Valek considered. “How long will it take us to reach the Daviian Plateau?”
“It depends on Kiki. If she decides to use her gust-of-wind gait, we could be there in a few hours.”
“Gust-of-wind? Is that what you call it? I’ve never seen a horse run that fast before.”
I mulled over Valek’s comment. “She only does it when we’re in the plains. Perhaps it’s connected to the Sandseed’s magic.”
Valek shrugged. “Faster is better. The faster we can take care of Alea, the better.”
But exactly how we would take care of Alea remained the real question. I knew she would be a threat to me if she had survived her injury, yet I didn’t want to kill her. Perhaps turning her over to the Sandseeds would be enough. I thought about Moon Man’s remarks about the Daviian Vermin, and realized that Ferde’s comment about the existence of others might not have been about Alea coming after me, but about the other Daviians.
Valek pulled the meat from the fire and handed the spit to me. “Eat. You need your strength.”
I sniffed the unidentifiable lump. “What is it?”
He laughed. “You’re better off not knowing.”
“Poisons?”
“You tell me,” he teased.
I took an experimental bite. The juicy meat had an odd earthy taste. Some type of rodent, I thought, but no poisons. When I had finished my supper, we began to pack up our meager supplies.
“Valek, after we deal with Alea, you must promise to return to Ixia.”
He grinned. “Why would I do that? I’m beginning to enjoy the climate. I might build a summer home here.”
“It’s that cocky attitude that got you into trouble in the first place.”
“No, love. It was you. If you hadn’t gotten yourself captured by Goel, I wouldn’t have tipped my hand to the Wannabe King.”
“You didn’t tip your hand. I’m afraid I did that when I was fighting with Cahil.”
“Defending my honor again?” he asked.
Back in Ixia, I had inadvertently exposed one of his undercover operations by standing up for him. “Yes.”
He shook his head in amazement. “I know you love me, so you can stop proving it. I really don’t care what Wannabe King thinks of me.”
I thought about Cahil. “Valek, I’m sorry for believing you killed Goel.”
He waved away my apology. “You would have been right. I went back to take care of him for you, but he had beaten me to it.” Valek’s angular features grew serious. “The Wannabe King remains a problem.”
I nodded. “One that I’ll deal with.”
“Now who’s cocky?”
I started to protest, but Valek stopped me with a kiss. When he pulled away, I noticed that Kiki’s head was up and her ears pointed forward.
Smell? I asked her. Then I heard the sound of hoof beats, heading toward us.
Rusalka, Kiki said. Sad Man.
My first reaction was annoyance that Leif had followed us. But the thought that, if he could find us, then so could Cahil filled me with apprehension.
Anyone else? I asked.
No.
Valek disappeared into the tall grass just as Leif’s horse seemed to materialize from a cloud of dust.
Leif’s green eyes were wide with shock. “She’s never done that before.”
My annoyance transformed to amusement. Rusalka’s black coat gleamed with sweat, but she didn’t appear to be stressed.
“I call that Kiki’s gust-of-wind gait,” I told Leif. “Is Rusalka a sandseed horse?”
He nodded. Before he could say another word, I saw a blur of motion to his left as Valek leaped out of the grass and knocked Leif from his horse. They landed together with Valek on top of Leif’s chest. He held Leif’s machete to Leif’s throat as my brother struggled to get his breath.
“What are you doing here?” Valek asked.
“Come. To find. Yelena,” Leif said between gasps.
“Why?”
By this time, I’d recovered from my surprise. “It’s all right, Valek. He’s my brother.”
Valek moved the blade away, but remained on top of him. Leif’s face twisted into an expression of astonished terror.
“Valek? You have no smell. No aura,” Leif said.
“Is he a simpleton?” Valek asked me.
I grinned. “No.” I pulled Valek from Leif. “His magic can sense a person’s soul. Your immunity must be blocking his power.” I bent over Leif and examined him, looking for broken bones with my magic. I didn’t find any serious injuries.
“Are you all right?” I asked Leif.
He sat up and glanced nervously at Valek. “That depends.”
“Don’t worry about him, he’s overprotective.”
Valek harrumphed. “If you could keep out of trouble for one day, protecting you wouldn’t be so instinctive.” He rubbed his leg. “Or so painful.”
Leif had recovered from his shock and stood.
My annoyance returned. “Why are you here?” I asked.
He looked at Valek then at the ground. “It was something Mother said.”
I waited.
“She told me that you were lost again. And only the brother that had searched for you for fourteen years could find you.”
“How did you find me?”
Leif gestured a bit wildly at his horse. “Kiki had found Topaz in the plains, so I thought, since Rusalka was bred by
the Sandseeds, I asked her to find Kiki. And…And…”
“She found us very fast.” I mulled over what Leif had said about our mother. “Why does Perl think I’m lost? And why send you? You weren’t any help the last time.” Now, I had to suppress the urge to punch him. He had almost killed me with his machete at Ferde’s house.
Leif cringed with guilt. “I don’t know why she sent me.”
I was about to tell him to go home, when Moon Man walked into sight. “A good guy,” I said to Valek before he could attack him.
“This seems to be quite the meeting place,” Valek muttered under his breath.
When Moon Man came closer, I asked, “No mysterious arrival? No coalescing from a sunray? Where’s the paint?” The scars on his arms and legs stood out against his dark skin, and he wore a pair of short pants.
“It is no fun when you already know those tricks,” Moon Man said. “Besides, Ghost would have killed me if I had suddenly appeared.”
“Ghost?” I asked.
Moon Man pointed to Valek. “Kiki’s name for him. It makes sense,” he said, seeing the look of confusion on my face. “To magical beings, we see the world through our magic. We see him with our eyes, but cannot see him with our magic. So he is like a ghost to us.”
Valek listened to Moon Man. Although expressionless, I could tell by the rigid set to Valek’s shoulders that he was prepared to strike.
“Another relative?” Valek asked.
A broad smile stretched Moon Man’s lips. “Yes. I am her mother’s uncle’s wife’s third cousin.”
“He’s a Story Weaver, a magician of the Sandseed clan,” I explained. “And what are you doing here?”
Moon Man’s playfulness faded from his face. “You are on my lands. I could ask you the same thing, but I already know why you have come. I came to make sure you keep your promise.”
“What promise?” Leif and Valek asked at the same time.
I waved the question away. “I will, but not now. We need—”
“I know what you intend to do. You will not succeed with that unless you untangle yourself,” Moon Man said.
“Me? But I thought you said…” I stopped. He had made me promise to untie Leif, but then I remembered that Moon Man had said our lives twisted together. But what did helping Leif have to do with going after Alea? “Why won’t I succeed?” I asked.