Chapter 365: Leaving Early

Lucian did not wait for the evening to come before making his decision.

He found Istra near the inner wall, while the outer courtyard was still bustling with morning traffic. Sera came without being asked for, her borrowed cloak pulled around her shoulders. "We leave before night," said Lucian.

Istra gave him a long look. "The hearing granted you one day."

"One day to shore up their own claims," said Lucian. "I am not going to waste it sitting here."

Sera gave him an incredulous look. "If you leave, there will be no more protection. That’s what that guard warned us about."

"I know. Protection that gets revoked at the drop of a better-drawn claim is not protection at all. It’s a waiting room."

Istra crossed her arms over her chest. "Outside the line of neutral houses, the smiles do not have to be painted on. The authority does not have to be invited. Anyone who wants to take you will take you."

"They will anyway," said Lucian. "At least outside, I am not wasting my time pretending this place keeps them at bay."

Sera let out a tired breath. "So, the plan is to stumble out into the jaws of danger deliberately?"

"The plan is to refuse to let other people set the clock for us anymore."

Istra studied him for a moment. Then she gave a single nod. "There is a service gate on the east. Fewer people pass through it. If we leave through there, we avoid the yard and the prying eyes. But as soon as we cross the threshold, neutral ground is done with us."

"That’s good," said Lucian.

"You think that’s good?" said Sera, staring at him. "That is not the word I would have chosen."

"You don’t have to come," said Lucian.

"I know I don’t have to." She rubbed her temples. "I keep choosing to anyway. That’s what makes me annoyed."

Istra was smiling faintly. "Then choose faster. If we are going, we need to get there before the line officials change the terms of our shelter." ℯℯ𝑙.

They did not have much to pack, since they owned little. Sera took the borrowed cloak with her. Lucian kept the few coins he had. Istra gave a few hurried words to one of her remaining people before giving orders to no one.

At the eastern service gate, two neutral officials blocked their way.

"You are listed under shelter," said one of them. "If you leave, your status as protected will be revoked immediately. You will need new papers before you can return."

"I understand," said Lucian.

The second man narrowed his eyes at him. "People in charge are already putting your name down for formal claims. Walking away from this place will be interpreted as flight."

"They can interpret it any way they want," said Lucian. "I am still walking away."

Sera moved to his other side. "If he goes, I go."

The first man shouldered past them with a shrug. "Then you are both no longer under the line’s protection. Do not ask for it again when the road gets nasty."

"We won’t," said Istra.

The gate opened before them.

The land beyond neutral ground was barren and desolate. The smooth paleness of the courtyard stones stretched into darker rocky folds, offering little in way of cover. The wind had more space to sweep freely, and in the far distance, broken ridges carved the horizon into the shape of a crowded sky.

They walked for a long time in silence before Sera spoke. "Let me get this straight. I am not here out of any sudden loyalty to absent lords or whatever. I am here because it was decided, in whatever court that was, that I had defaulted to your service. It would have been worse to walk away from that alone."

"That is correct," said Lucian.

"And if this does turn into a war, I am not here to fight."

"I will not ask you to fight."

Istra kept her eyes on the road. "You might not have to. The mid-plane tends to draft people in based on pressure."

Sera made a face. "You are very good at comfort."

"I am good at not lying," said Istra.

Lucian turned back once, his eyes sweeping the horizon. The pale towers of neutral ground were small now. Behind those walls, Authority would find an empty seat and a set of interrupted plans. The houses would hear rumors of his flight, and so would Orlen’s people.

Cael’s voice echoed in his head.

"You chose movement to process. That closes a few traps and opens several more."

"I can live with that," murmured Lucian. "Make sure the people next to me can as well."

They walked on until the view of the distant towers had faded to a pale blur. There was no sign of pursuit yet, and no heralds had taken up their posts along the edges of the plain. That did not mean the land was safe; it only meant the next set of chains had not yet been put in place.

Istra halted near a cluster of rocks at the base of a slope. "We rest here for a while. After that, we head for the city on the east road. People there will know your description, unfortunately. That is unavoidable from here."

Sera sat down on the rocks and flexed her feet. "So we traded one clean cage for a dirty road."

"That’s right," said Lucian.

"And you still think that was a good idea?" she asked.

"I think it was my idea," he replied. He looked out over the open land. "So, if you are done arguing with me, we can get back to walking before someone else finds us."

Sera watched him for a moment. "Fine. Then we do it your way until your way gets me killed."

Istra gave them both a long look. "If you are done talking, we can move before our distance becomes a disadvantage."

Lucian climbed off the rocks and stepped back into the wind.

Distance and freedom were the only things he had in abundance, now. Shelter had been discarded, and the hearing’s day had been wasted deliberately. He walked forward, and the other two followed.