‘At the moment they’re trying to find Thom. They won’t attack us directly as Quen fears Riddle. If we were hunting them, the other Outcast groups might join in.’

  Kitty’s eyes flicked over the trees, a growing disquiet in her gut. ‘Great.’

  ‘Let’s get back to camp,’ said Nate. ‘I told Tommy we would be back by dusk.’

  ‘Should we tell him?’ she wondered aloud.

  Although he did not speak about what happened to him during his capture – not to her, at any rate – it was clear that Thom was terrified of the Outcasts.

  Nate shrugged, but his scowl only deepened. ‘He deserves to know. Although I’m loath to give Charlie more reasons to pile onto his bloody list.’

  ‘Thom’s not going anywhere.’

  She took Nate’s hand and squeezed. His skin was hot from the day and from gripping his blade, but his touch was comforting, and the few scratches on her face and arms from the hunt began to fade away as if they were never there.

  When both of them looked healthy – if unquestionably dirty – he said, ‘You would think after months slaughtering slaves in the mountains, Charlie’s priorities would have rearranged themselves. You’d think he’d never want to go back.’

  Kitty winced at his words. The stories of the Red Arena had given her more than a few nights of nightmares. She’d seen all of Thom’s scars and often wondered about the weapons that had left the marks.

  ‘I know,’ she said. ‘But stop sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.’

  But she may as well have been talking to a wall for all he listened. With a sigh, Kitty tugged at his hand and pulled him back to Zoe and Cara, who had bags heavy with the four giant squirrels and two large, flightless birds they had hunted.

  Nate handed his bow to Kitty before bending down and heaving the dhole onto his back. She shouldered the bow and led the way down the slope, through an open field with grasses twice their height, along a great tree that had fallen across the river during the spring rainstorms, and up a rocky path.

  The enormous marker tree, which would have taken about five of them holding hands to reach all the way around, came into view after another ten minutes and the familiar sounds of the clan reached her ears.

  A few were cooking or sharpening weapons; Tove, Alik and Kaye set to work skinning and gutting the animals; Dana and Mauve were tasked with gathering the innards and entrails; and Eli and Piku were collecting the bones and skin for cleaning, drying and dyeing.

  ‘A good hunt,’ said Engus, nodding to their catch when they reached his side.

  ‘Wish the rest of the news was good,’ she muttered.

  He glanced at Nate, who was washing his hands in the hot water steaming over one of the small fires. ‘I see no injuries,’ he observed. ‘Is something the matter?’

  ‘Outcasts,’ said Cara, walking over to them. She had taken off her travelling gear, but like Zoe, Riddle and Thom, she never removed her weapons. ‘Ten.’

  Engus was instantly alert. ‘Which way did they go?’

  ‘West.’

  ‘We must consider relocating,’ he said, and Nate nodded fervently. ‘The winter will be here before we are prepared and we cannot move once the snow arrives.’

  ‘We could,’ said Kitty. ‘But we all know how that ended last year.’

  Everyone grimaced at the memory of the previous winter.

  ‘Perhaps we should make for the Great Plains,’ Engus continued. ‘The mountains between here and there would provide more than enough ground to lose the Outcasts. They will not trek the mountains for us. We have plenty of food stored for the winter. We could continue to hunt along the way and reach the plains before the leaves fall. It would likely be a quieter winter.’

  ‘It will put more distance between us and Franklin’s Wall as well,’ Nate added.

  His words sent a wave of relief through Kitty and she nodded in agreement. ‘More distance sounds like a solid plan to me.’ If she could, she’d walk as far west as she could get without falling into an ocean.

  As the others continued discussing the benefits of moving, Kitty’s eyes found Thom. With a mangled hand and crippled foot, and half his face scarred, he looked radically different from her old memories of him, but he was also much the same. When she caught his eye, he smiled and made his way over.

  ‘Good hunt?’ he queried when he reached her side. In the soft light of the evening, his scars looked somehow deeper, as if someone had carved him out of stone and he’d cracked.

  ‘Good enough,’ she said. ‘But we ran into some unfortunate acquaintances.’

  The colour drained from Thom’s already pale face. ‘Where?’

