“I think he’s just not used to new people.” But my own lips twitched, and I had to stifle a laugh. “Just how ‘stiff’ was he under that blanket anyway?”
Annia snickered. “He wasn’t that kind of stiff, you pervert.” Her dark eyes twinkled with mirth as she shook her head at me. “In fact, I have to wonder if he’s even into women.”
“Wait a second.” My mouth formed a little ‘o’ of horror as the implications of that dawned on me. “All the time he and Iannis spend together…do you think…?”
“Do you think what?” Fenris asked, emerging from the forest in human form.
“Nothing,” Annia and I said in unison.
“Hmm.” Fenris’s yellow eyes narrowed, but he didn’t press the matter further. “I suggest we get to sleep soon, so we can get an early start in the morning. The sooner we find Iannis, the better.”
“Right.” We cleaned up what mess we’d made from dinner, then established a watch schedule – Fenris was first, I was second, and Annia was taking third. Fenris settled down by the fire, and Annia and I bedded down in the tents, which were each only large enough to accommodate a single person. As I fastened the tent’s entrance, I took a moment to study Fenris’s profile. I’d always thought of him as Iannis’s stalwart companion, a trusted advisor and friend. But what if they were more? What if Fenris’s motivation for finding Iannis went beyond simple friendship?
But if that’s the case, then why would Fenris have encouraged Iannis to exchange serapha charms with me?
“Do you need something, Sunaya?” Fenris asked, turning to look my way.
“No.” I shook my head, my cheeks flushing a little at having been caught staring. “I just…it’s nothing. Goodnight.”
I finished zipping up the tent, then flopped back onto my bedroll. I was chasing my thoughts in circles around my head. If Fenris was in an intimate relationship with Iannis, he wouldn’t have wanted us to exchange serapha charms. I hadn’t known this at the time, but serapha charms were usually exchanged between engaged or married couples – they were a semi-permanent method of binding two souls together, so that each would always be able to find the other. Even though I hadn’t known that at the time Iannis and I had made the charms, Fenris had. In fact, it had been his suggestion.
The only explanation that made sense was that Fenris and Iannis weren’t lovers. I was worrying about nothing.
It doesn’t matter, I told myself firmly. You’re all in this together regardless. Wondering about Iannis’s relationship with Fenris wasn’t going to help me find him. Putting the matter aside, I forced myself to relax into sleep. There would be plenty of time to think about these things once Iannis was safely recovered. Or so I hoped.
7
The next day started off well enough. We rose early, broke camp, and managed to get the balloon into the air with only two false starts. Not too bad for a couple of amateurs. It was just as cold up in the air as it had been yesterday, but Fenris and I took turns sharing the bedroll with Annia and we made do.
As I steered the balloon again, looking out over the rugged Aziana landscape, I wondered how Iannis was faring. I assumed he was with the other delegates, but of course I could have been wrong about that. The rest of them could have all died, or they could have been separated somehow. Worse, the Resistance might have taken them alive to be tortured for information.
They’d have to have a very strong mage on their side to pull that off, I mused to myself. I still couldn’t imagine someone as powerful as Iannis being taken captive by human means. A renegade mage on their side was the only logical explanation for how they’d taken a whole dirigible full of mages captive, if that was what had happened.
Wanting to reassure myself that Iannis was all right, I tugged my serapha charm from beneath the collar of my jacket and focused on it. At first, the little white stone did nothing, but then suddenly it burst into a brilliant glow.
“Guys!” I shrieked, so excited that I nearly dropped the steering rope. “Guys, look!” I turned to show them the blazing stone.
Fenris sat up straight. “That’s great news!” he exclaimed, hope brightening his eyes.
“What’s great news?” Annia wanted to know.
“The stone’s glowing brightly again,” I explained, grinning at her. “When we set out it was only giving off a dull light, which meant that Iannis was injured or sick. The fact that it’s glowing so brightly must mean that he’s healed. He must have found help or something.”
“Well on the one hand, that’s a relief, but on the other that might mean one of the search parties has already found him,” Annia said with a huff. “I’ve heard many of them have brought healers. And if that’s the case, I won’t get any prize money.”
Fenris glared at her. “I hope you didn’t embark on this mission solely for financial gain.”
“Well, Naya is my friend and I want to help her out, but so what if I did?” Annia argued. “I’m an Enforcer. It’s a money-motivated profession.”
“Umm, guys,” I interrupted, pointing to the sky. “We’ve got some bad news too.”
“What – oh.” Fenris went silent as he stared at the black clouds gathering in the sky. “We can’t fly through that.”
“We definitely can’t,” I agreed, worrying my bottom lip as anxiety began to brew in my gut. The fragile balloon wasn’t meant to withstand a storm, but I didn’t want to stop because it would mean losing at least half a day. Iannis might be feeling better, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still in some kind of danger or in need of help.