The girl who should have been circled for her cartography skills scooped up the torch and started boldly into the waiting darkness. Behind her was the captain, followed by the White Wraith and a Dragon in tow. It was a very different party from the first one she had entered the Underground with, Florence thought optimistically.
But the darkness that pressed in around her, eager to cut her off already from the light of the torch despite being only a couple peca behind, was hungry. It was cruel, and it didn’t have the sentience to know mercy. The only things that thrived in it were creatures who cast aside everything but the will to survive.
24. Cvareh
The three Fenthri passed out almost instantly. They looked like kittens, huddled together and curled in on each other. Cvareh was forced to remind himself that these frail looking children were already well into their prime on Loom. He was entrusting his life to three whom, were they Dragon, he wouldn’t even trust to fly a boco alone to deliver a message.
The “nook” they had holed up in was a small connecting hall between the Underground and the steam systems that fueled Ter.4.2. The door to the proper tunnels had been welded shut from the other side. It was barely large enough for the five of them, but the radiant heat and soft breaths of sleeping bodies battled the oppressive darkness with coziness.
Arianna stretched out in the narrow entry, her eyes staring into the void of the silent tunnels. He didn’t know what she sought, but he was now familiar enough with the woman to recognize the look of focus on her face. The torch had long run out and they didn’t spark a second while the three Fenthri slept. Their Dragon eyes could make sense of the darkness with the help of a little magic.
She turned as he shifted, padding across to her nimbly as to not disturb the slumbering children. Cvareh sat opposite her, resting his back against the roughly carved wall. They matched stares for a long second through their augmented goggles.
“How long will you let them sleep?” he breathed. They both had Dragon ears; to them, the faintest whisper across the silence could be heard as clearly as if one of them were speaking normally.
Arianna produced a worn watch from her inner breast pocket. “Maybe another hour or two?”
“Will you sleep?”
She shook her head. “Someone needs to keep watch.”
Cvareh’s mouth pressed into a tired smile. She was insistent on her grudge against him past the point of foolishness. Arianna had never even considered him a potential candidate for the task. He had every reason to let the woman exhaust herself if she was too proud to ask for help.
“We can take turns,” he suggested. Cvareh could read her whole expression from her mouth alone—he didn’t have to see her eyes to know she squinted at him with skepticism. He shook his head with a laugh. “You still don’t trust me? You default right, I default left.” He pointed out their positions. “I did as you asked. I stopped time without you commanding me to do so.”
The expression fell from her face and Arianna pulled off her goggles. He knew she wouldn’t see him better without them. So, he did the same. He wanted to see her as she saw him, with his naked eye, no other filters applied.
“Why did you save me?”
He was actually impressed she asked. Cvareh had been expecting her to handle it with the same grace she seemed to muster for all things she didn’t like—meaning, shoving it into a corner and disregarding its existence. But there she waited silently for an answer.
Cvareh closed his eyes and thought about his reasoning for the first time—since he certainly hadn’t thought about it in the moment. He’d just moved. The King’s Bitch was going to kill Ari, and every instinct screamed in harmony for him to prevent it. In a singular breath, he’d put his life, and his mission, as secondary to her. It was a truth that he could never set free, because words would cement the fact to him for gods knew how long.
“Because I need you to take me to the Alchemists’ Guild.”
“You’re lying.”
He indulged a short, frustrated sigh. “You’re the ringleader of this merry band. If you died, Florence wouldn’t carry the torch onward.”
“She would’ve in my name.” Arianna’s tone left no room for uncertainty. “She sees the best in people, and believed in you before I even wanted to fully admit I was to be saddled with you across the world.”
He huffed in amusement. She certainly had a glowing opinion of him, this coarse and cunning woman he’d chosen as his guide on Loom.
“You have everything you need to get to the Alchemists now without me. Guides, weapons expert… You could’ve done it without giving up a boon, and cleanly at that. So why? Why save me?”
“You’re relentless.” He sighed. He didn’t have a succinct answer. Arianna, the almighty and infallible, was, indeed, correct.
“Why?” she pressed.
“Because I want you around.” The words were a whip hewn from his annoyance. It cut through the air, and split sound itself in two with a crack. The silence that followed carried the sting.
Arianna didn’t know how to react. The woman who always had something to say was at a loss for words. For the first time, he’d gained mental ground against her and pushed onward.