It wasn’t Heros at all.
I’d just made out with the commander.
I hurried to bed, swearing to never think of it again and figuring Korzyn would do the same.
Instead, he made a deal with Arix.
I chew my lip. Could Arix know it was me?
I was hungover the next morning. Was that knowing look Arix gave me at breakfast because he knew I’d swiped a bottle of his best noptri or because he knew I’d kissed his commander?
I reasoned I had no need to tell Korzyn. I figured he’d move on—likely that same night. I never imagined he would care.
I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. He can never know.
Korzyn has fallen silent, and I clear my throat awkwardly. I have no idea what he just said.
“So you kissed a mystery woman and now you want to know who it is?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you care so much?”
He shrugs. “I’ve answered your question. Now you will answer mine.”
“Fine.”
“Where are you hiding the control chip?”
Korzyn
Sarissa goes still in front of me. “Sneaky commander,” she says, her voice cold.
“We have an agreement.”
“I’ll tell you if you swear you will never take it from me.”
“You agreed to tell me anyway,” I say, and her body becomes even tenser, making the mishua throw her head in annoyance.
I sigh. “I swear I will not take it from you.”
“It’s inside my earring.”
I raise an eyebrow at that, leaning forward to examine the small blue stone in her right ear.
“How?”
“These earrings aren’t exactly high-quality, but I was wearing them when I was taken, so I’ve kept them in my ears. The blue jewel part is fake—it’s too big to be real, especially on my budget. So I pried it out and filed it down until the control chip could fit between the jewel and the prongs.”
I have to admit, the female is exceptionally intelligent. I never would have thought to check the small stones in her ears.
“That is a good hiding place.”
“Thanks.” The word is slightly sarcastic, and I’m sure she is annoyed I used my question to discover her hiding place.
Her annoyance pleases me, and I sit back in the saddle, content.
We ride in silence, making our way toward Rakiz’s camp. At one point, we slide off the mishua to stretch our legs, and I reach into one of my saddlebags for rations, my stomach grumbling.
“Food?”
Sarissa shakes her head, and I frown.
“Are you still upset because I know where your precious chip is?”
“No.”
I take a bite of dried meat, following it with a swig of water as I study her face. She’s staring into the distance, her expression dark.
I shrug. “Let’s go.”
Sarissa turns toward the mishua and then freezes, her eyes wild. I open my mouth, but then I hear them.
Voices.
Sarissa is scanning the area, and I can practically see her creating and discarding plans. She glances at the mishua and then gives me a withering look, and I know she’s still convinced we shouldn’t have used the beast.
I give her a look of my own, positioning the mishua behind a group of trees, hidden from the voices to the left of us.
“Silence,” I quietly warn the mishua, who ignores me.
Sarissa is crouching behind a bush, and I crouch behind her, my hand on my sword. The voices are coming closer, and Sarissa slides one of her daggers out of the sheath hidden in her boot.
The voices belong to Dokhalls, who come close enough that I can see their purple skin through the bush. Sarissa is practically vibrating with tension in front of me, and I place my hand on her shoulder. She jumps, giving me a dirty look, but she lets out a long breath, some of the stiffness leaving her body.
The Dokhalls pass, and Sarissa slowly gets to her feet. Within moments, she’s stalking after them. While I mocked her for making too much noise in the castle, I have to admit she’s almost silent as she prowls after the Dokhalls.
I follow, careful not to disturb the forest around me.
While we’ve been traveling by mishua, we’ve mostly avoided the main paths throughout the forest. This was lucky because the Dokhalls have set up their own rustic camp here, building structures out of tree branches hidden just off the path.
“They’re trying to cut off Arix,” Sarissa breathes, peering around the trunk of the tree she’s hiding behind. “Anyone who comes through this path won’t be expecting an attack.”
I nod, grinding my teeth. We will have to be even more careful, likely taking days longer to get to Rakiz’s camp. But the sooner I get to the camp, the sooner I can find the dragon and convince him to get a message to Arix, warning him not to send anyone after us.
“Let’s go,” Sarissa murmurs, and we make our way back to the mishua. We will have to find an alternate path, and quickly.
I blink, suddenly dizzy. Sarissa scowls at me as I stumble, and we both freeze as a branch cracks beneath my foot.
We barely breathe, but I have to bend over, my hands on my knees as bile rises and I fight to stay on my feet.
“What are you doing?” Sarissa hisses.
“Dizzy,” I mumble.
She takes my elbow. “What the hell, Korzyn?”
I focus on making it back to the mishua as the world swims sickly around me. What could have happened?
“Bush. Poisonous?”
Sarissa shakes her head. “No. I was closer to it and I’m fine.”
“Poison,” I insist, and both Sarissas in front of me frown in disbelief. Realization crosses both their faces just as a third Sarissa joins them.
“The food,” they say, dancing in front of my eyes. “I haven’t eaten anything, but you have. Someone poisoned our food.”
I push away the betrayal that instinctively rises. I have been protecting Arix from such attacks for so long that it never occurred to
