It would be a month’s journey to the Kaeltan border. Seylas had planned our route to shroud us in secrecy. I hated the idea of doing anything Seylas said, but I didn’t’ argue. He knew better than anyone how to travel the country unseen, and we could not risk the princess being exposed.

We were to take the Glass Bridge into Andiya’s homeland. It was a remnant of the Creators, one of the few wonders they had left behind when they disappeared from our world. The Glass Bridge ran all the way from Bel Arben to Kaelta, but no human had ever crossed it. Whatever magic guarded the daemon lands kept us all away. Ships hoping to sail for daemon shores quickly found themselves sucked down into maelstroms; those who tried to fly across the sea were struck by lightning, wind, and storm; and any who attempted to walk the Glass Bridge did not make it twenty feet before their hearts simply stopped.

We picked our way carefully through the woods, Seylas at our front. This part of our journey was to be the easiest. Once we crossed into Etvia, we would be invaders in a hostile land—to reveal ourselves in the Drahko’s land could end with the princess’s head on a pike. The Drahko was not an enemy, yet, but his disdain for the Canavar was not a secret.

I asked one of the assistants what they’d told everyone else about the princess’s absence.

“Officially, the princess never left the Korongorod,” she said. “We dropped all foreign guests off in Volobirsk and refused any further meetings for the next two months. We’ve informed the public that the princess will remain in her quarters for a period of mourning.”

“Mourning who?”

“The … the archon, Eon. Her father.”

“Right. Forgot.”

“And how broken up she seems about it,” Andiya sniggered.

I flicked the bond. “You should probably learn to respect your future archon.”

“No.”

We woke just before dawn and mounted up. An assistant attached an ironbow to my saddlebag. While we pushed through the thick underbrush, I noticed that Andiya kept her leg curled away from it.

“Iron didn’t seem to bother you while you murdered my archon.”

“Oh, it did. My magic just shielded from the pain.” Her voice came quieter. “But the iron hurt me well enough when you took my magic away.”

While she’d been interrogated. “Well. Maybe that’s why you don’t kill kings.”

“They would have done it regardless,” she spat.

I couldn’t deny that. The interrogation of a High Order would have been by Seylas’s order. Was telling Andiya that her torturer rode just ahead a cruelty or mercy?

She sighed aloud and rested her chin on my shoulder. “I’m bored. You’d think a clandestine mission would be more interesting. But it’s just sitting on a horse all day.”

Unlike before, I refused to rise to the bait. Let her lean on me if she wanted. She wouldn’t get any entertainment out of it. “Find something to do.”

“There is nothing for me to play with but you, Rozin. What if … Ah! Question for question. I know your princess is curious about me.”

“And you promise to answer truthfully?”

“I do.”

“All right. Ask.”

“Who is Kamala?”

I went rigid. No one—not even Yulia—knew that name. I’d worked hard to keep it that way.

“Pick a different game.”

“Oh, come on. I know you think about her a lot. Especially when you’re asleep. Now—now, hey! Don’t get all pissy. I’m not rooting around in your head. As if I could, tight as you keep it. But if your mind is shouting something at me, I can’t not hear.”

“Drop it.”

“Sister? Friend?” Her hand curled on my shoulder and she spoke right into my ear. “Girlfriend?”

I stopped the horse. “Get off.”

“I’m not walking.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

Andiya’s satisfaction rolled up the bond. She’d gotten to me, and she knew it. With a little tap on my shoulder, Andiya slid from the horse.

The day’s progress through the woods slowed as the underbrush thickened. The assistants dismounted to hack away twisting brambles and drag fallen branches from our path, and Andiya burned away the thicker boughs.

“Couldn’t have just flown to Bel Arben, could we,” she grumbled.

“Crown cities can’t enter another coalition without invitation.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“It’s an act of war. So both, I guess.”

I felt a sharp pain on my shin. I turned to see Andiya holding her leg, a fresh gash through her pant. She’d raked it accidentally across a twisted bush with blood red flowers and black thorns.

“Shit,” I mumbled.

“I have my magic. It’ll heal in a minute.”

“I hope so, for both of our sakes. That’s scarlet snaplock.” I leaned down to see the cut. Sure enough, tiny needles had embedded in her skin. “Also known as Nightmare Rose.”

I whistled to the group and we took a small break. Doctor Viscara inspected Andiya’s leg.

