Shaking hard, Ender was more than content to be held, even if he couldn't fathom why Berkant would hold him so—like he was important, like he mattered.
He was even more confounded when Berkant slid an arm beneath his legs and carried him back to the others, who proved to be palace guards. Ender tensed.
"They're safe," Berkant said. "Shafiq is cleaning out the rest of the rot. I'm so sorry this happened to you, Ender."
"How—" Ender said, but couldn't get the rest of the words out.
Berkant gently set him on his feet and pressed his own waterskin into Ender's hands. "Drink. We have proper clothes for you, since we weren't sure…" His mouth flattened, the anger in his eyes clear as day, even in weak torchlight.
"There were men looking for me. Th—three, I think."
"They aren't looking for you anymore," Berkant said flatly, and motioned to the guards, who went to work setting up camp for the night. "How did you get free?"
Eyes stinging with tears that would no longer be held back, Ender explained all that had happened, from the moment he'd found poor Raia dead to the cellar to waking up in a building in the middle of nowhere. Killing the guard, running for his life.
As he finished, Berkant smiled, of all things. "You and Nadir have such similar tales of escaping your kidnappers, it's remarkable."
"This happened to Nadir too?"
Berkant nodded. "We'll tell you of it when we're back home safe."
Home. The palace. Ender's stomach lurched, his heart doing flips in his chest. "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"His Majesty would trust no one else to find and retrieve you, not after learning there were royal guards mixed up in all of this."
"They killed Raia," Ender said, fresh tears running down his cheek.
Berkant hugged him tightly, then led him to one of the freshly made-up bedrolls. "I am sorry. For Raia, for all of this. We had thought we were past the worst of this matter, but we were wrong. You have done nothing but suffer since Shafiq summoned you, and he's most distraught. Get some rest, little meerkat, and tomorrow we will go home."
Meerkat? But now that he was lying down, everything seemed too heavy. Too much. Despite all that had happened, sleep came with surprising ease.
*~*~*
He woke to the scent of fragrant cinnamon-honey porridge and soft chatter, pushing sleepily to a sitting position as he yawned and stretched, and shoved his messy hair out of his face. He blinked blearily at Berkant. "I didn't think concubines could leave the palace."
Berkant laughed. "Good morning. Strictly speaking, we are forbidden from leaving palace grounds, but I don't think a single royal has ever entirely obeyed that law. Sometimes, we're the best choice for matters like this. Did you get some rest? Here, breakfast is ready, and then we'll be on our way home. Should be there by late afternoon, early evening."
"Here you are, Master Ender," one of the guards said, holding out a steaming bowl, face somber as he added, "I apologize deeply that some of our own betrayed you. The royalguards are supposed to be faithful and true, not vile little backstabbers. Those traitors have shamed us all."
"Even the best carpenter still endures rotted wood from time to time," Ender said with a smile as he accepted the offered bowl of porridge. "Thank you."
The man smiled again before withdrawing to rejoin the others, talking quietly amongst themselves as Berkant moved to sit next to Ender. "How are you feeling, little meerkat?"
Ender squinted at him. "You called me that last night. Why?"
"You and Nadir are much alike, in that you look quite unassuming, sweet and lovely, but are tough and tenacious. Nadir, like a crafty mongoose who is not affected by the venom of the snakes he kills; and you our little meerkat, taking out vermin with brutal efficiency."
Ender flinched at the memory, but he couldn't be wholly sorry about killing the man either, not when they'd probably intended to kill him eventually. "I'll be happy to go back to being just an ordinary, boring person."
Reaching out, Berkant brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen into Ender's face. "There is nothing ordinary about you, little meerkat, but I will be glad when we're all safely home again. Come on, finish your porridge, and then I've got clean clothes for you, and something to help with that bruise I did not see in the dark, my apologies."
"You came to save me, you don't have to apologize formissing a bruise in the dark," Ender said with a laugh, before finishing the last couple bites of porridge. A soldier stepped in and took it, and Berkant was urging Ender to his feet, over to where a bucket of water waited for washing up, which he did as the soldiers and Berkant all politely turned away to give him some semblance of privacy.
When he was done, feeling much better than he had in…hours? Days? Ender called out, "All set."
Minutes later they were off, riding as quickly as they safely could. One soldier had been sent ahead at sunrise to let Shafiq know he'd been found and was on his way home, and two more held back to protect the rear, should further assailants come from wherever Ender had been imprisoned.
They didn't stop until the sun was high in the sky and the worst of the heat was beating down on them. Thankfully, they reached another water station, this one nice enough to have little shelters offering cool shade. Ender took the water one of the guards brought him gratefully, forcing himself not to gulp it down, no matter how tempting that sounded.
