*See?*
“No, I can’t see, move, or even know what direction to go.”
“Exactly. Now, you do it in your head,” she told me. *Make the same sort of ooze and hold it there.”
“I don’t even know where to start.”
Instead of speaking, she entered my mind again, *Here. Think like you control the morning fog. Draw it to you. Pull it down and over. Surround yourself.*
I felt a sensation in my head as she directed me to do as she wanted. My teeth clenched, my eyes closed as I fought against her control. But it was not control; it was teaching. I relented just a small amount, but in fear of another in my head, bit down so hard my teeth were in danger of breaking.
The fog approached me and like smoke in a room with no ventilation, filled my mind. No, not my entire mind, only the portion where I communicated with Anna. The rest of it was normal.
She was smiling when I glanced her way.
“It’s working, I think,” I muttered.
Anna said, “I cannot see anything in your mind but clouds and smoke.” Then, in my head I heard, *Can you hear me?*
*I can.*
Her smile was wider. *Try now.*
I did. A brief sensation of speeding through the fog as if flying or falling allowed me to reach a place where we could communicate.
She said, “I’ve been doing it longer than you and have opened a path in my shield only you can travel. Nobody else.”
“You keep the fog in place all the time?” I asked.
“It’s not that hard once you know how. Let all this settle in your brain, and we can talk about it again later. I will stay in touch and let you know when your wall is slipping.”
“I don’t know what to say. The walls in our minds are fine, but Emma isn’t real? I can’t believe I missed it. Remember how she faced down Kendra’s dragon on the pass to Vin?”
Anna said, “The dragon seems to always keep a distance from Emma. I don’t think it knows what to make of her. Maybe it is scared of her. I know I am.”
Thinking back, there were times when it had acted odd or standoffish. Also, Anna did the talking for the pair of girls almost all the time. Then there was the incident where I’d tried to teach Emma Common with a mind-link, and she had struck back. We’d all assumed it was a reflex reaction to the unknown. But if that was true, why had Anna been so easy to teach?
I said, “There are a lot of clues when I think about it, but now we know something is wrong. I have a suspicion of what is happening with her, but for now, you and I just have to act normal. We need to go back and warn them of the house-to-house search and find a way to escape.”
“Can’t we kill her or something?”
The suggestion shocked me. I said, “No. We stick to our plan. We act normal until we have time to think and plan. Since I can’t tell Kendra, I want you to help decide our best course of action.”
“Me?”
I turned as I held the hatch cover upright. “You. Anna, if it hadn’t been for you, how long would it have taken for Kendra or me to figure out what you just did? Days? Weeks? How much danger would we have been in?”
She paused. “Emma could have gotten us all killed, like by telling the army where we are. She might have already done it, and we were lucky.”
“You go first. I’ll light a candle and follow.” I wanted to follow, because while what I’d told her was true, suddenly I didn’t trust anyone. Not even Anna. Not until I settled things in my mind, which was a strange way to think of it. Strange things in my mind were the heart of the problem. At another time, I might have laughed.
When we emerged at the other end of the tunnel, I told them of the impending search. Chambers snapped to one of his sons, “Get them desert robes.” To another, “Go make sure the army is not yet too close to us. Hurry.”
The mother said, “I’ve already filled a bag with food.”
One of the other sons said, “I’ll go to the stable and ready five horses.”
The last son laughed when the mother turned to him. He said, “I’ll escort them to the stables on the back ways. We need to leave right away.” He spoke with a grin as if it was a new game.
Kendra said somberly, “We came to find our princess. She was abducted from the Gallant, the ship she arrived on.”
“The ship?” Chambers asked, clearly puzzled. “Is it still here?”
I said, “The captain was going to sail this morning and never return to Vin. He said Vin violated a law in all lands that forbid local armies from forcing their way aboard. Our princess is still missing.”
“I cannot believe that happened,” Chambers said. “I have heard nothing about a princess or kidnapping. Rumors fly like birds of prey these days, nothing of the sort has been said. But the way things are going, I believe it.”
We were quickly dressed in long brown robes made of heavy material that was stained, mended, and smelly from the sweat of previous wearers. They went right over our regular clothing since there was not enough time to change. We all wore colorless scarfs around our necks, and Chambers corrected that. He used them to wrap around our heads, to conceal our foreheads and mouths, which would disguise us. Only our eyes peeked out to hide us.
He said, “People of the desert move slowly and gracefully. Hurrying attracts attention. Follow Hugh to the stable. Stay well behind so it looks like you are not together in case you are spotted. If they stop him, turn away and make your own way out of town to the west.” He turned to Flier. “As soon as all of you are safely out of the city, one of my boys will travel to visit your parents. Is there anything you wish him to say?”
Flier said, “Tell them I am well and would like a small army to command to be waiting for me in Dagger.”
Chambers drew back. “Is that a joke?”
Flier said, “No. Tell them exactly what I said, and give a full accounting of all else that happened here. Leave nothing out. My father will reward you well.”
“We did nothing today that deserves a reward.”
The boy called Hugh looked out the window and interrupted us. “Time to go. They’re almost here.”
We followed him down a flight of stairs, and he held up a hand for us to pause while he casually walked up a street and made a turn into a narrower one. We followed as a group, moving slowly, forcing ourselves to be calm and fight the urge to run and attract attention. At the next corner, we saw Hugh turn again, and we moved as one down the street to the intersection.
The few people we passed avoided making eye contact as if they resented or didn’t like people of the Brownlands. None greeted us. Most treated us as if we didn’t exist which was fine with us.
Our guide wove us through the better sections of the city, and into the worst. There, we watched him enter a barn at the edge of Vin, where the buildings were smaller and more spread out. A small pasture was behind the barn, with a few goats, three cows, and one horse.
Inside were five horses, already saddled and several water jugs hung from the saddles of each. They were small, but hardy looking horses, their heavy coats matching the color of our robes. We wore our swords under the robes, but as soon as we left Vin, I wanted my weapon where my hand could quickly reach it.
A third brother raced into the barn and said, “Hurry. They’re coming. More have joined the hunt.”
We mounted, and Hugh told us to move quickly out in the desert and get out of sight of anyone in the city. He said to remain where we could see a glimpse of the road now and then and generally follow it but to be careful not be seen by searchers or strangers on the road. We were to travel west for at least a full day before turning south to Dagger.