Chapter Thirty-Three
Penn and I huddled together over a small fire, the night sky spread out above us, stars strewn about like tinsel. It would’ve been a spectacular sight to behold if I wasn’t so damn cold. We had to keep the fires small so as not to attract any kind of attention. We’d been traveling for a week, now, and I swore I’d spend the rest of my life getting sand out from every crack and crevice in my body. Places I didn’t even know sand could be. Penn and I had fashioned scarves to go over our faces and protect us from windstorms, but the sand still managed to infiltrate every barrier, cutting like glass when the wind was particularly strong. I was truly starting to hate this place.
We’d had a few close calls, having to change routes often to drop anyone who appeared on our tail. We also came face-to-face with a dragon, but luckily it had gotten distracted by a group of camels wandering the desert and had decided they’d be a much tastier meal. I didn’t blame the dragon. I doubted we looked particularly appetizing after surviving on little food and water. Finding either in the desert was a challenge, but Penn had been to Gilraeth several times and knew how to find water sources, thank the blood and earth.
Tonight, all we had was cactus. My stomach curled just looking at it. I was so sick of cactus, its slimy texture, its plant-like flavor, the way I had to chew and chew and chew before being able to swallow it down.
“You need to eat,” Penn said from across the fire.
I knew he was going to say that. He reminded me every single night when I looked upon the cactus with a wrinkled nose. But we simply didn’t have the time or energy to catch anything more.
He reached out his hand, giving me a strip, and I snatched it from him, shoving it into my mouth and choking while trying to force it down.
I gagged, and Penn had the water skin waiting. I took it from him and swallowed a mouthful of water, then handed it back.
“How did you become the king of thieves?” I asked. “Did you just wake up one day and decide I want to be the best criminal on the continent of Arathia?”
Penn snorted, and I could see the slight curve to his lips, lips that I’d found myself staring at more and more as we journeyed together.
“Most people don’t become criminals out of boredom; they become criminals out of necessity.”
I opened my mouth to argue, and he held up a hand.
“And before you tell me that there is always another way, think about what options I had. I was an orphan, had no one but myself. I was trapped in a forest with Elwen bordering one side and the Deadlands bordering the other. Everyone was afraid, desperate, but worst of all, they’d lost hope. I could see the cracks forming.”
The firelight illuminated his face, shadows darkening his eyes as he spoke, memories lingering in those shadows.
Penn grabbed his rucksack, stuffing it behind his head as he leaned back. “When people get desperate, they do stupid things. Start turning on one another, start picking fights, start creatingenemies. I didn’t want that to happen. I felt an obligation to my people, an obligation to be the leader they needed now that my parents had died.” He paused, hesitation flitting across his face. “I don’t know what you know of the border...”
“I know it was my father who used his magic to erect it,” I said. “Another secret he kept from me, but he must’ve had his reasons.”
Penn looked away for a moment, jaw clenching. This must be a sore subject for him. And I understood.
“So what did you do, then?” I asked, wanting to get his story back on track. “How did that lead you to becoming a thief?”
That ghost of a smile reappeared on Penn’s lips. “I’m getting there, Lilypad. One day, I decided to visit the border. I don’t know what I was thinking. Hoping. Maybe that I could do something, find a way to destroy it? I went again, and again, and again. Every day I studied it. I studied the vines, the way they reacted if you came too close. I threw rocks in the air to see how they might attack, what direction they’d shoot out to defend. I learned. And finally, the day came I was brave enough to get to the other side.”
I held my breath, mesmerized by his story. I’d never even thought about what it might take to cross the border between Elwen and Mosswood Forest.
“I got my ass kicked.” Penn’s lips quirked. “Got thrown into a tree by one of the vines. Another day, I almost got eaten by the border. Then I almost got crushed.” He started ticking off his fingers. “Bit, scratched, bloodied, battered. My magic was ineffective against it, everything I threw at it destroyed. Until one day, when I finally made it over to the other side.”
I realized my mouth was hanging open and snapped it shut.
“I’d lived in Elwen when I was young, before the war, but didn’t remember much. I figured it couldn’t hurt to explore a little. I stumbled upon a farm, and the people were kind to me.They bought my story about how I was traveling back home after seeking out a healer for my mother. They invited me to dinner with them, let me stay for the night at their house.” He paused. “That was the first time I stole.”
My brows shot up. “You stole from them? From these people who showed you kindness?”
“They also had far more than we did in Mosswood Forest. I saw an opportunity.” His voice had a hard edge, held no remorse over his actions.
Curiosity overtook my urge to reproach him. “So what did you steal?”
A breeze blew through the air, and I shivered, frisking my arms and scooting closer to the fire. Sand scattered around us, rustling, creating a lulling harmony with the crackle of the fire.
“As they gave me a tour of their farm, their house, fed me dinner, I marveled at everything they had. Tools like knives, knife sharpeners, axes. They had seeds, they had livestock—things that didn’t exist in Mosswood Forest. So I pretended to go to bed, waited until I knew they were asleep, and I took as many of those tools, those seeds, as I could.” He leaned forward, holding his hands out over the fire. “I took everything back to Mosswood Forest, and it was like a new life had been breathed into the community. No one asked where I’d gotten these things. I don’t even think it occurred to them to. But as I took more trips, brought more back, they knew what was happening. They also knew it was our only way to survive.”
I took a deep breath. “I understand why you stole from Elwen. My father never would’ve traded with you after the war, but why not trade with other courts? Why steal from everyone else too?”
“The other courts were banned from trading with us.”
