To my surprise, she hands me the pouch. “Sprinkle this inside the cave under the tree, and it’ll show you Enat’s home.”
There’s something to be made of the woman’s having mixed the pouch’s contents before I inquired about directions to Enat’s home. Though perhaps sometimes it’s best to offer gratitude instead of wariness. I start to thank her when the slightest prickle along the back of my neck catches me in midsentence.
A moment later, Cohen barges into the shop, his gaze wild till it lands on me.
“There you are.” His eyes shift to the woman, and his mouth settles into a hard, unyielding line, his expression guarded. “We need to go.”
Sparing one last glance in the woman’s direction, I mouth Thank you, and then trail Cohen out of the shop. I’d bet my bow he’s not pleased that I left, although he doesn’t say as much. Cohen jumps right to the business at hand, lowering his voice so only I can hear as we rush away from the Elementiary. “Delmar wasn’t able to give me much—?only that Enat lives on the outskirts of the village. He said Channeler magic obscures her location.” Frustration tinged with defeat darkens his tone. “I don’t know how to get to her now.”
I beam at him and hold up the pouch. “Good thing I do.”
Chapter
20
WE TRAVEL ALONG THE HILLS, HIDING IN the brush and patches of trees running parallel to the road. Clouds form in the west, gray beasts that slink away from the ocean, growling in an untamed approach. If we move quickly enough, we’ll reach Enat’s home before they’re overhead.
An hour out of Celize, we pass a group of uniformed men, geared with swords and bows. Soldiers headed to war. The clean press of their coats shows they haven’t seen a fight yet. How soon will that change?
Though we’re hidden in the trees, Cohen, who’s taken to sitting behind me, stiffens. At first I figure he’s concerned they’ll see us. But the foliage is too dense and dark.
“Tell me about Finn,” I probe once the men are out of sight.
“My ma’s beside herself with worry. He’s had hardly any training in hand-to-hand fighting. Only what I taught him . . . It isn’t enough.” Cohen could be a statue for the little he moves; just his low tenor voice and the vibration of his words quaking softly across my back remind me of our proximity. “He’s fourteen. Not old enough to be called a man. Though the king wants him to fight like one.”
My thoughts shift to the jeweled, lean man I saw in the courtyard that day at the castle. It doesn’t seem right that our spoiled leader can force even the young into war. Once the king’s orders are given, only the king can retract them. It makes me wonder if our leader’s determination will be our country’s downfall, causing Malam to lose to Shaerdan’s more battle-seasoned soldiers.
“Will your father fight alongside him?” I ask.
“He died last winter.”
His straightforward answer socks me in the stomach with guilt. I’ve been angry with Cohen for not returning for Papa’s wake, while I made no effort to find out what was going on with his family. He loves his family dearly and worked tirelessly during his apprenticeship to make them proud. I can only imagine how the loss must’ve wounded Cohen.
Twisting in the saddle, I turn back to face him. “I’m sorry.”
“The ague was too much for him,” Cohen explains so matter-of-factly, it makes my heart ache. “Since Finn is the only male at home, he must fight in the war.” He cracks the knuckles on his left hand as it lies against his thigh. I notice the movement but give him my silence so he’ll continue to talk. “Should’ve been me. Not him. But I cannot go home to my family or take Finn’s place until I’ve cleared my name.”
I know better than anyone the loneliness and pain Cohen must feel right now.
“I suppose it’s better to lose your life to war than the guard’s noose,” Cohen says bitterly.
“You make it sound like Finn has no chance.”
“Don’t you remember when we were fourteen? Even though we already had a couple years of training, we would’ve been lost on the war front.”
Cohen quiets behind me. I want to plead with him to keep hope, only those words are dashed by the soldiers, determined men in steel armor, who come to mind. It seems if Finn has any chance at all of making it out of the war unscathed, it cannot be more than a sliver.
“I swore to my mother that I’d help Finn if it became necessary,” Cohen confesses. “That I’d save him from the war if needed.”
My brow furrows. “But isn’t that what you just said you cannot do?”
He doesn’t answer for a moment. “I won’t let Finn get hurt. Right now he’s near the front and training. Should the war start and his unit move into action, then I’ll have to do something about it.”
“What will you do?”