Lovu

  Thud. Clatter. Tear. Crunch.

  Another restless slumber ended as Topal drove her toes into Lovu’s ribs just as he dreamed of Tama’s face caving in. His body instinctively scrambled backward and it took a few moments to regain his senses before he remembered where he was.

  “Come on,” Topal said. “We’re losing light.”

  Somehow, his body hurt even more than the night before. What pain had settled into numbness with time flared back up with every movement. Wrapping his cloak around his body, he stumbled after her.

  “How long will it take us to reach Kamvor?”

  “About a week, give or take,” she said, much to his dismay. It would take 3 days on the Highway and he knew that trekking through the wildlands would be slower, but he hadn’t expected that much of a difference.

  “Is it all going to be like this?” he said, hesitantly watching the woods around them.

  “Most of it. Kamvor’s in the mountains, but it’ll all be forested. Plus…” she said, trailing off.

  “Plus what?”

  Her brow twisted in thought as she ran some kind of calculation. “We might stop in a village called Ya’upuk about halfway there,” she said eventually, but there was a lot of weight put onto the might.

  “I am happy for anything that will give us a moment’s reprieve,” he said, excited by the possibility, which only made her hesitation that much more concerning. “Why would we not?”

  “Because you’re a wanted man. Ya’upuk is far away from the Highway so news may not have travelled there yet, but it will eventually. It’ll be safest to not leave a trail.”

  “While I am happy to err on the side of caution, do you really think it will be that big of a problem?” he said, in hopes of finding any sliver of positivity. “While there was an insurrection in Lavote, it will be suppressed sooner rather than later. How much support could they really have amongst the common folk, especially in Vor? They are my family’s closest allies.”

  “You’re looking at it wrong,” Topal said bluntly. “It’s not about their allies, it’s about your enemies.”

  “I don’t understand your meaning. What’s the difference?”

  “I’ll put it this way. If you met a random common folk in your current situation with no clear ties to your family, would you expect them to be your ally or your enemy?”

  “Ally, obviously. Not only am I their prince, but I am innocent in this situation and Fam’e teaches the-”

  “I’m going to cut you off right there,” she said, stopping and facing him. “Nobody that you consider common folk will care about you being the Voice’s family. If anything, that will make them more inclined to turn on you.”

  “I know that you have your issues with certain things in Lavote, but Hangkiti is one of the most prosperous nations in the world, all under my ancestors’ guidance. There is no way that everyone holds your same level of vitriol for the Voice. After all, even with your concerns, you are still here helping me. I’m sure there are plenty of others on Fam’e’s path.”

  “You hit the jackpot meeting me,” she said, reaching into her cloak and pulling out a folded letter. “Anybody else wouldn’t have hesitated to kill or capture you for this.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  He took the paper and unfolded it. Lovu had never seen a handbill before and had no clue what it meant at first glance, but it didn’t take long to click. It was one thing seeing countless names of people he knew with prices listed for their deaths, but even in that surreal experience, one thing stuck out.

  What do they want with Akil?

  “Where did you get this?” he asked, unable to hide the quiver in his voice.

  “That one in particular I got from a merchant guildmaster, but from the looks of it, there were dozens if not hundreds of these things being passed around in the outer city. And that was before the attack.”

  “Why didn’t anyone warn us about this!? If we had known, we could have prepared defenses or… or something!”

  “Like I said. Anybody that we meet, regardless of how they feel about the people who attacked you, are still not your allies.”

  “What about you? If everyone hates us this much, why are you helping me?”

  “You see that number there,” she said, pointing to the price by Lovu’s name – 15,000 fuvre dead or 20,000 alive. “What do you think of that price? Does it fit?”

  Just based on his experience running his family’s villa in the Residence, that would be enough to fully furnish a guest room – all of the furniture, art, and accessories needed to make it livable. Not a small amount of money, but nothing compared to a kitchen or sitting room, let alone a human life.

  “It seems insultingly low. Not for me specifically, but for anybody.”

  “That’s what I thought,” she said with a grin. “That kind of money is more than some Scars see in their entire life. It would completely change how they live. No more going hungry or working themselves to death if they use it right. That kind of money is enough to tempt people who do like the Voice, as rare as they are.”

  “I still don’t understand. Why aren’t you tempted?”

  “I never said I wasn’t,” she said, her face twitching under the scarf. “I nearly turned you in on the spot, but most of the people I grew up around can’t think ahead. They’re too lost in their desperation to pull their heads above the water and see the shore in the distance. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it once before and it taught me to keep my head up for opportunities. Like you said, that bounty’s insultingly low for a human life, which means that you’ll be paying me significantly more for your rescue. And I’m more than happy to suffer through a week with you for that much of a difference in pay.”

  “Oh…”

  “So, for the time being, take a page from their book. You don’t have the luxury of thinking ahead right now. Focus on staying alive for today.”

  “Will do…” After that, Lovu no longer felt like talking.

  They walked in silence for another few hours. No matter how dire his mood, he couldn’t deny his awe for the forest around them. The plants grew freely and without order. Despite the chaos that surrounded them, it was eerily quiet compared to the city. That silence made every sound stick out all the more, knowing that no human made it.

  Occasionally, they heard the rustling of leaves in the distance. Every time, Topal signaled him to stop and got low. Most often, after a few moments she relaxed and kept moving without explaining what had made it. A couple of times, he managed to figure it out for himself by catching a glimpse of fur, feather, or scale fleeing their sight – an animal too small and cowardly to pose any threat. Once, Topal abruptly dropped to her knees despite silence all around them and pulled him down to her level with a finger to her lips. Without a sound, she withdrew the bow from her back and knocked an arrow, all without pulling her eyes from whatever had caused the alarm. Lovu followed her gaze and immediately wished he hadn’t.

  In the distance, he saw a wall of feathers twice his height. It slowly meandered through the trees, too large for him to make out anything other than its vague form. From his guess, it had to be twice the size of a carriage, but it moved without making a sound. Lovu held his breath for fear of making any sound at all. Slowly but surely, it faded from view and only once it was completely out of sight did Topal take a breath of her own and return the bow to her back.

  “What was that?” Lovu whispered as quietly as he could.

  “Yirko,” she said plainly, making no effort to hide her voice. As though that answered his questions, she started walking without another word.

  “Is that a type of beast?” he asked, chasing to keep up.

  “Nah, it’s a vit – one of the kind you can see. It eats sound, so as long as you stay still and keep your mouth closed when one shows up, they’re harmless.”

  “I’m sorry. It eats sound?”

  “Yup.”

  “How does it live off of that?”

  “Dunno.”

  “What happens if you don’t stay silent?”

  “Never met someone who tested it and lived to tell.”

  “How’d you know it was there? I didn’t hear anything.”

  “Exactly. Quiet doesn’t always mean safe. Keep that in mind.” Her answers were so curt that he almost questioned whether he had insulted her again. Last time, he knew the exact moment he had broken skin, but now he was left at a loss. As he agonized over that possibility, they kept moving.