“I’m not. Give me your hands.”
Hers felt like ice.
“Do you think he’ll kill us both if we snuck away in the mist right now?” She flashed him a mischievous smile and rubbed some warmth into his hands. He felt some of it reach his cheeks as well. Especially when she did not let go.
She cares for you.
Was it a warning from the wellspring, or maybe the throbbing echo of Justin’s words?
“I’m still a little sore from his earlier…greeting.” He smiled at her and shook his head. “You’ve changed so much since Sol.”
“I’m still the same girl. Being out here reminds me of the morning I walked with Sturnin Goff to Landmoor.” She squeezed his hands, then gave them a little pat and let go. “I’m sorry he died.”
“One of my regrets too.” The desire to brush some hair from her cheek itched inside him and he shoved it away.
She cocked her head. “What is it?”
“You’re too good at reading faces.”
“I hope so. What were you thinking about?”
Only the memory of a kiss. He shoved it down again, trying to think of something to say. “Do you have any guesses?”
“Not with you, Quickfellow. You’re a hard man to read. You always have been. So mysterious. I know you’re a barter’s son. I don’t hold that against you, either. But you don’t…well, you don’t really act like one.” She rubbed her arms vigorously. “Ban, it’s cold tonight. What are you going to do when this is all over? Are you going back? To Avisahn?”
There was something in her voice. Something buried in the question.
“I haven’t thought that far,” he said softly.
She snorted. “Where else would you go?”
He had to tell her. “I might not make it out of Landmoor.”
Her gaze narrowed.
“You don’t believe me?”
“You told me this before, Quickfellow. But I don’t believe Jaerod sent you here to die. You shouldn’t either.”
“I can hope, but we have to be prepared. Using it might kill me.”
Silence.
He looked up at her, saw the worry on her face. He plodded on ahead. “When I take the Silverkin and the warding fails, I may not be able to protect the magic. If that happens, Stasy, I want you to take it. There is another passageway that leads out of the tunnels. Out here.”
Thealos felt Xenon’s presence in the mist approaching them. Ban it!
He grabbed her wrist, forcing her to look at him. “Allavin will be watching for you.”
She shook her head. “No, Quickfellow. Don’t ask me…”
“I must.” He squeezed. “You must.”
Xenon arrived and scowled with disgust. “Enough of that, boy. It’s disgraceful.”
Thealos gripped his control to keep from dropping the Wolfsman with a kick to his forehead. It took every bit of his thoughts to master himself. He had not thought taming the Oath magic could be so difficult. Or the struggle to tame his tongue.
“What news, Xenon?”
The Wolfsman did not seem bothered at all by the chill of the night. “We passed the citadel several miles ago and have swung around to approach it from the west. Brome just crossed a warding. A vast one.”
“How far from the keep?”
“Several miles. Can these…Sorian do that?”
A pit of dread opened in Thealos’ stomach. “How far has your lead searched the perimeter of it?”
“We know our business, boy.”
“I know that, Xenon. I’m asking for my benefit.”
“I have two men trailing the edge of it, both directions. I’ve called for some Warders to come, but they won’t arrive until after dawn.”
“Ballinaire’s front lines will be here by dawn as well. We don’t have time to delay.”
Xenon gave him a scowl. “The warding wasn’t there earlier. It is preventing us from contacting our brothers within the fortress. If the Warders can disrupt some of its magic, we could find what is happening inside.”
“We don’t have time to delay, Xenon.”
“I’m not sending us all to our deaths, boy. We wait.”
Vanish. Disappear. Walk the Crossroads. The temptation to invoke the magic slammed on Thealos. He clenched his fists and fought against it. He had promised not to disobey him.
Ticastasy interrupted. “I have an idea.”
Thealos and Xenon looked at her.
“I don’t think these Sorian can fly. Maybe this warding you’re talking about is there to warn them which direction we’re coming from. Your men have already touched it, so it stands to reason that he knows we’re on this side.” She tugged Thealos’ arm. “Remember the night we ran through the Bandit camp? We moved fast enough that we were able to make it through before they were ready for us. Maybe that’s the answer here.”
Xenon’s scowl deepened into wrinkled folds. “Your advice could get us all killed, human.”
“Well, if you’re too afraid to try, then admit it and let us go. I agree with Thealos. We don’t have time to waste bickering about it. Let’s go for the walls. Now. Fast as we can.”