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She served him a curious look, ‘If wishes were horses,’ she whispered.
With a dramatic shake of her spine to shake the sudden tension rising between them, she took a long swig from her flagon before handing it to him. ‘A drink?’ she said.
He took it and stared at the golden liquid sloshing inside. ‘Naam, I do. It’s been a day of wild revelation.’
She gave him a sharp look. ‘The songbird. What did she share with you in private?’
He looked away, shaking his head. ‘Revelations and secrets that will tear apart this planet.’
Sana’a reached a hand and squeezed his arm. ‘What are you going to do about it?’
‘Nada for now. I need more time to understand what I’m up against and how to fight it.’
She extended the vessel to him. ‘Tis why I’m here, Kíríga. Your blade master is sometimes the best person to talk to in times of strife. Or to hand you a bottle to drown your sorrows in.’
He shot her a look loaded with emotion as energy arced between them. ‘Grateful,’ he rasped.
Eyes loaded with emotion, he lifted the bottle to his lips and drank long from it, his eyes watering from the intensity of the spirit. ‘Not bad. What is it?’
‘Tansinian whisky. I found it in the cellar of this ancient place. It’s packed with good grog.’
She reached to her flank and withdrew two blades from thin air. She placed them between them. He glanced at them and then at her.
‘Insurance?’
‘Naam. There’s always a wild side to an innocent face.’
‘Not sure if you’re talking about me or you,’ Killen rasped.
He smirked when her eyes flashed a warning at him.
‘Tell me more about these unusual daggers of yours,’ he rumbled on. ‘Given you almost carved me with one of them. You owe me their provenance.’
She sliced her eyes at him. ‘It’s a long story.’
‘Try me, khany’s,’ he murmured as his hawkstone pulsed with intense emotion. ‘The short version
She shrugged. ‘It’s still a drag,’ she countered,’ but I’ll give it to you. Your funeral.’
He nodded, taking another pull from their now-shared bottle.
‘When my father broke apart the Elysian Eye, the One SHärd, he kept a few pieces for himself. Before he spirited the three key segments away,’ she murmured, her eyes tracking to the sky beyond. ‘He then had a Ccyth master carve it into blades for each of our family members. They’re indestructible with a sharp edge that would never dull. They can slice through the thickest and hardest of matter, change shape in your hand, and take the form of whatever weapon I choose. They’ve vapour-synth properties, turning into smoke, gas or liquid at my command. You can imagine there’s much I can do with them.’
‘Fascinating.’
‘He also fashioned timepieces for us, orbs made of the same SHärd element that can teleport us through time in any direction, not unlike the larger SHärds themselves. This, of course, is knowledge few have.’
‘How did you get the single Elysian Eye?’
‘Its guardians appointed Father to secure it and keep anyone from ever controlling it.’
‘Why?’ Killen asked.
‘Because it had such immense power, mortal men resorted to evil to control it. To protect it and the universe from its entire potency, my father broke it into pieces many years ago and was later murdered for it. By your grandfather and aunt, as we now know, together with their co-conspirators. Their actions, not only to murder my father but to pulverise our planet, tore apart my people.’
He shifted closer to her. ‘Tell me about them.’
‘You’re pushy.’
