by Kate L. Mary
“How do you know there is another exit?” Emori asked, doubt pulling her eyebrows together.
“Mira and I saw it when we escaped the city. After I stabbed Lysander.”
Until that day, I had not known about the existence of the second gate or the tower behind the city. But Mira and I saw both after escaping through the tunnel. Behind the cover of the boulders, we had watched as a wagon, pulled by a horse, exited the city and headed for the tower. It had baffled me at the time, but I now realized the Sovereign used that gate to take supplies to the untouchables, and if we could just reach it, we would be able to make our escape.
“We go that way, then,” Emori said.
She moved as if heading out of the study, but stopped so she could swipe a couple knives up off the floor. I passed the electroprod to Asa, knowing it would be the easiest way for him to defend himself in his current state, then followed Emori’s lead by freeing the dead Fortis guards of their weapons. Using a leather tie, I secured one knife to my waist while keeping the second one out so I was ready for any trouble we might run into.
Emori was waiting for us by the door, and when my gaze met hers, she nodded before leading the way out of the house and into the streets of Sovereign City.
Like the day Mira and I escaped the city, we stuck to the back alleys. In the distance, we could hear shouts that I was certain had everything to do with us. The Fortis were searching for us, would soon discover Saffron’s body, but the city was big and the streets expansive, and with any luck they would not think to look for us at the back of the city. There was no reason for them to believe we knew of the back gate’s existence.
The sky was full dark now, and the streetlights few and far between on these back streets. I kept my arm around Asa, lending him support when he needed it, but for the most part had no problem keeping up with Emori. As we moved, I thought about the last time I had run down these streets, following Xandra with a sobbing Mira at my side. More than a year had passed since then, and so much had changed, but one thing remained the same. If we were caught, the Sovereign would make us pay.
At my side, Asa moved with noticeable difficulty, but he never stumbled. He huffed like breathing hurt, and from time to time let out a groan, but never once did he slow. Emori, who just yesterday had been my enemy, led the way, looking back on occasion like she was making sure we were still behind her. What she was thinking was a mystery even greater than what would happen between us once we fled this city, but for the moment we were on the same side, and it gave me comfort.
I had never been this deep in the city before, having spent most of my time in Saffron’s house or near the front where the shops sat. It was not easy to judge our position as we moved, or to know how close we were to the back, but when we finally reached our destination, I knew it immediately.
There was a stable.
Emori paused at the edge of the alley, ducking behind a few wooden crates while Asa and I did the same. His arm was still around me, and when I stopped, he slid to the ground behind the same crates. They kept us out of view while at the same time gave us the chance to look the place over, and the two streetlights aided us in the endeavor.
Three horses stood behind a wooden fence, and beyond them a structure sat right up against the wall. Not only was it a place of shelter for the animals and storage for the wagon, but it was also the most likely location of the gate.
“There,” I hissed, motioning toward the stable. “That is our way out.”
Emori’s head bobbed while Asa shifted, trying to get a better look.
When he let out a groan, I knelt in front of him. “How are you?”
“Better.” The tremor in his voice told me he was not telling the truth.
“What do you think?” Emori asked, drawing my attention her way.
I gave my husband’s hand a squeeze before moving to her side. No one was in sight and the area surrounding the stable was quiet except the occasional sound from the horses. The shouts we heard when we first left Saffron’s house had faded long ago, and there was no movement inside, and no indication that anyone spent time back here. The houses around us faced away from the stable, the backs of them free of windows as if the people wanted to forget the animals existed.
“It looks okay,” I replied.
Emori looked over her shoulder to where Asa sat. “He is able to move?”
“He says he is, but…” My voice faltered and I had to clear my throat. “He took a lot from the electroprod.”
“At least Saffron got what she deserved.” Emori let out a deep sigh. “Your husband will be okay. He is strong.”
I turned, studying her expression. Had she changed her mind? Had she accepted that Asa was on our side? She did not look my way, making it impossible to know what she was thinking, and her expression was still hard. Angry. As unyielding as steel.
“We should go.” Emori stood, her eyes still on the stable. “Help your husband. I will take the lead.”
I did not argue or ask what she was thinking even though I wanted to know, but instead went to Asa’s side. He needed very little help to get to his feet—thankfully—and once he was up he leaned on me less than he had before. I still kept my arms around him as we moved, though, worried the aftereffects of the shocks had not worn off completely and he might fall to the ground.
Emori moved forward like a forest cat on the prowl, her body low, hunched over and ready for attack, her steps soundless. In each of her hands she clutched a knife.
I admired her as I followed, remembering the early days of forming our new tribe and what an asset she had been in the forest. We were on the same side back then, united in our need to make the Fortis pay, and I was glad to be back there. Even if it was only temporary.
When she reached the gate that led into the stable, Emori paused to listen. One of the horses snorted at our approach, but other than the one sound, the world around us was as silent as it had been before. Confident we were safe, Emori worked to get the gate open, and we stepped into the yard.
