At least an hour had passed with Nora plodding through the forest, trying to lose the man tailing her.
She’d concentrated on hearing every little noise so she could have a general location of her pursuer, but there had only been the creaking of wind-swaying trees for a while.
A lack of auditory signs of the man’s presence wasn’t the only thing that disappeared.
The burdening weight of eyes watching her seemed to have lifted, but it was always possible she’d become accustomed to being spied on after so long. Of course, the guard may have also left.
‘Maybe he grew tired of the hike. I surely have.’ Nora complained. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent so long on foot as she did that night. There was the walk to the Taeguns, then all the effort at the estate.
Still, her time on her feet was nowhere near over. The thought of the end not being in sight wore on her muscles and mind.
Dreading the long walk and satisfied that the guard had fallen behind, Nora became complacent, but it was a mistake.
A snap of a stepped-on twig put her on high alert. From somewhere behind and to the left, bush branches swooshed and crackled as they were brushed past. Those noises sounded like they couldn’t have come from more than a wagon length away from her.
‘Ugh. This has gone on for far too long. I’m jumping at every sound, and my heart might stop beating before I ever make it back.’ Since entering the forest, her pulse raced faster at every sound, no matter how slight, and she jolted at each shadow that darted at the edges of her vision.
Before, Nora had held out hope that sunrise wouldn’t come before she was asleep in her warm bed with Blaze snuggled against her back or tucked over her feet. That hope was as dim as a candle snuffed out by rain, but at least she could look forward to seeing her dog no matter when she returned.
She’d found her sweet dog, Blaze, as a stray after arriving in Mirnis. The tiny puppy’s family had abandoned it with a note, claiming he was too much trouble but pleading for someone to take him in. Nora had picked him up and given him the love he deserved, maybe too much of it.
Nora babied him, and he grew into her loyal companion. Sometimes his loyalty was overbearing. When she had walked out her bedroom door before heading to the Taeguns, he’d whined more than usual and made a big fuss.
‘I hope Hana remembered to feed him,’ she frowned in thought. Hana, the chambermaid who’d stayed with her since the night she escaped the coup, claimed she didn’t like dogs because of their stink, but Nora had caught her lovingly petting Blaze more than once.
As her mind drifted to a happier place, the weakness in her fatigued legs caught up to Nora.
She yelped as one of her knees buckled and caught herself with her arms. Pain in her left wrist stung from the rough landing, but she quickly bounced back up. ‘That would have been embarrassing had anyone seen it. To think, me tripping! A rare sight.’
With a shake of her head, Nora decided that her thoughts were clouding her vision. She needed to slow down and clear her mind. If that guard was still chasing her, there had been no sign for a long time, at least not one that could be accurately pinned on him. Most sounds she’d heard could’ve been from animals or the wind.
So, Nora lowered herself down and scooted back against the nearest tree. She shrugged her backpack down and searched until her fingers had brushed what she needed — her water jug.
With it in hand, Nora popped greedily raised the jar to her lips. Water spilled down her chin in haste, but she disregarded it and had her fill.
She replaced the jug in her pack, then leaned her head against the tree’s trunk with eyes closed as she imagined herself in her room with Blaze and Hana, not in the middle of a forest at night.
When a chill wind brushed her cheek, she was reminded that it was in the woods she rested in, and she sighed.
Every moment she spent in the trees felt like failure, and defeat whispered that it had won. But Nora refused to listen.
Whatever had happened, she still hadn’t failed. The ring was safely in her pocket, she was still breathing and free, and she hadn’t led anyone back to the thieves’ guild. Those little thoughts were warm and comforting.
The comfort didn’t last; nature wouldn’t let it. A raindrop plopped onto Nora’s cheek, and she wiped it off, then glanced upward.
The rain had stopped, but drops glistened in the moonlight on the leaves above. Wood in the forest would be too wet to make fire, making the miserable night even drearier.
With a frown, Nora once again closed her eyes. Her lips formed a mocking smirk that soon parted to let a single breathy laugh escape.
“If you hadn’t chased me into the woods, you could’ve been warm inside, and so could I. But I’m stuck in the woods instead of my bed. At least you’re suffering, too,” she said to the ghost of the man who’d been chasing her, the one she was sure had never really abandoned his hunt.
