“Right,” I said, trying to sound interested in what he was saying and not betray that I’d been watching the wind drag his hair across his face and had almost reached out to swipe it back.

I dropped my gaze and cleared my throat.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make a Tamlin out of you yet.” Cion’s hands darted forward and pulled the blindfold down over my eyes. Then his hands were on my shoulders, spinning me around so he could pull it tight once more. But all I could focus on was the way his body pressed against mine as he leaned in close and said, “Now try it again.”

He gently shoved me away.

The blood pounding through my body covered up the sounds of his feet. I forced myself to focus, to listen. I found his path and chased after him. I crashed into his side. After glancing off, I managed to regain my footing.

“Good,” he called. “Again.”

Over and over, I listened until I heard the trail he left trickling in the sand. I could tell when he shifted his weight while waiting for me to find him. I began to recognize when he was creeping along and when he was running.

I’d chase after him. Sometimes he’d catch me as I dove at him. Others he’d let me fly face-first into the sand as he’d dodge my advance. Then he’d slink away laughing.

After about the fifth time of hearing him chuckle, I ripped off the blindfold and tossed it into the sand. “You’re doing that on purpose!”

“What?” he asked, with his hands held in mock innocence. “I can’t help it if you’re not fast enough to catch me.” He had a roguish grin on his face. One I planned to wipe off.

“We’ll see about that.” I launched at him. He moved out of the way easily. I ended up rolling across the sand. I gained my footing quickly, and it became a game of chase.

We kicked up waves of sand as we ran after each other across the plateau. Wind splashed around us, spraying us with granules.

There was something freeing in the chase. There was no skill to it. We were just running in one of the last wild, free places on the earth. Here, nothing could hold us down. The sand could be shaken off. I almost felt like we could have outrun the sun, beating it to the horizon it retreated to each night.

I sped up as Cion changed direction and called over his shoulder that I’d never catch him. I’m sure he was used to that being true. He moved as one with the desert, encompassing both the ferocity of sun and the litheness of the sand.

But after months spent training in full gladiator gear, I was faster.

I tackled him into the ground. He grunted in surprise as we crashed down and rolled across each other, ending up about a foot apart. We both gulped in a mixture of sand and air while we watched the blue sky float by above us.