Chapter 6

Chapter

Six

"I'm hungry." Dev reached for crackers from his pack and munched on them. We'd been walking several hours now and encountered no other creatures. It was relieving and depressing at the same time. It meant we were going to have to make camp. We did, however, each find a decent-size hunk of ember to bring back. Anika even got a smaller piece for Meera. I abstained from taking any home on account that it was not a good look for the richest girl in Amersea to be taking ember from The Wilds. Tetra found one the size of a walnut that would ensure her mother would no longer have to work.

"Don't you have any dried meats? Carbs will slow you down and make you sluggish," I told Dev as he brandished the crackers.

My brain already felt slow. I was tired, but I'd have some coffee and perk up.

"Can we camp for the night? I'm beat," Tetra said, basically dragging her leg behind her, limping with her good foot at this point. I knew all this walking was going to kill her arm that she leaned on.

"Yeah, let's camp," I announced for Tetra's benefit.

The sighs of relief made their way through our group and we started to gather wood for a fire. Everyone dug into their packs and pulled out tarps and rope to make tents. Tetra uncoiled a puffy sleeping bag and sighed as she slid into it.

"Who gave up their pack for me?" she asked me as Anika started the fire.

"Charline."

Tetra nodded. "I'll have to thank her." My bestie's eyes were already closing.

"Hey, stay awake and eat something." I pulled out some jerky but she waved me off.

"I'm exhausted. I couldn't care less for food right now." She rolled over and then she was out.

Time was hard to tell here. It was probably midnight but the sky was still a fiery glow above us. The canopy above the trees had some kind of shimmering coating to it, only allowing a pinkish light to filter in. It was kind of eerie and in no way refreshing like the regular sun.

I popped two caffeine satchels into my hot water thermos and chugged my water from the canteen while it brewed. I was gasping by the time I was done, not realizing how dehydrated I'd become. We'd have to refill in the morning by the creek that was about three hundred yards to the right.

I watched as Anika reached into her little gray bag and shoved something in her mouth, chewing as she glared at me.

"Candy?" I asked with a smirk.

So it wasn't tampons. Interesting. Whatever was in that bag she wanted to keep private.

"I wish," she snapped, making a disgusted face as she downed some water to seemingly wipe the taste of whatever she'd just eaten off her tongue.

Maybe it was caffeine as well. She didn't strike me as the type that would sleep in front of me or let her guard down at all.

Footsteps and low voices pulled my attention to the right. I grasped my throwing blade and pulled out my flashlight, beaming it right at a familiar pair of light blue eyes.

Kohen Badshah.

He walked about five yards from our camp and started to set up his tent with his group. He looked to be down about three people, and was sporting two cuts on his arm.

I stood, bringing my hot freshly brewed coffee over to where he was setting up. "Isn't that a little close to our camp?" I asked him as he instructed one of his teammates on how to make a fire.

He shot me a glare, wandering over to where I took a long and delightful sip of my coffee.

Now that he was closer, I could see that his lip was split and he had a black eye.

"I'll set up camp wherever I want," he spat, and my head reeled back in shock.

"What the hell's your problem?" I wanted to throw this hot liquid in his face, but wouldn't waste such a good drink.

His nostrils flared, and he reached down and pulled off his black shirt, exposing the most delicious set of abs I had ever seen. I wasn't prepared for the sudden undressing, so I just stood there staring like an idiot.

There was a giant gash across his left pec. It was bad, bleeding heavily, and so deep I could see the muscle underneath.

"Your crooked father and his stupid assassins are my problem. They tried to kill me and I wasn't able to protect my team. Lost two of them." He pointed to his group of rookies.

He said it like he cared about them or something, which was confusing. He just met them, and he admitted on the bus he knew my father was going to be after him.

I shifted uncomfortably, unsure what to say. To be honest, I wasn't sure I agreed with my father's decision to take out Kohen. He was a symbol of the future peace between Imbria and Amersea. His father died in the war but we'd let him live, schooled him, allowed him to enter the Lottery. It was a message to everyone that we were one nation now, united against Luska.

But my father couldn't have that. He couldn't have a possible future rebellion on his hands with Kohen as its leader.

Kohen was watching me keenly as he rummaged through his pack.

