Eona - Alison Goodman [163]
I gripped and pulled, the smooth slide whispering death in its hissing release. I rammed the blade back, snatching my hand away. “Lovely. Thank you.”
He bowed.
“Ryko.”
He looked up, eyes wary.
“Thank you for looking after my swords.” It was not what I wanted to say, but the real words were caught in the strain between us.
“It is my duty,” he said. “I will always do my duty.” He backed away.
Eventually, a loud “Hoy!” went up from the high mast lookout—the signal from the shore had been spotted, although I could see no people on the beach or in the dunes.
I took my place in the first tender, along with Kygo, Tozay, and two of Caido’s bowmen. Another, larger boat followed, with Dela, Ryko, and more armed men, two of whom guarded Ido. We rowed the distance between junk and land in silence, the air eerily still and hot after the quick sea winds, and no sign of our allies on the broad expanse of sand.
“Where are they?” I whispered.
“Wait,” Tozay said.
Both tenders beached at the same time, the bowmen covering us as we climbed out and splashed to shore through the warm water. Squinting in the glare, I scanned the undulating horizon of sand, my skin crawling with the certainty we were being watched. Tozay walked up beyond the tide line and stood with his hands on his hips, eyes fixed on the bank of dunes that curved and peaked before us. At the edge of my sight, something moved in the far dune. I swung around, reaching back for Kinra’s swords, the bowmen catching my alarm and swinging with me. The sand convulsed and lifted, falling away to reveal human figures.
“Hold your fire,” Tozay barked.
I lowered my hands. Twenty or so men dressed in bleached garments the same color as the dunes rose to their feet and watched us, their weapons drawn. One of them raised a fist, then smoothed it across the air in an arc.
Tozay returned the signal. “It is clear,” he said to Kygo.
We had made contact with the Eastern Resistance army.
The soft-spoken leader pulled up his horse and turned in his saddle, waiting for Kygo to walk our sturdy dune beast up beside him. I was riding behind the emperor once again, but this time his hand covered mine as I held his waist, the press of our bodies moving together in mesmerizing harmony. We had been traveling through the night—the dune men and our troop—steadily heading to higher, more strategic ground. The moon-silvered sands had gradually given way to featureless plains and strange dark outcroppings of rock. Now the gray predawn light was giving definition back to the scrubby landscape, and to the faces around me.
Kygo reined in beside the dune leader. Tozay pulled his horse in behind us.
“As you requested, Your Majesty,” the leader said with a bow. “We are now about a quarter bell from our camp.” His words seemed to conjure the flavor of smoke on the cool dawn air, and I could see a faint glow that hinted at cooking fires.
Kygo nodded. “Which of your men has the most docile horse?”
The leader flicked his hand at a rider in the group of mounted men behind us. I turned to look back, smiling at Dela on a gray near the front, my mother clinging nervously to her waist. But my real attention was on Ido, in the periphery of my vision. He was astride one of the larger horses and, although his wrists were tied to the pommel, he still sat the animal with easy grace. He watched me from under half-closed lids, his smile as intimate as if his hands were around my hips instead of bound to a saddle. The memory of his hold swept heat across my skin. I quickly turned back to face the front.
The summoned rider dismounted and bowed to Kygo, his face still streaked with sand dust from the camouflage.
“Your mount will take a novice?” Kygo asked.
“Yes, Your Majesty. She is steady as a rock. Even my threeyear-old rides her without saddle.”
Kygo twisted to look at me. “Do you think you can manage her, Lady Eona? I wish you to ride into camp beside me.”
Although it was a serious command, and there was obviously more to it than just protocol, I narrowed my eyes at the hint of humor that lifted the corners