"We'll have to split up if they keep this close," Ari was saying as Ty returned to where he, Caj, and Reid were standing, looking solemn. Even Reid, though Ty pointedly scowled at him when he handed him one of the rolls.
"It would be easier to cover two tracks rather than four," Reid replied thoughtfully. "We could meet up at
The Whispering Cow
. That's close to the Melari border, and cheap enough that if one group got held up the other could stay there."
"We'll wait," Ari decided after a minute. "And see how close they are at nightfall."
"Do they always follow you this far?" Ty asked, despite his intentions to keep quiet and let them work it out. They'd done this before at least a few times, after all, and he'd never done anything resembling an escape run across the countryside for freedom in another land.
"We've done this too much," Ari replied, not looking pleased. "They figure we snatch you and then run with you, which is true. We can't hang around the city and wait for them to get bored of looking because the King's Mages can find Reid and you from your magical signatures. So they watch the roads, though I can't say they've been this zealous in the past. I think they're getting tired of losing mages to us."
"Oh," Ty said, frowning thoughtfully. "But I've been on suppressants?"
"They're wearing off," Reid informed him cheerfully. "So while you can't use your magic yet, they can still find you because of it."
"That's not fair," Ty grumbled, and Caj snickered, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about it," Caj told him, smiling. "We'll make sure you get to the border."
Ty nodded, wondering if they really would be able to escape the King's Mages. It didn't seem that likely, considering the reputation the King's Mages had for being duty obsessed. Ty had heard unhappy rumors of them doing whatever it took to complete their missions. But Reid had said they'd done this before, so perhaps their overzealousness wasn't applied to escaped convicts.
"Ty, you stick with Reid. If we get separated, stay with him," Ari ordered, finishing off the last of his food. "Caj, you're with me. We'll use Reid's meeting place if we are separated. Reid—"
"Got it," Reid cut him off, giving Ari a warning look. "I'll be careful."
"Don't do anything stupid," Ari finally said, his face creased with worry. "Let's get going then."
"Yes, sir," Reid bantered, ducking down to scoop up the two bedrolls. He winked at Ty, but Ty ignored him, heading back over to the horses. Hopefully it wouldn't come to them splitting up; or, if it did, Ty would get to go with Ari or Caj. He didn't think he could spend too much more time with Reid without doing worse than smacking him.
Ty pushed that thought away, he couldn't think like that—but if Reid got worse… Ty took a deep breath, forcing himself to mount quickly despite his still-sore muscles.
If Reid got worse, Ty would split away from the group. He'd rather be recaptured and dragged back to the city for execution if it meant he wouldn't kill again.
*~*~*
They rode for the better part of the morning in quiet. Ty welcomed the respite, even if he wasn't sure what had caused Reid's quiet. Perhaps the reaction he'd gotten from Ty this morning was enough to keep him satisfied for the time being.
Ty focused his thoughts elsewhere, threading his fingers more securely through his horse's reins. Reid would undoubtedly start up again and, despite Ty's mutinous thoughts from the morning, he didn't really want to end up back in jail.
He needed to learn how to keep his temper. It was strange, how easily Reid got on his nerves. Ty couldn't remember getting that angry in prison, and he'd faced more provocation there. Reid was an ass, but he
had
rescued Ty.
Ty shifted a little in his seat, wincing when the movement elicited a series of aches along his legs and back. To think, riding was one of the things he'd missed most in the first few months—now he couldn't wait to get off the damn mare and not have to ride for a few days.
A hot bath would be nice, and maybe something warm to eat. The provisions they'd given him were a good sight better than prison fare, but Ty would gladly give an arm and a leg for a fresh, hot meal.
Ty absently guided his horse between the trees, ducking under a low-hanging branch. He'd like an end to the forest, too. Depending on which direction they were from the city—east was likely, since that was the direction of the Melari border—the forest could stretch for miles. Ty had thought east was one of the sparsest directions, save the lake bordering the city to the south. So maybe he'd get that wish, at least.
