The Seer by Rowan McAllister (reading comprehension books .TXT) 📕

river from Samebar’s capital, Samet. Because of that, and because of its location at the mouth of the great Matna River, a stone wall had been erected around it to protect it from invading armies and pirate raids. No one got in or out without passing through one of the twelve gates magically constructed by the Brotherhood out of strong iron, and guard towers watched over the wall everywhere else. Ravi had heard of guards who could be bribed to look the other way—not that he or anyone he knew ever had enough coin for that kind of thing, but word trickled down even to them.

“You got coin?” Vic asked, as if reading Ravi’s thoughts.

Daks grimaced, the move making the scars along his jaw flash white. “Not enough, if you’re talking bribes. The guard might be on high alert for us. It would take a lot more than I’m carrying to make them risk it.”

“What about the slavers?” Vic asked. “Surely they know a way to get in and out without being seen.”

“No,” Daks replied. “They rely on bribes at the docks if they have to, but mostly the guards don’t care who’s leaving the city as long as they stay gone. They won’t risk getting caught with fugitives the Brotherhood is actively searching for. And again, it would cost a lot more than I have to even try.”

“So, what then?” Ravi asked, his panic struggling to free itself from the stranglehold he had on it.

“The docks will be the most heavily patrolled,” Daks replied. “They’ll expect us to try there. It’ll be safer to head out into the country. They can’t patrol everywhere.”

“What if you just wait until things die down?” Vic asked hopefully, and Ravi’s heart broke a little more.

“It was a Finder, V,” Ravi replied gently. “The longer we wait, the more likely I’ll have another Vision that’ll bring him right to me. They’re getting worse. You know that.”

Everything always came back to his gods-damned curse. He’d had to leave his parents and little sister years ago because of it, and now it was forcing him to leave his second family. His nostrils flared as his eyes prickled.

He caught Daks watching him with a cocked eyebrow, and he scowled at the man. It was Daks’s fault Ravi had to rehash this painful conversation with Vic all over again. It was Daks’s fault he wasn’t on a boat somewhere already. He really wanted to punch the guy again, or at least punch something, but his hand still hurt from the last time.

“Look, we have an hour at least before Shura gets here, and we can make a plan,” Daks said, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen. “Why don’t we all try to rest a little. I’ll keep watch, if you want to sleep.”

“You’re the one who was up all night. I apparently had plenty of sleep,” Ravi replied bitterly.

“Only after you expended a great deal of magical energy tapping into whatever it is Seers tap,” Daks shot back evenly.

His tone and the words he used drew Ravi up short. Daks talked of magic as if it were the weather or the price of wool at the market. Like it wasn’t an evil thing to be hidden and shunned. Part of Ravi desperately wanted to ask what Daks knew about it, but a lifetime of hiding and avoiding the subject was hard to break, especially with a stranger… and in front of Vic.

“Really,” Daks continued, “you should try to rest.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Dreams,” Ravi gritted out through clenched teeth, wishing the man would just leave it alone.

“He has Visions in his dreams sometimes,” Vic explained so Ravi didn’t have to.

“Are they Visions? Or are they Dreams? They aren’t the same thing. The former is definitely an issue, the latter, not so much.”

Ravi looked at Vic, who shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“It’s unlikely a Dream will put out enough magic anyone outside this room will sense it. But if you don’t want to risk it, you don’t have to sleep. Just rest for a while. I’ll keep watch.”

With that imperious pronouncement, Daks turned his back on the two of them and settled by the opening, leaving Ravi wondering if he could trust that Daks really knew what he was talking about.

Just like me.

Ravi scowled at the man’s back for a moment, but with little heat. He was tired. Sleep sounded wonderful, if only he could risk it. He glanced at Vic’s worried face and sighed.

“You should go,” Ravi murmured.

“No,” Vic replied stubbornly. “I should have gone with you last night. Maybe none of this would have happened if I had.”

Ravi shook his head. “They’d just be after you too. The whole point of my leaving was to keep you and the others safe, remember?”

Vic was small and lean, like most of the Unnamed, but he lifted himself to his full height, squared his shoulders, and jutted out his chin. “We keep each other safe. All of us, including you. I helped you find the night market, didn’t I? I should have stayed with you.”

“Having you there would have made it even harder to leave,” Ravi admitted tiredly. He slumped on the dirt floor and leaned his back against the rough plank wall, clutching his bag in his lap. “It was hard enough sneaking out on everyone else.”

He shot another sour look at Daks’s broad back, resentful he and Vic weren’t alone for this conversation, even though it was only a repeat of ones they’d already had. He wasn’t being reasonable, but he didn’t want to be reasonable. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to rage at the unfairness of it all, but he’d been doing that inside for so long he was bone tired of it.

Instead of letting it loose, he swallowed it, like always, and gave Vic a wan smile. “I can take care of myself. You have the little ones to think of. They need you, V. Staying here with me isn’t safe. You know that as well as