Chapter 28: Maverick

Ysuelt Dwelling

"If you have something to say, just say it."

Maverick had been aware of Neva staring at him since the moment he left the armory, following in Calliope's wake, and packed up his things to leave. They were on their way to the stables now where the others would already be waiting.

They hadn't wasted much time once the decision had been made to depart. They'd had one last meal with the Ysuelt, gotten a good night's sleep in preparation for the journey, woken up and packed. Maverick had noticed Gabriel glaring at him all throughout the morning. It should have mattered little to him. He hardly knew the man at all. But there was something disappointing about being on Gabriel Barlowe's bad side.

"Why?" Neva finally replied with a frown. "It's not as if you would listen to me anyway."

Maverick stopped walking, turning to face her with a sigh.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "You were right. You're always right. It would have been safer to venture off alone. It would have been safer to tell no one who we were and to remain hidden. But then we never would have found this place. And we never would have found her."

"And you're happy we found her because of Delphi's visions," Neva barked back, crossing her arms and raising a brow to show that even she didn't believe what she was saying. "And no other reason whatsoever."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know precisely what I'm alluding to. I've never seen you like this, Mav. You can hardly look away from her."

Maverick blushed a deep crimson, shouldered his pack, and marched off.

"It's not like that, Neva," he muttered.

She fell in behind him once more and did not broach the subject again. They found Aditya, Zephyr, and Delphi waiting for them at the stables. They had already saddled all five horses and were readying their things to depart. Maverick and Neva joined them in the preparations. Maverick had just swung himself onto his horse when Sebastian rode into the stables already on his own.

"Where do you think you're going?" Zephyr asked, frowning and holding out an arm to keep Sebastian from getting too close, protective as always.

"With you," Sebastian snapped and the glare he shot Zephyr was a dare to challenge him. Zephyr just turned towards Maverick.

"Why?" Neva asked before Maverick could answer.

"Because she is," Sebastian said simply.

"He shouldn't come," Neva spoke, looking over to Maverick as she did. "We'll be crossing a warzone. It isn't safe for a civilian–"

"I'm more of a warrior than anyone here."

Zephyr's eyes snapped to Sebastian.

"Fine," Maverick interrupted before things could get ugly between the men. "Come along. But don't slow us down."

Sebastian muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like spoiled rich boy but Maverick simply ignored him and rode out of the stables and into the valley beyond. The others followed him to find that Calliope was already saddled and ready to go. She sat upon her horse, a beautiful chestnut mare, and stared into the rising sun.

"I told him he shouldn't come," she said quietly as Maverick rode up to join her. They both glanced over their shoulders at where the others waited upon their horses, milling about until directed to depart.

"He doesn't seem the sort to take no for an answer," Maverick replied. "And he cares a great deal for your safety. I have one of those friends too. They're hard to get rid of."

The corners of her lips quirked up into a small smile.

"Am I making the right decision?" she asked, her voice small, fearful. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to comfort the doubt right out of her, but he didn't know how or if he even should. Instead, he smiled.

"We all have to make choices for ourselves," he told her. "Sometimes, there are no clear answers. Those are the hardest ones to make. But I find that, without these journeys, we wouldn't truly know ourselves at all."

She nodded then, sitting up straighter in her saddle and appearing more resolute than before. She gripped the reins hard and snapped them, driving her horse onward. Maverick watched her go and a moment later Sebastian rode past him to join her. Neva was at his side soon after and the rest of their party trotted on behind them.

They rode for hours in silence, keeping eyes and ears out for any signs of battle, anyone waiting to ambush them on the road. But an hour into their journey, Maverick slowed his horse until Aditya could catch up to him. They rode in silence beside each other for a while before he spoke.

"Delphi's visions," Maverick said. "Were they the only reason you came looking for us?"

Aditya's lips flattened into a line.

"No," she answered a moment later.

"Then why?"

"Valencia."

He sighed.

"I feared she might try to intervene," he said.

"Can you blame her, Maverick? The last she hears, someone tried to assassinate you within the palace walls in the dead of night. Then the next thing she knows, you're just gone. Of course, it had to be that way for your own safety but it's hard for a mother not to know where her child is."

Maverick looked up at her then. Her grip on the reins was tight, too tight. Her knuckles were turning white and her jaw was so tense he thought her teeth might break.

"Yours?" he asked quietly, his voice nearly a whisper. Aditya had only told him her secret, about the daughter she was forced to give away lest she be associated with an enchantress and placed in grave danger.

"They moved her again," Aditya said. "But I don't know where."

Her frustration was palpable. Maverick reached out and placed his hand on her arm.

"I will make inquiries when we return," he promised.

"You shouldn't," she ground out through gritted teeth. "It isn't the time to draw attention to yourself, Maverick."

"If anything is worth the risk, Aditya, it's this."

"Prince!" Sebastian called from the front of the line, though the way he spoke the title sounded more like he was trying to spit it out than say it. Maverick glanced up just as Neva hissed at the boy not to call him that out here in the open.

"What is it?" Maverick asked, cutting off her tirade when he noticed that they had stopped.

"An army. A big one by the looks of it."

"What color?"

"Orange."

"Hide," Maverick commanded. "Everyone. Now."

A moment later, they were scrambling off their horses and leading them into the brush on the side of the road. Maverick and Neva ended up with Calliope and Sebastian while Aditya, Delphi, and Zephyr were in the bushes on the other side.

"I don't understand," Sebastian hissed as they tied their horses to dresses deeper in the forest and then crouched down by the roadside, hidden behind the brush. "Why are we hiding from Idorian soldiers? Aren't they supposed to be our allies?"

Maverick and Neva exchanged a glance.

"I have reason to doubt the authenticity of the alliance," Maverick answered politically.

"Don't do that," Sebastian replied.

"Do what?"

"Lie to us like that. We aren't noblemen in need of appeasing. We're out here with you so tell us the truth. Are they here for you?"

"Not them, no. They wouldn't send a whole army for me but if they happened to find me... well, they've sent one assassin to kill me already."

Calliope's lips parted in surprise. Sebastian sighed and shook his head. They all turned back to the road where they could now hear hoofbeats approaching. Moments later, the army was in front of them, marching along the road toward Delos. Maverick watched them as they passed, as if he could determine the reason for their march just by watching them do it. It was a big host and took a long time to pass them on the road. Why would such a big army be heading for Delos? Was his country that in need of backup? Or were they finally turning on each other like the greedy rats they were?

Maverick opened his mouth to whisper the rhetorical question to Neva when he saw a familiar face among the masses. Bijan Eretria, prince and heir of Idoria, sat atop a majestic warhorse clad in finely made shining orange armor. He knew Bijan well enough. Children of royalty always grew up around one another. Bijan had always made jokes about Maverick's parentage, had always seen him as lesser. But Bijan had his own over-inflated sense of self importance and Maverick had learned at an early age not to take the Idorian prince's opinions too seriously. He hadn't seen him in years but he could still understand that look on his face and knew that something had happened.

Bijan wasn't riding to join the cause. He was riding to set fire to it.

"We have to go," Maverick spoke in a rushed whisper. "Now. Neva, signal to the others. We have to ride through the forest. We need to get there before this army. We have to go now."