“I’s worried, like Adaleiz said,” he told her grumpily, though he did not shake off her hand. She looked up at him; his seriousness overshadowed his attempt at a light tone.
“What happened with Dagby?”
“His gran hauled ‘m to the Minq. We went with ‘m, and near immediate upon our arrival, there’s someone sayin’ the Black Hats got you’n Patch. Minq, they’s thinkin’ that’s dumb, ‘cause Patch’s not the captured type. Shara figured they’d be goin’ after Hoyt, cartin’ you along ‘cause they’s thinkin’ you knows more’n you says.” He leaned closer. “Yedin’s here, too, with his cousin.”
She squinted at him.
“Is all hurryin’ to catch up to ever’thin’ else,” he said. “Thyden knows where Ambercaast is.”
“What?”
“Seems Danaea knew. Took ‘m there a couple times, for drops. Minq’s bringin’ Dagby, ‘cause he knows more ‘bout the place itself.”
Lapis rubbed her forehead. “My uncle mentioned Jarosa.”
“Yeah. She’s aimin’ fer Kayleb, but wants Hoyt, too, fer targetin’ you.”
Wonderful.
“There’s more rebel stuff ‘bout that, Lady. Lanth.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’s thinkin’, if I’m yer apprentice, should call you Lanth, now.”
She smiled, sadly, and patted his arm before withdrawing. “Yes.”
He squinted at her. “Don’t be gettin’ no ideas. I’s still the Lady’s man.” He paused. “That’s not gonna change, you know.”
She frowned at him. “What?”
“Faelan said somethin’, right afore we left.” He regarded her soberly. “Never thought it serious, but ‘spose it’s true. You thinkin’ of me more as a brother.”
Her heart twinged. “He said that?”
“He said ‘twas obvious.” He shrugged. “You came after me when . . . when I needed it. You’s always willin’ to talk. I knows where yer room keys ‘r at, and the hidey-holes in yer room. You helped with the suite.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Lykas ‘n Scand says it, we gots a special connection. Somethin’ deeper than just street respect. Lykas says we’s family. Told me I’s stupid, not to recognize it.” He rubbed at his chest; how nervous was he about this talk? Why have it in the first place? “Lady, my lot’s with you. Jes’ so you knows. I’s not goin’ anywhere. I’s gonna learn chasin’ with you. I’s gonna help with the readin’ circle. The suite’s a good home. Close to the rebel House.”
“Are you planning to join?”
“Nah. But won’t mind helpin’, either. Faelan’s fine with it that way.”
“What about Jerin?”
He glared, put out. “I’s pourin’ out my heart, ‘n you bring him up?”
“Rin—”
He mentally tussled with himself before he grabbed her about the shoulders and hugged her. “Lady—Lanth.”
“Call me Lapis,” she whispered. His shock, and the reddening of his cheeks, indicated he had not thought to enter that inner circle.
“Only them’s that really care for you call you that.”
“You don’t care for me?”
His brows knit in anxious uncertainty. “I don’t now how to be a brother.”
“Sure you do. You’re one to every rat who knows you.”
“Is not the same, Lady,” he muttered.
“No?”
“You’s more special than street rats.”
“And you don’t really think that.” She rubbed at her nose to dispel the musty smell that rose from the road. Dust covered most of it, but the broken bits of pavement peeked through. It was large enough for a couple of lanes of traffic, hinting at the size of the city before it died. “I know you care about the reading circle rats, and what about Lykas and Jandra?”
He said nothing.
“Chinder laid the foundation for your street family, Rin. He helped so many of the Lells rats your age. His kindness coats all of you.”
“Not all of us. Heran’s lernt nothin’.”
“We all stray at some point.”
“Not likes that.”
“Maybe.”
He thought about that. “I wanna help Gabby be that knight she’s wantin’ to be. ‘N make sure Phialla ‘n Ness make it. Help Brone get that drummin’ job at an inn, like he wants, ‘n . . . well, know Lyet better.” He rubbed at his mouth. “Scand’s talkin’ to that smith you sent ‘m to with the kiddies. Them’s gettin’ ‘long well. Thinks he can get some scribin’ on plaques. Scand’s kinda squirrely ‘bout it. Not wantin’ much to change. That smith, though. He’s a rebel, ain’t he?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “Shawe was Patch’s first contact in the rebellion.”
