If she’d been home, Santiago would have ridden beside her, his dark eyes turned up to the sky in the hopes of rain.
If she’d been home, she and Santiago wouldn’t have had to “look for firewood.” They’d have had a royal tent that no one would have dared approach at night.
Enough “ifs.”
Gold Point was no longer her home. She’d never ride with Santiago again. Thinking about it did nothing but cause pointless hurt. Her brother, Sean, had assured her than Santiago was all right. That was all that mattered. She should be grateful that she even knew that much.
“Look at that!” Ross pointed.
A brilliant pink bird dropped out of the clouds. It circled overhead, then veered off and soared back the way it had come.
Jennie shaded her eyes and watched it go. “The Saigon Alliance uses those birds to send messages. That must have been a scout. So we’re near the border.” She indicated the cracked remnants of a cement bridge. “I think three of us should wait under this overhang, and two should ride ahead.”
“Why don’t we all go?” Summer asked.
“Las Anclas doesn’t have a good reputation,” Jennie explained. She bit off the end of the sentence, presumably for Summer’s benefit; Kerry supposed it would have been something like, thanks to Tom Preston. “The last thing we want to do is look threatening, so the fewer, the better. Ross is used to coming into strange towns, so he should go with me.”
Summer scowled. “I’m used to coming to strange towns, too.”
And what happened after you got there? Kerry thought. Something involving the mysterious “we?”
But she wasn’t about to go there. Summer’s sulkiness was probably easier to deal with than whatever emotion lay underneath it. Instead, Kerry said, “If they’re threatening, we need to split up the people who can fight. So you should stay here.”
At the word “fight,” Summer’s scowl vanished, and she gave a short nod.
She needs purpose, Kerry thought. Or trust. I bet someone betrayed her, and she doesn’t want to trust again. But she wants to be trusted.
Kerry knew betrayal well. She could almost see Father’s merciless smile. Whenever it widened enough to show his teeth, someone always died.
She forced the image from her mind and watched Jennie and Ross ride ahead. Rain began to splat down, making shiny dots on the dusty road. Kerry led the royal horses under the bridge. They didn’t mind getting wet, but she didn’t want to groom mud out of their coats.
“This is boring,” Summer said, as she’d remarked every few hours for the entire trip. No one ever responded. Kerry wondered if Summer said it as a test—and what she was testing for.
Mia walked into the rain and crouched to peer at the road.
Curious, Kerry followed her. “See something shiny?”
“Yes, actually.” Mia cupped her hand around a crack in the road, then blew gently into it.
Summer joined them as Mia lifted her hand to display a delicate insect like a copper-colored butterfly. Its metallic wings spread wide and fluttered gently. Rain fell on them, but was absorbed rather than rolling off. With every drop, its wings grew bigger and brighter.
“It’s a rain-catcher,” Mia said. “We have them in Las Anclas, but not as colorful. They blend into the sand.”
The rain-catcher flapped its wings, which were now bigger than Mia’s palm, and soared away. As the three of them watched it spiral up into the sky, cool rain spattering their upturned faces, Kerry felt a companionship that she’d had with Mia and Summer separately but never with both together, delicate as a soap bubble.
The beat of hooves caught their attention. Mia whirled around. Summer tensed, poised to leap. From the sound of it, there were far more horses than would make sense for a welcoming committee.
“Weapons ready,” Kerry said. “It sounds like trouble.”
“Yesss,” Summer hissed with satisfaction. “Finally.”
Kerry, Mia, and Summer stepped apart so they wouldn’t foul each other’s aim with their crossbows. Jennie and Ross rode up with an escort of ten hostile-looking armed people, most visibly Changed. They looked resigned rather than frightened, so Kerry relaxed a little. This was clearly going to be Get out and don’t come back, not This way to the execution platform.
The leader, who wasn’t much older than Kerry, had tightly curled black hair and wore a shirt cut to expose four small, gauzy wings. They fluttered as he spoke, reminding her of the rain-catcher. He announced, “Your Mr. Preston made it quite clear that Changed people are not welcome in Las Anclas. Well, citizens of Las Anclas are not welcome in Palos Verdes. Get on your horses and ride away from our border.”