"If you were empress, what would you have done with me?" he asked suddenly when I didn't say anything.

I swallowed hard at the dangerous question, my fingers twitching over my knife on the off chance he was about to pull a weapon from his pack and try to gut me.

"I would allow you to live. If you became a problem later and started an uprising, I'd deal with you then."

He raised his eyebrows. "I'm surprised by your honesty, Aisling Everhart."

He yanked a small tool from his pack and pressed it to the laceration on his chest. He pushed down hard and flinched before pushing again and again. It took me a few seconds to realize he was stapling up his own cut.

"Jeez, why don't you get someone else to do that?" I waved at the rookies on his team.

It was an Imperial Fleet-issued medic device. I was willing to bet he'd stolen it.

He gritted his teeth as he stapled the last one. "I deal with my own messes, princess," he snapped, and then glanced past me, his face suddenly falling.

"Where is Meera?" His voice shook, panic evident as his gaze darted around the firepit, no doubt counting everyone.

I took a long swig from my coffee. "Bonded to a fox creature. Both survived."

Relief washed over his face as he grinned at that, and stars help me he was beautiful. My stomach tightened, heat flushing over my entire body in response, and I hated myself a little for my reaction.

My body wanted what I couldn't have. It's like it knew that Kohen Badshah was the one man I couldn't touch and so I wanted to touch him. All over. A lot.

I cleared my throat. "If you are sleeping so close to us, then just try not to attract anything deadly," I shot as I strolled away.

"Impossible while your father is still breathing," he muttered under his breath.

I pulled my blade, spinning quickly and lashing out until the sharp end was pressed to his Adam's apple. He didn't move a muscle, just watched me like a cat who was curious about my behavior.

"Was that a threat to my father? Your emperor?" I warned. I wouldn't suffer treason, even if the words came from a beautiful mouth. I'd slice his throat right here if I thought he had plans to harm my father.

His gaze narrowed, and that's when I felt the tip of something sharp at my back, right where my heart frantically beat behind my ribcage.

Anika spoke from behind me: "Having a nice little chat over here?"

Dammit.

I lowered my blade, keeping my glare focused on Kohen. "I'm sorry that your father was a terrorist and ruined your life, but don't threaten mine just because you have to live with the mistakes of yours."

His eyes widened, nostrils flared, jaw clenched—he looked absolutely livid. And the tip of that blade still hadn't been removed from my back.

I peered over my shoulder, sizing Anika up. "Do you have any idea the type of training I've had? I will have that blade and three of your severed fingers on the floor in ten seconds if you don't?—"

"Stand down," Kohen ordered, and Anika dropped the blade, her face furious.

I peered back at Kohen to see that he was devoid of all emotion, as if the raging anger was never there. He'd caged it somehow, tucked it away for later most likely. No way was I sleeping tonight.

"Get some rest. Big day tomorrow," he said to me and gave me his back, a disarming move that let me know he wasn't scared of me.

I spun to Anika, narrowing my eyes at her. I was about to rip her a new one for coming at me like that when she shook her head, peering sadly at me. "You shouldn't have said that about his father. He was a great man."

It was like a punch to the gut. It shouldn't have been. King Ravi Badshah was an extremist. Brilliant in engineering but completely unrealistic with other things. He was obsessed with controlling ember distribution, saying that we should allow citizens to freely mine it from The Wilds. My father rightly didn't agree—they would strip it of ember in a day! Imbria had three times the population we did. No, the ember harvesting needed to be controlled, you couldn't collect it faster than it fell or you ran out. We were in peace talks one day and the next King Badshah just blacked out our whole city. His army bombed six of our busiest train stations. Killed thousands.

"He was a terrorist," I stated again.

She gritted her teeth. "Yeah, and you're brainwashed."

I frowned at that, about to retort, when Kian screamed like a girl.

We rushed back over to our camp and then Anika burst into laughter.

A small mouse creature had broken into his pack and was eating some dried fruit. Purple glowing ember swirls ran the length of its back.

Kian looked up at us, clearing his throat in embarrassment. "It scared me."

I grinned. "Quick, you better bond with it. You might not find anything more powerful."

He flipped me off and I glanced at Anika to see she was smiling again. It seemed our fragile truce was back.

