Without the sun to guide them, Kaye and Hogog had, in their desperation, overcorrected and met the road ahead of the caravan. No fresh tracks were worked into the soil, and they turned south.

  They had trekked through the night, starting at every sound, not even stopping to catch their breaths even at dawn. No words were exchanged, but Kaye and her uncle gnced at one another. Sometimes their eyes met, and they made sure that the other could continue.

  Kaye wasn’t sure how she was still managing. Her strength was depleted to the point of dragging her feet, wincing at the aching blisters; her eyes closed of their own volition. It wouldn’t take much more for her to colpse.

  When finally they came upon the caravan, Kaye had to look up to check the sky. The sun had fully risen. She could barely remember the past hours.

  Some guards helped support their weight in the st stretch of walking, guiding them to barrels where they could sit. Aien was suddenly there, a hand on her shoulder.

  “Let me carry that for you.”

  Aien picked up Kaye and Hogog’s packs, but his eyes lingered on her for a long moment. Working to catch her breath, Kaye couldn’t tell what he was expecting, so she simply watched.

  I must look like a mess, Kaye thought. Could Aien see how shook she looked? How frightened? When they first met, she had killed. It happened again in the past night. Was there something in her eyes to give it away?

  Eventually, Aien turned away to carry their things back to the cart. When he came back, he was walking behind Shoshin with his guards and followers, who had to wait for them to water their throats — two swallows, with an interval between so they wouldn’t choke — before they managed to speak again.

  “We found a Headhunter band,” Hogog said, no preamble, his voice hoarse.

  “How far?” Shoshin asked.

  “A day southeast from here.”

  The crowd murmured, shifted uncomfortably.

  “Could be two days.” Kaye said; all eyes turned to her. “They are trying to stay hidden, away from the road. We might have two days, at most.”

  “How many?”

  “We don’t know,” Hogog answered. “It was too dark, and we almost walked right into them. It could be just a camp but could be an army too, we… Please, we’ve been walking all night, we can’t…” he didn’t finish his sentence, but Shoshin didn’t push.

  Turning to the people closest to him, Shoshin started issuing orders. Back on the road… kill the camels that can’t keep up… travel through the first half of night… Kaye could only vaguely follow what was being said.

  The blessing came soon after, when Aien guided them to wagons where they could sleep, one in each. Stepping around crates, Kaye found a bedding made of cheap fabric. Rough though it was, she colpsed on it like a doll.

  She dreamt the briefest of dreams. She was Jane feeling motion sickness in a bus in one moment, and in the next a nauseated Kaye in a ship. Two fshes, and she opened her eyes to the musty, hot interior of a creaking wagon.

  Kaye pushed herself up, her body ached with the effort, but the air was stifling. She made her way to the exit, and slid out of the wagon instead of hopping, fearing she would lose bance.

  Aien was there, walking by the side of the wagon.

  “You should rest,” he said.

  “I’m going to die in there.”

  “Water?”

  “Please.”

  He handed Kaye a waterskin, and its lukewarm temperature was the only thing that kept her from gulping it down. The air outside was still hot even while following the wagon’s shadow, but at least she could breathe properly.

  “Where’s my uncle?”

  “Sleeping in the one on the back... He snores like a boar.”

  Kaye managed a short-lived ugh. “How long did I sleep?”

  “Three hours, I think. It’s just past noon. We ate while walking. You must be hungry.”

  “Starving.”

  “Wait here, I’ll grab you something, and please hop in the wagon, take the curtains out if you need. I can’t have you dying.” Aien rushed over his words, not giving Kaye a chance to speak before he moved away.

  You feel responsible for dragging us into this. You keep helping us.

  Kaye sat at the far-end of the wagon, legs dangling out. She ate when Aien came back with a small bundle of rations and more water. The rest of her day was spent shifting in and out of sleep, her body trying to catch up to its own necessities.

  Every time she stepped outside, Aien was there.

