“Tell me more about your people?” I asked, trying not to whimper in gratefulness when he pulled out a water skin and carefully poured some in my mouth.
“I am afraid I do not know much,” Squire admitted. “We do not talk of our origin. If you ask most of my people, it has been this way for many generations.” He shrugged. “It is our responsibility to guide the lesser cultures so they can achieve our greatness.”
The respect I’d been developing for him took a quick turn to the left and I winced visibly, even though I drank the water he was offering. For all Squire was seeming to be a good guy, that was the type of BS I didn’t want to deal with. I opened my mouth to educate him but he quickly stopped me by raising a hand, his whole body alert. He was listening to something I couldn’t hear, alarm clear on his face.
Then he rose to his feet in a fluid motion, leaving the food and water skin. “I am coming,” he called, turning away from me and walking back towards the fire without a glance back.
Clearly he’d been called for duty. I frowned at his back, watching as he got close enough that one of the bigger Caterri (looked like B from my distance, but I couldn’t tell) could smack him over the head in what was clearly an insult.
Assholes.
I watched them for a while longer, trying to learn everything I could about my enemies. I didn’t think Squire was one, not really, but he was part of their troop. There was no guarantee he wouldn’t take whatever I told him straight to his leader for a promotion or commendation or whatever his people did. I couldn’t trust him. I couldn’t trust anyone.
Letting out a deep sigh, I crawled into the bedroll as best I could. It was awkward, having my hands out, and when I relaxed into the bonds, they cut into my wrists, but it was as good as I was going to get and I’d take advantage of it. Then I looked up at the sky, at the stars flickering ahead.
Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight. Please let N’Ashtar find me and take me home. I closed my eyes, an unfamiliar ache in my heart. I’d done what I could. All I could do was wait for tomorrow.
5
N’Ashtar
I crouched in the thick patches of grass, staring intently at the Caterri as they seemed to settle into whatever is their night’s routine. It was difficult to assess the camp, being that far away, but getting any closer, I risked being caught. There were more of them than I expected, too. From what the dying Caterri had said, from what I had seen, I expected six at the most, but there seemed to be twice that.
There also seemed to not be many swords. Most of the Caterri were not armed, although maybe that was because they didn’t want to wear weapons the prisoner could reach. I tried not to feel smug at the thought. If anyone could steal a weapon and escape, it would be Dana. However, I hadn’t been able to see her. Unease gripped my heart tightly. Was I following the wrong group? Had they somehow smuggled her off somewhere?
I watched one Caterri talk to another, handing him one of their long-distance weapons before the more obedient Caterri went to perch near the fire, apparently on watch. A sort of pointless watch, given he was in the middle of camp. These obviously were not top-notch soldier Caterri, not like the group that had come after us. Was that on purpose? I felt a wave of frustration. I did not enjoy having more questions than answers, and right now, I had a lot of questions.
Sneaking closer to another patch of grass, I stared at the strange plastic tents. They seemed stiff and inflexible, not like the reasonable ones we used made of leather and bone. The fire seemed normal enough, except it burned higher than any sane N’Akron would, and I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that. Was it something weird like the plastic tents, or were they just inept?
A familiar shout made my heart skip. I’d had it directed at me more than enough over the past menlin. I watched Dana being dragged kicking and shouting to the outskirts before quickly being handcuffed to the metal cart that floated in midair. I didn’t like that strange thing, nor did I like that Dana was quite so close to it. Such things were not used by my people, and none of us trusted the strange weapons and other things from the Caterri.
I itched to move closer, to grab her and run. I did not know what these handcuffs were, but surely they could not be that hard to remove. They had chained her quite far away from the fire, and while I could not see her shivers, I knew how fragile humans were. Rage flooded through me, and I blazed red with the desire to end all of the Caterri there and now. Except I couldn’t. There were many of them and only one of me, and my focus needed to be getting Dana out of there safe and sound, not on proving my prowess as a warrior.
To my surprise, one of the Caterri appeared again next to the cart, talking to my Dana and setting out a bedroll for her. My eyes narrowed