From his perch on a nearby tree root, Kalin was resting with his head in one hand, his arm perched on a knee, when he heard the thief’s goading comment. He was torn between staying silent or responding. ‘Well, what could she even do if I revealed myself now? I wanted to see where she’d lead me, who she worked for, but I’m tired of waiting for this thief to stop winding through the forest.’
With his plan changed, he decided to make her talk instead.
“Not suffering as much as you,” he scoffed and dramatically waved an arm in an arc away from his body. As he did so, the magical concealment bubbled and warped, then disappeared.
Nora’s eyes snapped open as Kalin’s baritone voice snaked to her ears. She startled and turned her wide stare to the guard who’d so competently trailed her through the forest that he could sit near her, not looking any worse for wear than she’d last seen him.
Worse than that, it’s not like he was just catching up after she’d sat down for awhile. He was lounging around. It bothered Nora, and she wondered, ‘Even invisible, how could he be only 4 arm-lengths away without me knowing? That’s disturbing!’
Although she was far from being relaxed, Nora didn’t want him to know how on edge he’d made her, so she eased herself against the tree and ignored his comment about her suffering.
Trying to radiate confidence, she asked, “You’ve shown yourself, so are we done playing hide-and-seek now?”
Kalin raised an eyebrow at her false courage. ‘Does she think I didn’t see her panic just a moment before? Even if I didn’t, there are signs of it all over her.’ Smirking at the ridiculousness of her question, he said matter-of-factly, “The game was over before it even began.” He lazily meandered closer to her, then squatted down so their faces were near the same level and taunted, “It’s too bad you never got a chance to hide.”
Those snide comments felt like slaps across Nora’s face. A sour feeling turned her stomach, and the mask of confidence she wore cracked. As he placed his hand on the tree she leaned on, her heart pounded loudly, and her breath caught in her throat.
All her false confidence crumbled away, leaving her face plastered with fear and confusion. It would take only moments to regain it, but she hadn’t wanted her enemy to see weakness in her at all.
The thief in front of Kalin revealed her colors quickly. She wasn’t cowardly, but she knew when she’d been beaten. It wasn’t shameful for her to fear what would happen next. But before anything could happen at all, he found himself feeling as if she looked familiar.
He washed his gaze over her features. After a moment, he focused on her hazel eyes. They were otherworldly, certainly not the eyes of a human, and very recognizable.
Kalin’s brows furrowed as he tried to place her face, to stick a name to it. “I know you from somewhere. What’s your name?” he asked and tore her hood down. His eyes narrowed at the sight of her auburn hair. He’d seen her before but didn’t know when or where.
“It’s You-Only-Wish-You-Knew,” Nora smirked. “Maybe you’ve seen me. We both live in Mirnis, after all, but you certainly don’t know me.” The accent he spoke with sounded faintly Yorithian, which meant there was a chance he’d seen her before ever coming to Orym, which was a huge problem.
“Ah. Why didn’t I think of that? Just passing by, I remembered you. Of course,” Kalin answered sarcastically as his eyes flashed in irritation at her glibness. He was sure he knew her as more than some woman he’d walked by on the street. “Not that you asked, but my name is If-You-Don’t-Stop-Lying-I’ll-Arrest-You.”
“Then do it,” Nora challenged. Had he wanted to arrest her, he’d have done it already. It was strange he hadn’t.
“Sure. Then I’ll interrogate you, and you’ll tell me your name anyway,” Kalin sneered. He reached behind him for the shackles on his belt. He was more determined than before to have her name and focused harder on what he felt from her. Her aura was unusual. As he slapped one shackle on her wrist, he firmly demanded, “Your name.”
Instead of giving it to him, Nora asked, “Why are you following me?” That wasn’t exactly what she meant to ask. Before he could answer with a ridiculing remark, she quickly followed up with, “For hours, you’ve chased me through this forest, but, obviously, you could have captured me at any time, so… what do you want?”
“I think we both know that.” Kalin paused as if considering if he should elaborate but decided against it. Revealing too much meant she would know what not to tell him when he questioned her. “But first, you’ll tell me who you are.” He closed the other shackle of her free wrist.
Nora wouldn’t give him what he wanted, and she had nothing to bargain with except the ring.
Earlier, a stubborn decision had been made to withhold the ring regardless of any incentive, but she hadn’t thought she’d be in a situation where she saw no other way out.
Even if she had to hand the ring to the man and never show her face to the Wraiths again, it would be better than the fate that awaited her if the guild found out she had loose lips.
There was nothing left to do but offer the ring to him.
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