The animals moved as if making room for us. We had to step over piles of dung and swerve around a trough filled with water before reaching the entrance to the stable where we once again paused. The building was dark except for a small light in the back, and the sight of it had my heart beating faster. It was a lantern. The way the light flickered through the darkness and off the walls gave it away.
I could tell Emori knew it, too, because she crouched lower, moved more slowly. Each step was measured, each exhale drawn out to make the least amount of noise. Asa and I followed, him leaning on me less and less with each passing second.
We turned a corner to find light streaming out of an open doorway. Emori paused, as did Asa and I, and we waited. Listening. Nothing inside the room was visible, and there was no sign of movement.
Someone coughed.
On instinct, my arm fell from Asa’s waist and I pulled my second knife, readying myself for attack, while Emori looked back to make sure we were with her.
Our eyes met, and I nodded once.
I was right behind her when she took off, jumping over a pile of wood before reaching the doorway. Once there, she paused for only a beat before charging inside. A cry rang out, and I skittered into the room in time to see Emori slash her knife across the throat of a Fortis woman.
There were two other figures in the room, both of them scrambling for weapons like we had caught them off guard. I moved to the nearest one, my knives raised as I jumped. He swatted one hand in my direction, grappling with a spear with his other, but he was too late. The knife in my right hand sank into his arm, while the blade of my other weapon found a home in his chest.
The man beneath me groaned. He reached for me, his fingers grasping at my arm. I pulled my knife from his chest and brought it down again. Blood sprayed from his lips, and a gurgling sound echoed through the room. I repeated the process, pulling my blade free only to plunge it in again, and this time I was rewarded for my efforts when the man bene
ath me went still.
I rolled off him, freeing my knives as I did, and turned to find Emori gasping for breath. She stood over the third man, who was dead as well, while at her back Asa leaned against the open doorway.
“You are okay?” I asked him.
“I’m not the one who just wrestled a man to the ground,” he said. “Are you okay?”
“As long as I am with you, I will be okay.”
Emori turned to the door, pushing her way past my husband. “We must hurry.”
I moved to Asa’s side, but he waved me away when I went to help him. “I’m okay.”
“You are sure?”
He smiled. “As long as I’m with you, I’ll be okay.”
Despite our need to hurry, I moved closer to him. Lifting myself up on the tips of my toes, my hands flat against his firm chest, I pressed my lips to his.
“After this, we will never be apart,” I whispered.
“Promise?” he said.
“I promise,” I replied.
“I found the gate!” Emori called from somewhere in the stable.
Asa took my hand before turning, and together we moved back into the darkness.
21
Asa
I was weak, but regaining my strength with each passing second. Nothing had been harder than watching Indra fight while I stood helplessly off to the side, and I only prayed I would never find myself in that position again.
The stable was twice as dark as the streets had been and smelled like horse shit. Which only served to remind me of home. Of living in the Fortis village where very few people cared where they did their business or if animal waste littered the streets. That place was gone now, like so many things I had grown up with, and I would have been lying if I said I mourned the loss. I carried guilt with me, yes, but I couldn’t pretend to feel like the deaths of those people had been anything but justice.
Just like Saffron’s had.
“There is a gate at the back of the stable, just like you said.” Emori emerged from the darkness, lithe and quick, pausing for only a moment before waving for us to follow. “There are more horses, too. They will make the getaway quick.”
Indra squeezed my hand before releasing it and hurrying after Emori. “Asa and I will share.”
I moved, too. Not as quickly or easily as the women, but faster than I had after we first fled the house. The electroprod was still in my hand, and part of me wanted to toss it aside, disgusted by the thought of it and haunted by the memories of how it had felt to have it pressed against me. I kept it, though, knowing our fight might not be over and it might prove to be useful.
The gate was right where Indra had said it would be, and in front of it stood another pen and three more horses. The women had to work together to wrangle a tentative horse into submission, but they managed to do it. Emori held it still while Indra pulled herself up onto the animal’s back.
When she was seated, she waved to me. “Climb on.”
I obeyed, thinking of another time and another horse. After Indra was whipped, when I’d met Mira and her outside my village with a horse. It had made me even more of a target with my people, but I hadn’t been able to care. Not with Indra as bloodied and beaten as she was.
Once I was up, I wrapped my arms around my wife, reveling in the fact that this time she was whole. And she was mine.
Emori didn’t go for another horse, but instead ran for the gate. “You will have to move fast. If the Fortis spot you, they will come after you.”
Indra didn’t urge the horse forward. “What are you saying?”
Emori worked to get the gate open, not looking back at us. The hinges creaked, echoing through the stable, and a second later the soft glow of moonlight filled the room.
“Go!” Emori called.
Indra extracted herself from my arms and slid off the horse, running to Emori’s side where she grabbed the other woman’s arm and pulled.
“You are coming, too.”
“No.” Emori wrenched her arm free. “I am not. I will not leave the city until Lysander is dead.”
