LITMIR.BIZ

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that, he walked away, leaving Demetri standing alone.

      He hardly spoke a word to either of his companions as they continued their journey. They visited three groups of Kin that day, all camped near the swamp, and all distantly hostile. In every place, Lillen and Ward surveyed the people to find the “likely ones,” and Lillen spoke to them of the reward. At least, Demetri assumed she spoke about the reward. Ward never let Demetri get close enough to hear what she said.

      The Four would die nameless, then. There was no question that they must die. Demetri had pledged himself to the Guard Riders, sworn to destroy the Youth Guard. Aleric, the captain of the Riders, would punish him for another failure. And Ward had made it clear that turning back was no option.

      As they left the last Kin encampment, Demetri felt the power of the Rider medallion he wore. He reached up to touch it. It gave him strength, somehow, and reassured him that he would enter the swamps and come out alive.

      But the Four, the nameless Four, would not.

      Chapter 2

      When Jesse turned his boots upside down, there were twin holes in the heels. “Silas,” he groaned loudly. “Is the entire surface of your district made of jagged rock?”

      Silas, already getting out the fishing line, didn’t seem bothered by Jesse’s comment. “Your district has grassland and mud. Mine has rock and—”

      “More rock,” Rae added, when Silas couldn’t think of anything to finish the statement. She tapped her leather boots. “But blame the makers of your shoes, Jesse, not the land we’ve crossed. Mine are just fine.”

      Jesse rolled his eyes. “A fine lot of support I get around here. I’ll have you know these boots were made for farm work, not for climbing over every rocky trail in the kingdom of Amarias.”

      “Never fear, Jesse,” Parvel said, clapping him on the back, which nearly knocked him off the boulder he rested on. “District Two also has a very fine swamp—one that I hope we will be approaching very soon.”

      He directed this last comment at Silas, who nodded. “Two days journey, perhaps. Maybe less.”

      Jesse wasn’t sure if this was good news or not. According to the Forbidden Book, the swamps were the last place one of the missing Youth Guard squads had been seen alive. When they reached the edge, they would have to enter and find them, facing unknown dangers along the way. Even Silas, who had grown up in District Two, knew very little about the swamps. Or, at least, he’s telling us very little.

      The thought had crossed Jesse’s mind more than a few times that Silas might know more than he said, afraid of frightening them. But after all we’ve seen in the last month, what could be worse? Besides, we don’t have a choice. If we don’t go into the swamp, the other squad will die.

      “I can’t wait until we get something to eat besides fish,” Rae said, scowling at the stream next to them. Their supplies, borrowed from Prince Corin, had only lasted a few days. For the past week of traveling, they had followed the river, eating fish from the stream for dinner.

      “I can fix it a little differently this time,” Parvel offered hopefully.

      “No,” they all said at once. The night before, Parvel had garnished the fish with a red sauce. The fish had been halfway to Jesse’s mouth when Silas asked him what he had used. It turned out to be bloodberries. Jesse had immediately dropped the fish and threw it into the fire. Even the smoke smelled toxic.

      “He could have just poisoned us all and saved the king the trouble of killing us,” Silas had muttered while washing off his plate.

      Hearing him say that reminded Jesse exactly how serious their situation was. Sometimes, fishing with Silas in the dusk, he forgot that a Patrol division could march out of the woods and kill them, leaving them in unmarked graves along the road.

      They’d have to go a distance to find a road, though. That was Parvel’s idea. “Chancellor Doran must know we’re alive by now,” he had said the day they set out from Davior. “He’ll send someone after us. We should go the long way to the swamp, avoiding main roads and all towns.”

      That was why they were still two full days away from the swamp after a week of travel. Every morning, Jesse would wake up achingly stiff, only to face another long trek over rugged terrain.

      But it’s worth it if it keeps us alive. And, anyway, I’m getting used to the hard travel, Jesse thought. His skin was darker from hours in the sun, and if he wasn’t mistaken, he was developing a bit of muscle. Not on his crippled left leg, of course, but the other was growing twice as strong.

      “Come on, Jesse,” Silas said, jerking his head toward the river. “Let’s catch dinner.”

      Jesse took out the leather cord and makeshift hook that served as his fishing pole. All the poles he had ever owned were handmade, but this one took the prize for the most crude—pieced together from odds and ends they had brought with them from Roddy’s tavern and Prince Corin’s store of supplies.

      Silas was already by the water, perched on a mossy boulder. “What’s the score?” he asked Rae.

      She sat on the bank a distance from the water, as usual. Jesse knew it was because she was afraid of water, but none of them ever mentioned it. The first person who does, Jesse thought, will probably get punched.

      “Jesse eight, Silas three,” Rae recited.

      Don’t be smug, Jesse commanded himself. Still, he couldn’t help but grin a bit. It was nice, for once, to be better than Silas at something—anything. Silas, Rae and Parvel were the real Youth Guard members, chosen for their strength, intelligence and bravery. He was just a cripple who had come along on their adventures.

      But he was a cripple who knew how to fish.

      He ambled over to the river, tying the cord to the end of his staff—a bendbow knot, his father had called it.

      Jesse felt a stab of pain at the memory. Sometimes, when they were running for their lives or involved in a mission, he almost forgot about his parents. But not quite. He didn’t know where they were or if they were even alive, just that they disappeared a year ago. He hadn’t heard from them since.

      The Forbidden Book gave them information about the lost, but only lost Youth Guard members. Jesse wished the book were magic and could tell him where to find any person he named. It had been a long time since he and his father had gone fishing together.

      With a sigh, Jesse plopped down on the bank, sticking his feet in the river and swirling them around. The cold water felt good on his sore feet.

      “You’ll scare off the fish,” Silas warned him. When he fished, he always sat in complete silence, hardly moving at all. Sometimes, Jesse thought he was dead, until he saw him blink.

      “Apparently, I haven’t been scaring them off,” Jesse said, smirking. “Just scaring them right onto my hook.”

      Silas shook his head, and Rae scoffed out loud.

      “Anyway, I’m not fishing yet,” Jesse continued. “I’m just watching the currents.”

      “Watching the currents,” Silas repeated skeptically.

      Jesse nodded. “Old trick from District One,” he said. “You’ve got to know how to time the currents. That’s how I catch all my fish.” He shrugged and tapped his staff with its intricately carved designs, a gift from his friend Kayne. “And my staff brings me good luck.”

      “I thought you Christians didn’t believe in luck,” Silas said. Even though it was a simple comment, Jesse could hear the bitterness in his voice.

      He decided it wasn’t the time to start yet another argument about God. Those always went the same way. He and Parvel against Silas and Rae, all repeating the same arguments and neither side changing their minds. “I was joking,” Jesse said. “Fishing is pure skill.”

      Rae

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