As he got closer, however, he could hear horses, and hope turned back into fear. The men he'd hidden from before? Travelers? He wouldn't know until too late. The smart thing would be to sneak past, but it would be full dark soon, and the moon was only half-full, and he'd run out of water some time ago. Nevermind that with the sun gone, too hot would swiftly turn into too cold. Heneededto rest, in a place of relative safety. He'd made it this far, he couldn't fail now, that wasn't fair.
"—rest for the night," someone said.
"You're right," said another voice, full of frustration—and also familiar. "I want to press onward, but that would be a fool's gambit."
Ender's heart jumped into his throat, and hope blossomed anew in his chest. It couldn't be. He was probably imagining it, because why would a royal concubine be all the way out here?
"Bed down then," the familiar voice said with a sigh. "We leave right at dawn. I know we're close."
Swallowing, fisting his trembling hands, Ender called out, "Lord Berkant?"
A ringing silence fell across the desert, and then he heard boots pounding on stone, and a shadowy figure came into view, just visible in the dark. "Ender? Ender!" Berkant surged forwardand swept him up into a tight hug. "You're all right, thank the gods. I can't believe it!"
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?"
