Gia and Cadence clambered in as we raced to join them, the two boys holding it steady. When we reached the edge of the water, Evermund scooped me up as if I weighed nothing, depositing me on one of the seats. I didn’t protest, although I could have climbed in myself.
He gestured the three younger men in after me, holding the boat steady until they’d found their footing. Several shouts reverberated toward us as the raiders neared.
Evermund pushed the boat away from the dock, running forward across the top of the water for several strides before stepping over the edge of the boat. When he caught me watching him wide-eyed, he grinned.
“Remind me to teach you that trick one day.”
I grinned back, reaching without effort for a wind to push us toward the too-distant river mouth. Another wind sprang up, working against mine, and I looked toward the shore where the General had nearly reached the lake.
But Evermund sat down beside me, and the force of wind at our back strengthened and grew, sweeping away the General’s breeze. I smiled up at Evermund.
“We make a good team.”
“That we do,” he agreed.
The current caught us, the boat lurching and then gathering speed.
Zeke shouted a warning, using an oar to push us off a rock that jutted out into the flow of water. I turned my attention from the wind, sinking my awareness into the water beneath us and shaping it around the boat.
We rushed forward toward the center of the river, our progress now smooth.
“I’m glad we’re going downriver this time,” Zeke said, casting a hooded glance at Cadence.
She slipped her hand into his, and he looked down at her with a warmth that sent both my eyebrows flying toward my hairline. What was he doing looking at my baby sister like that? I’d warned him…
My thoughts petered out as she rested her head against his shoulder, and he put a gentle, protective arm around her. Her soft sigh spoke of heavy burdens shared, and I remembered the new depth I had seen in her eyes earlier.
I had been gone too long. Cadence wasn’t my baby sister anymore. And apparently she wasn’t only mine anymore, either. While I had been a captive, she had grown up.
I squashed down a foolish flare of resentment. I was happy for her. And if Zeke was actually serious about her, she’d made a good choice. His tribe would soon have the authority to keep her safe from the many people who would want to use her ability.
So why didn’t I feel better about the prospect of relinquishing my heaviest burden to someone more qualified to bear it?
Cadence looked up and met my eyes, a delighted smile spreading instantly across her face.
“I can’t believe we did it,” she exclaimed. “And you’re safe.” Her brow lowered. “You are all right, aren’t you?”
I nodded. “Now that you got rid of that awful thing binding me. Thank you for that, by the way.”
Her hand tightened around the pack at her feet, drawing my eye. When I looked back at her, she had a familiar defiant light in her eyes.
Had she rescued the neutralizer I had thrown away and stashed it in her pack? I had to fight down an instinctive rush of revulsion, slowly replacing it with admiration at her quick thinking. From Quirin’s experiments, I knew they were reusable, and it was a powerful tool to have in her possession—especially given no one else in Tartora could utilize it.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I said softly, and tears sprang to her eyes.
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“I want to hear everything that happened while I was gone,” I said. “Starting with how you found out you had a power seed and got activated. I was in shock for days when I was told there’s a fourth affinity.”
“Then it’s a good thing we have a long trip ahead of us,” Zeke said cheerfully. “Because it’s a long story.”
“And one I’m equally curious to hear.” Gia popped up beside Cadence. “I may have been there, but clearly I didn’t really know what was going on.”
She sounded mildly put out, and I looked between them with interest. Cadence hadn’t told Gia about her ability?
Zeke looked over his shoulder at Nikolas. “What about you? Are you burning to hear about Cadence’s journey of discovery?”
Nikolas just rolled his eyes.
“I hope at the very least that little tussle back there taught you a greater appreciation for our affinity,” Zeke added, a slight barb in his voice. “As you saw, it’s not only elements mages who can be useful in a fight.”
I looked between them, trying to understand the undercurrent beneath his words. Clearly I’d missed more than just Cadence’s transformation—starting with the twins’ obvious activation by someone other than me.
It felt longer than a few months since I’d been part of this world. They had grown closer together, while I had become an outsider. I never thought I could feel that way about Cadence.
And I’d never dreamed I’d feel so much a part of the world I’d been forced into. I looked back toward the lake, straining to catch a distant glimpse of wooden walls. What would happen to Quirin, and Marissa, and the others now the Tartorans knew the location of their settlement?
I would gladly lead the fight against the General myself, but would the Tartorans listen if I told them not all the Calistans were equally guilty? I met Renley’s gaze where he huddled silently in the back of the boat, out of place and conscious of it.
I would simply have to try.
“This is Renley, everyone,” I said. “He’s an old friend of the family, and he helped me escape.”
Everyone murmured greetings, his eyes growing wider as they each introduced themselves and he discovered the illustrious company my sister kept these days. I thrust down another misplaced stab of resentment and turned to her, letting my eyes rest on her familiar face.
“Now about that story. I really do want to hear everything.”
Chapter 27
Cadence
We slipped quietly into Tarona several days later, but our entry into the Guild wasn’t nearly as surreptitious. An outcry arose as soon as we were glimpsed, and mages swarmed on us from every direction.
Drake rescued us from being mobbed, carrying us off to the palace with the rest of the Triumvirate. The king’s interview of Airlie lasted a full hour, but she still didn’t tell him everything she’d told me on the journey back to Tarona. I approved of her decision, given how many of her discoveries related to our personal history, but I couldn’t help wondering if she’d applied the same selective filter to the facts she told me.
I shook off the cynical thought. That was part of the past. Airlie and I had a new start, and I would have to work not to hold such things against her.
At least the king appeared satisfied with her account as it stood. He dismissed us, along with Zeke and Renley, who had been given permission to stay on at the Guild, at least temporarily, given his service to Airlie.
Thankfully when it was established he had a weak seed, no further questions had been asked, so we had avoided awkward questions about his affinity. On the journey home we had decided as a group to keep the information about the continued survival of the power affinity to ourselves for now, a decision that had pleased but surprised me. I wouldn’t have thought Evermund would be willing to conceal important facts from the king and Guild.