The next day dawned gray and cold, the sky heavy with mist. Ariya and Kael moved slower now. She was sore. He was limping slightly. Neither of them said much.
After the shadowbeast, silence felt safer.
But peace never lasted long in Veralith.
They were passing beneath a line of tall oaks when Kael stopped. His head tilted. He held up a fist—signal to freeze.
Ariya froze.
"What now?" she whispered.
He drew his blade. "We're being watched."
Ariya's pulse quickened. "Another beast?"
"Worse," Kael muttered. "Teenagers."
And then—
"Oh nooo," a voice called from above, sweet and mocking. "Two weary travelers wandering right into rebel land? With a glowing ring, no less?"
They looked up.
A girl dangled upside down from a tree branch, grinning like a fox who had just found her next meal. Her brown curls tumbled wildly toward the forest floor, and she had three knives strapped to her mismatched boots.
Kael groaned. "Not her."
The girl flipped effortlessly down from the branch and landed in front of them with a dramatic bow.
"Lyra Vale, rebel scout, thief of secrets, occasional pain in the ass," she announced. "And you must be Fire-Girl and Brooding McKnife."
Ariya blinked. "Wait—what?"
Kael sighed. "This is Lyra. She spies on everyone. Including us."
"Rude," Lyra said. "I'm monitoring you. On rebel orders. Plus, someone lit up a flame in the forest last night. Real subtle."
Lyra walked a circle around Ariya, examining her with wide eyes. "So. You're the girl with the ring."
Ariya stepped back instinctively. "And you're the girl with a lot of opinions."
Lyra winked. "Oh, I like her."
She turned to Kael. "You didn't say she was funny."
"She's not," he replied.
Ariya smirked.
🍞 The Lunch of Spies
Later, the three of them sat under a rock ledge, sharing hard bread and dried fruit. Lyra talked the whole time. Ariya tried not to laugh. Tried.
"So," Lyra said, leaning back, "what's the plan, Fire-Spark? Going to march up to the king's palace and melt it?"
Ariya shrugged. "Hadn't gotten that far yet."
"Good," Lyra said. "I like plans that aren't boring."
Kael groaned. "She's going to get us all killed."
Lyra tossed a berry at him. "Says the guy who once tried to sneak past an entire war camp wearing a cook's apron."
"That worked," Kael muttered.
"Only because you tripped and pretended to faint."
Ariya laughed—really laughed—for the first time since her village burned. The sound felt strange in her throat. But good.
For a moment, she didn't feel like the girl with a crown-shaped target on her back.
Just a girl, sitting with friends she didn't expect to find.