  The camp continued to move after night fell, slowly but steady. More than once, Kaye watched as a camel was dragged away from the road to be sacrificed, its body hidden, though they weren’t even sure they were being pursued yet.

  The moon was bright in the night sky when they finally pulled to a halt and began to set up a hasty camp. They wouldn’t sleep much that night, after all, and Shoshin had ordered that the rger tents weren’t set up, as those took longer to collect in the morning. Kaye helped how she could, not exhausted but still tired, Aien following through it all, helping along. Either out of empathy or forgetfulness, she wasn’t called in for her scouting duties.

  Kaye was started when she spotted the sve wagon. She had forgotten about them.

  They were still there, but the end of the wagon closer to the coachman was now filled with crates, pots and satchels, all away from their grasp. No space could be wasted.

  “You’re alive,” was the first thing Uruoro said, worry in his eyes. “Though admittedly you look half-dead. What happened?”

  “I killed someone,” Kaye answered, then realized that wasn’t what he meant. A child. “We found Headhunters, a day or two away. They got two of our scouts, I think.”

  Loho turned with a grin, the light from a nearby fire wavering on his face.

  “I told you, small man. They are coming for us.”

  “For you too,” Aien reminded him.

  “That they are, unless you put that sword in my hand and give me back my mask.”

  “What can you do?” Kaye asked.

  “He’s just talking,” Aien said.

  “There is respect among the Headhunters, Green One.” Loho dragged his words as if he was speaking to a child, and Uruoro transted what Kaye didn’t understand. “When they come upon this camp, I will tell them what I am. They will ugh and curse, and I will curse them back, but they will give me back my mask, will put a sword on my hand, and I will challenge them. The stupider ones will step forward, and once I am done gutting them, I will be released. Then I will turn to the crowd, say that I am thirsty, that I need more blood, and they will shake in fear, Headhunters or not.”

  Shaking his head, Aien clicked his tongue. “You’re very confident for a shackled man.”

  The chains tinkled as Loho turned to address Aien.

  “My hands are still close enough to wield a sword, boy,” Loho pointed to him. “Give me yours, and I will be in your debt.”

  “You think you can fight through a Headhunter army?”

  “Have you been listening? They will leave you be, if I say you are under my protection.”

  Aien chuckled, gestured for Kaye.

  “Someone can put an arrow through you while you’re there.”

  “Headhunters die fighting.”

  “Still, it could happen.”

  Loho rolled his eyes, shook his head. “You will regret not listening to me, boy. Perhaps the girl is smarter than you.”

  “Stay away from her,” Uruoro interjected, “the girl doesn’t have a sword.”

  You can’t choose for me. Kaye would have said the words, if it had been anyone but Uruoro.

  “Then you all die, and I will remember,” with that, Loho turned away as if dismissing them.

  “I would like to see you fight an Armsmaster,” Aien said.

  Loho ignored him. Uruoro leaned closer. “What is your name, if I may ask?”

  “Aien Bashek.”

  “I am called Uruoro. Man Of The Lake. You should be careful, Aien Bashek. I am as much a sve as Loho is, but I am not threatening you when I speak these words: a Headhunter can only sheathe their sword after they draw blood. They are not allowed to put the bde away until they kill, even if they have to sleep with it in their grasp. Being unarmed during a duel is the greatest shame to a Headhunter, and though I hope not, perhaps you have lived enough to know what one can do when brought into the abyss of desperation. As much as Loho despises us, there is scant entertainment here, so we talk. He has been wearing the jade mask for two decades, and that must mean something.”

  Aien raised a hand, pointing at Loho. “I can still see the shackles, and he could be lying about everything. I’ll say it again: I would like to see him fight an Armsmaster.”

  “And are you one?”

  That got to Aien. He winced as if being stung.

  “I’ll check on your uncle,” Aien said as he walked away.

  Loho chuckled. “Still a boy.”

  Kaye gnced at Uruoro, nodded and left.

