Finally she said, "Have you told Moria you'll be leaving?"
"No."
"I can get her alone, so you can tell her."
He laughed softly. "I don't think I need to inform everyone individually. I'll tell her and Gavril on the road tomorrow. I just wanted you to know first."
"Thank you."
He picked up another chunk of sticky rice. "Better finish up here. There's a mob at the door, and they're eyeing our table."
Forty-eight
They started before dawn the next morning, and Ashyn saw the imperial city as the sun rose. The wall soared twice as high as those of Edgewood, yet she could still see the tops of buildings beyond it. Buildings unlike any she'd ever seen--towers of blocks, every story smaller than the one below it, each with a sweeping, curved roof. Atop that was a rod. For lightning, Ronan explained. Being so tall, the rod attracted it, and thus kept it from the wooden buildings below.
The city itself was built into the base of a mountain, one as green as the Forest of the Dead. Beautiful, though, with the sun rising behind it.
Ashyn tried not to gape. Ronan rode close beside her, pointing out what they could see. Her sister seemed more interested in the wall, and was asking Gavril about it--how many gates, how many guards.
"Are you planning your invasion, Moria?" Ronan called.
"More like planning my escape," she said, looking at the city and shuddering. "I can smell the place from here."
It was true--the stink of the city was ill-contained by the walls. Ronan said it was because they were near the stables--only imperial horses were permitted on the roads within--but Ashyn was sure that wasn't all they smelled. It was said ten thousand people lived in the imperial city. When she'd imagined it, she'd pictured a town stretching as far as the eye could see. Except she could see from one end of the wall to the other in one sweep. It was many times the
size of Edgewood, but still much smaller than she'd envisioned. Which would explain the smell. And the noise. Even at dawn the cacophony rolled out to greet them.
They were approaching along a tertiary route, through one of the many villages that had sprouted along the city wall. They were all together now, Tova and Daigo having joined them.
As their horses' hooves clopped along the empty street, a man staggered sleepily from a house. He turned at the sound, his gaze passing over the riders, then stopping as he gaped at the massive hound and wildcat. He went back inside as if deciding he needed more sleep.
"This is where I take my leave," Ronan murmured, leaning toward Ashyn, not loud enough for Gavril and Moria.
"Already?"
He smiled. "You're almost in the city, Ashyn."
Ronan pulled his horse to a halt and slid from the saddle. Ashyn got down, too, to say good-bye. Moria and Gavril didn't notice, caught up as they were in their conversation. Ashyn was about to call to them, but Ronan stopped her.
"They won't get far before they notice," he said as he handed her his reins. "I'll leave you here, but if you have any troubles in there, any at all, contact me. All right?"
"And if . . ." She swallowed. "If I don't have troubles, may I still contact you? Or would you rather--"
He stepped forward, his hand going to the back of her head, his mouth lowering to hers. And he kissed her. Not a long kiss, but not a light one either. His lips pressed firmly against hers for a moment, before he backed up.
"I would like it very much if you contacted me," he said, his hand still behind her head. Another kiss, this one little more than a brushing of the lips, before he released her, murmured good-bye, and left her there, standing in the middle of the road, holding the reins of his horse.
Her sister and Gavril had not seen the kiss. They hadn't realized that they'd left Ashyn behind until Ronan ran up alongside them for a quick farewell. Ashyn had still been standing like an idiot in the road, holding the horses. It was only when Gavril returned for her that she climbed back onto hers.
Gavril took the reins of Ronan's horse without a word--and without any suggestion that he would notice her condition even if she'd been swooning, flushed, and half-dressed on the roadside. He was not unkind. He simply paid her little heed at the best of times, and now, as they approached the city, seemed lost again in his thoughts.
Ronan had been right to leave when he did. Shortly after that, their tiny lane joined with the Imperial Way--the road heading to the city gates. That was where, as Moria said, things got interesting.
It was a massive road, big enough for six carts across, lined not with forest or even houses, but with walls, funneling traffic to the gates. So the wildcat and the hound had to remain at their sides, meaning there was no reason to hide Ashyn and Moria.
Gavril didn't hide his identity either--if he appeared to have snuck into the city, it would smack of shame or treachery. So he removed his cloak, revealing his inked arms, and the girls took off their cloaks, and they rode onto the Imperial Way.
It was, as Moria joked, an effective method of dealing with the solid streams of people. They noticed the riders first. Two identical Northern girls with long red-gold hair, riding side by side. Then they saw Gavril, riding slightly behind and between, his blade drawn, his inked arms bare. Finally, they noticed the beasts. That was usually the point at which they decided they were too close to the riders and stumbled out of the way.