THIRTY-ONE
The orchards felt like a different world. So quiet without all the noise of thousands of people moving and yelling. Just her swift footfalls, and the boy breathing down her neck. Silver was quick and nimble, but the boy, with his long stride, was just as swift, keeping up easily.
Keep running, keep runn—oof!
The boy tackled Silver to the ground. He sat on her back, pinning her down.
“Get off me!”
The boy laughed. He wrenched away Silver’s bag and dumped the contents on the ground.
“Useless, useless,” he muttered. Silver saw her balls of yarn and kohl pencil roll away. “Aha!”
Although Silver was still pressed to the ground, a jingling sound told Silver the boy had found her money and the jewelry. The boy shifted, and then a piece of paper was shoved in Silver’s face.
“See that? It says ‘reward.’ I wonder if the queen’s reward is worth as much as these jewels. Tell me what they’re worth, and I’ll think about letting you go.”
Silver spat at the sketch of her face.
“Have it your way. I’ll keep both.”
He hauled Silver to her feet. She struggled, but he was much bigger than she was—even taller than Brajon—and he had a firm grip. She leaned back to spit in his smug face, too, but in one surprising movement, he spun her so her back was to his front and pinned her arms together, then unwound her scarf from her neck.
“Let me go!” The more she struggled, the more her arms screamed with pain, until she was certain the bones were about to snap. The boy dragged her backward, and even though Silver dug her heels into the soft orchard soil, he succeeded in slamming her to the ground and against a tree. The boy wrestled her wrists around the trunk and knotted them together with her scarf.
He stood before her, admiring his handiwork.
Silver glared. “You don’t know what you’re doing. I’m not a thief. You are. Those jewels belong to my family.”
“Wrong. They belong to me. And soon you’ll belong to the queen. Don’t go anywhere.” With that, the boy sprinted back in the direction of his cart.
Silver struggled against the knots and banged her head against the tree in frustration. She could almost hear Sagittaria Wonder’s bitter laughter ringing through the orchard. You’re nothing but a talentless child. How many times had Silver proved her right?
A heavier scent of the desert filled her nose, with the salty sea air far back behind her. Silver stopped struggling against her bonds and fought back tears. Even though she and Brajon had been in Calidia only one day and one night, she missed the simplicity of the desert. What had she gotten herself into? She’d come here to rescue Kirja, only to get caught herself.
Silver reached her mind to Hiyyan’s again, still waiting at the river cave. It was easy to make a connection with him, and as soon as she did, she felt his burst of excitement. He knew how close she was. A mad, low giggle bubbled up in her throat despite everything.
Hello, she said in her mind. I have failed Kirja. And I’m a bit tied up at the moment.
She conjured up an image of her bound hands and sent it toward Hiyyan. He responded with alarm, then an image of a dragon talon slicing neatly through the bonds.
I don’t have one of those! She sensed Hiyyan rustle and bit back a wave of panic. No, don’t come here! Sagittaria might be on her way, and I couldn’t bear if she found out about you, too.
Silver looked around. Her bag’s contents were strewn everywhere. Where one ball of yarn was half unwound, she saw the tip of her dagger sticking out. The boy hadn’t noticed it when he’d tossed the yarn aside. If she could just reach it …
She wriggled and stretched her toes as far as she could. It was close. More maneuvering bought her another inch.
Something in the soil shuffled, and Silver froze. A desert scorpion peered out of its hiding place to see what was disturbing its home. But not just any scorpion: a Flying Black-Eyed Scorpion. They attacked as fast as lightning and, since they only had one sting in them, they flew straight for their adversary’s eyes. The Flying Black-Eyeds weren’t named for their own eye color, but how they permanently blinded whomever they stung.
Silver breathed slowly and silently, facing off with the scorpion in a game of Don’t Move.
The scorpion raised its tail, glistening black. Sweat dripped down Silver’s palms to her fingers, watering the orchard tree. Her dagger was just to the right of the scorpion.
Silver bit back a whimper, then steeled herself. There was only one way of dealing with an attacking Black-Eyed Scorpion: Get it to sting anywhere but the eyes.
With her eyes closed, she took in a deep breath. Then she flung her left foot out.
The pain as the scorpion sank its stinger into her foot was dazzling. Silver yelped and let a single sob escape, but then she bit her lip against the building throbs in her foot and opened her eyes. She knew it would hurt but the damage would pass. The scorpion, stinger lost, skittered away.
Her right foot reached for the trailing yarn, dragging it closer inch by inch. When it was close enough, Silver twisted her body around the tree trunk. Her fingers grabbed the dagger and after a few moments of scrabbling, she was able to unsheathe it and work the blade haphazardly through her scarf.
Silver got to her feet and limped in a circle, collecting the rest of her things before the horrible boy came back.
“Who knew I’d go through so many scarves,” she muttered.
The sound of a group approaching in the distance reached her. Silver dragged herself toward the outer road and her Aquinder. She still wasn’t completely sure how their mental communication was working, especially when singing seemed to be the natural water dragon language, but it felt right. Silver continued thinking her words as though she were speaking to Hiyyan, perhaps rubbing his furry belly. She needed to keep her mind off her aching foot.
It’ll be our first race soon. We’re registered and everything. Isn’t that amazing? You and me, cutting through the water, becoming the greatest racers of all time. Well, maybe not this first race, but it will happen! It’s my dream coming true. Only two races, and when we win them both, I’ll be able to ask Queen Imea for your mother back.
Silver waited for some kind of response. Not words, but a feeling. Something that told her he either approved or rejected her ideas.
The feeling never came.
Instead, Hiyyan did.
THIRTY-TWO
When Silver saw the deep blue of his body against the pale-blue sky, she rushed forward, meeting him just on the other side of the road into Calidia.
Hiyyan landed, knocking Silver off her feet, and wiggled on the ground with glee, obviously happy that they were together again. Silver doubled over, her laughter and sobs combining until her belly ached.
Hiyyan paused, his back on the ground, his feet in the air, and his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth in a dopey grin.
“I’m happy to see you, too,” Silver said, wrapping her arms around his neck and trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her foot. “Hopefully, after this, we won’t have to be separated ever again.” She dug her hands into Hiyyan’s soft mane and laid her head on his side, then started walking to the hole in the ground.
“But now I have to go back into the cave to get the camouin,” she said. “And you’ll need to keep a lookout—or a listen-out—for anyone coming. There are people looking for me, and if they get close, we have to run. Unless it’s Brajon.”