His gaze dropped to my throat, where my thumping pulse betrayed me.
“Oh, Prisca. We both know that’s not true.”
Kreilor stepped closer, dragging Chista with him. I readied my broom, prepared to use it like a staff.
“Think about this,” I told him. “Think about what you’re doing here.”
“You think I’m behaving abnormally? Thol has everything,” he hissed.
My gaze met Chista’s. She was a few years younger than me. We’d never talked much, but in that look, I caught wild hope. I was the one she was counting on.
Maybe I could make Kreilor focus on me. I let my voice drip disdain as I sneered at him. “That’s what this is about? You’re jealous of Thol?”
Kreilor’s hand tightened around Chista’s wrist, and she winced.
“Be careful how you speak to me, Prisca. I know about your creditors. I know just how much it cost to keep your father alive, and how you and your family barely have enough to live on after paying those creditors each month. What do you think will happen when I tell everyone I caught you attempting to steal from this bakery? When no one else will offer you work, and your family is begging in the village square?”
Something dark rippled through my entire body. I bared my teeth. “Let her go.”
He laughed again.
And then he was swinging one meaty fist toward her face.
The world narrowed, until all I could see was his hand. His hand, and the terror in Chista’s eyes as she attempted to duck.
Time stopped.
And I was already moving.
Darting between Kreilor and Chista, I pushed her aside, using my forearm to sweep his hand away from her.
The world resumed once more.
And I prepared for Kreilor to begin screaming. To summon the guards. A dull hopelessness spread throughout my body—the inevitability of my own death.
Kreilor’s face turned purple, and he stumbled. His surprise allowed Chista to pull her wrist from his hand.
I watched his eyes for any recognition, anything that would tell me he knew just what I’d done. But there was nothing. He’d been focused on Chista and hadn’t seen me move. My limbs went weak, my legs unsteady. Was I…safe?
Movement flashed out of the corner of my eye. And my eyes met Chista’s. She’d backed away and stood next to the open door, her eyes on me. Her face was white as death, and she turned, sprinting from the bakery.
My knees quaked, and my whole body went numb. Chista had seen exactly how I’d frozen Kreilor. How my power had tugged at the thread of time.
Kreilor moved closer to me, his lips pulled back from his teeth, face almost purple. He was a large man, and he stood between me and the door.
Another step closer.
If he got his hands on me, I was done.
Darting to the side, I struck him in the face with the broom handle.
He cursed, rearing back.
I dropped my hand, angling the broom up between his legs. Kreilor folded in two, his face draining of color as he clutched at himself.
Our eyes met. It was as if I was floating above my body, staring down at myself.
“If you go near Chista again, I will kill you.”
Kreilor’s eyes widened. “You crazy whore.”
He finally managed to straighten, although his face had that green tinge once more. It wasn’t an attractive look on him.
“You’ll pay for this.”
“You’re right,” I said, thinking of Chista and the terror in her eyes as she’d looked at me. “But not as much as you will if you don’t leave me alone. Try me, Kreilor. I have nothing left to lose.”
He cursed and stumbled out, still bent in two.
I sat directly on the ground. My hands shook, nausea slid through my body, and I suddenly couldn’t breathe.
My last words hadn’t been true at all.
I still had plenty left to lose.
I wiped my wet face with the heels of my hands. I didn’t have time to sit here rocking and sobbing. I had to fix this.
Where would Chista go? My only hope was to find her. To beg for her silence.
Even just long enough for me to steal a stone from the priestess.
I choked on my next sob. It was far too late for that. It was only a matter of time before the village was locked down, the king’s guards summoned, and my family slaughtered.
Then I’d be taken to the city to burn.
I made it to my knees. And then to my feet. My entire body was numb. But I stumbled out of the bakery.
My legs barely worked, and I had the odd sensation of my limbs turning to water. The world spun dizzily around me, until my vision narrowed and all I could see was the route to my house.
The few options I had battled within my mind. Find Chista, find the stone, warn my family.
Family first. I had to find them.
I ran faster, ignoring the stares and whispers from the villagers.
Someone caught my arm, and I spun, arm raised, hand in a fist.
Not a guard. And not the king’s assessor.
My knees went so weak, I almost stumbled.
“Mama?”
Safe. She was safe. We still had time.
“Quiet, Prisca.” Her face was ashen. “Come with me, and don’t draw any more attention.”
No one who had seen my mother recovering from a vision would recognize her now. She strode with fierce determination, walking purposefully, almost dragging me with her toward the forest bordering our village.
A strange metallic taste filled my mouth.
“You need to go find Tibris, Mama.” We had plans we’d made over and over throughout the years. If the worst ever happened and we were separated, we would find one another again.
Mama had a particular plate she would leave out on the table. One we never used. If Tibris ever came home to find that plate out, he was to flee. But we hadn’t discussed those plans since we were children.
“They’re already looking for you. Tibris knows what to do.”
Already looking.
I’d had nightmares about this day my entire life. And yet even in my nightmares, it hadn’t happened this quickly.
“Where are we going?”
Mama ignored that, pulling me faster, until I had to trot to keep up. I winced as a bramble slid between my slipper and my foot. I’d left both my winter boots and cloak at home, never imagining I wouldn’t return straight from the bakery.
I’d lived in fear my entire life. And yet I’d also somehow gotten complacent.
“They’re coming,” Mama said. “Faster, Prisca.”
Thoughts raced through my mind as she led me deeper into the forest, urgency in her steps, panic written across her face.
Shouts sounded in the distance. I tugged on her hand. “Mama—”
“The king’s guards,” she said.
My breath caught in my throat as terror seized my entire body. “Already?”
She nodded, hands fluttering. Beneath the determination was sheer terror. Even her lips were white. “Chista has been flirting with one of the guards these past months. She’s already speaking to him now. I saw them and came straight to you.”
“Are you sure Chista told him?”
“I watched her tell him yesterday.”