Faoii Betrayer: Book 2 of the Faoii Chronicles by Tahani Nelson

Author:Tahani Nelson [Nelson, Tahani]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2020-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

31

They ran.

​Ilahna pushed her protesting legs harder as she darted across the cobblestones and through the twisted corridors of the Maze. There were few people out in the dead of night, and those who were awake were doubtlessly in the temple square after having been summoned by the Proclaimers’ orders.

But thieves and vagabonds always inhabited Clearwall, and Ilahna was so focused on what lay behind them that she was not concentrating on the everyday dangers of the Maze.

She should have been prepared for the single, desperate mazer crouching around a sharp corner, lurking at the sound of soft-booted feet in the night. But the lurker could not have been prepared for another urchin—why would a mazer take to streets rather than the rooftops?—and his ambush failed as Ilahna saw him just before he pounced. She slid forward at the sight of him, catching him in the calf with her heel. The two mazers ended as a jumbled heap on the Maze floor, Ilahna breaking the silence with a string of curses.

“Get out of here! I don’t have time for your nonsense!” she screeched at the cloaked figure. The man started to scramble away, and Ilahna’s hand instinctually went to her belt pouch. The strings had been loosened, and Ilahna was momentarily impressed at the other man’s skill. But a few coins were the least of her worries, and Ilahna pulled the string of her belt pouch shut as she rolled to her feet.

“Hey! Stop!” Eitan yelled, but the shadow was already scurrying down the alley.

“It doesn’t matter. Come on.” Ilahna said, leading them further into the Maze. The collision had already been forgotten by the time they turned the next corner.

​It seemed like an impossibly long sprint without the aid of roofs and walls, but soon Ilahna and the others had left the Clearwall mob far behind, with nothing denoting their passage except for the alarm bells that echoed hollowly through the night. Then, even those were finally stifled by the dingy sewer walls as the group finally reached their haven.

​Eitan was pale and shaky as he finally slumped against the damp wall of the sewer, breathing heavily, several of his wounds seeping blood again. But he tried to offer Ilahna a smile as she crouched in front of him.

​“You’re amazing, Ilahna. I don’t know if I ever told you that before.” Ilahna smiled softly and offered him her waterskin. He took a long pull from it and motioned to her belt pouch. “Are you okay? Did he get anything?”

​“You’re asking if I’m okay?” she chuckled as she checked her trinket belt for anything missing. Nothing was, and she carefully opened the drawstring pouch to see if any of her few coins had disappeared. Instead, she found a small bundle carefully wrapped in moss nestled on top of the coins. Eitan whistled low.

“Good thing there wasn’t any flint in your pouch. Who’d go to that much trouble to give you silk strand?”

“I don’t know,” Ilahna replied as she carefully unwrapped the parcel.

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