“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” Etana cupped his cheek, smiling. “That last thing you did, it was just—”

“Too randy.”

“I was going to say ‘a little unexpected.’ ”

He searched her face. “Do you still trust me to keep it together?”

She nodded without hesitation.

His muscles relaxed somewhat. “Fancy a walk in town?”

“No.”

His eyebrows shot up.

“I was really enjoying myself,” she said without artifice. “Can we pick up where we left off?”

The last trace of tension left him when he shook his head. “I need that walk, sweet pea. We’ll continue tonight, all right? After we’ve had a quick walk and a long nap, which we both need.”

They got dressed, facing away from each other in their corners.

Areg donned his brand-new tunic and a beret emblazoned with the merchant guild logo.

While Etana pat-dried, brushed and braided her hair, he trimmed his beard, aiming for the same shape and length as the portrait on his ID.

“Close enough?” He stood in front of her, holding the card next to his face.

She nodded, then adjusted his beret, took a step back and fanned herself. “Oh my, Sir Oka, you’re one dashing merchant.”

“Can’t look like a bum next to my bride,” he teased, his warm gaze a caress.

My bride, he’d said.

Not “wife,” which according to their fake papers Dame Oka was to him. Not “sweet pea,” the endearment he murmured when he kissed her, or “lady,” like he’d called her in Auntie’s Attic. Could that mean…? Was that how he thought of her? How he felt about her?

Etana’s heart surged with the heady thrill of that realization, before she told herself it might’ve been just a clumsy turn of phrase. “My fake wife” was what he’d meant. She was being silly, reading too much into a little word.

Areg shoved the commlet, money and their ID cards into his pockets and stuck his gun into his belt, pulling his emblazoned jacket over it.

“You don’t trust the hotel staff?” Etana asked, donning her pretty new cape.

He smirked. “I’m not in a position to trust anyone.”

When they stepped out of the hotel, Cherry Hill had been transformed from a sleepy little town they’d walked through at daybreak into a festive hub.

It was market day. A band of musicians played somewhere close, brightly dressed jugglers and palm readers made their way between rows of stalls loaded with colorful produce.

“Last strawberries of the season, my dame,” a vendor called to her, pointing to the juicy berries on his stand. “A drinar for a basket!”

“Want some?” Areg asked, smiling.

She shook her head. “Too sweet. I’m a tart berry girl.”

“Let’s find you some currants, then.”

They ambled forward, taking in the joyful cacophony of sounds, smells and sights that was the Cherry Hill market.

Etana kept stealing glances at Areg.

He looked like he enjoyed the walk, the atmosphere of the market, and just the normalcy of it all. But he also had dark circles under his eyes. Small surprise, she thought. The man hadn’t slept at all last night and very little throughout the week while he’d trekked from Plum Orchard to Mount Crog. Even someone as strong and resilient as him needed to rest every now and then.

She pictured him drifting off in her arms, and her heart swelled with tenderness.

While Areg paid for a basket of blueberries at a fruit stall close the edge of the market, a man looked at him oddly.

Etana tensed.

The man leaned toward his companion and whispered something in his ear. The other man gave Areg a furtive glance, then tilted his head and peered.

Areg grabbed her hand. “We’re going to walk through the crowd to where the market ends, and then we’ll run. Yes?”

She nodded, forcing herself to appear calm.

As they headed to the market’s end, the men followed them, keeping their distance.

“Plainclothes cops?” Etana whispered, her hands starting to shake.

“Nah—bounty hunters.” Areg gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I’ll shoot them if it comes down to it.”

The moment they were out of the crowd they ran toward the wooded creek. Etana glanced over her shoulder. One of the men pulled out a small object that looked like the toy gun Rhori used to play with when they were kids and began to shoot at them. The weapon made no sound, no visible sign that it was spitting out liquid fire, bullets, or darts.

Is that a bad joke?

A sound and a flash came from her side, followed by three or four more. Areg had fired his blaster.

One after the other, the men fell to the ground, clutching at the gaping holes in their shoulders, and screaming in pain.

Areg tugged at her hand. “Come on.”

Etana raced the rest of the distance to the creek without stopping to catch her breath or looking back.

“We need to keep running,” Areg said when they paused briefly among lush willow trees that grew along the river.

She nodded. “I’ll go on until I can’t breathe anymore.”

“I’ll carry you then,” he said. “You’re featherlight. We’ll make it.”

