Page 149 of The Reaping Rose

“This way.” Esen hurries toward a different door from the one the overlord used. “There are horses at the back of the property. We need to avoid the main streets, or someone will see us.”

Callum and I follow Esen through a winding tunnel that takes us deeper before we reach a set of stairs that climb. Perame groans in Callum’s arms, and I grip her dangling hand, squeezing.

“We’re going to get you home.”

Esen leads us up the staircase until we reach a hatch overhead. The doors peel open into the forest, far outside the manor, where a stable is tucked between the trees.

Callum is careful as he gets Perame onto his horse, while Esen and I climb onto another. Thankfully, she seems to know how to ride because the only other time I’ve been on a horse was with Wilder.

Shouts ring at a distance as we escape into the forest. The trees thicken, and we ride without stopping until finally we have to abandon the horses at the outskirts of a town to stay hidden. We move slower without them, but it’s easier to be quiet.

Only once the manor is far behind us do we stop and rest. Callum sets Perame beside a tree while Esen sets down the bag she pulled from the horse before we left them.

“Here.” She pulls pants and a shirt from the sack. “This is my traveling bag. These clothes might not fit you perfectly, but they’ll be better than a dress.”

“Anything is better than a dress.” I smile, taking them. “Thank you for this.”

Her smile tightens, and I hope she knows I’m not simply thanking her for a change in outfit, but for her help. For taking a chance on us even though we came here with the same intent as the overlord—to use her.

I slip behind a tree and change quickly. Thankfully, Esen is around my height. But she has a slightly thinner build, so the leathers hug my hips and ribs tightly.

When I rejoin the group, Callum is standing watch, while Esen sits beside Perame, looking after her.

“Is she asleep?” I kneel down at Perame’s side.

“In and out.” Esen frowns.

“We need to do something,” I say to Callum, who is scanning the forest.

He turns to walk over to us. “The best we can do is get her home.”

“Can you make a Gate?”

His fingers flex, frustration pulling between his brows. “I used too much magic fighting the overlord; I’m still recovering.”

This would be nothing to him if we were back in our realm. Here, every spurt of magic takes hours—days—to replenish, especially in this dying forest.

“Then we’ll continue on foot.” I offer a smile, but it does nothing to ease Callum’s tension.

“Do you know where we’re headed?” Esen asks.

“The Arch outside of Moongrove is closest,” Callum answers.

She surveys the forest, thinking. “If we veer east, we can get there quicker. There’s a shortcut between the hills.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s the path my father would take.” She frowns. “He was a mineral trader, and his route stretched through the southern continent. He went that way frequently because it was faster. It’s where I’d stop and turn around to keep an eye on my mother while he was gone.”

Her gaze drifts off, and I look up at Callum, his expression solemn. Esen mentioned her parents rejecting her, but to hear how she stood on the outside of their lives, watching them, mourning the loss of her family, is heartbreaking. She looked after them long after they banished her.

“We go east then,” I say, and Esen looks up at me.

Perame groans as Callum picks her up, but she doesn’t wake.

“Hold on,” I whisper, over and over. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

Chapter 50