Tom Preston had been voted out of office, but he was still ruining things for everyone. At least they were just getting kicked out, not attacked. But the detour would add days to their trip.
“Las Anclas held an election recently,” Jennie said. “Mr. Preston is no longer the defense chief.” She stretched out her hand, and a pebble flew into it with a loud smack. “Changed people are welcome in our town.”
Winged Guy seemed unmoved. “Sure they are. Is he still there?”
“Yes,” Jennie admitted.
“Then take off.” His gauzy wings flapped in emphasis.
Summer stiffened. Kerry caught her eye and gave her a quick head-shake. The last thing they needed was to get into a completely unnecessary, two-to-one battle. Summer scowled, but didn’t attack.
“We understand,” Jennie said in a tone calculated to be calming but not condescending. Kerry suspected that she intended it for both the Palos Verdes escort and Summer. “We’ll ride east and go around.”
“Go right ahead,” the winged leader said with a sneer.
Kerry went to the underhang and rode Nugget out to join the others. Summer followed her on Sally, and Mia on Buttermilk. A chorus of gasps and exclamations rose up from the Palos Verdes patrollers at the sight of the royal horses. Kerry materialized a sword, ready to defend them. A detour was one thing, but nobody was going to steal her Nugget.
“They’re like Yuki’s horse!” a woman exclaimed.
That was the last thing Kerry had expected. The sword wavered in her hand.
“You know Yuki? Yuki Nakamura?” Jennie asked.
The winged guy sounded a whole lot less hostile as he said, “Why didn’t you mention him?”
“Any friend of Yuki’s is a friend of ours!” exclaimed a girl. The tendrils she had instead of hair waved enthusiastically.
A woman whose auburn hair crackled and sparked with static electricity said, slightly suspiciously, “You are friends of his, right?”
“Of course we are. I’m Kerry, the one who gave him Tigereye.” Kerry put on her most practiced smile, hoping that if they knew Yuki, he’d at least told them the name of his horse. With any luck, he’d also mentioned hers.
To her relief, her guess was correct. The winged guy turned to his people and said, “Lower your weapons. Only the real Kerry Cho would know the name of his horse.”
And I bet the entire royal horse stud that Yuki didn’t tell you where I came from or what my name used to be, Kerry thought as she ladled even more sincerity into her smile. “Yes, that’s me.”
Mia unslung her crossbow and peered up at Winged Guy. “How do you know Yuki?”
“He saved my little brother’s life,” the girl said. Kerry admired her tendrils, which were silvery on top and a deep blue underneath. They rippled like the sea as she spoke. “He came through town a couple months ago. He just said he was a prospector. We didn’t know where he was from.”
“We’re always happy to see prospectors,” Winged Guy said, with a significant glance at Jennie. He’d obviously pegged her as the representative of Las Anclas.
“And so is Las Anclas. Now,” Jennie said.
“Well, come along!” Winged Gut said.
They introduced themselves as they rode south—Ross pushing ahead of anyone else, introducing himself only as “Ross.” Kerry was surpr
ised at his uncharacteristic behavior, until she remembered Summer’s stories about the legendary Ross Juarez, who could blow up dams with his mind. Picking up his cue, Jennie smoothly introduced herself, Mia, and Summer by first name only. Summer didn’t protest; Kerry supposed she didn’t care if Ross got any glory or not.
Shireen, formerly Tendril Girl, continued her story. “Yuki didn’t have anything to trade, so he offered to give the town half the value of any finds he made if we let him explore our sea caves. He was on my family’s fishing boat, on the way to the island with the caves, when a kelp tentacle lunged up from the water, grabbed my brother by the ankle, and yanked him overboard. Yuki dove after him before I even realized what happened. Then we all dived in, but the water was so murky, we couldn’t see them. And we had to fight the kelp.”
“Cool,” Summer breathed.
Shireen went on, “They were under so long, we thought they were both dead. Then Yuki surfaced with a knife in one hand and his other arm around my brother. We hauled them both back into the boat. A piece of the biggest kelp tentacle I’d ever seen was still wrapped around my brother’s ankle!”
