Chapter 23

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Not good.

Kitaya tugged on Kaza's reins for the umpteenth time to keep the horse on the path. Alvere was getting testy too, and Aldeheid was being forced to give him more guidance than usual. They were feeling it, Kitaya knew. The same feeling she'd gotten in the Phantom Orchard.

The familiar itch in her feet set her nerves on edge. The sensation had overcome her the moment they set foot into the port city of Ragna, and Kitaya found herself unconsciously reaching for her blade, her eyes darting around at every sound or movement.

The marketplace that ran the length of the city sat bare and neglected. Empty stalls lined the cobblestone road, some filled with dust, others a whisper of a breeze away from toppling. The click-clack of the horse's hooves echoed off the stone buildings. Most of their windows were boarded; the rest hung open and banged in the ocean breeze. The spindly branches of saplings grew in between the cobblestone as nature moved in to reclaim the land.

Kitaya glanced at Aldeheid to see how well he fared. He held Alvere's reins in a white-knuckled grip. His posture was one of rigid tension and his lips were pressed into a thin slit.

Just a little further, she thought, gazing up at their destination. To most it appeared to be a part of the landscape, a rock outcropping of sorts. And she guessed that was intentional. Konians hated unwanted, uninvited guests.

"Kitten, where are we going?" Aldeheid asked. His voice was a low whisper as though he were afraid someone was eavesdropping.

"Remember I told you we were going to meet some people who may know where Mellidius is?"

His face lit up like a kid with a basket of sweets. "Who are they exactly? Do you think he may be with them?"

"We'll be meeting our altori, Eriani and Kemah of Kon. And I'm not sure if Mellidius will be there." With the revelation of Shara's death, he couldn't be. Mellidius and Shara had been the quintessential duo – a glowing example for all magicians and capes to aspire to. Kitaya could only imagine what his cape's death had done to him.

"Ah, yes. Mellidius spoke of them briefly in his journals. Although he preferred to call them his parents."

Kitaya rolled her eyes and snorted. Those human terms again. Magicians and capes weren't born, but crafted by the hands of the gods and sent to Magika as babes. They didn't have "parents."

They exited the market, winding up the steep, overgrown path. As they got closer, the features of the house became clearer, the stone lions, the circular windows and the small balconies on the upper floor.

As the rode up to the wooden doors that marked the entrance, the apprehension she'd been feeling since they entered the city vanished. She breathed a sigh and jumped down from Kaza's back. Not home, but it sure felt like it.

"This place is warded." Aldeheid said, oblivious of the magician who'd materialized behind him. He was too occupied admiring one of the stone lions that flanked the entrance.

Kitaya had to hold back her grin as the magician winked and placed a finger against her lips.

"It is," the magician said, and Aldeheid startled, stumbling back into the door.

"Genora." Kitaya grinned and embraced the woman. "It's been a long time. Where's Edolyn?" Genora looked almost naked to Kitaya without her cape on her shoulders or hanging off her arm.

"Ah, she's upstairs recovering. We may have had a little too much to drink last night." She shrugged. "But it's not every day you all come for a visit."

Kitaya made a tisking noise. "She could never hold her liquor, poor thing."

"Indeed." Genora brushed her dreadlocks from her face, her dark gaze shifting to Aldeheid. "Who is this you've brought with you? And why is he carrying Melidius' sword?"

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