They arrived on the outskirts of Liron just as the sun was setting on the second day. Maevus bit down on her reluctance before nudging Koret to swing wide. The weary dragon heaved a sigh, tilting his wings to catch the wind. Korie groaned and rested her head between Maevus' shoulder blades.

Maevus leaned over the side of the dragon, peering at the city below them. It was nestled between two rolling hills, its buildings penned in by a wall of grey stone. The roofs were steeply pitched and covered with red tile.

Koret let a growl rumble through his chest and Maevus patted his neck. "Okay, buddy. That hill over there looks far enough away."

She was sore and tired from two days of hard, cold flying, but scaring the locals by landing in the middle of the city didn't seem like the best idea. Koret drifted down toward the grassy crown of a low hill, back-flapping for a soft landing.

As soon as the dragon's claws touched earth, Korie pitched over the side and landed on her feet with a dull thud. She took a few stumbling steps and collapsed to her hands and knees, emptying her stomach over the grass. Maevus grimaced at the sound and slid off Koret's back, walking gingerly to spare the raw insides of her thighs.

Koret grumbled and turned to look at her. Maevus rested her forehead against the dragon's, closing her eyes as she sent gratitude flowing toward him down their bond. The dragon blew warm breath in her face as she let the magic drain away. He touched his snout to her cheek before he left for his own world.

Weariness washed over her, the strain of using her magic flowing away, leaving her muscles loose and rubbery. She sank to her knees, eyelids sagging. Koret had used a lot of energy shooting across the skies, draining more magic than she could replace with their lackluster meals and scant sleep.

"I didn't know anyone could get dragon-sick," Maevus said around a yawn at the sound of a soft step in the grass behind her.

Korie snorted. "No one but you has ever ridden them."

Maevus grinned a tired acknowledgment. When Korie extended a hand, Maevus accepted it, letting the clanswoman haul her to her feet. Both wincing, they turned toward the city, which looked much bigger from this vantage point.

"Come on," Korie said with a sigh. "The sooner we get started, the sooner we can go home."

"You mean the sooner we get down there, the sooner we can find a hot meal and a bed," Maevus corrected as she began to carefully descend the hill.

"You hope." Korie swore as she stumbled over a loose stone. "Some people don't like to serve our kind."

Maevus frowned, unsure if she meant Encants or clans people. She supposed it didn't matter—it was terrible either way. They descended the rest of the hill in silence, trudging toward the still-open gates. They made it through not a moment too soon. The guards closed the gate right on their heels, watching them with suspicious eyes.

But they didn't ask any questions after seeing Korie's work order, though none of them looked particularly thrilled. Sourly she wondered how many Encants were already living right under their noses.

Then she realized probably none since the queen's new law.

Maevus scowled and tugged the hood of her cloak up over her hair, hand clenched around the pendant as they walked down the main road. The emotions of the people around them flowed through the warm stone, but none seemed hostile. Not yet, anyway.

It shocked her when Korie grabbed her by the elbow and hauled her down a narrow alley that reeked of trash and cat urine. At Maevus' startled look, Korie muttered, "Better here than risking some innkeeper or maid walking in on us."

"Um..." Maevus grimaced as Korie knelt on the filthy cobblestones. "Okay?"

"Just keep watch," Korie said, pulling a piece of white chalk from her pocket. "I'm kind of vulnerable while I do this."

Maevus' hand went to her shoulder, meaning to touch her sword's hilt. Her heart plummeted when her fingers met empty air, and she was reminded all over again of the fiasco with Voron and her sword. Anger washed over her, quickly followed by guilt. She shouldn't have said anything to the queen. But it was hard to just trust that Voron—a man she'd just met—would live up to his word.

The sound of chalk scraping over stones drew Maevus' attention back to Korie. She was drawing something on the ground, but Maevus couldn't make out what it was from her vantage point. Soon growing bored, she crossed her arms loosely, fingers tapping on the pommel of her dagger as she kept one eye on the street.

