“Just get dressed and meet us in the alley behind the inn. Quickly.”

I returned to my room and grabbed my pack, motioning for Adriel to hurry. “We’re meeting them in the alley. Let’s go.”

We made our way down the stairs slowly, but they groaned beneath us anyway. Fortunately, whatever was happening in the common room seemed to be wildly entertaining, judging by the whoops and howls of laughter.

I pulled my cloak up over my head and opened the front door of the inn, peeking outside. People were going about their business in the fading daylight. There was no sign of Ceren or his guards.

“Come on,” I said, waving Adriel behind me. I glanced around, looking for Shiloh. She was leaning against her horse to the side of the building, smoking a pipe. When she saw Adriel and me, she straightened immediately.

“What are you doing out here?”

“The innkeeper knows who I am,” I said. “We need to head for the woods.”

Shiloh nodded. “I’ll get the horses and meet you there. You should get moving. It might take me a while.”

“Thank you.” I took Adriel’s hand and headed back into the alley. Straight into one of Ceren’s guards.

I would have known he was one of Ceren’s even without the black armor and the bloodstone hanging from the chain around his neck. He had that same dazed, stupefied look in his eyes as the captive in Galeth. But the moment he saw me, his pupils shrunk to pinpricks in his blue eyes, as if some part of his brain had just activated.

“Halt in the name of the king,” the guard said, but Adriel and I had already turned back and were moving toward the front of the inn. I heard the man shout something behind us, and another guard stepped out from a shop, his eyes finding mine instantly.

“Thalos,” I breathed. “Where are Sami and Zadie?”

“I’ll wait for them,” Adriel said. “You should go.”

“We are not splitting up.”

“Yes, we are.” She shoved me aside as the guard’s pace quickened toward us.

“Halt in the name of the king,” the men said in unison, one in front and one behind.

“I’ll catch up,” Adriel shouted as I broke into a run, heading into the streets of Riaga.

I had no idea where I was, and I couldn’t have been dressed worse for the occasion. My stride was restricted by my skirts, and the corset made it difficult to fill my lungs. The streets were less crowded than they’d been earlier, but no one moved out of my path as I tore past the shops and stalls where merchants were hoping to sell off the last of their goods.

“Stop her,” the guards called from behind me. Fortunately, no one seemed to understand they were referring to me until I was past them, and I was small enough to slip through cracks they couldn’t.

But they were gaining regardless, and my breaths were coming in ragged gasps, the way they had when I ran from New Castle. Memories of that night were the last thing I needed. Desperate, I ducked into an alleyway, hoping my pursuers hadn’t seen me turn and I could catch my breath for a few moments.

I realized quickly I’d stumbled upon the back of a blacksmith’s shop. I could hear hammering from somewhere on the other side of the building. My knife was strapped to my thigh, and I started to lift my skirts when the end of the alley darkened with shadows.

“Halt in the name of the king!” the guards said, their voices eerily identical.

I cursed and dropped my hem, reaching into a pile of metal scraps for a hatchet with a crooked handle. I hefted it in front of me, knowing I had no chance against two fully grown men but refusing to go down without a fight. I had hurt someone before, and I would do it again if I had to.

Ceren wouldn’t have told them to kill me, I thought desperately as the nearest man grabbed me. I struggled in his grip, but one of his hands was on my throat in seconds, causing me to drop the hatchet. He pushed me up against the wall, and as I scrabbled at the fingers around my neck, he brought up a knife with his free hand. I felt the bite of steel against my chin, felt my blood seep out from the wound.

There was a blinding flash of light that made my stomach churn, and then everything around me faded, and I was staring at Ceren.

He recognized me immediately this time. “Nor.”

“Call off your men!” I gasped.

His brows knit in confusion, and then I saw the bloodstones on the chain around his neck begin to pulsate with light. He wasn’t in his study from what I could see, and there was no vial of blood nearby. His face was paler than the last time I’d seen him, with dark circles beneath his eyes. Somewhere far away, I felt the steel bite further into my skin.

Help me! I screamed silently before I was wrenched out of the vision by the pain at my throat. My hands flew up to my neck, slick with blood, and I had the terrible thought that this wound was too deep for my healing magic. I watched wide-eyed as the bloodstone at the man’s throat pulsed like a heartbeat, and his pupils dilated rapidly, the black swallowing the blue.

He released me so suddenly I fell to my knees. I fumbled for the hatchet I’d dropped, but the guards were already turning on their heels. They walked slowly out of the alley, as if I wasn’t even there.

I gasped for air, still clutching at my bleeding neck, and attempted to stand, but my legs were too weak to support me.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed when I heard footsteps approaching.

“Nor!” Zadie was at my side, gently brushing my hair away from my neck. I could feel the wound healing, but it was deep enough that it hadn’t stopped bleeding yet. “We saw the guards come out of the alley. What happened?”

“Ceren called them off,” I croaked.

Sami’s strong hands were beneath my arms, helping me to my feet. “Why would he do that?”

“They would have killed me if he hadn’t intervened, and Ceren wants me alive.” But why hadn’t he ordered them to capture me instead? All I could think of was how sickly he’d looked, how bone-weary. It must be incredibly taxing to control an entire army with his mind, particularly with men spread out all over Ilara.

Zadie pulled me into a hug. “It’s okay. We’re here now.”

“Let me look at her,” Adriel said.

I peered behind Zadie at the sound of her voice. “Thank Thalos you found each other. Where’s Shiloh?”

Adriel was examining my neck for bruising, but the pain had subsided considerably. “Hopefully waiting for us in the woods with the horses. Are you all right?”

I nodded, though my tears hadn’t dried. I hated how vulnerable I’d been against those men, even armed.

With Sami next to me for support, we made it out of Riaga without incident and found Shiloh waiting for us on the edge of the woods, along with the rest of the Galethians. By now I had fully healed, though that didn’t stop Roan from asking us a dozen questions about our encounter with the guards.