Then a few weeks more of travel to the Melari border and whatever uncertain future awaited them there. Ty frowned thoughtfully, wondering what they'd do with him. Surely they wouldn't just let him go on his way without some form of recompense.
Perhaps they'd put his magic to work for a while before truly letting him free. That wouldn't be so bad. Hopefully such a measure wouldn't expose that he knew nothing about magic. They wouldn't throw him back if they found out—Ty hoped, anyway. They'd gone to a lot of trouble to get him.
He could always say he'd been jailed before he really knew what was going on and play dumb about why they'd jailed him. That was flimsy though. Perhaps that he hadn't been able to figure out how to get anything to work before they tried to force suppressant on him—and when he'd refused, they'd jailed him.
That was better.
"I must say," Reid spoke up from behind him, having nudged his horse closer when Ty wasn't paying attention. Ty frowned at him, still half-lost in his head. "For all that you're prickly, you are quite the snuggler."
Ty stared at him for a minute, before blushing furiously. Straightening, he pointed imperiously at Reid and declared in the most scathing tone he could muster, "Do not dare to presume upon my personal space in such a manner again, or—"
"Or what?" Reid asked when Ty cut himself off, furious at himself. He'd meant to keep quiet and ignore Reid, not blatantly provoke him. "Though, really, I'm hurt," Reid continued when Ty clenched his teeth and focused on the horse. "You were so friendly last night…"
Ty scoffed, but didn't say anything, focusing on the back of Ari's horse. Ari was in charge—or at least it seemed like he was. Why didn't he stop Reid from antagonizing him?
"You know, I don't think I've met a redhead with such a feisty temper and so little muscle to back it up," Reid mused thoughtfully.
"Shut up," Ty hissed, shooting him a glare before catching himself.
"Aw, I'm beginning to think you don't like me," Reid drawled, and Ty rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "I'm hurt, Ty, and after you were so kind last night—"
"If you insinuate again that I somehow approved of your imposition last night, I will kick you in the balls," Ty threatened, wondering at Reid's talent at riling him. Certainly he didn't seem to have that affect on Ari or Caj, though he also didn't seem to be trying to get a rise out of them.
"Now that's just not nice," Reid chided, his eyes flashing with amusement. "I can't think of a thing I've done that would warrant such treatment."
Ty rolled his eyes, deliberately looking at Reid when he did it. Reid snickered, letting his horse fall back as the path narrowed.
Had it really only been a few days of Reid? And at least a few weeks until they reached the border—if they had to split up, Ty couldn't go with Reid. Surely Ari would recognize what a poor idea that was.
"You're the soul of innocence," Ty muttered under his breath as Reid rejoined him when the path widened again. "Are you done bothering me yet?"
"Aww, poor thing," Reid cooed, pouting at him exaggeratedly. "Am I bothering you?"
"What happens when we get to Melari?" Ty asked changing the subject abruptly. If Reid wasn't going to leave him alone, then he could answer questions.
"What do you mean?" Reid asked, his mocking expression sliding off his face.
"We get to Melari and then what? You take me as an indentured servant for rescuing me?" Ty asked and Reid snickered, shaking his head.
"I can't tell you," he declared after a moment. He didn't sound smug or mocking, just matter-of-fact. Ty didn't trust it.
"Why not?" Ty asked, narrowing his eyes and expecting another smart comment.
"Can't have you compromising our system if we do get caught," Reid replied with a shrug. "The less you know about us, the better."
"Oh," Ty muttered, frowning suspiciously. That made sense—if he was recaptured, it wasn't likely they'd simply throw him back into prison without demanding to know as much as possible about how he'd gotten out and the members of the Vasijile who'd been involved.
Glancing at Reid curiously, Ty wondered how many times he'd helped with the rescues. Did they have other mages who helped?
Opening his mouth to ask another question, Ty barely managed a surprised yelp as his placid mare jerked beneath him. She let out a horrific noise, and Ty barely managed to kick his legs free of the stirrups as she fell.