The next two hours were a flurry of running, panting, tripping over tree roots, being pulled up, and running again. When her body refused to go on, Areg hauled her up and ran with her. He didn’t stop until they were deep into the woods that covered the gentle slope of Mount Crog.

Lowering her against a tree trunk, he knelt beside her, leaned forward with his hands flat on the ground, and wheezed. When his breathing grew less pained, she gave him a questioning look.

“We have a head start,” he said. “It will take Ultek some time to get all his men to Cherry Hill and start combing the area. But we shouldn’t linger.”

She nodded and leaned back on the trunk. “I just need a moment.”

And then she blacked out.

* * *

Etana woke up to the smell of decaying leaves and fresh grass.

With difficulty, she lifted her head and looked around. She was inside a small cave. Soft light poured in through its narrow mouth, and a stream chuckled nearby. Etana leaned up on an elbow and took a closer look at her immediate surroundings. She lay on a makeshift bed of branches and spongy moss. Her cape was under her, and Areg’s jacket was thrown over her as a blanket.

How had she gotten to this place? And—oh, goodness—where was Areg?

Cold sweat broke on her forehead. She tried to lever herself up some more, but her body refused to comply. Her back was so weak and her legs so cottony, she couldn’t even sit, let alone stand.

Areg’s voice came from outside the cave. He spoke to someone quietly.

Etana called out to him but her dried throat and mouth produced no sound. She tried again, failed again. Exhausted from that small effort, she lowered herself back on her nice-smelling pallet and dropped off.

* * *

It was dark when she came to again. She shifted.

Immediately, two strong arms wrapped around her. “Sweet pea! You woke up. Thank Aheya, you woke up!” Areg was breathless with relief.

“What happened to me?” Etana asked, her voice shaky and hoarse but audible. “Where are we?”

“You passed out in the creek. I brought you here. Found a needle in your back.”

“From the bounty hunter’s toy gun?”

He smiled. “It was a needle gun. The needle was caught in your cape for a while but when we sat down to rest and you leaned against the trunk, it went in.”

“Was it poisoned?”

Areg shook his head. “That’s what I’d feared, but it was just a sedative. The dose was huge though, much too powerful for you. It had been meant to knock a big fellow out.”

“How do you know what it was?”

“I pinged Aynu. As luck would have it, she was with Reverend Goyyem who’s arguably Eia’s best healer. The reverend explained how to determine what the needle contained. Once we knew it was a sedative and not poison, I was told to keep checking your vitals and arm myself with patience.”

“I’m sorry,” Etana said.

“For what?” Areg knit his brows. “It’s me who should be sorry. That needle was meant for me.”

“For being a burden.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It was selfish of me to insist on spending some time with you.” Etana swallowed. “I make you vulnerable.”

He touched his fingertips to her mouth. “You’re a ray of sunlight in my life, Etana. The only one these days.” He hesitated before adding, “You’re the reason I carry on.”

Covering his hand with hers, she pressed it to her mouth and kissed his fingers, the ball of his palm, the hollow. And she knew. She wasn’t falling for Areg Sebi. Not anymore. The falling was done. That warm, beautiful thing she used to feel in her chest was everywhere in her body now, was a part of her.

She loved him. She loved him more than anything or anyone in her life. More than life itself.

“I’ll go back as soon as I can walk,” she said. “You’ll have a better chance without me slowing you down.”

He kissed the top of her head. “You do need to leave as soon as you can walk. You’ll be safer away from me.”

“Where will you go?”

“The Iltaqa highland is my best bet for now. It has caves, dense vegetation, and pure water. It’s as good a hideout as it gets in Eia.” He pulled a comically upset face. “I hate it that I’m so recognizable, even in a merchant’s beret!”

“It’s not your fault—you’re too handsome to blend into the masses. And that beret made you stand out even more.”

He gave her an apologetic look.

“While you’re in the Iltaqa region,” Etana said, “Rhori and I can get you food, and anything you need, whenever you need it.”

He smiled. “I’ll be fine. Those streams are full of fish. Besides, I learned during the war, while we waited for food supplies which berries and roots are edible.”

They sat like that for a little while, hugging, talking softly, and trying to put a brave face on their situation.

Then he brought her some water. While she drank, relishing every drop, Areg’s commlet made a beeping sound. He answered it and listened, a crease between his brows.