  ‘Far enough to not be of immediate concern,’ Nate chimed in, purposefully radiating calm apathy. ‘We were going to propose we move camp soon. Head towards the Great Plains.’

  ‘Where is that?’

  ‘From what I can surmise, really far.’

  Thick eyebrows knitting together, Thom glanced over his shoulder. Beside the fire, supervising Derek’s attempts at stirring the soup, stood Charles. The last rays of the day’s sun made his bright hair glint like gold and only enhanced his handsomeness. He and Thom made a striking couple: one dark, the other light. But as greatly as their looks differed, their personalities had also begun to clash.

  Nate followed his gaze. ‘What is it?’

  A weary look passed across Thom’s face, clearly anticipating a complication he didn’t want to deal with. ‘This isn’t going to go over well,’ he noted. ‘At all.’

  ‘Let Riddle break the news. It’s going to be put to a vote anyway. We only go if everyone agrees.’

  ‘Charles wants to move closer to Franklin’s Wall. Trekking north for a month is not going to be a plan he supports.’

  ‘So he would rather we stay in harm’s way?’

  Shooting his brother a look, Thom turned and walked away.

  Kitty gave Nate a look of irritation before heading over to the cauldron to wash the grime and animal smell from her hands. Her fingernails were permanently chipped, and there was a thin layer of dirt embedded in her skin that never fully washed away, but that was par for the course in the wilderness and she no longer minded. Nature didn’t make her feel unclean the way so many things within the Kingdom did.

  ‘Something on your mind, darling?’ said Nate, appearing at her side.

  ‘We all know you can’t stand Charles. It doesn’t help to bring it up.’

  ‘I’m not afraid of the little golden boy, darling.’

  Thoroughly exasperated, Kitty took a slow breath and tied her matted hair back from her face before answering him. ‘Nate, Thom has no one else out here. Don’t push away the one he loves.’

  He scowled. ‘He has us!’

  ‘God’s wrath,’ she muttered. ‘If you can’t see the difference between us and Charles, we have an entirely new set of problems.’

  ‘I’m not stupid.’

  ‘Then stop acting like it. Thom gave up everything to be here with you. Thom is a lot of things, but a man hiding in the shadows and plotting when he could be free is not one of them. Don’t forget—you were the dissenter. We weren’t. We never wanted a war. He will never join a rebellion—so drop it.’

  ‘Fine.’

  ‘Fine,’ she echoed crossly.

  She made to step away and he caught her arm, expression already contrite. ‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘I’m just …’

  A soft breeze picked up, kissing their skin and causing the hair on Kitty’s arms to stand on end. The joy of having his brother back had returned much of the light to Nate’s heart, but as euphoric as he was to have Thom, his worry over losing him again had become an almost chronic condition.

  ‘I know,’ she said with a heavy sigh. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. ‘Just pick your battles. Charles isn’t our enemy. He’s our family and whether we agree or not, we support Thom. Right?’

  Nate nodded several times. ‘You’re right. I’ll shut up.’

  ‘Good man.’

  His hand slipped into hers and he led the way back to the others.

  Tired and hungry, the odd group of more than thirty sat down around the fire and began to eat. Although it had taken Kitty some time to adapt to the diet of the Radiants, she had come to crave its simplicity. They favoured heavy, rich meals of meats, grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables.

  Everything was sourced from the surrounding area except for the few plants they sowed themselves and kept in pots that were lugged from camp to camp, or in small gardens when they remained in one place long enough. In addition, every member of the community had a leather purse containing dried seeds. More a token of luck and prosperous harvest, the purse was also a precious gift of reassurance. If ever they found themselves short of food, each had the means to grow more. But in the year they’d been together, food had thankfully not been an issue. She only wished she were better at hunting.

  Kitty was just tearing into the second loaf of bread when Riddle cleared his throat.

  Everyone looked up from their conversations and a hush fell over the group. He wasn’t their leader, but everyone trusted Riddle’s leadership. Perhaps the only reason it worked was because Riddle so clearly did not care if he was the leader. He’d sooner follow the rest of them.

  ‘The Outcasts were spotted not far from here,’ he announced.