I took a long swig of my coffee and Alek strode over to me and pulled me aside. Alek was cool, one of the most popular guys at our school. He had top grades and was on every sports team imaginable. We didn't run in the same clique but I respected him. Alek's family were all imperial soldiers. If they didn't get in the Lottery, they joined the human forces. He was loyal to the emperor through and through.

"You staying up?" He eyed the steaming mug in my hands.

I nodded. "Can't risk it."

I hoped it went without saying that as the emperor's daughter I couldn't allow my throat to be slit in the night.

"You wanna sleep in shifts? I can watch your back."

My heart pinched. I hadn't expected that, and I didn't want him to think I didn't trust him, but… I didn't trust anyone to look out for Tetra.

"Maybe the second night when I'm really dragging. I gotta look out for T." I inclined my head to her.

He dipped his head in understanding. "I'll get a couple hours, then. Yell if you hear so much as a twig snap. I'll be out of my sleeping bag with a knife in under five seconds."

I grinned. I'd never really spent much time talking to Alek. He was cooler and sweeter than I expected.

"You got it."

He slipped into his bag and zipped it up as I went to sit by the fireplace where Anika was drawing something in a notebook.

Everyone else was asleep. "Not gonna sleep?" I asked her.

She flicked her gaze at me. "Gotta look out for my people," was all she said.

I understood that. She didn't trust me fully. She would be stupid if she did.

She eyed the hot coffee in my hands. "Wish I had been able to afford that though."

A pang of pity went through me. Afford coffee? I mean, sure it was a luxury, but how poor was she that she couldn't afford three cups of coffee? I looked closer at her boots; they were scuffed and worn with seams popping. I hadn't noticed before. Her clothes were issued by the Imperial Fleet and looked freshly dyed black without a stitch out of place. I would readily admit I lived a life that only one percent of our population enjoyed, but I thought with all the travel I had done that I knew what it was like for the other ninety-nine percent of people. Though hearing Anika, who had a job in the ember mines, could not even afford coffee, I guessed not.

I handed her the mug. "Have some. Too much messes up my stomach anyway."

She looked at me warily and I rolled my eyes, pulling the cup to my lips and taking a big swig. "It's not poison. I'm being nice."

She took the cup and drank some of the black liquid.

"Whoa, that's strong." Her lips puckered and I grinned.

It would be easier to pass the time if she wanted to talk a little.

"What's Imbria like?" I asked, hoping it was a neutral question that wouldn't start an argument.

She smiled. "Noisy, full of life, chaotic, beautiful, colorful—it's amazing. Better before the occupation I am told, but still amazing."

The occupation. That's what they called it?

I'd never been there, it wasn't exactly safe. Yes, we'd merged Imbria into Amersea, but not by choice. If I, the emperor's daughter, went there, I would probably be torn apart in the streets.

"Is it true you give babies red chilis to suck on?" I asked.

She grinned. "Gotta build up tolerance."

I wasn't sure if she was serious or not but it made me laugh. Imbrian food wasn't popular here as it was associated with our enemy of so many years, but I'd heard it was amazing and full of spice and had always wanted to try it.

"My turn," she said.

I nodded. "Shoot."

"Is it true you killed a man in training practice when you were five?"

Now I laughed. "Is that what they say? That's pretty cool. I don't know if I want to shoot that rumor down."

She smiled. "So never killed anyone?"

I shook my head, chuckling. "Have you?"

A shadow crossed over her face and she took a long swig from my coffee. "Thanks for the coffee. I'm going to walk the perimeter." Something dark had entered her features, a memory she didn't want to talk about, and I felt awful for asking. She was in the Avasan with Kohen—of course she had killed. Probably to survive.

She strode away and I sat there for a little while feeling bad, like maybe I didn't know the whole story there and shouldn't judge.

If I grew up unable to afford a simple cup of coffee and my family worked in the mines for next to nothing… what kind of lengths would I go to in order to survive? I didn't even know what we paid the ember-sorting workers, just that it was awful work.

The next several hours slogged past with me walking circles around the campfire, my fingers twitching over my sword, and Anika giving me the silent treatment. It was the dead of night and I was officially tired. Anika sat down on a rock and leaned against her pack, dagger gripped firmly in her hands. I watched as her eyes grew heavy and her lips went slack.

