The ambassador agreed to send some servants to fetch Ellie’s belongings, and as she was taking in the shades of indigo and purple in the sunset, a knock at the door startled her. She assumed the stern countenance of her people and crossed the room to the hallway to open the door. The servants had indeed arrived, and carried with them boxes and bags full of clothing, books, and other implements of her research. “Be careful with that!” she snapped at one young male who was balancing her large mortar and pestle in one hand and a stack of books in the other. He stared at her, clearly not comprehending, so she repeated herself in D’leesh. He carefully set the books down on the desk and then turned back to her, cradling the mortar and pestle in both hands.
“Would you like this in the kitchen, Lady Turlach?”
“On the desk, and then the lot of you get out of my apartment!” She felt herself frowning and the temptation to enter their minds was strong, but she resisted. They quickly put down what they had brought and scurried out the door, and Ellie once again found herself alone with her books—and his writings. She rummaged about until she found one of her favorite volumes—the last journal that Taeben wrote before he...
Before you left me, Taeben. I know it is silly of me to still try to reach you in the bond, A'chrya, but I have a feeling that one of these times, you will actually be there.
The silence was her only answer, as always. But the feeling was still there—Taeben was still there. Wanting it to be so would not make it so, she decided, and so she put the journal to one side and moved on to continue unpacking the books and putting them on the shelves. It was time—her contacts within the Ikedrian spy network had told her that the Rajah was planning to travel and that the wood elf was going with him. “You may not be able to hear me, A'chrya Taeben, but I will avenge you. I will feed those traitors to the Mother Dragon if it is the last thing I do.”
Six
The Start of the Journey
Gin was meditating as she sat cross-legged on the ground in front of the palace when Sath arrived the next morning. She had her haversack on her back and several small bags attached to a belt around her waist. Across her knees, she held her staff, a sign of her status as Nature Walker among druids outside of the Great Forest. Her auburn locks were pulled back into a neat ponytail at the nape of her neck—a departure from the elaborate braid she wore when acting as the Nature Walker—and Sath could imagine a pleasant afternoon of doing nothing but counting the freckles on her cheekbones. He cleared his head and walked up behind her on silent Qatu feet.
“Finally, I thought we were leaving at first light,” she said without opening her eyes as a grin spread across her face. Sath matched her expression with a toothy grin of his own. Gin’s abilities to track were unrivaled—he was sure she had known he was approaching before he had gotten close, despite his race’s ability to creep with great stealth.
“You didn’t have a son to leave in charge of your entire kingdom, Gin. Khuj wanted me to tell him how to get into the royal storehouses and what the passwords are for the bankers and all sorts. Luckily Hulan already knows those things and thinks of Khuj as his own, so he was a great help,” Sath said, grinning. He held out a hand for her, but she rose on her own, leaning on her staff. “He arrived last night but…didn’t want me to wake you to say hello, so I’m doing it for him. You all right?”
“Aye, it’s just a bit early,” Gin said. In truth, she had not slept much the night before, old thoughts and fears surfacing about being alone with Sath followed by nightmares—a typical night for her, really. While it was true that Sath had not made any sort of untoward advance on her and she knew in her rational mind that she was perfectly safe with him, memories haunted her. He was Rajah now, but he had slipped in and out of being the Bane of the Forest so many times, and with such ease, she was just not sure that she should genuinely trust him. It was easy enough to slip into the stony façade of the Nature Walker, but that didn’t allow her to let him into her mind – or heart. Wasn’t that what this journey was about, after all?
Sath had walked on ahead when he looked back over his shoulder to find Gin deep in thought. “Too early to figure out how to get to the coast, is it?” he teased, and she finally cracked a grin and ran to catch up with him. “Surely you remember your way to the royal marina, yes? Our boat is waiting and –“
“Wait, Sath, why don’t I port us?” she asked. Sath looked down at her and smiled as he had thousands of times at his son when Khujann had offered an absolutely ridiculous idea. “Don’t look at me like that, I was just offering.” Tempted to search his mind for their final destination, she resorted to strapping her staff onto the side of her pack and then sulking, arms crossed in front of her chest, and her toe beating out an impatient rhythm on the stone path.
“Okay, to the Outpost, then? I want to keep our final destination a surprise, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for you to take us that far—you will go with me, won’t you? I mean, if I let you port—of course you will, I’m just…” The hurt that flashed through his eyes sent a spear of pain to