“It got her good,” she decided. “But it shouldn’t have any effect. Snaplock can’t do anything to bonded.” She took out a small glass jar from her bag. I recognized it as enchanted healing sealant. She smeared it on Andiya’s thigh with a gloved hand and wrapped it quickly in white bandage. “You’re lucky it was the High Order and not you. Not much for Snaplock to do, without a mind to latch onto.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“And if you do have a mind?” Andiya sent.

“If you start to feel anything, tell me.”

Lionel came to hand Andiya and I a quick supper of hot soup and dark bread. With a little smile and bow, he let us be. I might have invited him to eat with us, had Seylas not been staring at me from the other side of the group. I suddenly didn’t have the mood for conversation.

As it was nearly nightfall, we decided to make camp. As we pitched the tents, one of the assistants asked for Andiya to start the fire.

“I don’t want to.”

“Don’t be difficult. It’ll only take a minute.”

But Andiya stalked off right into the trees, and the bond tugged me to follow her.

“Sorry,” I said quickly to the assistant. “But I need Andiya’s magic. We’re hunting tonight. I need something fresher than jerky.”

“As you say, Eon.”

I made a show of following Andiya at a leisurely pace. Nothing to see here. Just an Eon and her wildly obedient High Order, off on a little walk together. No reason to tell Seylas or Irina.

I found Andiya by a creek, furiously scrubbing at her shin. She’d healed, as she’d predicted, but from the looks of things, not quite right.

“Feel weird?”

“It itches like crazy, if you must know.”

I started to unlace my boots. “Lucky for me, snaplock is hallucinogenic. Shouldn’t affect me at all.” I dipped my feet into the cold creek and laid back, staring through the canopy at the stars.

“You could help me!”

“Don’t see how. Looks like you just need to ride it out.”

Furious splashing came from the creek. Andiya had drenched herself completely.

“Won’t help!” I called. “Believe me, I’ve tried.”

Andiya splashed over. I could feel her glowering at me, but I just kept looking up. Which constellation was the wolf, again?

Steam filled my vision, and my feet grew warm. I rolled my head to see Andiya sunk into the water up to her chin. The seam billowed from her body.

“How do you stand it?” she asked.

“I mostly just block you out.”

“Ha-ha. I meant being so … fragile. Mortal. Something like a stupid plant or a bad fall can just end you. How are you not terrified every day of your life?”

“Dunno. Don’t think about it.”

She scratched at her cheek. “Well I think you should be a lot more concerned about it than you are. You only have, what? A hundred, two hundred years left?”

“I’m curious as to what you think the human lifespan is. Anyhow, yours is the same as mine now. Let’s hope I don’t get arthritic too quickly.”

The steam stopped.

“Wait.”

“Didn’t think about that, did you?”

“You’ll age.”

“If I’m lucky. But I am a soldier. So probably not.”

Andiya began to hyperventilate. The water shot to a boil, and I lost sight of her in a torrent of steam.

I decided to take my leave. Andiya should at least be allowed the dignity of riding out snaplock’s paranoia phase in peace. On the way back to camp, I crossed paths with Lionel. I caught his arm. He carried a towel and a bar of floral soap.

“I wouldn’t,” I said.

“S—sorry, Eon?”

“I’d recommend bathing a bit further upstream, Lionel. The High Order’s just working through some hallucinogenic.”

His eyes widened beneath his spectacles. “Thank you for the warning, Eon. I will keep my distance.”

I curled up in my tent, trying not to smile at the thought of Andiya’s night. Snaplock was a hell of a thing to go through, if harmless in the long run. A few hours of paranoia and a terrible sleep—Nightmare Rose was well deserving of its namesake—might bring that ego of hers down a notch.

The sound of the forest lulled me off to sleep.

What felt like a second later, a hand jerked me awake urgently.

I rolled over to see a dripping Andiya lying beside me, her eyes manic.

“Help me. I’m going to die, Rozin, we’re all going to die—”

“What the fuck.”

“—and I can’t stop it. We’ll get old and die and even if we don’t, I’ll definitely die tonight, I can feel it, I know it—”

“Get out. What the hell?”

“—this feels like dying, so that’s what it must be. I fucked up and got Khalid killed and now I’ve gotten myself killed too and I’m just going to sit here and scream and scream until my heart gives out—”

“Andiya!” I hissed. Her voice was loud enough to be heard in the next tent. “Just relax. This is the snaplock talking.”

“I can’t relax! I’m going to—”

“To die, you said, I heard you. But snaplock can’t kill you. Just breathe, you’ll be perfectly fine.”

“But it feels—”

“Like you can’t breathe, like your heart is going to pop. I know. You’re panicking.”

