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Farah closed her eyes, her arms holding Rohan tightly. She was thankful for the cords that held her ankles. Otherwise , her legs would be dangling. Her left one ached terribly, but it was more than that. She was still so weak. It was a new and exasperating experience she never wanted to feel again.

Her arms tensed as Rohan began climbing. She wasn’t sure how he would get them up to the top, but she was too exhausted and hadn’t thought much about it until now. He moved steadily and carefully up the ladder. If she hampered his motions, he didn’t let on.

She didn’t look down again. She had never feared heights before, but then again, she had never been so weak that she feared she couldn’t hold herself up. His movements became rhythmic and eventually eased her, though she still held on to him with her arms for that small measure of reassurance. The throbbing in her leg began to lessen, but it didn’t go away entirely.

Rohan didn’t speak again. That gave her time to mull over his quick thinking and reaction to her predicament. He hadn’t berated her or made her feel foolish. Instead , he had calmed and reassured her—not something she had anticipated from someone who could barely look at her. Which proved he would do whatever it took to get her to Mortham alive. After that, well, she could imagine how he would treat her once he found his people.

Not that it mattered. She knew he wouldn’t find them. He might locate one or two, but even that would be a miracle. And if he was lucky enough to locate more, they wouldn’t be the same. No one who spent any time in the compound was ever the same. Her included.

Mortham was an abyss of suffering and misery. It was a void straight to the darkest depths of wickedness. A place which left an imprint that could never be washed away or hidden. It stained anyone who stepped foot inside its gates. And her captor thought to take her back.

Surely , Rohan realized that wouldn’t happen. All she needed was a bit of magic to disable him and get away.

She would find an opportunity to free herself of her captor, but Nitya hadn’t. Their situations weren’t the same, but there were parallels Farah couldn’t help but see. If her sister had made it through the harvesting—as they called it in Mortham —she would’ve been sold. Nitya was strong in mind and spirit. She was also intelligent. She would’ve seen someone’s defiance and the beating that followed and kept her mouth shut. She would have found a way to survive.

The problem was, Farah knew nothing about those being sold after they left Mortham or the buyers. That was the information she really needed to find Nitya . She had tried to look for it early on when she arrived in Mortham , but she’d soon discovered that information was only given to certain individuals. She was too new—and too lowly a worker—to gain it. Which is why she hunkered down and tried to move up the ranks. Look what that had gotten her.

Rohan’s movements changed. Farah opened her eyes as he crested the top of the mesa and climbed off the ladder. He turned and sat before untying her legs and then her wrists. She scooted back to put some distance between them and breathed a sigh of relief to be on solid ground again.

He rose to his feet and faced her. “ How’s the leg?”

“ Achy .”

His lips flattened. “ Hmm .”

“ Maybe the seaweed didn’t stay on long enough.”

“ Perhaps .” He looked around, then held out an arm. “ Come . I’ll help you to a tree.”

She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. It would’ve been nice if she could walk on her own, but she didn’t want to test it just yet. And if he was stupid enough to bring her to something that could restore her magic, that was his problem.

He helped her hop to a tree with large, feather-shaped leaves that swayed above her. She braced her hands against the rough, gray trunk and lowered herself to the ground to lean against it.

Rohan squatted beside her, staring at her thigh. “ The red seaweed heals us completely. We’ve never used it on an elf before, though.”

“ You’re telling me you put something on my wound that might have killed me?”

His celadon eyes lifted to her. “ Unlikely .”

She was enraged by his pithy reply. “ You had no way of knowing that.”

“ It healed you, didn’t it? It just didn’t restore you fully.”

“ Obviously ,” she bit out, still disconcerted at his willingness to use something untested on elves. Though she had been just as willing to have it used on her.

Rohan straightened and walked to the ladder hidden by the tall grass around it. She wouldn’t have known it was there if they hadn’t just come from it. The area was empty except for a handful of the same types of trees she was leaning against. One wouldn’t fully restore her magic.

Sun Elves only needed the sun for their magic. Mountain Elves needed the mountains. Sea Elves could use any water. And Wood Elves needed the woods. But not just one tree. They required many. Still , one was better than nothing. Farah had been without her magic for too long. She placed her hand at the base of the trunk near the ground and watched Rohan as he lifted a hand, most likely to signal to Kalyani below.

