Then I felt the fullness of a bandage beneath her trouser leg. I cut open the fabric and found the first wound. Wren found the other on her arm. Bites. Dog bites. Disbelief flooded through me.
“She’s been bitten by ashti,” I said.
Everyone had circled around us and was looking down at her.
“She won’t make it through the night at the ruin,” Gunner said.
Priya groaned. “She’s going to need the antidote. Fast.”
“Half their army is already chasing us down,” Titus said. “If we don’t hide out in the ruin until nightfall—” He left the sentence hanging, then cursed.
The only antidote I knew of was in the healer’s bag—in the vault—halfway up the mountain. We’d have to make a run for it in broad daylight.
A decision didn’t have to be made. I began gathering Kazi up in my arms, and Gunner began giving orders. Priya and Paxton would ride forward, he and Wren behind, with me and Kazi in the middle, since it would be hard for me to fend off attacks with her in my arms. Titus would go to the ruin to wait for Mason, Synové, and the others, and tell them what had happened. They would head back after nightfall as planned. He asked Imara to return to town and spread the rumor that riders had been seen on the opposite side of town, heading in the other direction, then he altered our planned route. It would mean crossing two roads, but it would shave an hour off our ride.
Mije stamped as if he knew his mistress was in distress.
Paxton held Kazi in his arms as I climbed up in Mije’s saddle, and once he had lifted her up to me and everyone had mounted, I yelled, “Baricha!” and Mije flew like a winged demon, kicking up the soft dirt in his wake.
* * *
Under the best of conditions, it was a three-hour ride from town to the hidden entrance. In some places, a horse couldn’t go any faster than someone on foot. Every time we had to slow, my breath backed up in my chest. How long ago had she been bitten? I had never known anyone who had actually died from an ashti bite before. But my father had. When I was eight and he was teaching me commands and a healthy respect for the dogs, he told me that a friend of his had died from a bite. They were snowed in at a station high above the lumber camp and couldn’t make it down the mountain for the antidote. It’s not something you ever want to see, boy. I wish I could erase it from my memory. His friend died after six days.
This was no accident. Montegue had done this to her. Why? If he had already sentenced her to hang, why would he do this too?
Because she knew where Lydia and Nash were. She knew where the entrance was.
She had information that could destroy my family, and she wouldn’t give it up to him.
Because she had betrayed him and he wanted her to suffer. I kept the anger at a distance for now. I knew it would consume me. For now Kazi was all that mattered. But I knew the rage would come, and then even the gods couldn’t keep me from Montegue.
* * *
I pressed my hand to Kazi’s mouth, forcing back her groans.
I’m sorry, Kazi. I’m sorry. Just a few more minutes.
We hid in the trees and undergrowth as a platoon passed on the road that led from the arena. About half of them were on foot, the other half on horses. Two wagons loaded with hay traveled in the middle of the caravan.
“Shhh, my love,” I whispered softly int
o her ear, trying to soothe her. “Shhh.”
At the same time, I stroked Mije’s neck, willing him not to stamp or whicker. Sound from him might be mistaken for one of their horses, but we couldn’t take a chance.
When they passed out of sight around the bend, we slowly and quietly crossed the road, not wanting even the barest vibration to alert them, and once back in the cover of the forest on the other side, we flew into a gallop.
* * *
We made it across the second road that led up to the back side of Tor’s Watch without encountering anyone, but now we were traveling along a narrow ridge single file, and our progress was painstakingly slow. Kazi shook, another spasm squeezing the life from her, her jaw and fists clenching, her moans growing louder, and then she went limp and quiet, which frightened me even more. I checked her pulse. It was faint, like her body was giving out.
“Stay with me, Kazi,” I said to her over and over again. “Stay with me. We’re almost there.” But we weren’t.
Priya was leading and called back, “How is she?”
“Not good.”
Most of the time we didn’t talk for fear of alerting a patrol, but on this sheer, rocky side of the mountain, there was no one near to hear.