Ever the Hunted (Clash of Kingdoms #1)(45)
My body freezes in place. “Is that a common name around here?”
“Only one around these parts.” She moves on to another jar that releases a potent whiff of musk when she pulls out a pinch of the moss-green stuff. After cinching the pouch’s strings, she shakes the contents.
I watch her while my mind tosses over how to convince this old woman to give me directions to Enat’s home. She’ll think I’m crazy. Or after no good.
When the old woman looks up with the pouch in her left hand, I ignore the urge to fidget with the boy’s cap on my head. Despite my plan to share no details, I go on instinct, hoping the truth will earn Enat’s whereabouts.
“I’ve actually come a far way to find Enat,” I confess. “I don’t mean any harm. I just need answers about my father, and I believe she has them. Will you tell me how to find her?”
Her curled nails click against her cane. “She’s old and doesn’t take kindly to visitors” is all she says.
She breathes in deep and slow, thinking. “Odd as it may be, I believe you don’t mean any harm. Hopefully, Enat will see the same and not give much trouble.” I notice she doesn’t say no trouble. “Enat lives on the outskirts of the city at the southern end.” Her words paint a vision of the path I’ll need to follow from the white cliffs to Flat Rock, then east into the Skyward Forest, where goliath trees scrape the sky. Enat’s home is hidden in those woods, beyond a tree cave. To my confusion, she gives the unsubstantial explanation: “You’ll know it when you see it.”
Seeds and stars, a tree cave? I hope she’s right.
To my surprise, she hands me the pouch. “Sprinkle this inside the cave under the tree, and it’ll show you Enat’s home.”
There’s something to be made of the woman’s having mixed the pouch’s contents before I inquired about directions to Enat’s home. Though perhaps sometimes it’s best to offer gratitude instead of wariness. I start to thank her when the slightest prickle along the back of my neck catches me in midsentence.
A moment later, Cohen barges into the shop, his gaze wild till it lands on me.
“There you are.” His eyes shift to the woman, and his mouth settles into a hard, unyielding line, his expression guarded. “We need to go.”
Sparing one last glance in the woman’s direction, I mouth Thank you, and then trail Cohen out of the shop. I’d bet my bow he’s not pleased that I left, although he doesn’t say as much. Cohen jumps right to the business at hand, lowering his voice so only I can hear as we rush away from the Elementiary. “Delmar wasn’t able to give me much—?only that Enat lives on the outskirts of the village. He said Channeler magic obscures her location.” Frustration tinged with defeat darkens his tone. “I don’t know how to get to her now.”
I beam at him and hold up the pouch. “Good thing I do.”
Chapter
20
WE TRAVEL ALONG THE HILLS, HIDING IN the brush and patches of trees running parallel to the road. Clouds form in the west, gray beasts that slink away from the ocean, growling in an untamed approach. If we move quickly enough, we’ll reach Enat’s home before they’re overhead.
An hour out of Celize, we pass a group of uniformed men, geared with swords and bows. Soldiers headed to war. The clean press of their coats shows they haven’t seen a fight yet. How soon will that change?
Though we’re hidden in the trees, Cohen, who’s taken to sitting behind me, stiffens. At first I figure he’s concerned they’ll see us. But the foliage is too dense and dark.
“Tell me about Finn,” I probe once the men are out of sight.
“My ma’s beside herself with worry. He’s had hardly any training in hand-to-hand fighting. Only what I taught him . . . It isn’t enough.” Cohen could be a statue for the little he moves; just his low tenor voice and the vibration of his words quaking softly across my back remind me of our proximity. “He’s fourteen. Not old enough to be called a man. Though the king wants him to fight like one.”
My thoughts shift to the jeweled, lean man I saw in the courtyard that day at the castle. It doesn’t seem right that our spoiled leader can force even the young into war. Once the king’s orders are given, only the king can retract them. It makes me wonder if our leader’s determination will be our country’s downfall, causing Malam to lose to Shaerdan’s more battle-seasoned soldiers.
“Will your father fight alongside him?” I ask.
“He died last winter.”
His straightforward answer socks me in the stomach with guilt. I’ve been angry with Cohen for not returning for Papa’s wake, while I made no effort to find out what was going on with his family. He loves his family dearly and worked tirelessly during his apprenticeship to make them proud. I can only imagine how the loss must’ve wounded Cohen.
Twisting in the saddle, I turn back to face him. “I’m sorry.”
“The ague was too much for him,” Cohen explains so matter-of-factly, it makes my heart ache. “Since Finn is the only male at home, he must fight in the war.” He cracks the knuckles on his left hand as it lies against his thigh. I notice the movement but give him my silence so he’ll continue to talk. “Should’ve been me. Not him. But I cannot go home to my family or take Finn’s place until I’ve cleared my name.”