Page 54 of Silver & Gold

Raider pulled out of Seth’s hooked arm. “Stop making this about me. What happened to you? You’re upset about something.”

Seth’s jaw tightened. Then he said, “It was just a frustrating day, that’s all, and I’m very ready to get out of Kastari.”

Seth was lying. Raider was sure of it. Which meant that whatever had upset Seth did have something to do with him after all.

CHAPTER 19

THREE DAYS into the al-Hatan Desert east of Kastari and Seth was reminded how lucky he’d been to have Raider guide him across the Kesh. But Raider had never ventured into the al-Hatan and neither had anyone else in this party. So Seth studied the map. He had to do it while he had the chance. A storm was coming. The usually clear sky looked bruised and angry.

Most cities of the Golden Empire were located along the Burudu River, on the coastline, or in the mountains to the north. In the middle of all that, the al-Hatan was a vast, dusty stretch of hard pack and sand that, somewhere, became djinn territory.

Back in the arcane palanquin, Seth had a whole satchel full of books, maps, and notes, but right now he only needed this one. It looked accurate, showing the thread of a dry riverbed down in the gully below. From Seth’s position on a high ridge, he could also see a pale smudge in the distance to the southeast. He reached for the arcane scope on his utility belt, intending to confirm whether that was the temple ruins noted on the map, when he heard movement on the slope behind him.

Seth turned to see Raider trudging up the rocky incline. A little farther down the slope was the palanquin that Seth had driven up here, but Raider had walked all the way from the plain below, where a dozen more palanquins looked like rounded tents.

Seth had never seen anything like these arcane conveyances, not even in Masir. The body looked like a wagon with a driver’s bench and a bed behind. A tent-like frame supported a bulbous cover of black arcane cloth that was open in the front. Smaller versions of such structures were often carried by camels or even by groups of humans, basically a covered litter. But it was the undercarriage of the palanquins that was truly a marvel. They needed no animal to bear them because they had mechanical legs able to stride across the desert and even climb rocky terrain.

Seth loved them. They were so much comfortable than riding a horse or camel. Plus they could carry more.

Raider, however, clearly didn’t like them. He’d spent most of the past three days walking. Of course, that might have been his way of avoiding Seth.

Things had been off between them ever since Seth had walked through the Blue Gate to meet Raider that last day in Kastari. They’d eaten dinner in the common room that night on the excuse of listening to the traveling musicians. That had made it easy to not talk. After, they had fucked. It had felt good, of course, but … it hadn’t been the same. It hadn’t been right. And they hadn’t fucked again since.

All of it was Seth’s fault. He was well aware of that. But he couldn’t help that he was still reeling from Julian’s shocking revelation. Because if Raider wasn’t human, what the hell was he?

Maybe Seth should have suspected it. The way Raider’s body healed so fast. The way his right eye flashed gold. Seth had assumed that eye was arcane, like the left one, but maybe it wasn’t.

Seth understood that it was hard for Raider to talk about the past, and not just his time with Kahzir. Raider had been on the streets at the age of ten. Obviously, something had happened. Something bad.

Seth wasn’t upset with Raider for not telling him. He was just upset in general. Frustrated. There were so many barriers with Raider.

But …

Seth’s real problem was that he felt guilty. Raider had asked him not to read Kahzir’s book. While Seth felt hurt by that—he tried to pretend he didn’t, but he did—it was Raider’s decision. Seth had violated his trust by letting Julian tell him anything that was in that book.

So Seth knew he was in the wrong. He wasn’t sure how his behavior toward Raider had changed, but Raider had obviously sensed it. And withdrawn.

But here he was climbing toward Seth, and some of the tightness eased from Seth’s chest.

Raider’s sandaled feet moved from rock to rock with the nimbleness of a cat. He really was amazing to watch, even in such a simple action as trekking up a slope. His gold-trimmed kaftan of red silk was open, exposing a sliver of his torso and a glimpse of his violet sash and shalvar pants of teal silk. How had Seth ever thought Raider’s colorful clothes were obnoxious? They were beautiful. He was beautiful.

As Raider reached the peak, his amber eyes flicked to Seth then out across the darkening landscape. He said, “It’s about to rain.”

“Mm,” Seth agreed vaguely, unable to look away as quickly as Raider had. He drank in the sight of Raider’s striking face with its gorgeous planes and angles, the prominent cheekbones and hollow cheeks. He had his dark red kaffiyeh thrown back from his head. His wavy dark hair was curling against it at his nape, tempting Seth’s fingers.

Seth managed to draw his eyes away. He opened the map again, staring at the dark lines. What was he checking? Oh, yeah. The pale smudge.

As Seth snagged his arcane scope from his utility belt, Raider pointed to the pale smudge and said, “There’s some kind of collapsed building there.”

“Ah. That’s what I was hoping.”

Seth slid the scope back into place. He didn’t need to double check Raider. That eye was as good as the scope. It was remarkable. So precise. So smoothly integrated. But Raider never got a break from it. He couldn’t put it away like the scope.

Seth folded the map, stuck it in the back of his pants, and took out his compass. He studied it and the landscape, finding the best intersection between their general direction and the terrain.

Raider was scanning the horizon. He said, “It’s already raining to the north. We should cross this gully before it fills with water.”

“Or wait, so we’re not in the middle of it when water comes rushing through.”