Bad news from Aynu? Or Rhori?

Etana craned her neck.

Areg pressed something on the device, then mouthed to Etana. “You’ll be able to hear him now.”

“Through Timm Itkis… This is… Yaggar… LORSS.” The voice in the commlet was distant, interrupted by a noise that sounded like bouts of heavy rain. “Am I… Sebi?”

“Colonel Yaggar, we’ve only met once, many years ago,” Areg said.

“You’re concerned I may be an imposter.” The voice was clearer now. “You have every right to be careful.”

For a long moment, only the noise came out of the device, before Etana heard the colonel again. “Your father introduced us at a function. I’d just started at LORSS. You were considering following in his steps. Lady Sebi said she hoped you’d pursue a scholarly career and stay closer to home to keep an eye on your sister who was a bit of a rebel at the time.”

Areg smiled. “More than a bit.”

“You said you feared either lifestyle would be too sedate for you.” The colonel’s voice drowned in the rustle for a while. “And then you said a LOR enforcer sounded like a much cooler job. Ambassador Sebi didn’t look pleased.”

Areg’s smile was wide and toothy when he turned to Etana. “That’s true. He wasn’t.”

The colonel spoke again, but Etana couldn’t make out much of what he said.

Areg scrunched his face. “Can’t hear you, sir.”

“Go… somewhere… outside.”

“Hold on.”

Areg grabbed the device and stepped out of the cave.

The colonel said something which Areg seemed to have no trouble hearing this time.

“Colonel,” he said. “I’m assuming it was you who paid for the fake papers. You shouldn’t have.”

He listened to the man’s lengthy response.

“I just wanted to say I truly appreciate it. As does Etana.”

Areg listened again, then said, “Yes,” then “Wait,” and then placed the commlet on the ground before walking back inside the cave.

“It’s the head of LOR Enforcers, Colonel Keiron Yaggar.” He squatted down next to Etana. “He wants to talk to you.”

She blinked. “Me?”

“Seeing as there’s no other rich-blood who mesmerized thousands at my execution, I’d say, yes, you.”

He picked her up and carried her to the cave’s mouth where he carefully sat her down.

After that, he fingered the commlet, before speaking into it. “Colonel, do you wish to talk to Etana privately?”

“No.” The colonel’s voice was suddenly audible. “I prefer that both of you can hear me.”

“We can,” Etana said.

“Just one more thing, Lord Sebi. You need to find and unlock the twinning capacity on your commlet,” Colonel Yaggar said. “It will allow me to pair my device with yours and be able to read your exact coordinates.”

“Yes, sir!” Areg fumbled with the commlet again.

Etana smiled at how military his response sounded. The colonel’s commanding voice must’ve brought out the former soldier in Areg.

When the commlet blinked green confirming the twinning was done, Colonel Yaggar proceeded to ask Etana lots of questions about the morning of Areg’s execution. A few times, he asked her to slow down because he was taking notes for the superintendent.

When he inquired if she’d done it again since that morning, Etana said no.

“Do you feel you need time to recover?”

“I don’t know,” Etana said.

“That ability… do you still feel it in you?”

“No.”

“Were you formally indicted or charged in connection with Lord Sebi’s escape?”

She strained to recall the expression that Qur—the prison-guard-turned-cop—had used. “I’m a… person of interest, but I wasn’t charged… yet.”

“Dame Tidryn,” Colonel Yaggar said after a moment’s pause, “The superintendent is considering a covert intervention to get you to LORSS. If you want to, that is.”

Areg mouthed, “Say yes.”

“Yes,” she said. “If you can pick up Lord Sebi, too.”

Another pause. “That’s a separate matter. More complicated… But as far as you are concerned, I will hand in my report immediately, and Lady Tann-Lo will decide tonight or tomorrow morning.”

“What are the chances she’ll approve the intervention?” Areg asked.

“Fifty-fifty.”

Etana bent closer to the commlet. “Will you put in your report that I won’t leave without Lord Sebi?”

“Etana, please—” Areg began.

“If I put that in writing,” Colonel Yaggar said, “the chance of this intervention ever happening will be zero. The superintendent won’t be able to give it the go-ahead.”

“Then don’t,” Areg said. “Please come for Etana. She’d be a real asset for LORSS.”

“I’m sure she would, Lord Sebi,” the colonel said before adding mysteriously, “As would you.”