She was out.

I'd let her get some sleep.

I peered across the space to where Kohen sat behind his fire, whittling something with a small knife. As if sensing me, he looked up. We locked eyes and it felt like the world melted away. Even at this distance his presence had a tangible feel to it. In the darkness of this lonely night, I felt the emotions of the day rush up to greet me.

Jace cheated on me. I wasn't good enough and so he went elsewhere. It was like a hot knife to my heart, but I wouldn't allow myself to deal with it here. Not in The Wilds, not tonight. Shoving all of the emotions back down in the little black box I kept inside of my heart, I held Kohen's gaze. He wasn't looking away, and I hated to admit I would kill to know what he was thinking.

The Badshah family stories I heard growing up had caused me to form a picture of Kohen, the eldest of three brothers. I was told he was a heartless, rule-breaking, Amersea-hating monster who would slit your throat for a single coin. But was he?

A shadow moved in the bushes behind him and I jolted into action without thinking.

"Anika!" I shouted loudly to wake her as I sailed over Tetra's sleeping form.

Anika leapt into a standing position, knife in hand, as I ran for Kohen. He'd seen my alarm and spun just as three imperial soldiers dragged him into the woods by the throat, covering his mouth to muffle his scream.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Anika there, gripping her dagger. "Protect our team, I've got this!" I snapped at her.

Her nostrils flared but I didn't give her time to respond. I sprinted past Kohen's sleeping team and through the woods, stepping into full-on mayhem. Kohen was bleeding heavily from the neck, staunching a wound with one hand while he fought off two attackers with the other.

One imperial soldier lay dead at his feet already. Kohen kicked out from where he sat on the ground, landing a boot squarely in the chest of one of his attackers, and at the same time slashed out with his sword in an effort to protect himself.

He was losing a lot of blood. What the hell was I doing here? What was I going to do, kill one of my father's men to protect my family's sworn enemy?

This is insane!

The imperial soldier he'd kicked to the ground stood, holding out a bolt shooter aimed at Kohen's head.

I never in a million years thought my first kill would be a soldier who had sworn allegiance to my family, but before I could stop myself I stepped forward, coming up behind the attacker and dragging my blade across his throat.

His bolt shooter dropped to the ground a second before he did. The third and final attacker lunged for Kohen and I dropped him too with a sword through his chest.

Kohen stared up at me, eyes wide, as he grabbed the cut on his neck frantically to try to stop the bleeding.

We were locked in a stare. Again. This one all-consuming. It was like the wheels of fate had suddenly stopped and begun to spin in another direction.

My chest heaved as I backtracked through the woods and grabbed his pack. I returned a second later with the staplegun and some gauze from the medic-kit he had most definitely stolen.

My hands shook as I brought the stapler up to his neck. I'd been trained in basic medic triage; blood didn't scare me. Kohen Badshah did though. He watched me, silently, as I tended to his wound. I peeled his fingers away one by one, stapling his neck back together in such a crude way I was sure it would scar. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who would care about that though. My fingers touching his warm skin was sensual, though it shouldn't be. There was too much blood for that, and yet I kept stealing glances at his lips.

When I finished closing the wound, I was relieved to see it had stopped bleeding. He was so damn lucky it didn't hit an artery. I taped the gauze over it to hopefully ward off an infection and then set the stapler back into his pack. He stood and I glanced around, taking stock of the carnage. Three dead bodies. All imperial soldiers. Thank the stars I didn't know any of them personally.

What the hell did I just do? Was I insane? I needed to get out of here.

I turned to leave when Kohen's hand snaked out and his fingers deftly grasped mine. He tugged and forced me to look at him.

"Thank you." His voice was thick with emotion, eyes searching, fingers still holding mine as if I were made of glass.

"We never speak of this again," I told him. "It didn't happen."

Disappointment flashed across his face and he dropped my fingers, nodding.

I walked back over to our firepit where Anika was bopping on her heels. Alek was awake now with her.

"What happened? Is Kohen okay?" she asked, looking down at my blood-soaked hands.

"He's fine," I said, and then leaned over the fire and threw up the contents of my stomach.

I murdered two imperial soldiers. If anyone found out, I would not only lose my heir status, I could be tried for treason by my own father.