She shook her head. “Not even a wine cork helps, trust me. I’ll stay awake with you,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder.
A little wriggle of guilt squirmed inside him. He liked being with her. He enjoyed being with her. But he knew that locked in the cage of hurtful memories was one of Laisha Silverborne and the look in her eyes when he had left her in Avisahn. Something Chancellor Abtalion had said. But he did not want to think about those memories. They were too close to the painful ones, the ones that still festered in his soul. Little Arielle…
Thealos bit his lip and looked the other way, not wanting Stasy to see the tears in his eyes. He would face those memories another day, when he returned again to Avisahn.
If he returned again to Avisahn. The Silverkin could destroy a Sorian. He had no doubt about that. The Foretelling he had in the dungeons beneath Landmoor had shown him as much. He knew that he would take their evil into himself before banishing it with the crystal’s power. It was impossible to comprehend the power required to do that. The magic was the most sacred magic of the Shae. It would surely destroy one Sorian. But he had no idea, only apprehensions, what it would do to him to destroy both.
–It would kill you–
The thought came as a whisper and was gone just as fast.
Chapter XXIII
Exeres came awake with the sun, surfacing from the black hollow that shunted away all his dreams. His eye blinked open at the sound of voices. For a moment, he panicked, not remembering where he was. Then, fixing his eyepatch, he sat up and stared around the remains of the camp as a strong wind gusted through. The surrounding cook fires of the knights were gone, but some wisps of smoke escaped beneath mounds of shoveled earth used in haste to bury the embers. The rearguard of the knights were finished collapsing the last of the tents, but the majority of cavalry was already gone.
Another night without the dreams.
Regret needled in his stomach. He had wanted the dreams to go, and Miestri made them disappear. Now, he wanted them back. Fragments of memory tickled far away. A woman with golden hair trapped in a cage. He had learned her name but had forgotten it. Exeres chuckled and wiped his mouth. Forgetting names was something he was good at. But he should have remembered hers. There was some importance in remembering it. He sighed. Might as well try drawing water with just a rope.
“Mornin’,” Flent called over to him, bending over the ring of stones and trying to coax life back into the fire, but the fierceness of the morning winds prevented the sparks from catching.
“Move back,” Exeres said, summoning a draft of Earth magic. It strained in coming—as if there wasn’t enough in the land nearby to light a wick. Flames sputtered along the length of wood before tiny yellow flames sprang up, consuming the wood.
“That’s a good trick,” Flent said, grinning. “Banned near broke my back hunched over this thing. Can’t light a thing with all this wind.” He sniffed and wiped his nose.
Exeres stood and stretched, then twisted his neck until it gave a little pop. He bent down and stretched, loosening his leg muscles. Soreness ached in his calves. But his thoughts were clear, no more stringy ropes of control from either Mage or Miestri. He breathed in the morning air and gagged at the smoky smell. He glanced around, unable to believe that all the little wisps of guttered camp fires were the source of it.
The Warder huddled sullenly, his hair splayed and tangled, his hood down. He glanced at Exeres and then down at the ground.
“Good morning,” Exeres said.
“Mirgon,” the Shae replied.
“Your name is Mirgon?”
Flent laughed. “No, he’s Justin. Or Ravin. He just said ‘good morning’ in Drugaen.” Flent looked at Justin and waved his finger. “Noc mirgon. Good morning. Morning. Morning. Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Justin said.
Flent nodded and gave him a wink. “You know how to play bones, Exeres?”
“I heard that you cheat,” he replied, giving him an arch look.
“That’s an exaggeration!”
“I’m sure it is. Where are the…oh, there they are.”
He noticed Thealos gesturing subtly to Ticastasy, their faces close together. They were out of earshot. She nodded a few times and then patted his arm. Thealos gave her a little smile and they came back to the camp.