Ravvi sighed deeply. “Go,” he said. “Tomas, you will make sure they get safely away from the camp.” Tomas didn’t look happy with the command, but he nodded. Margo immediately ducked into another room.
“Then let’s go at once,” Parvel said. Jesse knew he wanted to leave before Ravvi changed his mind.
“Good-bye, Sofia,” Jesse whispered. “You were my favorite.”
She smiled toothlessly at him like she could understand. Jesse decided he was probably her favorite too. He handed her back to Margo, who had reentered the main room.
In exchange, she gave him a wrapped package and a small object on a leather cord. When he looked closer, Jesse could see it was a piece of wood carved in the shape of a bird. “The food is for you,” Margo said, pointing to the package. “The other is for Barnaby. It’s his token, the fledge bird. Each member of the Kin is given a token at birth.”
Jesse put the cord around his neck. “I’ll give it to him,” he promised.
“And tell him to bring Zora back,” Zacchai added.
“Zora?” Rae asked, frowning. “There was no one in the Youth Guard with that name.”
“That’s because she’s a bird,” Zacchai said, like Rae was a complete fool. “A fledge. Like the one on the token necklace. Only real.”
“How was I supposed to know that?” Rae demanded.
“Rae,” Silas said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “He’s six years old. Let him win this argument.”
“Come,” Tomas said, jerking his head toward the door.
“Give me back my dagger first,” Rae demanded.
“Not a chance.”
“Son,” Ravvi said, in a warning tone, “do as she says.”
Immediately, Tomas gave Rae the dagger. She sheathed it with a glare at him. Jesse guessed that disobeying a command from a parent was a serious offense in the Kin. Otherwise, he was sure Tomas would have died before giving back Rae’s dagger.
They ducked out the door into the rain, falling steadily now. Jesse’s staff sank down in the mud with every step. Tomas scanned in all directions before leading them out of the camp.
The others followed behind them. Jesse knew it was not because they couldn’t keep up, but because at training camp they were taught never to let an enemy walk behind you. Jesse didn’t care. He was sure Tomas wasn’t a threat anymore, in spite of his bluster.
“I always knew Barnaby would do something like that eventually,” Tomas muttered.
Jesse guessed it would be better not to ask questions or say anything at all. He just kept pace with Tomas and tried not to slip in the mud.
“He never cared about anyone, or about what others thought of him. He was the bold one, the one everyone liked.” His voice became bitter. “Some in the camp called me Barnaby’s brother, and him the younger one.”
Something about the way he said it made Jesse think of Eli. Immediately, he felt guilty at the comparison. He had always been jealous of Eli, of his strength and good looks and sense of humor, but they had been friends. Eli had always protected him.
And maybe that’s why I resented him.
Jesse shook off the thought. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for Tomas.
They sloshed through the camp as quietly as possible, hiding behind a wagon once when they heard someone passing by.
“Here’s where I leave you,” Tomas said, once they reached the trees at the edge of the camp.
“Don’t worry,” Parvel said, clapping him on the shoulder. “We’ll find your brother.” Clearly, he didn’t understand this kind of sibling rivalry. Jesse knew that Parvel and his brother had been close.
In fact, that was one of the problems. Parvel was searching for his brother, Justis, who had disappeared five years before. What Parvel didn’t know was that Justis now called himself by another name: Captain Demetri.
Jesse and Silas were the only ones who knew. Silas insisted that if they told Parvel, he would do something rash and endanger them all.
“Do you want us to give Barnaby a message from you?” Parvel asked.
Tomas thought about that. “Yes,” he said, tightening his cloak against the rain and turning away. “Tell him: don’t ever come back.”
Chapter 5
It was a cold, miserable night for standing watch. Jesse never thought he’d wish they were back in the mountains. But at least there we could find an overhang or a cave to make camp, he thought.
Now, after a day of travel, they had reached the soggy, wet terrain of the swamps. Jesse had to content himself with huddling under the draping branches of a tree—a swamp cypress, Silas called it. Jesse had never seen one before. Old Kayne, back in Mir, had taught him to identify all the trees in District One. He would be fascinated by this place. The thought made Jesse miss the crusty old hermit.
Kayne would be able to spend days just examining the plants of the swamp. For some reason, when Tomas spoke of the Swamp of the Vanished, Jesse pictured a flat bog with nothing but scum coating the water, like a plowed field after a week’s worth of heavy rain.
Instead, the swamp looked more like a forest than anything else. Silas had insisted that they stop as soon as they reached the fringes of the swamp. “It will be safer,” he said.
Usually, Jesse would attribute that to Silas’ caution, but even Rae wasn’t eager to enter the swamp at night. The trees were so tall they seemed to block out the light of the moon, although Jesse knew it was only the heavy storm clouds.
“They say it’s the greatest uncharted territory in Amarias.”
Even though Jesse recognized Parvel’s voice a split second later, he still jumped. Parvel lifted a branch to join Jesse under the tree. His shirt was plastered to him with water, his curly brown hair hung limp around his face, and he had to stoop to keep from hitting his head on the branches of the swamp cypress. He looked like a dripping wet grizzly bear.
“It’s not your watch for another hour yet,” Jesse said.
“I just couldn’t sleep,” Parvel replied.
“I’m surprised anyone can in this rain.” They were far enough away from the others that Jesse wasn’t afraid of waking them. Silas, at least, could sleep through wind, rain, thunderstorms, and possibly an attack by Captain Demetri.
For a moment, Parvel just looked out at the swamp. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Jesse hadn’t thought about it that way before. “I suppose.”
“I learned only a bit about the swamps from my tutor. He was rather weak on geography and history, I’m afraid. Mostly had us memorize capitals and trade routes and things of that nature. Terribly dull.”
Jesse
