“What do you mean, you’re leaving?” Sterling demanded, hands on her hips. “I thought you wanted to go to Daralis too. What about finding Papa?”

Seraiah shifted uncomfortably, twining a loose piece of her brown hair around her finger.

“Are you giving up on him?”

Seraiah dropped her hand. “No! Of course not. Don’t you see? I’m doing this to help the search and to help you.”

“How is it helping me?” She folded her arms over her chest. “It’s sounds more like abandoning me.”

Seraiah paled.

Sterling knew it was the worst thing she could have said, but she didn’t appreciate that they’d let her sleep and planned this all out without her. Again.

She was supposed to be a queen and yet everyone kept making decisions about her life without including her.

Ssseee. You don’t need them. They mean to take what belongsss to you.

Sterling frowned. No, they weren’t taking anything from her. They meant well.

Do they? Then why do they leave you out?

“I’m not. I would never,” Seraiah protested. “I’m trying to get allies for you. I want to protect you.”

We will protect you, the voices whispered. You don’t need her.

If the voices were right, then Sterling supposed it didn’t matter if Seraiah left.

But it still stung.

She sighed. “Fine. Get me allies. Meanwhile, I will find my friend and maybe Papa too.”

Seraiah’s shoulders sagged. “I hope—”

“And then I’ll tell him how you abandoned me—abandoned us because you wanted to talk to dragons instead.”

“You ready?” Kestrel asked, coming up behind Seraiah. She was leading both of their horses, already saddled.

Kestrel and Kai had left Seraiah to tell her about the change of plans on her own. Cowards, Sterling thought. They must have known she wouldn’t be happy about it.

“Sterling?”

“What? Go on. If you want to go, then by all means go.”

Seraiah hesitated another moment before turning away and taking the reins from Kestrel. “I’ll see you soon enough,” she said as she swung into the saddle like she’d been doing it her whole life. “Then we can take back your city. I love you.”

Sterling stared at her, not saying a word.

The two of them turned their horses, riding off to the west and leaving her with her brother.

“I love you too,” Sterling murmured as she watched them get farther and farther away.

“We should get going,” Kai said. “We’ve still got about two and a half days if we make good time. Once we reach the city, we can get you your own horse.”

“Assuming it’s not abandoned like the other cities,” Sterling mumbled. She bent to roll up her bedroll. It was the only thing left that hadn’t already been packed. “How long did you know my sister wasn’t going with us to Daralis?” she asked. “Or did you always know?”

Kai took the bedroll from her and secured it to his horse. “She told me last night. I don’t like splitting up any better than you do, but we both know there is no stopping Seraiah when she puts her mind to something.”

“I suppose.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Kai gave her a hand to get on the horse and then they were off. When Sterling looked to the west again, Kestrel and Seraiah were nothing but two specks on the horizon.

----------------------------------------

Every day, Ren made sure to give a little tug on the bond between him and Seraiah, gently compelling her to come to Daralis. Eventually, it would build up, and she wouldn't be able to resist—but she would think it was her idea. He was sure by now she must have figured out where the mark had come from, but she didn't need to know that he was using it to guide her to him. Not yet anyway.

After two weeks of sending her little compulsions, Ren finally felt the mark move. It was coming closer. Every day it grew stronger the nearer she came, until one day, it started moving away again.

At first, he wasn't sure if he was sensing it correctly. It was still strong, meaning she was close by, but it had faded by the smallest bit. When Ren sent a compulsion down the bond, he was met with resistance.

That was new.

He didn't compel people often, preferring to stick to the dead, but never had he felt a resistance from anyone—living or dead. They simply followed his orders or suggestions. Somehow Seraiah was managing to ignore him.

It seemed she wasn't strong enough to block him completely, but she had definitely deviated from the path he had been pulling her down.

Ren slammed his hand down on the rickety wooden desk in his rented room, frustrated. If she wasn't coming to the capital, he would need to go after her. It wasn't something he wanted to do, but she was leaving him with no choice. If he wanted to get to Sterling, he had to find Seraiah.

----------------------------------------

Ren found himself once again standing in front of his childhood home. He had vowed to himself that he wouldn't come back and yet here he was. He intended to leave the city later tonight, and he wanted one more look at it. One more look couldn't hurt, he had told himself as he had walked the streets to reach it. He wouldn't talk to anyone. He would just see it one more time, and then he would leave.

When Ren arrived in front of the little house he’d grown up in, he found his mother outside, hanging the day's laundry on the line to dry. He tried to keep his head down as he strolled by, watching her as she clipped bed linens to the line. He was almost past when his mother turned and called out.

"You there!"

He glanced around, hoping she was talking to someone else, even though he knew there was no one else. Ren heard her footsteps fast approaching, and he knew he should leave—walk away without a word, but something was gluing him in place.

"I've seen you here before," she said as she came up behind him. "What is your business here?"

"I’m simply passing through,” he answered. So much for not talking to anyone. "If you think you have seen me before, I'm quite sure you are mistaken." Ren lifted his gaze to meet hers.

He half hoped when she saw his face that she would recognize him and welcome him home. Those hopes were quickly dashed though, as she scrutinized his face and not a flicker of recognition dawned in her eyes.

"I'm sure I've seen you skulking around here before. Don't let me catch you again. This is a safe neighborhood, and we don't want any troublemakers here."

If only she knew what kind of trouble he had been up to.

"Don't worry," Ren reassured her. "You will never see me around here again."

"Good," was all she said, before turning on her heel and going back to her laundry.

He waited for a beat longer to see if she would turn to look at him, but she didn't. She only continued hanging her laundry as though nothing had happened. Ren frowned but continued on his way. He would be true to his word. She wouldn't see him again.

That evening, he packed his few belongings onto his newly purchased horse and set out. He paused outside the city walls, turning back to look at the place he’d called home in his early years and commit it to memory in case he didn’t return.

The first time Ren had left Daralis, it hadn't been by choice—or at least it wasn't his choice. They had come for him in the middle of the night. His mother had woken him, telling him it was time to go.

"Go where?" he had asked. "Go where, Mama?" He had been old enough by that point that he rarely called her Mama anymore. He often teased his brothers about it, saying only babies called for Mama.

But now, when he was afraid, he had reverted to it.

"You are going to go with these men," his mother told him firmly.

Two men, clothed in dark robes, appeared in the doorway of his room. Ren took one look at them and burst into tears.

"But I don't want to go, Mama. I want to stay here," he cried, clinging to her.

One man stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, kid. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. It's up to you."

Ren had stopped crying instantly at the sound of his voice.

"Good," the man said, removing his hand. "There will be no more of that. Follow us quietly, and we won't have any problems."

Ren nodded, knowing even then that it would be a bad idea to anger this man.

His mother peeled his hands off of her and turned away from him. The men had Ren get out of bed and follow them outside, not even bothering to let him dress.

As they led him over to their waiting horses, he turned back one last time to look at his house—to look for his mother. She hadn't come outside. She hadn't even said goodbye.

He remembered looking back at the city as he did now. Ren had told himself he would do anything to come back—to go home.

He had been young then and naïve, thinking his family hadn't wanted him to go, but the black-robed men had stolen him away. It hadn't been until later that those men told him the truth. His parents had called for them. They’d been the ones to send him away because they hadn't wanted him anymore. Not after what they had seen him do—after he had killed his sister, and then raised her from the dead.

Ren felt for the bond, pointing his horse in the direction he thought he felt it pulsing, and set off to find Seraiah.