Another patroller chimed in, “Of course, after that, the town elders told him to just keep anything he found. But he was so honorable that he refused to go back on his bargain.”
“Yuki stayed with my family,” the winged leader, whose name was Adebayo, added. “He had amazing stories. He said Tigereye was a gift from a girl named Kerry Cho, who rode like the wind. But he never told us Kerry was from Las Anclas.”
Kerry smothered a laugh as Jennie said as diplomatically as ten Mayor Wolfes, “Things really are different in Las Anclas now.”
“About time,” exclaimed Shireen. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
Summer spoke up. “We want to see the Catalina Players!”
“Oh, too bad,” the woman with electric hair remarked. “You missed them! They were here last week. Keep heading south, and maybe you’ll catch them.”
Adebayo added, “But first, you’re invited to a feast. And you have to tell us about your travels.”
Shireen put in, “And the battle with Evil King Voske, and how you got rid of Evil Preston!”
Kerry snorted at Ross’s look of horror at the prospect of public speaking; he obviously hadn’t figured out yet that with Summer around, he’d never have to open his mouth if he didn’t want to. But Jennie’s flinch wasn’t funny at all.
Quietly, Jennie asked, “Mia, if I tell them about the election, could you do the battle?”
Mia leaned over the saddle to pat Jennie’s hand. “Of course.”
As if daring Jennie to argue, Summer said, “I can tell stories. Lots of them!”
“That’s a great idea,” Kerry said. Summer grinned.
Palos Verdes was a small ocean-side town, divided between houseboats and adobe buildings. But they didn’t see much of it, as they were taken straight to the nearest patrol outpost. There a group of patrollers took their horses to the stables, then invited them to a lavish meal of asparagus and crab soup, steamed fish with ginger and lemon grass, egg rolls stuffed with shrimp and herbs, fried flatbread, sautéed mustard greens, and a sponge cake topped with candied apricots. Kerry enjoyed the fresh seafood, which was still a novelty to her. At Gold Point, the only sea fish came from traders, and was dried or smoked.
Once everyone was finished, Adebayo said, “Now let’s hear your news.”
Summer stood up eagerly. “Before we talk about the battle, let me tell you how I crossed the great desert.” With relish, she began recounting a series of implausible but hair-raising chases, duels, and animal attacks. Ross looked alarmed, and Kerry figured he expected accusations of lying. But the younger patrollers listened raptly, clearly preferring a good story to the truth.
“Some say that famous gunslinger Ross Juarez rode through Las Anclas after he blew up King Voske’s palace and ran off with his beautiful daughter,” Shireen remarked. “Any of you ever meet him?”
“No,” Jennie said firmly.
Ross scrambled to his feet and slunk away, muttering something about checking on the horses. No one gave him a second glance, not even to joke about him and the gunslinger sharing a first name. He’d been so silent, they’d all probably forgotten it.
Kerry stood as well. If they expected everyone to talk, she’d be better off gone. All that friendliness would evaporate in an instant if they learned who she really was. “I’ll help Ross. Nugget is temperamental.”
The last thing Kerry heard was Summer’s voice, “So there I was, in the middle of the desert, wearing nothing but the hide of a sand tiger I’d killed with my bare hands, when a horde of fifty cannibal bandits, armed to their filed teeth . . .”
Outside, Kerry said, “I thought I’d take a closer look at the houseboats. Want to come with me?”
Ross shook his head. “I want to see the stars.”
The outpost was near a promontory like a rocky finger stretched out into the ocean. Kerry walked out along it. The full moon shone down brightly, so she didn’t miss a step. At its end, she sat on a large flat rock and gazed out at the fleet of long boats, bobbing gently on the dark water. Some had strings of lights festooned along the rails, while others’ windows glowed white or gold. She wondered what made the rail lights shine. Electricity? Globes of bright-moths? Something she’d never even heard of?
Behind her, someone cleared his throat. She spun around, a sword and shield materializing in her hands. Then delight flooded her when she recognized her brother, Sean, picking his way over the rocks to join her.
“Sean,” she whispered, letting her weapons vanish. “How did you know I was here?”
