“Just hot. Very hot. The sun is relentless.” A trickle of sweat rolled down my throat where my scorpion necklace should be. I had taken it off and stowed it in my healing chest for safekeeping.

“It is. But Nasu says we should arrive by nightfall.” She blinked up at the sun and frowned. “Whenever that will be.”

“See anything behind us?” I asked her, glancing over my shoulder.

“Not a thing. Just traders and travelers. That’s it.”

“Good.”

We’d told Sarratum Tabni that we were going to go hide in Enlidu until the war was over in case Uruku tried again. Arwia explained that we didn’t feel safe in Manzazu since the assassination attempt, and there was a high likelihood the sarratum didn’t believe a word of what she said. She’d offered to send some Koru with us to protect us on our journey, but we’d declined. They could report on our attempt to subvert the war that the queen had planned, and we’d be hauled back to the Palace, likely in chains.

We’d been traveling for two days and two nights now, and the threat of them catching wind of what we were planning urged my feet forward. We’d lost two days planning in Manzazu before we left, so we only had about a week and a half to complete our mission.

Not nearly long enough.

“I’m going to check on Iltani,” I told Arwia.

“Okay. Tell her to stay out of the sweetwine jugs. She can drink water if she’s thirsty, like the rest of us.”

“I will. Assuming she will listen to me.”

“You can only try.”

With a sigh, I jogged lightly up to where she was making a show of leading the donkeys, but was actually clutching their bridles for dear life so she didn’t fall in her drunkenness and get trampled. She flashed a brilliant, lopsided smile at me.

“Please refrain from looking excited about all this.”

She winked as she tripped over her own two feet. “ ‘Excited’ isn’t the word I’d use. Or maybe it is. I can’t remember.”

“Why are you dipping into the sweetwine so heavily? We need that to barter or bribe! You remind me of my abum.”

“No reason.” She hiccupped, eyes glassy. “Maybe I like the brew. Have you ever thought of that? And I’ll beg you to keep your opinions to yourself.”

She poked me in the right breast and I swatted her.

“You are so crass sometimes.”

She cackled and I turned away, irritated. We were in a precarious position, and she was being flippant about it. It boggled my mind.

Dagan glanced back at us, and I caught his eye and walked quickly to catch up with him. The Boatman could take Iltani.

“Hello up here. How is protecting our life and limbs?”

“No nefarious thieves in sight.” He smiled at me, but it wasn’t the easy smile he typically wore.

Our discussion about going back to the city had been tense, starting with his outright refusal to let me go, which had been met with my own objections about not being married so I could do as I wished.