He hit the ground hard, landing awkwardly on his left side. Reid let out a shower of flashing blue sparks from somewhere nearby and Ty tried to gather his wits. His horse let out another ghastly scream, and Ty struggled to his feet.
His whole left side hurt, Reid was shouting something at him, and there were two arrows sticking out of his horse's chest.
"Go," Reid shouted, and Ty stared at him dumbly a moment before he realized that Reid wasn't yelling at him, but at Ari. There were more arrows, but they were falling harmlessly to the ground about ten feet away from them—Reid's doing, if the shower of sparks was anything to go by.
Ari was riding away and Ty half-expected Reid to take off too, leaving him to the mercy of the shooters. Instead, Reid wheeled his horse towards Ty, a scowl twisting his marred face formidably.
"Get on," Reid ordered tersely, holding out an arm. "Is anything broken?"
"I don't think so," Ty muttered, flinching when Reid pulled too hard helping him up. The arrows had stopped coming, so either their attackers had gone after Ari or they'd realized they were only wasting shots.
"Hold tight," Reid commanded over his shoulder, nudging his horse into motion with a sharp kick from his heels. Ty quickly wrapped his arms around Reid's middle, doing his best to ignore that he was closer to Reid now than he had been last night. The painful ache in his side helped to distract, as did the creeping sensation of being tracked by a marksman just waiting for a better shot to put an arrow through his back.
Reid was leaking sparks again, Ty realized after a moment. Purple and blue, so if color meant anything the barrier was hopefully still following them. Ty tried to remember if he'd seen purple before, but he hadn't been paying much attention to the sparks before.
Reid spurred the horse into going faster, making it gallop down the forest path. Ty shut his eyes and held on, focusing on breathing and not letting go and not being shot by an arrow. He fervently did not want to be shot on top of falling from his horse.
Ty wasn't sure how long they rode like that—it felt like an age, but it couldn't have been too long. They'd been riding the horses hard to begin with, and Reid's horse wasn't up to carrying double at the same pace.
"Are you really not hurt?" Reid asked as he let the horse slow its pace. He shifted in the saddle in front of Ty, making Ty's grip on him slip a little.
"I'm fine," Ty lied. It was only a little lie—his side ached fiercely, but it wasn't too much worse than riding had caused.
"Then we're not going to stop," Reid told him, sounding solemn. Ty frowned a little, but nodded. If they were being attacked by archers in the middle of the day, it only made sense to put as much distance as they could between them. Ty likely wouldn't be much good for moving come the end of the day, but better than then skewered by an arrow.
Hopefully Ari had gotten away and warned Caj and they were on their way away from the archers as well.
"Can you see if Ari and Caj are alright?" Ty asked after a moment of worrying. If they'd been hurt trying to rescue him…
"I
can
," Reid said, and the arrogance was back in his voice even if Ty couldn't see his smug smirk. "But I'm not going to."
"Why not?" Ty demanded, scowling and wishing that he didn't have to be in such close proximity to Reid. There was no way to put any distance between them, and if Reid continued to be a jerk there wasn't anything Ty could do about it but grit his teeth and bear it.
"Waste of energy," Reid replied, cheerfully, considering that they'd just been attacked and separated from Ari and Caj. "I need to mask us, not play around scrying for them."
"Mask us?" Ty asked, ignoring the second half of Reid's answer. Perhaps that was why Reid didn't seem concerned about being followed.
"If I don't mask our magical signatures, that mage trailing us will find us in minutes," Reid explained happily, apparently unconcerned with that statement. "Myself, I'd prefer to keep her off our backs instead of making sure two perfectly capable Vasijile guards survived an attack focused on you."
"Focused on me," Ty repeated faintly, wishing briefly he was back in the damn jail cell. He might've played punching bag a time or two for one of the more violent guards, but he didn't have people shooting horses from beneath him or constantly provoking him with mocking comments or being
attacked
because of him.