City of Mages

Chapter 24: Quenti

"You should get some fresh air."

Quenti stood in the doorway of Lili's bedroom as Alara lay sprawled out on her bedroll, staring at the ceiling.

"There's plenty of fresh air in here." Alara said, not making eye contact with Quenti.

Quenti chewed on the inside of her cheek. Alara hadn't left Lili's house for days since the marketplace "incident." Lili didn't really know what had happened between Runeo and Alara—neither one of them was open to discussing it—but it had been clear the magite hadn't taken it well.

"Well, let me know if you change your mind. Khuno and I are going to the market."

The other girl didn't respond or even acknowledge the comment, but after letting out one last sigh, Quenti backed out of the room. A part of her was angry at Alara. Angry that she was making Quenti feel responsible for the other girl's misery. Then again, the other part of her rationalized, Quenti technically was the reason Alara was here. She almost couldn't blame Alara for being upset.

But Quenti shook off this thought quickly. Kidnapping Alara was never her intention. She had just wanted to leave the Haven. It had been Alara's choice to follow when she stumbled upon Quenti in the trees.

Khuno was standing in the front entryway when Quenti withdrew from Alara's room. Her eyes were questioning and Quenti shook her head. "Not today."

The bruya shrugged at this, unperturbed by the magite girl's choices.

"Where's Lili?" Quenti asked, looking around the small room, as if Lili was hiding under a cushion.

"Gone to visit her grandmother. Apparently she has not told her yet that she has two magites staying over."

"Not a magite," Quenti rebutted.

Khuno ignored her. "I tried to get us invited. I would have loved to see Wela Runtu's face during that conversation."

"Do people here really see me as a magite?" Quenti asked, her eyes finding Khuno's own.

"It won't last forever," she said, squeezing Quenti's hands between her own. "We're all refugees in the end, or descendants of them."

Quenti nodded, but Khuno's words did little to untwist the knot in her gut. Sparks of anxiety still crept up her spine and jumbled her thoughts. It had been nearly a week, and Quenti still felt like an outsider walking through the trees.

It'll take an adjustment, she reminded herself at night. Though that didn't stop the anxiety from flooding her entire body.

"So where to?"

"I'm famished," Quenti said.

"I can fix that."

"No fish."

"Aw, you break my heart."

***

"The farms are a few miles from here," Khuno said, waving an ear of seasoned corn around. "Far enough away that if anyone ever managed to stumble on them, it would still take time to find us."

"And who picks the farmers?" Quenti asked as she grabbed a handful of assorted roasted nuts, which were unglamorously shoved into her tunic pockets. The two had been talking nonstop as they made their way through Arbol, with Quenti trying to get a full grasp of how the tree-dwelling civilization remained a secret.

Khuno shrugged. "I mean... no one picks them. Why did your father end up as a fisherman?"

Quenti bit her lip. It had been a good while since she'd even thought of her father. The man wasn't a memory she was eager to revisit any time soon.