Folding the Sky

-21-

The guilt was slowly destroying Jem, eating at her, like a plague slithering its way through her veins. Chike—whose bright idea after Zuri had stormed out had been to start cleaning, for some reason—had found an old broom in one of the warehouse's abandoned supply closets, and though Jem held it in her hands, she didn't sweep anything, just stood there, her fists wrapped tight around the broom's handle. Stray splinters of wood poked into the skin of her palms, but she hardly noticed.

    She dropped the broom with a clatter, and all of them looked up. "Someone should go look for her," Jem said, finally. "It's dangerous for her to go out by herself."

    Aldric hadn't moved from his spot by the door, but his shoulders were more slumped, weariness blanching the color from his face. "You antagonize her and now you decide to worry?"

    "Aldric," Chike warned. He walked over, stooping to pick up the broom Jem had dropped. "Now you're the one who's doing the antagonizing."

    Aldric opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again. "I'm sure she's fine. She's Zuri; she wouldn't stray too far. Right?"

    But Jem was unconvinced. The anxiety was a storm within her, ceaseless and frightening. "What if Sorin goes after her?"

    "He has no reason to do that." Kalindi laid a hand on her shoulder, and Jem turned, her heart doing an unwilling flip inside her chest when she saw the reassuring smile at the princess's lips. "Besides, it's best that we don't do too much moving around. We have no idea whose eyes are on us right now."

    Jem nodded, trying to force a grin, only for her face to fall into a frown anyway. She sank down to the floor, slowly, dust motes seeming to flee out of her way as she did. Zuri's words echoed over and over again within her mind, but it wasn't the words that stirred her guilt—it was the look on Zuri's face, the small furrow between her brows that spoke of years of pain Jem knew nothing about.

    "She'll figure it out," Jem said, shaking her head. "I know she'll figure out what to do. I was just...I don't know. Afraid. I don't like feeling like things are all out of my control."

    Kalindi let out a long sigh, passing a hand through her close-cropped curls. "I think all of us can relate to that."

    Silence drifted over the group for a moment, until there was a gentle scuff of boot soles against the floor. Jem glanced up, and Aldric was on his feet, dusting off his breeches.

    "You going somewhere, Frosty?" Jem said, looking up at him.

    "Forget being afraid," he said, with a quick shake of his head, his eyes like steel. "Sorin's not the only one we need to look out for, not if the city's really bristling with rumors about us. Someone does need to go after her."

    "Aldric, don't be rash," Kalindi said, stepping towards him. Gold jewelry glinted at her throat and upon her wrists, her ringed fingers flexed into fists. "Did you not hear what I just said? We can't move around too much right now. We don't know who's watching us."

    "We shouldn't leave Zuri alone with whoever's watching us, either. Besides, now that we've left the inn we need supplies," he said, and didn't wait around to hear any more. He pivoted, pulling the door open. "I won't take long."

    When the door slammed shut behind the former assassin, Jem let out a long breath and fell back upon the floor, splaying her limbs wide so that she lay like a starfish.

    "So," she groaned. "To review: A stranger is blackmailing us, most of Sinje's suspicious of us for shit we didn't do, and not one, but two people have stormed out of our new hiding place."