“Never thought I’d go out this way. So this is really it! Not death by battle, or by choice. I go alone in the woods, chained to you, to some fucking insect, and no one is going to miss me at all.”

I learned on a folded arm. There might be an opportunity here. Andiya’s mental capacity seemed wonderfully sad at the moment. “And what sort of battle did you see yourself dying in?”

She spluttered like I was an idiot. “Wi—with Qu’arma Vak, obviously. We’ve only been at war a few centuries, Rozin, keep up please.”

“So the daemon kingdoms don’t consider us their primary enemy.”

“Do you consider the fruit flies on your apples to be yours? You give your people far too much credit.” She shivered in disgust. “And now I’m bonded with a stupid little fly. Maybe death is a mercy. Then no one in Kaelta will see how far I’ve fallen. Also. I have a question about your friend.”

“No. So if we’re flies, why would Kaelta ally with the Canavar?”

“Call it desperate times. There’s rather more humans than High Orders. Enough that it could make a difference. Now your friend—oh, tut tut, not Kamala. You can bottle up whatever trauma that is for now. I like you a little broody. I’m talking about this Yulia. She doesn’t like me.”

“No one does.”

“Not unique to humans, as a matter of fact. But forget I said that. I’d like you to put in a good word for me. With Yulia. As soon as possible. Ideally before this stupid plant kills me.”

“Again, you’ll be fine. You want Yulia to bring you Khalid, don’t you?”

“If he’s in the party following us. I think about him a lot. Whether he’s okay. I’ve not known everyone to be kind to their playthings, even among my people. What if he’s being mistreated, or forced to harm other daemons, or, or—”

“I bonded him to Rafiq. He’s the sort of person who would trip on a cat’s tail and spend the next hour apologising. You don’t need to worry.”

“Well, I will! It was my fault he was even in those mountains, looking after me.”

“And why were you in our lands?”

“Because—because I—” Andiya began blinking furiously, as if having some internal battle with the snaplock. Then she collapsed.

Her chest rose and fell in sleep, but her eyes twitched and her nose crinkled. I almost felt sorry for her. The sleeping phase of snaplock was definitely the worst part. I felt a shockwave of panic roll off Andiya, and I threw a wall around my mind. It would be a good hour at least before she made it out the other side.

I pulled a blanket over her and slipped my pillow under her head. Without her glaring or teasing and with the bond snapped shut, I could almost forget the bond, the situation we were in. And that every day, I felt guiltier about what I’d done to her.

I pulled up my sleeve and examined my tattoos. They said something about Andiya, but I still didn’t know what. A stag, red berries, vines and thorns curved around scimitars. A sun in the centre of my palm. I resolved to ask her about it, someday.

I wasn’t sleeping here. I slipped away, careful not to disturb her. Across the camp was Irina’s tent. Subtly, Commander Hadrion sat guard outside. Just enough away from the princess’s tent to mask what she was guarding.

“I need to speak with Her Majesty,” I said, and she nodded.

The princess was still awake. She pored over a series of sketched maps, her hair down and dressed in nightclothes. “Do sit down, Kain.” She pushed some pages aside for me. “I’ve been reviewing Seylas’s notes on our route. We’ve had to revise slightly to avoid some seasonal hazards. Travelling merchants, Canavar supply lines, such things. He assures me we shouldn’t lose more than a few days with the new adjustments.”

“I have some information from Andiya.”

“The sort that couldn’t want until morning?”

“It could have but … I prefer she be asleep.”

Irina’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Should I be concerned as to why?”

“No! No, Your Majesty. Only, as you know, while Sage Jawahir was successful in training me to control Andiya’s magic—” I silently prayed she couldn’t see the lie. “— her mind remains her own. Her personality is … difficult. Breaking into her mind to find information is thus far unsuccessful.”

Mercifully, Irina nodded in agreement. “Your sage had explained as much. Go on, Kain.”

“Well, Andiya has decided to tell me about the daemon lands. Briefly.” I summarized what Andiya had said about Kaelta and their potential alliance.

“So we may gain a powerful friend and enemy on the same day,” said Irina thoughtfully. She fell silent, thinking. Then, after a time, she seemed to decide something. The princess took my hands and gave me an odd look that I thought was her attempt at a warm smile. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Kain. Once again, you have proven that my trust in you is not misplaced.”

My face grew hot. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“We are a long way from the palace, Kain. When we are alone, Irina will do just fine.”

Someone shrieked. Hooves thundered outside. As I pulled Irina under me to shield her, the tent burst into flames.