Maren gave him a grim smile. “Of course. They knew nothing.”
Ari felt a twinge in his heart for Rye. Valek’s interview methods were brutal and reliable. Interesting the boy would enlist after suffering through an interview session.
A loud bang jolted Ari from his thoughts. Janco stood in the doorway. By the wrinkled uniform, wild hair and hang-dog look on his partner’s face, Ari knew the news would be bad.
“I’ve lost him,” Janco said.
“Figures,” Maren said.
“Wasn’t my fault. I had my eyes on him the whole time!”
“While your brain slept? Oh, I forgot – you don’t have a brain.”
Before they could launch into an argument, Ari asked Janco what had happened. His partner rambled on about some kind of substance or lack of substance. Either way the end result was the same. “Did you find any tracks?”
“The dirt around the barracks is too hard packed, and none of the gate’s guards reported seeing anyone.” Janco pulled at his goatee. “The outer walls are too sheer to climb. No one has seen him, and he didn’t report for duty.”
“Could he still be in the castle complex?” Maren asked.
“Unlikely,” Ari said. “If he could slip past you unseen, he could exit the complex without being noticed. Although we should make sure before we go.”
“Go where?” Janco asked.
Ari waited. His partner tended to speak before thinking and if Ari gave him a minute he would figure it out for himself. Unfortunately, not every one knew him as well, and Janco’s quick responses often led to trouble.
“Tracking mission.” Janco rubbed the scar below his right ear. “Which direction do you think Rye headed?”
“East toward home.”
“The greenie seemed smart. Do you really think he’d run home?” Maren asked.
“Do you have any better ideas?” Ari asked.
No response from either of them. Maren volunteered to conduct a castle-wide search for Rye while Ari and Janco headed to their rooms to prep for the mission. Their suite was down the hall from Valek’s. Janco’s gaze lingered on his bed, and he ran a hand over the pillow.
“I didn’t sleep either. We’ll have to catch a few on the road,” Ari said as he packed his rucksack.
Janco sighed and shoved supplies into his pack. “Should we bring the orange, yellow and red camo? The leaves are starting to change.”
“No. They’re still on the trees. Bring the green and browns – we’ll be staying on the ground.” He zipped up his bag, and tried to calculate how far Rye might have traveled. “When did you notice he was gone?”
Janco squinted. “He was gone at dawn. Hey! That rhymes. I could use it when I fight.” He practiced a variety of rhyming combinations.
Ari ignored him as he calculated how far Rye could travel in three hours. Far enough, and if he chose the wrong direction, catching up to the greenie would be almost impossible.
When they had finished packing, they returned to Valek’s office to wait for Maren’s report. Ari endured Janco’s fidgeting for an hour before she showed.
“Nothing. The castle’s clean,” she reported.
“Did you check—”
“Yes, Janco. I checked all your hiding places.”
“Even the—”
“Storage rooms.”
“And the—”
“Servants’ quarters. And the little nook you found near the dungeon.”
Ari suppressed a chuckle at Janco’s chagrined expression. “Good work, Maren. You’re in charge until we get back.”
“Swell. What should I tell Valek when he returns?”
“If we don’t come back, send him east.”
Janco shot him a concerned look. “Do you think we’ll need him?”
“If there’s magic involved, he’d be our best defense.”
“That’s not fair,” Janco said.
Ari knew better than to ask what wasn’t fair, but Maren didn’t.
“Valek gets everything. Immunity to magic, Yelena, super assassin skills—”
“We’re wasting time.” Ari shouldered his pack. “Let’s go.”
They traveled east through the Snake Forest, stopping only to check for signs of Rye. Someone had passed through here a while ago, but it was difficult to determine who. When the sun set, they made camp near Lake Keyra. Janco wilted under the weight of his pack and deep lines of exhaustion etched his face.
“I’ll take first watch.” Ari offered after they ate dinner.
Janco flashed him a grateful smile and collapsed onto his bed roll. Ari moved away from the small camp fire to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He circled their campsite, halting every ten steps to listen for odd noises. Ari doubted they would encounter trouble so early in their search.
When the moon rose, he returned to the dying campfire. Embers pulsed with a weak glow and Ari bent to add wood, stirring the fire to life. A small flame erupted.
Then the world paused. All the nighttime noises ceased. Movement froze. But it seemed only Ari was affected. The single flame had tripled in size by the time Ari reconnected with the world around him.
A shuffling step sounded behind him. He spun, reaching for his sword. It wasn’t in his scabbard. Men dressed in colorful robes surrounded Ari. They aimed their scimitars at him.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Ow! Go away!” Still half asleep, Janco swatted at the annoyance. It persisted, pricking him with sharp little jabs. The scar below his right ear tweaked in warning. “What the?” He jerked awake. A tall man wearing an obnoxious dress hovered over him. Although the garment was gaudy, Janco’s gaze had focused on the scimitar inches from his nose.
He rolled away, reaching for his sword, but his scabbard was empty. And now he had two men threatening him with their long blades. Liquid moonlight shone from the sharp metal.
Janco’s insides cramped for a moment. A painful contraction—his body’s reaction to his brain’s acknowledgement that he was seriously screwed. Then it eased. Calm and acceptance flowed. If this was the end, he’d make the most of it.
Glancing around, Janco spotted his partner kneeling in the middle of their camp with his oversized hands laced behind his curly head. Four other men flanked Ari.
“Get up.” The man closest to Janco ordered. The blue and gold stripes on his garment shimmered. “Hands behind your head.” Stripey poked Janco in the back. “Now join your friend.”
Janco shot Ari a poisonous glare as he knelt next to him. “What ja do, Ari? Fall asleep?”
“Ambushed,” Ari said in a flat voice.
Janco recognized the tone. If he gets the chance, Ari would make these men pay for ambushing them.
“We can take them. Three each. I’ll take the left,” Janco said. The men closed around them.
“They’re armed and we’re not,” his partner countered.
“Hasn’t stopped us before. And besides, if they wanted to kill us, we’d be dead by now and would be having an entirely different conversation. I wonder if I’d still be mad at you, or if we would talk in words or pictures. Maybe in smells. That would be cool.”
Their attackers glanced at each other in confusion. Good. It would keep them guessing. Janco drew breath to continue.
Ari interrupted, “Scimitars aren’t their only weapon. They’re magicians.”
His scar ached. Janco resisted the urge to rub it. “Magic.” He spat. “That’s not playing fair.”
“No one ever said life had to be fair,” Ari said.
“My mother did. Made me share with my—”
“Enough,” Stripey ordered. “No more jabbering. You will listen to me.” He frowned at them.
If it wasn’t for their colorful robes, the men would have blended into the darkness. Bald heads drank in the moonlight and bare feet stood in the classic fighting stance. Their family resemblance was unmistakable. Janco guessed the six of them were from the same Sitian clan. And since they favored the scimitar, they were probably from the Sandseed clan. Which, if Janco had the choice, wouldn’t be who he wanted to ambush him.