  A ripple of concern and fear passed around the circle and Riddle held up a steadying hand. ‘There is no cause for alarm,’ he assured them. ‘The group was heading west. Yet we are now faced with a choice that a few amongst us have already proposed. We can either stay in our usual hunting zone and move to the winter camp in a fortnight, or we can make for the Great Plains and hope that the distance deters followers. As we voted not to hunt them down, those are our options – unless someone wishes to suggest an alternative we’ve not considered.’

  ‘We’ve not been to the Great Plains in years,’ said Kaye dubiously. ‘We have no knowledge of its current state. It could be worse for us to leave.’

  ‘This is true,’ he allowed. ‘It is also true that the lowland forests are well worn. The Great Plains are vast and unfrequented. There will be larger herds, fields untouched. Engus has spoken in earnest of his desire to make tribute at the ancient sites. It will give us a chance to visit the temples and homes of our ancestors. It could be an opportunity. A safe place to spend the snowy months.’

  ‘I’m in,’ said Nate instantly.

  ‘I’ve always wished to see the plains,’ said Alik. ‘I’ll go.’

  Piku, Rian and Aison echoed his sentiment.

  The first to hesitate was Dana. ‘I wish to think on it,’ she said. ‘I will take the next three nights.’

  Mauve, her twin, nodded her head. Kaye and Eli followed suit.

  Ciara cleared her throat and Kitty looked at her, stomach in knots. ‘I need to think about it,’ she said, confirming Kitty’s fears. ‘So, I’ll take the three days.’

  Sampson glared at his mother, stew all over his mouth and cheeks. ‘I want to stay! I like it here!’

  ‘Sam,’ said Ciara gently. ‘Don’t you miss your home?’

  ‘This is home!’ he cried.

  ‘Charles thinks the Plague might be done,’ she continued. ‘We need to see if our family is all right.’

  ‘No! I’m staying here with Ronny!’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ said Hermione, crossing her arms defiantly and looking at Nate. ‘I’m going with you. I hate the Kingdom. Joro is home.’

  ‘I don’t want to leave, either,’ said Merry, glaring at Dana and Kaye. ‘I want to stay with Ronny.’

  Hermione moved to sit beside him and looked at Charles and Ciara, daring them to take her from her best friend. With a matching scowl, Merry held out a gloved hand; Hermione took it.

  This show was quickly followed by Derek, who was curled up at Nate’s feet, wrapping an arm around his leg and clinging tightly. He didn’t say anything, but the stance was obvious to everyone.

  ‘Engus is here!’ cried Anushka. She stood and went over to Engus. Careful not to touch him, she sat at his feet and stuck her tongue out at her mother. ‘I’m staying with Engus!’

  Kitty saw Nate try, and fail, to suppress his grin.

  ‘I want as much distance between us and the Kingdom as possible,’ said Zoe, steering the conversation back on track. ‘When we climb the mountain, I can see the Wall in the distance. That is too close for my liking.’

  ‘But Zoe—’ Tove stopped short at the glare her sister sent her. Huffing angrily, Tove stabbed meat onto her fork. ‘Fine, don’t listen to me. But I’m taking the three days, too.’

  ‘I will go to the plains,’ said Cara. She placed a thickly gloved hand on Zoe’s back and they exchanged private smiles.

  ‘It’s not safe here,’ said Nate, looking around the community. ‘None of us are able to breathe. There is a constant threat of attack. We didn’t leave the Kingdom to live in fear.’

  ‘And whose fault is it, I wonder, that we live in fear?’

  Kitty looked over to Charles, who had been listening intently, his mouth in a thin line. The firelight reflected brightly in his green eyes and the scar down the side of his face only served to give him a fearsome quality. Beside him, Thom had gone still.

  Trepidation tripped through Kitty’s chest and her heart rate picked up.

  Nate turned his attention to Charles, a contemptuous twist to his mouth. ‘Something on your mind?’

  ‘I’m merely saying what everyone else is thinking,’ said Charles, setting his plate aside. ‘The only reason we are being hunted is you.’

  ‘What I did, I did for Tommy.’

