Akeylah lifted a hand to cup the back of the queen’s neck. Their foreheads touched, and she lost herself in the queen’s sea-deep gaze. “I’m more worried about you,” Akeylah murmured. “You’re a foreign queen, daughter of the country we’ve been at war with for centuries. Have you thought about what will happen if Father dies?”

“Of course I have. I’ve thought about that possibility every single day since I arrived in the Reaches. Why do you think I’m so worried about you?” Rozalind grazed her thumb along Akeylah’s jawline. “You’re almost as foreign as I am here, Akeylah. You may be half-Kolonyan, but that’s not the half people will see if they learn what you’ve done. You need to be smarter. Take care of yourself above all others, even your family.”

Akeylah closed her eyes. Savored the queen’s touch, her scent. “I can’t do that. I have to take care of the people I love, too, or I’d never forgive myself.”

“People you love.” Rozalind’s whisper set her veins alight. “Where am I on that scale?”

The corners of Akeylah’s lips curved upward. “Somewhere near the top,” she admitted in a barely there breath.

“Let’s make a deal, then, love.” Rozalind tilted her head. Akeylah mirrored her until their lips were a hair apart, so close she felt the warmth radiating from the queen’s skin. “I protect you, first and foremost.” Rozalind’s mouth brushed Akeylah’s as she spoke. “And you protect me. That way we’ll both be safe.”

Akeylah smiled, wider now. “Deal.”

9

Zofi

Two days. Two days, and still Zofi had yet to find anyone on this gods-forsaken road willing to sell a horse to a Traveler.

Despite her trustworthy boots, which her sisters had thankfully squirreled away in the supply bag they’d brought her, her feet throbbed. She’d made as much progress as possible—walked over a dozen leagues per day. By the end of the first day, she’d left behind the busy merchant stalls, which only stretched about forty miles north of Kolonya City. By the end of the second, she found herself passing dozens of small roads, footpaths to the outer settlements dotting Kolonya proper. Each one nestled into village-sized clearings in the Ageless Jungle.

Late on the second evening, a thunderstorm struck, and she gave up trying to sleep in the muddy patches under the trees. Instead, she dug into the supply of coins her sisters had added to the rucksack. It was enough to pay for room and board in the next village she found.