Spin the Dawn(68)

A cold knot of fear twisted inside me. “How much time before…”

“Out here?” He kicked the dirt, then sat cross-legged on the ground. “Long enough for us to get back to the palace. Don’t worry about me.”

But I did worry about him. Now I understood the fatigue written on his brow, the hiding and evasive answers.

He brought his forehead to mine. “Cheer up,” he said, his voice husky. “It isn’t so bad being a hawk. I can travel more quickly than I do in my human form, and I don’t need as much food.”

An ache rose in my throat. “Your skin is getting burned.” I’d noticed this days ago, but only now did I bring it up. “You said you didn’t feel the heat or the cold.”

“As I said, the farther I go and the longer I stay away from my master, the less attuned to magic I become.”

“You said that magic was scarce in the desert.”

“That is true. But being away from Khanujin is the real problem. My spirit form instinctively tries to fly back to him every night; narrowing the distance—even for a short while—helps. But we’ve been too far from the palace for quite some time.”

I felt a surge of compassion for Edan, and I knelt beside him. “So your oath…it is for eternity?”

He shook his head. “All enchanters become free eventually. Once we have served a thousand years, our magic leaves us, and we live out the rest of our days as mortals.”

Hope glimmered in me. “How many years have you served?”

“I’m a little more than halfway through my term.”

“Oh.” I swallowed painfully. Edan was over five hundred years old! I could hardly believe it. He didn’t look older than twenty. “Can’t you ask Emperor Khanujin to free you?”

Edan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I used to think so,” he said finally, “but not anymore. His father promised to free me after he unified A’landi. I waited years, but he was always afraid the shansen would rise against him. When at last he resolved to fulfill his promise, he died. And his fears about the shansen came to fruition.”

“But the truce—”

“Tensions with the shansen are still high. The wedding may hold things together for a while, but Khanujin is worried the shansen will betray the truce.”

“That would be dishonorable.”

“Perhaps,” Edan allowed, “but so long as he remains a threat, Khanujin will never free me. Especially since the shansen knows that Khanujin is weak without me.”

“What do you mean?”

Edan’s gaze was piercing. “Khanujin draws upon my magic to make himself stronger, more powerful…more charming. It’s how he wins everyone over. Even you.”

Even me. I flushed, but I couldn’t deny it. The magnetism of being near Emperor Khanujin was hard to ignore. I pursed my lips. “But not Lady Sarnai.”

“I don’t know how she resists. She has no magical ability herself.”

So many things made sense to me now. This was the secret Lady Sarnai had been trying to discover. A secret her own father, the shansen, had kept from her. It was all about Edan. “So that’s why the emperor won’t leave his rooms—because you’re away from him. That’s why he wouldn’t let you go with me.”

“I left his side because a wedding between Lady Sarnai and the emperor is the best option for peace, and I promised Khanujin’s father I would do everything in my power to bring peace to A’landi.”

“You helped Emperor Khanujin win the war.”

“Yes,” Edan admitted, “but at great cost to your people.”

I plucked a handful of grass, then let the wind carry it from my hand. It was blasphemy to speak my thoughts aloud, but I couldn’t help it. “Would you be free if he died?”

Edan turned to watch the horses. They were so happy, munching on a patch of grass. “No, the oath does not work that way. The amulet would return to the sands or the sea, and the first man to find it would become my new master.”

“And during that time—”

“I’d spend it as a hawk,” he said. “During my years between masters, I’ve seen much of the world this way.” A faint grin. “So I’m not really as old as you think.”

His attempt at humor was lost on me. My lip trembled. “What if I steal the amulet?”

“You’d become my master, yes, but also the target of every assassin in A’landi. Maia, it isn’t that easy. Owning the amulet always makes my masters…change. I wouldn’t want that to happen to you.” He became wistful. “I used to be passionate about magic before my oath. I used to believe in the good of magic. In the good of people.” The wind flattened his hair, emphasizing his boyishness as he turned his gaze at me. “You make me remember a part of myself I’d forgotten.”

“Sounds like I’d have liked the old Edan more,” I said quietly.

“Probably,” he admitted. “He was less proud. More earnest, but also more reckless. More boy than man.”

I gave him half a smile. “You’re still a boy. No man would name his horse Valiant Grace.”

Chuckling, he reached out to touch my cheek. “I wish we’d met in different circumstances, Maia.” He pulled his hand back. “But I came with you to help you. Gods know you need it.”