“How dare-”
“I have to return to Zinara,” he said. “Will you leave Regatha now?”
“No.”
He looked momentarily sad. “Then I can’t help you.”
“I told you, I don’t want your help.”
“I won’t let your choice become my weakness,” he said firmly.
Chandra folded her arms and glared at him. “As long as you keep your word not to implicate Samir in anything, then what you do when you leave here is no concern of mine.”
He looked at her for a long moment, saying nothing. Then he raised his hand to touch her cheek.
She intended to pull away and tell him again not to touch her… but as their eyes met, she found that she couldn’t.
“Chandra…”
He didn’t say more. What was there to left to say, after all?
She remembered wanting to kill him back on Kephalai when she was imprisoned in the Prelate’s dungeon. She longed to feel that kind of rage toward him again. Chandra missed the clarity of that hot, simple hatred. She missed the familiarity and sharp-edged certainty of those old feelings so much, she almost wanted to weep for their loss.
And now, instead of killing Gideon, or fighting him, or telling him not to touch her… she listened in sorrowful silence to her erratic breathing and felt her aching heart beat too fast while they stood close together, their gazes locked, his fingers brushing her cheek so lightly that his touch almost tickled.
Then Gideon let out his breath and turned away. In the doorway of the hut, with his back to her and his hand resting on the coiled sural that hung from his belt, he said quietly over his shoulder, “You saved my life on Diraden.”
Feeling a weight on her chest, she admitted, “I may only be alive now because you were there with me.”
“Goodbye, Chandra.” He left.
With a cloak covering her red hair and with Samir as her guide, Chandra escaped the green wood that night by the silvery light of the waxing moon.
The branches of trees and bushes clawed at her as she walked, she could scarcely see where she was going, and she knew that all manner of mundane and mystical creatures roamed the forest after dark; Chandra nonetheless found the Great Western Wood by night so much more pleasant and healthy a place than Diraden had been. There was life here, in all its robust and changing variety. And even in the current situation, at least not everything in the forest wanted to kill her, eat her, torment her, or betray her. So after recently surviving Diraden, sneaking out of the forest on Regatha by night just didn’t provoke that much anxiety in her breast.
Samir, on the other hand, was extremely anxious. While Chandra was in his lands, he felt responsible for her safety. And once they reached the edge of the dense woodlands and arrived at the rocky path that led up to Keral Keep, Samir’s anxiety didn’t ease.
“You must push hard to reach safety before sunrise,” he advised her. “The forces of the Order are patrolling the lower slopes of Mount Keralia now, too. If they see you, they may attack.”
“Then they’ll be sorry,” she said grimly.
“With the Order tightening its noose around the monastery,” Samir said, “trade and communications are both becoming difficult for the Keralians.” He handed her a small scroll. “Please give this message to Mother Luti. I will not endanger my people by openly violating the decision of the inter-tribal council, but I am Luti’s friend-and yours-and so I will do what I can to help you, if my help is needed.”
“Thank you, Samir.” She clasped his hand warmly after taking the scroll from him.
“What would be best for everyone,” he said, “is for all the factions of Regatha to re-establish balance and once again live in tolerance of one another.”
Actually, Chandra thought that Walbert’s death in a raging bonfire would be best for everyone, but she said only, “Yes, you’re right.”
“Now go quickly,” he said. “You need to be inside the monastery’s walls before dawn.”
Despite recent hardships, Chandra was energized by rest, a decent meal, and the return to a plane that wasn’t warped and twisted by Velrav’s dark curse, so she was able to travel quickly as she ascended Mount Keralia.
Unfortunately, though, her speed wasn’t enough to save her from discovery. The moon’s position in the sky had scarcely changed since her parting from Samir when a sharp male voice in the dark said, “Halt! Who goes there?”
Chandra froze in her tracks, wondering whether the stranger could see her.
Another voice said, “Identify yourself!”
She remained silent and motionless in the dark, waiting to see what would happen.
A moment later, her course of action became clear. A small white orb appeared in the shadowy darkness of her rocky surroundings. It grew quickly in size. As it floated up into the air and began circling the immediate area, she saw it briefly illuminate the figures of two men. If she moved again on the rocky path, they would hear her. And in another moment, that floating orb, which was coming her way, would shed light on her, and they’d see her.
Filled with the rich red mana that permeated the mountains of Regatha, Chandra called forth fire and sent a bolt of flame flying straight at the orb, to destroy it. It exploded in a pleasing shower of mingled white and golden light, then scattered itself on the mountain breeze. The two men were shouting.
“Did you see who that is? Is it her?”
“I’m not sure!”
Another glowing orb appeared. This one came straight toward Chandra, followed by the two armed mages as they quickly advanced on her with swords drawn, ready for combat.
She moved, scrambling off the path and through a gap in some boulders nearby, praying she wasn’t about to disturb a sleeping snake or bad-tempered fox. The fabric of Samir’s cloak caught on something, and pebbles rumbled noisily as Chandra yanked it free.
“What’s that? There!” cried one of the soldiers. “Just off the path. Do you see?”
Her hood fell off as Chandra whirled around. She was bathed in the white light of the floating orb as she called flames into her hands again. She felt her hair catch fire.
“It is her! Seize her!”
One of the men fell back, screaming in agony as a huge fireball hit him in the chest and ignited his clothing. He staggered backward and fell from the path, down the steep slopes in the dark, his body consumed by flames. The screaming ceased when Chandra heard his body bouncing off rocks far below this steep path.
“Wait! No! Don’t!” the other soldier shouted at Chandra. “I’m not going to kill you!”
“Damn right you’re not going to kill me,” she said, forming another fireball.
“Our orders are to take you into custody!”
Chandra heard the fear in his voice at the same moment she realized he was backing away from her. That was when she noticed, in the light cast by the glowing orb, how young this soldier was. He looked barely eighteen. And scared.
She realized she didn’t want to kill a frightened boy.
Holding the fireball poised for deadly action, she said, “If you don’t want the same fate as your companion, then go. Go now. And don’t come back.”
He licked his lips, looking uncertain. “I have orders,” he said breathlessly. “You have to come with me.”
“Do you really want to die tonight?”