“The mark was real,” Mel admits quietly. “Obel inked him – we saw the needle push into his skin – and now the line is gone. A miracle? I don’t know, but I do know that whatever Longsight and Minnow are planning, whether it is miraculous or not, it will only mean more power for them and less freedom for the people. Whatever he says, however generous he might appear, the mayor will always put his own needs first.”

I nod, and continue packing. Within moments we are ready.

“Won’t they notice?” I ask tentatively. “We can’t just leave, can we?”

“Of course we can,” she says, sounding braver than she must feel. “I strutted around the government building making a nuisance of myself, demanding extra measures in these extreme times. Eventually, I declared that I would travel to Riverton with my charge (that’s you, Leora) to call for their wisdom and support. It buys us time and it gives us reason to leave Saintstone unobstructed. We have even been given horses.” She grins. “The mayor can’t wait for us to leave. Now. You do remember how to get to Featherstone, don’t you?”

Chapter Twenty-two

The horses are sure-footed, but there are times where I take us down a wrong path and we have to turn back. It was quicker when I was riding with Sana because, of course, she knew the forest perfectly. Although I remember the route, I still need to check for the right landmarks, and it’s becoming noticeably darker with unnerving speed.

“They will already know we’re coming,” I tell Mel. “The blanks. They watch the routes from Saintstone.”

She shrugs. “I’m counting on it.”

“If you’re counting on them being pleased to see me, well … they won’t be rolling out a great welcome, Mel. I left under a cloud, and Sana will have made sure to muddy my name since I’ve been gone.” I shiver, remembering my last few days in Featherstone. Dragging Gull from the water under the forbidding gaze of the community. That terrible discovery, that Sana had been starving and infecting her own people, to agitate for war with the marked. That bloodstained knife. The horror of Longsight’s death. Riding away from Oscar, every step feeling like my heart was being wrenched out of my chest. Leaving behind Tanya and Solomon and Fenn, all good people, to pick up the pieces.

“You still care for them, though.” Mel reaches up and brushes a branch with her hand as she passes underneath.

“I do,” I say fiercely. “I care that they’re being mistreated by Sana and they don’t seem to realize it. She has been keeping resources from the people: food, medicine, clothes. The way she sees it, the hungrier the people are, the more angry they will be with Saintstone. She needs their anger. She is desperate to wage war.”

“I wonder why,” Mel says thoughtfully. “It’s not a war they could easily win. Does she want to win – or does she want to fight?”