  Words danced in Kaye’s mind, and she was te in falling asleep. The wagon’s movement awakened her and she hopped outside. It was still dark when they started the march. It took the better part of an hour until the first rays of sunlight showed themselves.

  Kaye moved back through the caravan, looking for the cart with her belongings and in desperate need of clothes that weren’t soaked through with sweat. After she was done changing, a figure waved at her. It was one of Shoshin’s followers.

  “The master is ordering you to scout east again. Your uncle is at the tail-end.”

  The man only watched for long enough to be sure she moved out. Kaye picked her bow and quiver before leaving.

  Hogog was farther down the caravan, but he wasn’t at the tail as the man had said. Almost a hundred paces behind him there was a crowd, still walking the road, but keeping their distance for some reason, some to the side of the road to avoid the dust cloud, others shrouded in it. Above, dawn had finally broken, painting the sky in orange and purple.

  “Who are they?” Kaye asked.

  “Stragglers.”

  They can’t keep up, she thought. The only reason I can is because I slept in the wagon.

  “Come,” Hogog said, “the master is in a bad mood already, and we have to talk.”

  “We have?” Kaye asked, following behind.

  He answered a few paces ter, “It helps to just say the words, even if others only listen. Even if you speak to yourself.”

  She’d rather not. “About what?”

  “About the other day. About the boy… the boy we killed. Bme me if you want, I don’t mind. I’m not going to say it was the correct thing to do, but you have to understand it was necessary.”

  “Aien told you, didn’t he? That I mentioned it to Uruoro?”

  “We’re all keeping an eye on each other, but that is not the issue here. I’ve told you time and time again, how I know when something is bothering you. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but at least I know that.”

  “Uruoro is my friend.”

  “And I’m your family.”

  Kaye sighed. This has gone on for long enough, Kaye.

  “The reason why you keep needing to get me to talk, the reason why I don’t want to work through this right now, is because I know that the moment we start discussing this, I’m going to end up thinking about mother and father, and I’ve done everything I can to avoid that.”

  If it wasn’t for the silence that followed, perhaps Kaye wouldn’t have realized it.

  You need to talk about it just as much. It had never occurred to her, not until that moment, that perhaps Hogog hadn’t ever killed before Kakinse. That he was also incapable of facing his dead family. That all his attempts to help her were just as much pleas for help.

  “You don’t think we’re going to get another chance,” Kaye said.

  “Don’t say that,” Hogog answered, fast and sharp. “We make it through, Kaye, no matter what. Gairin would never forgive me. Taya would never forgive me. I’m sorry, forget I said anything.” Hogog quickened his pace.

  No, not now, not after that. Kaye sprinted to reach him.

  “Back at Rair’s pce, it was different. Everything was so sudden, there was no time to think. I was mad, I was desperate. Ashamed. The other day—”

  “Ashamed?”

  Kaye continued without pausing to breathe. “Ashamed because I was going to abandon you. That day, I spent all my money on a ship passage. I was going to write a letter, hide it in Rair’s room so he could show it to you. I would have left you all to die.”

  “Oh… Oh Kaye, you should have told us,” voice wavering, Hogog approached.

  Kaye colpsed under his embrace, sobbing. She remembered the job they were meant to be doing and ignored it.

  “The other day,” she continued, “it wasn’t like that, it felt like… like hunting, and I know we could’ve been killed, I know that, but still… if they are following us, someone out there will be out for blood…”

  “I won’t let them get to you,” Hogog tried to reassure her, but his voice was wavering.

  Shaking her head against his chest, Kaye gently pulled out. “That’s not it, they didn’t even see us. It’s not the revenge I’m scared of.” Wiping tears from her eyes, she snapped her arm to point southeast. “I killed someone’s son.”

  And he won’t get a second chance. He won’t be born again.

  A deep breath, then another. It took her a moment to realize Hogog wasn’t staring at her, but past her.

  “Kaye. They’re here.”

  She turned. In the direction she had been pointing, figures were moving, far enough away to look like a dark stain in the washed-out soil, still close enough to see.