Heart of Thieves (Fallen Empires #1)

Chapter 3

3
━━━━━▲━━━━━

Yazia was startled awake by a jolt, causing her to bump into the chariot frame.

    "Woah, are you alright?" Aeneas asked when she straightened up and looked out of the window. It appeared they had changed tracks.

    "Yes, I am fine," Yazia mumbled, her eyes watching the track they were headed for a few moments. "Are we close yet?"

    How long have I been asleep? I never meant to let my guard down this long...

    Yazia instinctively reached for the hilt of her sword, glad it was still there, and that she hadn't been stolen from. She wouldn't know what to do without them; her weapons were all she had left to protect her. She recalled that anybody could be searching for her now that she had disappeared from Sankori. Yazia was sure that this new lane was headed straight for Abingor, not far away.

    "We're not far away now. You haven't been asleep very long, don't worry." Prince Aeneas was perched on the opposite bench of the carriage across from her. She followed the direction of his eyes, which were locked on the window, gazing over the lane himself. They were more alike than she thought.

    Yazia let out an almost relieved sigh, and sat back. Her mind wandered back to Draven, and her last conversation with him at the library in Sankori. He insisted she shouldn't have taken this journey. But he kept too many secrets from her, ones she had to search for answers for.

    Such as why Abingorian guards would attack. Or why Yazia had found herself here, outside of Sankori with a prince she didn't know much about, and on her way to an enemy abode down a lane in the dark of noon.

    "How long have I been asleep?"

    "Not long." His eyes found hers briefly. "You will need a change of clothes, and some food in your stomach before you present yourself to the King."

    Yazia scowled. She didn't think that anything was wrong with her attire, though she barely saw the state of herself. One thing she knew, she didn't need a ball-gown to kill a man. To kill the man who had supposedly instructed the usurp of her lineage, and assassinated her parents right in front of her just years ago.

    Now, she had a chance to make it right.

    I'll do it tonight.

    Yazia's heart pined. Her pointed ears dropped, and she felt her eyes get wet as she mourned for who she lost those years ago. She missed them. She missed her father, and missed practising sparring with him. She missed the warmth of his caress. Yazia had forgotten how greatly she had buried these memories away--how it had been a while since she thought of him. Now she grew more sad by the minute even trying to remember whether his eyes were chocolate, or honey-brown.

    She stared down at her calloused hands that were dusted with the soil of her land. Her now barren, and stolen land.

    Yazia blinked the tears away when her sight went blurry. She knew that by leaving her kingdom behind, Draven would not be able to keep Sankori intact for long. Perhaps he was already dead, too. If they found him, they'd be able to find her, and then it would be over. At least with the choices she was making now, there was hope that Draven would be able to survive while her parents could not. She remembered why she was doing this. Why it was so crucial she got it right, and made no mistake.