glance back but couldn’t see or sense any more movement from the nahashim. I had to meet Rhyan and get inside at once.

The soturi were no longer looking at me, and with that knowledge, I took off, racing through the park across the street until I found Rhyan rounding a corner, nearly walking into me before the inn’s doors.

“What happened?” he asked. “Are you okay?” He was looking past me, his eyes narrowed.

“They don’t seem to be following me. I heard soturi talking. Word’s already reached here that we’re gone, but the rumor seems to be we’re on foot. So they’re looking for us at the Elyrian border.”

Rhyan huffed out an exasperated breath. “Well, that’s as good as can be expected.” Still eyeing our surroundings, he added, “We should get inside.”

He wrapped my hand in his and led me down a dark alleyway between the inn and the next building. Hidden in the shadows beside a wastebin, Rhyan scooped me into his arms, and we were gone. We reappeared in a room half the size of our room from last night. A bed took up most of the space with one window above it and a large chest at its foot. There was no dining table or chairs. A fireplace was just springing to life.

Rhyan set me down on my feet, looking a little embarrassed at the size of the room. “Well, we did say no chairs.”

I tried to smile.

“Partner,” he said. “You look pale.”

“Tired,” I said.

He pushed my hood off my face and smoothed my hair behind my ear, his finger wrapping around one of my stray curls. “You didn’t sleep the night before.”

I headed for the window. It looked out over the park, and I peered at the trees, my stomach knotting as I waited to see a nahashim appear. But the park looked clear aside from a few people walking through it.

Rhyan started toward me, but there was a sudden knock at the door. He gestured at me to go into the adjoining bathroom. Heart hammering, I scurried from the window and closed the door, trying to keep my breath even, as he unlatched the lock. The door creaked as it swung open.

“Thank you,” Rhyan said. “I’ll take that.”

“I can set up the dinners for you,” said an elderly man. “Bring you a table and two chairs. Sorry we didn’t have a room with those already.”

“No. That’s not necessary. I’m here on such short notice, you’ve already done me a huge kindness. And it’s only me. I’m just…very hungry. Haven’t eaten all day.”

The man chuckled. “Well enjoy. If you need anything else, Rhyan, you let me know. Anything at all.”

Rhyan finished thanking the man. I remained hidden, waiting for the sound of the door closing, before I emerged from the bathroom.

Rather than eating on the bed, Rhyan pulled out the chest at its foot, and we sat on the floor, using the chest as a makeshift table and eating in silence.