He was the type of man who wouldn’t hesitate to kill for those he cared for. He had gone into Mortham . Farah frowned as she thought about the explosion. He had been watched from the ship to the fort. There hadn’t been a bomb on him, and even if there had been, he wouldn’t have had time to place it anywhere. There were too many eyes on him. Which meant he’d had help.

“ Who aided you at Mortham ?” she asked.

He turned his head to her. “ No one.”

“ You couldn’t have gotten out of the compound alone. It was all planned, and I’m betting you being harvested was also.”

“ Harvested , huh? Is that what you call it?”

She shrugged, realizing too late that she had resorted to the language from within Mortham’s walls. “ I’m right, aren’t I ?”

“ So what if you are?”

“ Who helped you?”

Rohan walked the short distance to her. “ You’ll never get the name, so you might as well stop asking. Can you walk? Or am I carrying you? Either way, we’re heading out.”

Farah glared as she used the trunk to push herself up. He scrutinized her all the while. She waited for him to make some comment about her magic, but he didn’t. He had to know the tree would help her. Shecrish had a huge rainwood. There would be more trees.

She tested her leg. It held her, though it still throbbed. She nodded, and he motioned her forward.

“ I don’t know the way.”

“ Stay along the edge until we reach the waterfall.”

Farah sighed and started walking. It was more of a limp. She wasn’t entirely comfortable putting all her weight on the leg yet, but at least she could walk. Strenuous activities like climbing or running were out of the question until she could find a Star Elf or some herbs to complete the healing.

“ How long has it been since you took me from Mortham ?” she asked.

“ Five days.”

She grimaced. She didn’t need to be in the fort to know what was being said about her. It would behoove her to keep an eye out for anyone who looked like they worked for the Masters .

“ How long to get to Mortham ?”

“ A day and a half if we move quickly.” He paused. “ Two days if we’re lucky.”

That meant she would need to recharge her magic soon. “ How many left with you?”

Silence greeted her.

“ They’re going to believe I’m the one who helped you.”

“ Possibly .”

“ Not possibly,” she retorted angrily and shot him a look over her shoulder. “ They’ve probably already decided it. My body wasn’t there. Where else would I have gone?”

“ To chase me. Tell them you caught me and are bringing me back.”

He had an answer for everything. Most likely because he had been planning this for some time. It irked her that it was a solid plan that might actually work if she got on board. Which she wasn’t about to do. But she was curious about how deeply his planning ran.

“ There’s a problem with that scenario.”

“ Just one?” he mocked.

Farah blew out a breath. “ They’ll welcome us back inside Mortham , sure, but once we’re there, they’ll toss you in a room—likely me, as well—until they can determine if what I say is true.”

“ I don’t think you’ll have a problem convincing them of that.”

Something in his words made her pause. He spoke as if he knew her. She had only just met him, so that was impossible.

“ That’s the bigger problem. The smaller one is the issue of my clothing.”

He made a sound in the back of his throat. “ They were soaked in your blood. Would you rather I had saved them?”

“ Of course not.”

He had a way of rubbing her raw with everything that came out of his mouth. He was insufferable. The more she thought about his brusque replies and clipped tone, the angrier she got. He had convicted her without knowing a single thing about her.

“ You’ll come up with a reason to be in those clothes, but I warn you now, if you speak of Siguk , you’ll regret it.”

That was the last straw. She whirled around, infuriated. “ I’ll have you know, I …” She trailed off, realizing too late that she had almost spoken about her past. Not a wise move while undercover.

“ What ?” he pressed.

“ Nothing .”

Farah turned and resumed walking. There was no more talking between them, which was for the best. She shouldn’t have allowed him to get under her skin. She knew better. Without the conversation to focus on, she became aware of the warm sun and the tepid sea breeze. It made her think of Nitya , which turned her thoughts to her village. The air would be cooler there now that autumn had arrived. Had they already made the garlands they draped over all the doors this time of year? It had been Nitya’s favorite.

Farah looked to her left and the thick vegetation that began about fifteen feet away. She studied the different trees and flora. She hadn’t seen any indication of other Wood Elves yet. Even when she and Nitya had come years ago, there had been no sign of them. What kept their kind from the south? She parted her lips to ask Rohan , then thought better of it. He would likely lie or ignore her. Either way, she wasn’t in the mood to engage him in conversation again.