Rin choked.
“Scand would make a good apprentice.”
“He be wantin’ to be a chaser, more.”
“Inscribing metal can be a good-paying job.”
“Can do both.”
They reached the red sign of Dentherion metal whose color blared through the dust coating it. The track leading from it contained well-joined paving stones and a neat shoulder, with the underbrush pruned back enough to make traversing it simpler. A scattering of leaves coated the ground, a burst of bright red and orange against the duller brown earth. Not far down the road, a wrought-iron gate that reminded her of rural noble estates blocked the way. Two guards stood there, tech weapons strapped to their sides, bored. They remained relaxed as they neared, unconcerned.
“I take it the confrontation wasn’t much of one?” one asked Rin.
“Nah. Them Blacks ‘r not likin’ the Swift,” he said. “This here’s Lady Lanth.”
They nodded at her and glanced behind. Patch waltzed up, hands shoved deep into his pants pockets, eying the surrounding foliage with distaste.
“The trees aren’t that bad,” she told him. He raised his eyebrow as the guards opened the gate and let them through. If Ambercaast were as overgrown as other ruins, the next few days were going to be the Pit for him.
“Nice camp,” Patch said.
Four humongous, two-story cabins sat nestled within a wide, well-kempt meadow, two outdoor fire pits between them. Tables with matching benches, all made from stout dark brown wood carved with various foliage motifs, were scattered around. Colorful tents spanned away from the buildings and into the short grass, sturdy structures with heavy tarp and large enough to comfortably stand up in. People milled about, readying equipment taken from a multitude of crates and bags. Far beyond, at the edge of the trees, were enough tech crafts to stun a Dentherion.
Adaleiz had not joked when she said Adrastos planned to base the Ambercaast excursion from that location.
She squinted at the man seated at one table, holding a steaming cup in his hands. “What are you doing here?” How had he arrived so fast?
The look Faelan gave her made her tummy flutter in anticipation of his meeting Kayleb.
“I’m safe,” she reminded him, flinging out her arms.
“No thanks to that jackass,” he growled. Patch laughed. Faelan glared at him, too. “And you.”
“He wanted us to take him to Ambercaast,” her partner said. “Nothing was going to happen between those points.”
“If you want to yell at someone, yell at Rin for being a stowaway.” She pointed at the rat.
“Hey!”
Faelan sighed and rubbed at his face. Prodded by guilt, Lapis sat down next to him and slipped her arm around his back. “Midir contacted them and wanted to speak with me. Kayleb knew he was a noble, but not who.”
“Requet neglected to tell him? That’s odd.”
“Requet’s hiding a lot of shit.”
“Yeah. His daddy doesn’t even know what it is—though, since Midir alerted him, he’s digging. He doesn’t want his son’s problems to blow up into his.”
“Too late for that.”
He slid the mug to her, and she gratefully took a drink. She did not place the tea, but it held flavors of spicy leaves and mellow sugar. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and his tenseness slowly leaked away. However much Patch disregarded the threat, her brother did not view it in the same way. They had just reunited, and she assumed the despair of having her taken from him again rode him, as it rode Midir.
Patch and Rin took seats and slumped down. Practically twins, and Lapis fought her giggle.
“So do we have an idea where we’re going?” her partner asked.
“Yeah. Thyden took some of Adrastos’s people yesterday. It’s a hike from here, and they haven’t gotten back. They saw the ruins from a ridge, but Captain Ryalla said there’s activity, and she didn’t want to get closer without backup.”
Lapis frowned. Ryalla? She recognized the name, but could not place it.
“Adrastos’s captain,” Faelan told her. “She came because Jarosa insisted on joining us, and he felt she needed more guards.”
Lapis raised an eyebrow. “She does tend wander off on her own.”
“Precisely.” He hmphed. “The Minq recorded what they saw. Tamor has some nice equipment.” He firmed his lips then sucked in a huge breath. “He filmed your Swift encounter.”
