“I’m glad you found your brother,” he said as we all filed out of the clearing and toward the road. “You’ll be able to start a new life together.”
“Mm-hmm.” I wasn’t quite as used to lying as Lorian was, so I kept my tone noncommittal.
“Prisca.”
Lorian held the reins in one hand and caught my chin in the other. “Whatever you do, make sure you get on a ship. Soon.”
“I will.” I met his eyes as I said it, and he searched my face. With a brisk nod, he let me go, spurring his horse on.
I would be on a ship soon. Just as soon as I freed Asinia.
Tibris was already waiting on the road. He gave me a nod, but his eyebrows had lowered. “How exactly is this going to work?”
“You’ll soon see,” Lorian said. He squeezed his thighs, and then we were galloping toward the city.
We rounded the bend, and the gates appeared in the distance. My stomach swam, a metallic taste flooded my mouth, and my heart kicked in my chest.
“Harness your fear,” Lorian reminded me. “Now.”
I reached for my power and tugged with everything in me.
All movement at the gate stopped. It was suddenly eerily silent.
Except for Tibris, who was cursing, his eyes wide as he gazed over his shoulder at me.
“Go!” Lorian roared.
We hurtled past the line of people, stretching hundreds deep. Past the thicket of trees on the right, where beggars held out their tins and enterprising merchants sold fruit and water. Past the guards, who’d surrounded an unkept man with blond hair, their hands on their weapons.
My power wanted to slip from my grip. I held tighter, refusing to panic.
Lorian’s words ran through my head as he pushed his horse faster.
“It’s up to you to coax it out. To make it do what you need. Your problem isn’t a lack of power. It’s a lack of control. You’re terrified of your power, and a part of you doesn’t truly believe you have what I’m saying you have.”
I loosened my grip on my power. And then I reached for more.
You’re mine, I told it.
It was heady. All these people, the birds in the trees, the horses, all of them were frozen because I willed it.
Wait.
Not everyone was frozen.
The blond man who was surrounded by guards had turned his head. I jolted, almost losing my grip on the thread of time.
I’d never seen that before. Lorian had occasionally managed to shake off my power earlier than most, but even he had been caught when I’d aimed that power at him.
The man was watching us. Likely, he would be able to give an excellent description to the guards. My heart attempted to thump right out of my chest.
“Who is that man?”
Lorian said nothing. Likely, he couldn’t hear me over the sound of hooves on stone. “Hold on!” he yelled.
I looked over my shoulder. The man winked at me. And then we were in the city.
“Who was that man?” I gasped out as we rounded a corner, and time resumed.
I wasn’t bleeding from my nose this time. And I wasn’t blind. Progress.
“Who?” Lorian slowed the horse.
“The man at the gates. Time stopped for everyone but him. He winked at me.”
Rythos must’ve overheard, because he smiled. “Sounds like you have some relatives in the city.”
“What do you mean?”
“Time magic is in the blood.”
My heart pounded in my chest. My mother had said I had family here. Was that man truly related to me?
Tibris gave me a look that said this would be yet another thing we would discuss later, but he was already eyeing the mercenaries. “Time to say goodbye,” he said.
Something twisted in my chest.
“We’ll escort you to the docks.” Galon’s voice was gruff.
“No need.” Tibris shook his head. “We need to sell my horse and buy supplies. Thank you for everything you did for Prisca.”
That was my brother. Unfailingly polite, even when he’d likely been daydreaming about stabbing Lorian since the moment he’d met him. Fondness made me beam at him. I’d thought I’d never see him again. And now, he’d help me save Asinia, and then we’d find a new life in a new land.
What about the others like you? Will you leave them here to die?
I buried that thought beneath the reality I was actually living. I was just a village girl with a bounty on her head. One who could stop time for mere moments.
We all dismounted, and I reached for Marth. We couldn’t afford to spend too much time here. But I needed to say goodbye. “Good luck,” I told him. He wrapped me in a hug, one hand a little too low on my back. I’d miss this lech.