I immediately scowled, making Liara falter. I couldn’t believe I’d been so naive as to miss the reason for her apparent change of heart.
Clearly it had not been her own choice, but the result of an instruction from her tribe. Between when she confronted me on the first day and when we next met, she must have been informed I was a person of interest to be courted.
I had thought Annora was being remarkably forbearing in giving me space, but in fact she had merely been sending a delegate she imagined to be more appealing than herself.
“Excuse me,” I said roughly. “I’ve just remembered…” I let my words trail into a mumble, not bothering to come up with a good excuse for my hasty departure. If Liara was only interested in talking to me because she’d been instructed to do so by her mother, I felt no compunction to continue the conversation.
My foul mood lasted the rest of the day as we finally reached the Celadon River. A sizable town sat on the eastern bank of the river mouth, a trading hub with the nomads whose lands began on the other side of the Celadon. Our party skirted around the town, setting up camp on the riverbank just north of its main gate.
Our journey would continue on horseback, although we would follow the river road now, instead of the coastal one. I knew from Evermund that a great deal of thought had gone into whether the Guild could come up with a way to propel the barges back upstream. If the mages accomplished it—instead of the usual team of donkeys—it would be a mighty show of strength in front of the nomads.
Several ideas were put forward, but in the end, the idea was abandoned. With the protection curse on Calista going rogue and jumping across the border, as well as increasingly daring attacks from the raiders, it didn’t seem like a good idea to exhaust a significant number of mages in an unnecessary exercise.
And neither did it seem ideal to sail the barges all the way up to Lake Aterra where they could cross over from the Viridian to the Celadon. In the past, plenty of barge captains had done so, despite the need to cross briefly into Calistan territory. But now, with the protections growing weak, I doubted anyone would attempt it. Our barges remained on the Viridian, and we would remain on our horses.
Evermund had informed me the previous day that we would follow the river road as far north as Karielle’s father’s estate before heading back to Tarona. His estate sat only slightly further north than the capital, but at least it was in the right direction. And he had informed me that if we made it that far without another attack, he intended to ask King Marius to allow us to break away from the tour and continue north to search for Airlie.
The news gave me fresh hope, driving off some of my dark cloud, as I headed to the evening meal with Gia and Karielle. Before we reached the long tables, however, Zeke caught my attention from off to the side. Given the subtlety of his gesture, I excused myself to the other girls and slipped over unobtrusively.
“What is it?” I whispered, looking around in all directions.
“Probably nothing.”
I gave him an unconvinced look. “This is a lot of subterfuge for nothing.”
“It might be foolish, but I have a bad feeling. Like an itch at the base of my neck that won’t go away.” He stretched his head, rotating it around as if the itch he described was a physical sensation he could expunge. “I don’t know how else to describe it except that something around me isn’t right.”
I had taken to leaving my ability shaped into a protective shell, so I tried to remember how long it had been since I last cracked the shell to check for tainted power. When I realized it hadn’t been since the day before, I silently scolded myself, immediately sampling the air around me. But there was nothing.
“If there’s something wrong out there, I can’t feel it,” I said.
“Which probably means there isn’t anything wrong.” He frowned. “Maybe I’m just getting edgy after so long without any signs of trouble.”
“I remember when that was a good thing.”
“It is,” he said. “As long as it’s real.” He hesitated. “What about the town? There could be raiders lurking there. It’s big enough that not all the residents would know each other. They might not have noticed suspicious newcomers.”
I glanced back toward the distant lanterns at the town gates.
“There are a lot of people in there. From this distance they’re all a big blur.” When the concern didn’t drop from his face, I suppressed a sigh. “Would you like to take a walk? If we got closer, I could tell you if there’s anyone there of unusual strength.”
His expression lifted, immediately rewarding me for the sacrifice of missing the meal. Hopefully Gia would save me something, or I could beg from the kitchen staff who had accompanied the tour. Some of them might remember me as the princess’s friend.
We turned together and strolled out of the campsite, side by side. No one stopped us, and from the amused looks of the servants we passed, they thought it was romance that motivated our escape.
I couldn’t deny that walking through the pleasant evening air beside Zeke was an enjoyable activity. Nor could I deny the strong desire to slip my hand into his. But one overpowering doubt held me back.
Tribe Nicabar.
It wasn’t the false promise of Liara’s friendship that had fueled my bad mood all day. It was the uncomfortable thought that maybe Zeke had received the same instruction from his mother. I had thought his interest seemed to be increasing lately, but what if that was only because his mother had arrived? Had she told him to make sure I accepted her upcoming invitation to visit their tribe?
I watched him out of the corner of my eye, feeling slightly sick at the disloyal thought. Was I wronging him?
If I took his hand right now, how would he respond? And would his response be entirely fueled by his own emotions?
As if sensing my gaze, he turned his head to look at me, a rueful smile on his face.
“I’m wasting our time, aren’t I? The feeling is already fading. And our meal is growing cold.”
I smiled back at him, unable to resist the apology in his expression. “I don’t mind. We should be close enough soon.”
His gaze dropped down to my hand, and for a breath I thought he meant to take it. But his eyes moved on, leaving me to wonder yet again what was going through his head.
“Here,” I said, stopping abruptly. “This will do. Just give me a minute.”
It was still light, thanks to the long summer days, although twilight was approaching, and the sky had slowly begun to darken. But sight wasn’t the sense I needed right now, and my ability worked just as well in the dark as in the light.
I reached toward the town, skimming over the power I sensed inside it. Several mages lived here, but they were spread out in what seemed like a natural pattern. Three healing mages clustered together with a group of ordinary people who had the healing affinity—presumably in some sort of healing center. And I found several plants mages, one of whom was out in the fields to the east of the town.
I pulled back. “I don’t think there’s anything out of the ordinary. The General certainly isn’t there. I didn’t sense any elements mages at all.”
Zeke let out a long breath, turning back toward the camp. “Good.” He gave me a grin and a shallow bow. “Please accept my humble apologies and excuse my overanxious nature.”