Twitch gave a whistle, and Jace came to a halt the next time his rope absorbed his landing. “Where are you?” Jace called in a hushed voice.

Twitch sprang over the bush toward the road. Cole helped Mira to her feet. They tromped to the road instead of jumping.

“How’d it go?” Cole asked.

“Mira’s sidekick is well off the road,” Jace said. “Didn’t take too long. No sign of pursuit yet. Should we keep going?”

“Yes,” Mira said.

“Are you sure you don’t need a longer break?” Cole asked.

“I could use one,” Mira admitted. “But we can’t afford it. If word is out about our location, we can’t let our enemies catch up to us. We need to get to Carthage and find a place to hide out.”

Mango fluttered down. “Found Jace. Didn’t take long.”

“Scout ahead and behind,” Mira said. “Let us know if danger approaches. After we get to Carthage, we’ll cross into Elloweer. As a semblance, you can’t go there, so find Joe and tell him where we went. Once Joe catches up to us, go back to Liam and let him know what we’re doing. Then serve him until I return to Sambria.”

The cockatiel dipped her head. “As you desire.” She took flight, climbing swiftly.

Cole shook his head, realizing he barely even reacted now to a magically created talking bird helping out the group. It was amazing how quickly the totally bizarre could become normal when it was part of your everyday life.

“I’ve never been to Carthage,” Jace said. “I hear it’s quite a city.”

“Not many cities span two kingdoms,” Mira said. “Add that it’s on a river, and you have a major trade center.”

“And we have a few ringers to spare,” Jace said with a grin. “I brought our money from the coach.”

“We’re not on holiday,” Mira scolded.

“Plenty of people in cities have money,” Jace said. “We’ll draw less attention if we don’t look like we’re hiding.”

“Kids spending a lot of money always draws attention,” Mira said, “as curiosities and as targets.”

“She has a point,” Cole said. That was as true back home in Arizona as it was here.

“So do I,” Jace replied harshly. “I’ve spent my life as a slave. I don’t want to keep living like one longer than necessary. I’m free, and I have money. I don’t think we should start tossing around gold ringers, but plenty of free kids our age have some money on them. Enough to buy some food and have a little fun.”

“No fun,” Mira said sternly. “We need to stay as miserable as possible.”

Jace chuckled. “You know what I mean.”

“I do,” Mira said. “We’ll have to spend a little money on food and lodging. But we need to be smart about it. Kids our age don’t normally book rooms for themselves.”

“Some kids have wealthy families,” Jace said. “Some have jobs. Leave it to me. I’ve worked in cities. I can imitate a free kid better than any of us.”

“You don’t have to imitate one,” Cole said. “You are one. Your mark says so.”

Jace rubbed the freemark on the back of his hand. “Declan gave us the right marks, but free kids and slave kids act differently.”

“Me, Twitch, and Mira used to be free,” Cole reminded him.

“Sort of,” Jace allowed with a snort. “Mira was royalty on the run, you were free in another world, and Twitch was free among the grasshopper people. I actually know what normal life is like here. How people act.”

“You’re very streetwise,” Mira said, rolling her eyes. “Just try not to spend too big. And don’t lose your temper.”

Jace grinned. “Lose it? Don’t worry. I always keep it handy. Last one to Carthage has bug parts.”

“Hey!” Twitch protested.

“Oh, yeah,” Jace fake apologized. “Rat parts?”

“How about last one there was born a slave?” Cole said.

Jace flashed him an angry look. “Last one there hangs back in fights and sometimes helps a little at the end.”

“Cut it out,” Mira said. “How about we actually start? First one there is the fastest.” She raised her sword and called, “Away.”

The boys followed.

As he sprang along the road, one huge leap after another, Cole tried not to stew about Jace’s accusation. Cole supposed he had hung back a little in their last fight. But Jace’s golden rope was easily their best weapon. Cole had charged into danger many times. He was no coward—he just wanted to make his attacks count.

Jace was just blowing off steam because of the crack about his slavery. It had been harsh to tease him about something he couldn’t control, but Jace had been doing the thing to Twitch. If he could dish it out, he needed to learn to take it, too.

By jumping each time he landed, Cole didn’t find the travel too tiring. The Jumping Sword did most of the work. He just needed to correctly time each command and aim the blade in the right direction.

Even without heavy exertion, Cole wished he had caught some sleep in the coach. By the time the approaching dawn began to color the horizon, his eyelids were feeling heavy. Cole wondered if it was possible to fall asleep while sailing through the air at terrific speeds. If he got tired enough, and the jumps were repetitive enough, he suspected the answer was yes.

As the sky grew lighter, Mira paused and sheathed her sword. Cole came to a stop near her. “Anything wrong?” he asked.

“I noticed cottages up ahead during my last jump,” Mira explained. “It’s getting too bright.”

Twitch removed his ring, and his translucent wings disappeared. He looked like a normal human boy.

“We have to be close,” Jace said. “We went fast all night.”

“I probably need to lose the flail,” Mira said. “I can’t use it in Elloweer, and it’ll attract too much attention on the road.”

“Aw, crud,” Cole said. “That thing has saved us more than once.”

Mira pointed off to the side of the road. “Flail, hide.” The flail plunged into a bush beyond some trees in the direction she had indicated. “I’d send it back to Asia and Declan, but it can’t interpret commands like that. Maybe we’ll come back this way someday.”

They started walking. Cole’s eyes felt dry and itchy. He kept blinking and rubbing them, but the irritation persisted. He needed to sleep.