“I always seem to be walking in your footsteps,” he replied in a voice pitched so low that it rumbled in his broad chest. “I went to Las Anclas to find you, but you’d already left. Took me this long to catch up.”
They ran the last few steps toward each other and hugged, Sean lifting her off the ground and spinning her around before setting her down again. Then they sat on the flat rock. Sean had pulled his cornrows back into a short ponytail. His white shirt was stained, like Kerry’s clothes, from the dust and dirt of the road.
Sean’s sharp profile reminded her abruptly of Paco as he glanced at the houseboats, but the resemblance vanished when he turned back. Paco’s expression was always closed off or hostile, but Sean’s was warm and open. Kerry was so glad to have a brother who was actually happy to see her.
“So what are you doing here?” Sean asked.
Kerry explained quickly, then said, “Have you been back to Gold Point?”
Sean nodded, but his eyes flickered away: there was something he didn’t want to tell her.
Her heart banged painfully against her chest. She could barely get the obvious question out. “Is Santiago . . . ?”
“He’s fine, he’s fine,” Sean said quickly. “It’s just that he was hurt when Father retook Lake Perris. When I arrived in Gold Point, he was in the infirmary. I couldn’t get close enough to get the details, but apparently he’d jumped in front of Father.”
“Again,” Kerry said grimly. If Santiago hadn’t protected Father when Ross had tried to kill him, he wouldn’t have been injured now, and she and him would never have been separated. But there was no use wishing the past away. “How bad?”
“Can’t be too serious.” Sean laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I saw his name on the list to go back to duty the next week.”
Kerry was relieved, but not as much as she’d have liked to be. She knew Sean too well to miss the tension in his posture, and she knew Gold Point too well to not guess the reason for it. “What else?”
“My mother is the new governor of Lake Perris. Father has a really short chain of command now. He doesn’t trust many of his old commanders. The only people left with real power are his wives.”
“And my mom?” Kerry asked.
“Head of the guardians.”
“Guardians?” Kerry repeated. “What’
s that?”
“From what I heard people whispering, it’s the replacement for Pru. Your mother is running a spy network inside Gold Point. There won’t be a revolution there any time soon.”
Sean looked more unhappy than that news should warrant. Kerry had never imagined that there would be a revolution in Gold Point, and she doubted that Sean had either.
“What else?” Kerry asked again.
Her brother’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. Now he was coming to something that scared him. He glanced around, then lowered his voice before he replied. “Father’s been paying traders to hire anyone who owns a boat. Sailors. Captains. Shipwrights.”
“But Gold Point is landlocked.” Then years of Father’s lessons came back to her, and Kerry knew why he wanted boats. The night wasn’t cold, but fear chilled her. “He’s going to invade Las Anclas from the sea.”
“I think so, too. And not just Las Anclas. Catalina doesn’t have an army, but they do have a lot of ships. It’d be easier for Father to conquer it and take their ships than buy that many. That is, if he took them by surprise.”
She looked at her brother’s boots, dusty and worn from all that walking back and forth through the desert. “Not while you’re around.”
Sean managed a faint smile. “No, I already warned Catalina. We have an agreement with the Saigon Alliance, so I’m sure they’re making arrangements to send soldiers right now. And we’ll have plenty of time to set up defenses. It’ll take Father months and months collect enough ships to launch an attack.”
Kerry looked out at the brightly lit houseboats floating on the dark sea, aware of her own lack of surprise. She’d always known, from the moment she’d decided to stay in Las Anclas, that Father would come back. And now that idiot Mr. Horst was in charge of town defense, when all he knew how to do was forge metal and complain. She could pass on Sean’s warning, but Mr. Horst wouldn’t believe her. And even if he did, he wouldn’t know what to do about it. But she knew someone who did.
She had to tell Tom Preston.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Mia
Mia once again took out her imaginary scale as the horses plodded up yet another steep hill, no doubt with yet another lagoon beyond it. That was a word she’d learned in Palos Verdes. It meant a bay that opened into the sea and was surrounded by low mountains. The good thing to be weighed on her scale was that lagoons were beautiful.
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