Her mind stuttered to a stop. WHAT?
“The people he’s shown it to are very impressed you survived.”
“I’m impressed we survived,” she grumbled, irritated.
“I can’t go through watching that again,” Patch said.
“Me neither,” Faelan agreed vehemently.
Rin eyed her, and she concurred with his disgruntlement. Watching and participating were two distinct things, one vastly more terrifying than the other.
No one else refused the opportunity to view the film. Despite the urgency of their mission, after Ryalla’s group returned shortly after evening fell, rebel, Minq, guard and Black Hat gathered about the camera’s gleeful owner and watched as she guided the horse onto the crashing Swift, across the roof, down the wings, gasped at the illumination of the exploding second craft—and she had to leave.
She knew Rin survived, but the thought of how much could have gone wrong . . .
Kayleb eyed the screen with a grimace, troubled. Had the pilots died in the wrecks? Did he care? His people had no problems poisoning her while aiming for a three-year-old, so she doubted such trivial emotions motivated him.
Rin joined her in her walk. She did not think anyone else noticed their departure, too enraptured with their death-defying feat.
The forest contained a crisp breeze, cold evergreen scent, and dark trees casting long shadows across the barren soil. Small bushes flapped their branches, and the heavy foliage creaked, protesting the advancement of end-of-year rains and snows. Rin looked about, not as uneasy as she anticipated. While she had grown up in the forests of southern Jilvayna, the rats knew Jiy and rarely ventured from the familiar Grey Streets. The thought of trees and bushes and soft soil without a human presence made them apprehensive, and the thought of the terrifying creatures they hid, more so.
“This’s peaceful,” he murmured. “I’s not one who likes them woods near Jiy. But this ain’t bad.”
“There’s a certain lusciousness in being in the depths of nature,” she said. “It’s not for everyone. Patch hates it. If it’s not bustling and loud and cranky, he’s not interested.”
Rin laughed. “Yeah. He’s not a calm type.”
Neither was Rin. “I want to know about Jerin.”
The rat blew his breath loudly through his teeth, then muttered an indistinct phrase. “Why’s you care?”
“Because it weighs on you.”
They walked in silence, their footsteps crunching softly, heads bowed in the gloom. “It’s just . . . we’s puttin’ ourselves at risk for ‘m. He’s not carin’. He’s ‘spectin’ to have us give ‘m what he wants. He’s got a cozy room ‘n gets food. Not liken us.”
“I’d do the same for any rat who had a hit on them.”
“But he ain’t no rat, Lady. Lanth. He’s some rich kid who’d never cared ‘bout the streets and hardship ‘til he had to live it. ‘N he still gets to hide from it.”
“You want him to live on the streets?”
“I jest don’t see why we should care more.”
“I don’t care more,” she told him. “And there are limits to what I’m willing to do for him.”
The soft song of nightbirds interrupted by an owl flowed over them. Rin paused, and she stopped, waiting. He wrapped his hands around his upper arms, though he did not raise his head.
“What’re yer limits fer me?”
“There aren’t any.”
“None?”
“I’ve risked life and limb to rescue you. Those guttershanks who kidnapped you weren’t small-time stakes. I’d do it again.”
“Is why I’s here,” he admitted. “Not that I think Patch’s not protectin’ you. I think he’d do anythin’ t’ keep you safe.”
“It’s mutual.”
“Mutual for us, too. I’s really the Lady’s man. I’s never lied about it.”
“No.”
“’N yer not turnin’ just to yer brother, or Patch. Yer still there, for me.”
“I’d never turn away from you, Rinan.”
The sound of something large breaking through the trees caught their attention. A carrion lizard swayed around a pine, smaller than the ones in the Pit, but big enough for Lapis’s caution to kick in. She could not see much of it, just a blotchy blackness against the dark grey trunks, but it looked to stand as tall as her waist, meaning it possessed enough bulk to harm her and Rin. She slipped her hand into the rat’s and tugged, turning around. They would leave the animal to its business and warn the camp to be cautious. Did any realize the lizards walked the woods? She thought them centered in Jiy.
She stopped. Behind her, mouse-quiet, was another, as large as a wagon, and interested in them.