  Charles scoffed. ‘You did it for yourself. Thomas was safe. There was no need to return. They wouldn’t be hunting us elsewise.’

  ‘They all tortured him,’ Nate snarled. ‘I’m sure it helps—never having seen what he looked like when we found him. I should think, however, that you would look at the evidence of their ways on his body and hate them as much as we do. And it’s not as if we killed everyone. We went after the thirteen Riddle identified. The ones responsible. No one else. It’s not our fault the last three are such cowards they ran away.’

  ‘He’s a known coward,’ said Riddle.

  ‘He ran away from me,’ said Aison. ‘I suppose I have more honour than he does as I didn’t shoot him in the back.’

  ‘More’s the pity,’ said Nate, and Aison nodded.

  Charles looked at Kitty and her heart sank. As with Thom, she wanted zero participation in their unending confrontations.

  ‘Surely you don’t agree with everything Nate does?’ he asked beseechingly. ‘I’m not the only one here who thinks this.’

  ‘You’re not,’ said Ciara from across the fire.

  ‘Listen,’ said Kitty, sending a warning look at her best friend before turning back to Charles. ‘No, I don’t agree with everything Nate does. For that matter, I don’t agree with everything anyone does. I don’t even agree with everything I do. Sometimes I do things and I hate myself for doing them. The choices we’ve had to make to put as much distance between us and the Kingdom couldn’t have been made by good people.’ She felt her throat threaten to close and took a steadying breath. ‘We did what we had to do, and for my part, I think the Outcasts deserved it.’

  Defeated, Charles sighed heavily and looked at Riddle. ‘I’ll take the three days, too.’

  There was only one left and all eyes fell to Thom.

  ‘I’ll take the three days,’ he murmured, his good hand tugging at the roots of his hair in agitation.

  Nate’s hand curled into a fist as Charles let out a shaking breath of relief. Wanting to punch both of them, Kitty stood and went to the table. She retrieved the jug of cider and filled a cup. Walking back, she held it out to Thom. He took it with his good hand. Though he didn’t look at her, she could see the anguish in his stance.

  Kitty glanced at Nate. He was staring at the empty plate on his lap, completely still except for the tapping of his fingers.

  ‘I’m going for a walk,’ she announced, suddenly needing to be anywhere else.

  ‘Don’t go far, darling,’ said Nate, not looking up.

  With a nod to Thom, Kitty kissed the top of Nate’s head and stepped around the log, folding her arms against her chest protectively. She picked her way through the tents and down the slope to the little creek, which was formed from a small offshoot of the river. Bright white fish glinted in the moonlight and she sat on the rock beside them. It was her favourite place at this campsite to sit and think and avoid the dramatics that often ensued between Nate and everyone else.

  She drew her legs into her chest and rested her chin atop her knees. She was so tired. Even now, even far from the guards and her parents, she felt like she was still running. The constant thrum of tension seemed like it would exist within her forever, bone deep and poisonous.

  ‘You all right?’ Tove sat down beside her, letting her bare feet drop into the water. The fish swam over curiously and nibbled at her toes. She giggled and moved her feet in slow circles.

  Kitty looked at Tove out of the corner of her eye. Tove’s wild black hair had always stuck up in all directions, a beautiful disarray of curls, but it had grown long since they came to Joro and now fell in great bushy tumbles down her back. She looked older, wiser, refined; she wasn’t a child anymore. Not that she’d ever been afforded much of a childhood.

  ‘God, Tove,’ she whispered. ‘You’re only seventeen.’

  A laugh left Tove’s lips. ‘What’s that to do with anything?’

  ‘You want to return,’ said Kitty. ‘Don’t you?’

  Tove leaned back on her hands. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever forget the last time I saw Evander. They took you away and Nate kept screaming. But Evander was so quiet. He was always so calm, my brother. He smiled at Zoe and she stopped struggling, and then he looked at me.’ Tove’s voice broke and she had to clear her throat before continuing. ‘He told me that no matter what became of us, it was going to be all right. In this world he would have us, and in the next he would have Sylvia, Gretchen and our parents. “Don’t be afraid.” That’s what he said. “Love outlasts pain.”’

 

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