After a few moments, Korie tucked the chalk back into her pocket and leaned forward over her drawing. Maevus watched curiously as she raised both hands, raising the pinkie and pointer finger of her left hand and the first two fingers of her right, all her other fingers curled in.

Her forehead wrinkled in concentration, her dark brows drawing together. Maevus felt the air buzz a brief moment before a golden ball of magic burst into life between the raised fingers of Korie's left hand. The bright glow entranced Maevus for a moment before she remembered that she was supposed to be keeping watch. 

She glanced guiltily at the street, but none of the few pedestrians had so much as glanced their way.

"Okay," Korie said under her breath, drawing Maevus' attention again. "Come out, come out wherever...you...are."

The golden light between her fingers shot toward the two fingers of her right hand, then ricocheted toward the ground. Korie moved her two right fingers in an ever-shrinking circle over the ground, muttering under her breath. Her golden eyes stared at the light unblinkingly.

Maevus watched the beam of light circle around on the ground, occasionally dancing away from its steady path, just to fall back in line. She had never seen this kind of magic before. It was quite beautiful.

It startled her when Korie let out a happy little gasp. The light expanded to fill the whole alley before winking out of existence, leaving Maevus' eyes dazzled. By the time she'd blinked the spots away, Korie had leapt to her feet, using her boot to scrub out whatever she'd drawn on the ground.

Just as quickly she fell back to her knees, chalk scribbling over the cobblestone. "I never thought I'd be grateful to spend extra time on a dragon, but it was smart of you to circle the city like that!" 

"You're...welcome?" Maevus said cautiously as Korie once more tapped into her magic.

The golden light danced over the new drawing for a brief moment before exploding outward again. Maevus scowled and rubbed at her shocked eyes.

"I can't believe it's still here!" Korie crowed, hopping to her feet and doing a little jig. "He must be losing his touch." She let out a mad cackle and grabbed Maevus' arm, dragging her forward. "Look!"

Maevus glanced down to find that Korie had sketched a brief map of Liron on the ground. It took a moment before she found what she was supposed to be looking for. A dark splotch that shimmered faintly in the evening light marked a place deep in the center of the town.

"That ring was stolen three weeks ago," Maevus said incredulously.

Korie practically wriggled with pleasure as she scrubbed out the map with the toe of her boot. "He's gotten cocky. With your dragons, we'll catch him this time for sure." Then she grabbed Maevus' arm to drag her out of the alley. "Let's go find something to eat. I'm starved!"

"Shouldn't we go after him now?" Maevus asked over a loud growl from her stomach.

Korie hesitated, then shook her head. "He can't leave. The gates are already closed. I'll double check tomorrow, but if the ring is here now, it'll likely be here tomorrow. We should get some rest. You need to replenish your magic, right?"

"The ring?" Maevus asked, pulling Korie to a halt. "I thought you were tracking the thief?"

Korie's happy glow faded and she stuffed her hands self-consciously into her pockets. "That's the difference between my Charm and Kinai's," she muttered. "Hunters hunt people, Trackers track things." She heaved a sigh and began walking again. "Which is why Master sent me instead of Kinai. The job is for the ring, not the thief." 

Maevus bit her lip at the Tracker's downcast expression. Carefully, she nudged Korie's shoulder with her own. "Look, I don't know much about thieves"—that wasn't exactly true, but that didn't seem important—"but it makes sense that he would wait to sell it. Right?"

"I suppose," Korie said morosely.

"Especially if he's stupid enough to sell it in the same town he stole it!" Maevus hooked her arm through Korie's. It surprised her how pleasing it was that the other woman didn't pull away. "You're right. We haven't eaten a good meal since we left Valmor. He'll be here in the morning. We'll probably catch him asleep in his skivvies."

Korie choked on a laugh, her smile slowly returning. "I hope not. That seems like an unpleasant sort of morning."

They exchanged a tentative glance, then burst into laughter.

Maevus grinned, mentally sticking her tongue out at Vraylor. See, she thought smugly, I can play nice with others.