Dnara tried to imagine it but couldn’t, having never seen Elvan skyfire. The loss of three houses and the families within was bad enough to think about. “That’s awful.”
“Aye, it is. I didn’t see the explosion myself, but I was part of the squad sent to clean it up. Nothing left of them houses but splinters, deep gouges in the earth, and starstones.”
“Starstones?” Dnara blinked. “From where? The upturned earth?”
“You don’t know?” Ren questioned in disbelief then shook her head. “Brodan’s balls, girl, you been hidden away in some cave your whole life?”
Dnara lowered her eyes to the untouched corncake in her lap. “A tower, actually.”
“Oh.” Ren cleared her throat. “Sorry. The commander says I need to work on my manners. I told him, if I were a proper lady with manners, I’d have joined a sewing circle instead of the King’s Army.”
Dnara glanced to Ren’s gauntleted fingers and laughed at the idea of her holding a sewing needle with them. “It’s all right. I’m not fond of sewing, either.”
“Right?” Ren let out a laugh of her own as the awkwardness evaporated between them. “Why hold some tiny little needle when you can hold a whole sword!”
Dnara laughed harder at that. “You and Jenny would get along well.”
“Who’s Jenny?” Ren asked.
“A friend,” Dnara replied, her fingers now picking at the corner of the corncake. Thinking of Jenny led to thinking of Athan, and with it arose the feelings she’d held back on her ride through the Thorngrove. She’d left him there, alone at the tower and in pain, because Keeper Ishkar had told her to. What if Ishkar had been wrong? Had Athan awoken and called out for her, only to realize he’d been abandoned? And for what?
‘You must go to the Red City,’ Ishkar had written. ‘To uncover the truth hidden within a kingdom of lies.’
“You miss her,” Ren said as a statement and not a question. “She can’t come with you? Having someone speak on your behalf could help.”
Dnara pushed away her lingering thoughts of Athan and forced a small smile. “No, this time she can’t follow where I’m headed.”
“Oh.” Ren said nothing further and cast her brown-eyed gaze out to the barren fields they passed.
Dnara nibbled on the corncake in silence, finding it a bitter, dry substitute for the wonderful cornbread Penna had made. She still worried for them, too, Penna and Tobin. She’d hoped the King’s Guard would go by Lee’s Mill on their way to Carn, but when they reached the fork Athan had taken to Rose Bridge, they continued southward, following the sign pointing to Bee Valley instead. Disappointed, she chewed on the hard cake then drank deeply from the waterskin to wash it down.
The wagon creaked as the wheels jostled over bumps and stuttered into groves. A side glance told her the two soldiers riding behind continued to watch her every move, as if she might suddenly shoot lightning at them. Or, perhaps they were afraid she’d spontaneously explode and take the whole squad with her.
“Ren,” she finally spoke once she’d had enough of the silence. “Where do the starstones come from?”
Ren met her gaze and held it for a second, then the soldier let out a quiet breath before answering. “They come from your kind, mageborne. When a mageborne dies, their body turns to ash, and all that’s left are starstones.”
33
The King’s Guard followed the southern road as it wound its way through the Howling Hills and into Bee Valley. Along the road, some people stopped to watch the armored procession pass while others rushed into their farmhouses and shut the door, fearful the squad would stop in front of their fields. The fields themselves, which should have been full of early spring tulips, hyacinths and daffodils to feed the coveted bee population, were as barren and empty as the beehives themselves, many of which had been left turned over and broken. Depressed by the disheartening view, Dnara decided it would be best to try and sleep than to continue sight-seeing in a world she wished she could have traveled to before the blight had taken its hold.
Ren helped lay a few blankets across the long tents taking up one side of the wagon’s floor. It made for a bumpy bed, but exhaustion coupled with the wagon’s movement eventually pulled Dnara into a deep sleep. She awoke sometime later in a confused stupor to a gentle nudge on her shoulder and startled at the blurred visage of an armored helmet looming over her.
“Sorry, Miss,” Ren said, pulling away and sitting on the sideboard to give Dnara some space. “Didn’t mean to startle you, but we’re coming up to Haden’s Crossing and the commander asked I should wake you. Seems we’ll be stopping outside the town for the night. There’s a creek nearby where we can get you washed up, and since it’s just us two girls, I’ll be your escort. Uhm, with a few men standing within earshot. Sorry.”
Dnara rubbed the sleep from her eyes and raised up her aching body to the opposite sideboard. “I understand. Honestly, I’m surprised to be allowed even that much privacy.”
“It’s a test,” Ren informed. “Please, don’t take the commander’s kindness for granted. He’s a good man, but an even better soldier.”
She spoke with clear respect for Commander Aldric, and Dnara could see the serious warning behind Ren’s words. “I won’t,” Dnara said, mirroring Ren’s seriousness. “He could’ve put me in chains and a collar, but instead I’ve been given a place to sleep, food to eat and good company on the journey. Your commander has my respect.”
Ren nodded once