Indra stepped back, her mouth open like she wasn’t sure how to respond.
“You know what he did,” Emori said. “You know. I cannot go on knowing he is alive. He haunts me. ”
“But you will die,” Indra said.
“I told you. I am already dead.” Emori took a step back. “I died in that house. I was thirteen the first time. A child. He did not care. I endured his abuse for five years, each time a little more of me dying until I felt like a ghost lived in this body. And he did not even remember! You heard him tonight. He did not even know who I was!”
Her voice echoed through the stable and around us the horses neighed in protest.
“Emori,” Indra said, reaching for her. “You cannot do this.”
“There is nothing of me left.” Emori slammed her fist against her chest. “What does it matter if this body perishes when there is nothing inside?”
“Come with us.” Indra reached out again, but the other woman ducked away.
“Go. You have a reason to live. I do not.” She waved to the open door before turning her eyes on me. “I was wrong. I thought he was like the others. I thought you were a fool. I see now that I was wrong.” Emori paused so she could swallow. “What must it feel like to have someone love you so completely?” She shook her head sadly. “I will never know, but I am determined to know what retribution feels like.” She lifted her hands, held them out in front of her for Indra to see. “Lysander will die by these hands. I swear it.”
“What about Isa?” Indra said. “What about your sister?”
Emori let out a long sigh. “Tell her I am sorry. Tell her I tried to be whole again, but I could not. Tell her—” She shook her head. “Tell her what you must.”
She shot one more look my way before turning on her heel and taking off, running out of the stable.
“Emori!” Indra shouted, charging after her.
I slid off the horse, nearly stumbling when my feet hit the ground, and hurried to stop my wife from running out of the stable. “We have to go.”
“We cannot leave her,” Indra said, trying to pull away from me.
I forced her to turn and face me. “You can’t stop her. You know it.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and she shook her head, but only once. “I know.”
“We have to get out of here.”
Indra moved back to the horse. In a flash she was up, and I followed, taking my place at her back. When we were both seated, she directed the horse toward the open gate, driving her heels into the animal’s flanks to get him moving. We took off, emerging from the stable and into the wastelands. It was dark but sweltering, and in the shadows I caught sight of mammoth roaches as they scurried away at our approach, but it was also the sweetest moment of my life.
22
Indra
We took the same route Mira and I had taken more than a year ago on that fateful day. This time, however, we had the benefit of the horse, and little fear that anyone would spot us thanks to the now empty Fortis village.
Asa clung to me, his body hot and firm against mine as the horse charged through the wastelands. Dust puffed up around us, filling my mouth with gritty debris, and above us the stars twinkled in the black sky. Skeleton trees flew by, growing in number as the massive dark spot in the distance grew in size. I knew it was the wilds, and I kept my focus on it as the horse flew through the wastelands, relieved when the dirt beneath us finally gave way to grass.
I slowed the horse then, allowing him to catch his breath.
To my left, smoke from the Huni village was just visible in the moonlight, floating above the trees and telling me we were not too far away. For just a moment I considered stopping to let Ontari know I was safe. I did not, though, instead choosing to get home as soon as possible. For two days Asa had been tortured, and with the knowledge of what could have happened still hanging over us, all I wanted was to be alone with him. We could se
nd a messenger to the other villages once I was back in the caves.
I was well aware that our escape had ruined the only plan we had, but with Asa pressed up against me, I found I could not care. We would figure out another way. Somehow, we would make it into the city and defeat the Sovereign.
“What happened with Emori?” Asa asked as I steered the horse through the forest.
“When the bubble went up, she thought you had betrayed us. She tried to kill me.” I took his hand, which was resting on my hip, and lifted it so he could feel the teeth at my neck. “The Mountari’s healer, Kale, saved me.”
Asa’s body stiffened. “You let her live after that?”
Something rustled in the trees above us, but in the darkness I could make out nothing. Not that I was worried. After what had happened inside the city, anything we might encounter in the wilds seemed small and insignificant.
“I considered putting Emori to death,” I told my husband, “but chose to banish her instead. The cuts on her cheeks were supposed to be a sign to anyone she came across that she had been cast out of her tribe.”
“I’m glad I didn’t know about this inside the city.” Asa’s arms tightened around my waist. “I would have killed her myself.”
“She will meet her death soon enough,” I whispered. “I can only hope she makes Lysander suffer before it happens.”
Silence fell over us for a moment, broken only by the thump of the horse’s hooves against the forest floor. In the darkness, the air felt cooler, but heavier, too. Thick. Like it still carried the heat of the day within its grasp.
“Have you seen Elora?” Asa asked eventually, breaking through the quiet.
“Briefly through the bubble, but then it went down and the Sovereign unleashed their weapon on us.” I had to pause so I could swallow, remembering that moment. The bolt of electricity, the shock of realizing what had happened. “We lost a lot of people in the valley, but thankfully, most of our army had already returned to the villages.”