My cheeks grew warm in embarrassment.
Want me to knock him over? Faraway asked.
No, it’s fine. He’s right. I probably did look terrible the last time I came. I had just escaped out of the prison then. Besides, he’s just a boy.
With no manners. He snuffed and threw his head back, startling the young stable boy who promptly fell on his rump.
Stop! Don’t do anything. I’ll be fine. I heard Faraway nicker in laughter as I headed to the inn’s entrance. My goal was to get in, get a meal and a room, and do it without a fuss. I didn’t really want it advertised that I was traveling alone.
As soon as I entered the inn, moppy brown-haired Bran was there to greet me once again.
“Hello, welcome to the Ginger Dragon, are you here for the fare, or a fair sleep? We serve both.” He flashed me a toothy grin, and I couldn’t help but smile back at his odd sense of humor.
My eyes wandered the room, and I immediately saw the beautiful Vienna serving a meal to a full table of people sitting at a corner table. Her hands flew as she talked, and I could hear her giggle all the way to the front of the room.
“Both please,” I answered Bran softly. Trying not to draw attention to myself. “Food first, then a room.”
Bran went over to a register book and opened it up. He pulled out a quill and began to write in the day’s date. I was about to hand over my money when I heard my name from across the room. There was no mistaking the warm tone of Joss’s voice.
My head snapped up faster than lightening as I zeroed in on him. He was sitting in the back of the room at the table, talking to Vienna. The inn door opened with the jingle of a bell, and the floor rumbled as someone large dropped a very heavy item to the floor.
Bran’s mouth opening in a silent oh was the only warning I had before I was scooped up from behind and wrapped in a very furry leather-bound bear hug from Hemi.
“Ahh, I’ve found you Li’l Wolf. Now I can keep my head and my home!” Hemi’s deep voice boomed throughout the inn.
“He-He-Hemi, put me down!” I squealed out in delight, my feet dangling in the air.
“Not until I see that you are all right. That you have all yer fingers and toes,” he challenged back.
I was allowed back to the ground, and Hemi placed his large hands on my shoulders, studying me, head to toe. His serious eyes missed nothing—the scrapes, bruises, and cracked lip that had mostly healed from my fight with Gwen in the pits. His hands reached for my face, but I gently knocked them away.
“Hemi, I’m fine. What are you doing here? Where’s Mona? Where are the others?” No sooner had I won my freedom from Hemi, I was wrapped up in the warm embrace of Joss’s arms.
“You’re safe?” he asked in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re safe.” He leaned back and looked at me but startled.
I had forgotten about my eye and the eerie change. Joss and Hemi had not seen it yet. I dropped my eyes to the ground.
“Thalia, what happened?” Joss said. His voice dripped with worry. I raised my head again and met his eyes.
“It’s been like that since I lost control of my power in the barn.”
“It’s…it’s…I don’t know…” Joss spoke, turning my head from right to left trying to see it better in the inn’s dim lighting.
“It’s different,” I shrugged and pulled away from him. I was a little disappointed by his reaction. It was so different from Kael’s. I turned and faced Hemi, so he could see me for the first time.
Hemi took one good look at me and made a sign to ward off evil spirits. I punched Hemi and he eventually smiled, though it took a while. He too, lifted my chin to stare into my eye.
“That’s my girl. Still the same…right?” Hemi asked.
“Yeah, just with a very bad temper from being jostled around.”
Just then, the inn door opened again, and the young boy from the stable walked in, giving me a sheepish look.
I put my hands on my hips and gazed sternly at him.
“So I may have forgot to mention they came back. You would have found them eventually, and now I’m three coppers richer.” I moved closer to him and he squeaked and ran up the closest set of stairs to escape my ire.
Joss looked impatient. He took my hand and pulled me over the table he had just vacated. Hemi followed closely, not willing to lose sight of me again. Vienna sniffed at Joss’s change in mood, but she went to fetch me a bowl of soup and bread.
Joss continued his story. “We made it to Haven and took Mona to the Queen’s Palace. We told them everything, and immediately we set back off to look for you. Darren and Fanny went west; others from the Citadel volunteered as well. But there’s more, Thalia. More have gone missing. This time right from the Citadel.”
“How can the Septori be so bold?” I gasped.
“They snuck in once; they will do it again.”
Hemi shook his head. “It’s not right, children being taken. Not right! Doesn’t matter which clan they are from.”
Over dinner, I told him the shortened version of the last few days, leaving out that I was blood-bonded with Kael. That information was too valuable for anyone—even those I trusted—toknow. Hemi was astonished that I’d actually seen the Sanctuary of the SwordBrothers.
“Yes, I did,” I said uncomfortably, hoping they wouldn’t press me for more information.
“Where was it?” Joss asked. He was on the edge of his seat with excitement.
“Far away,” I mumbled.
“South? East? West? How many days did you say you traveled on horseback to get there?”
“Joss, I’m sorry. Kael blindfolded me. I really don’t remember and I was so exhausted I didn’t pay attention when I left either,” I lied.
“Where is he? Where’s Kael and how could he not come with you?”
“He was injured when I left. I’m sure he will be following soon,” I reached out, trying to distract him from his questions with my hand on his. It worked. Joss reached over and placed his on top of mine and squeezed.
Hemi, who had been a silent observer, slammed his glass of mead down loudly on the table making me jump. He pulled out a very long knife that he used to pick at piece of dirt under his nail. His warning for Joss to back off was clear as day. I couldn’t help but wonder at the change in his mood. Was it because Fanny wasn’t around that Hemi was only now more observant? Or since we were no longer pretending to be a couple, he wanted distance between us?
I rolled my eyes and pulled my hand away from Joss’s. “Well, now that I am safe and sound we can head back to the Citadel tomorrow. Maybe we can call in the volunteers that went out looking for me and send them out looking for Tenya.”
Joss suddenly became quiet. “They already did, but any extra help is worth it. I feel like it’s been too long—that we’re too late. I can feel it here, in my gut.”
“Don’t give up so easily Joss. We’ll find your sister.” I tried to put as much reassurance into my voice as possible, though I was beginning to lose hope as well.
“And if we don’t, Thalia? What if we never find her? What are you going to do?”
The thought hadn’t occurred to me. When the search ended, would I go back to my own clan? Just the thought sent a shiver of unease down my spine. “I don’t know, Joss. I guess I would go home.”