I don’t even wait to ask more, I just turn and bolt.
Cold air tears through my lungs as I race for the tent and the second I get there, I shove the flap aside and reach straight for the notepad and pencil with shaking hands.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean what I said. I don’t hate you. I’m not angry at you, I’m just so wound up in my own shit. Are you okay? Please be okay.
— L x
The words come out messy and rushed across the page, but I don’t try to stop them.
I’m done pretending I don’t care.
Fumbling, I yank open the Letter-threader and shove the note inside, staring at the empty stem while I wait until the flame finally catches and burns it away.
Time seems to stretch endlessly as my knees bounce while I wait and watch, desperate for a response, then just as the last thread of hope fades from my body the fire swells and a small folded note floats out.
Snatching it before it can hit the ground, I turn it over so fast my fingers nearly crumple the paper, and my heart practically stops the second I see Talen’s elegant but shaky handwriting.
I am now.
— T x
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The dragon bell stops ringing, but yet no one dares to move.
Silence holds the Briefing Tent, every breath trapped behind nervous teeth, every body waiting for the next ring of metal to start up again.
A minute passes, maybe less, maybe more, then finally the all-clear echoes through the camp, and the whole space exhales at once, sighs of relief ricocheting off canvas and old sackcloth.
Over the last two days, since the storm ended, we’ve found enough material to finish the extension. Finished, technically, but it still looks bloody awful. Old food sacks have been stitched and woven together, hanging in uneven strips from every side, with driftwood poles jammed into the ground to keep the whole thing upright.
It smells like potatoes, cabbage, and rotten wood. But it holds. And, according to Magda, it’s no longer a safety hazard, which means I’m teaching again.
“Right,” Magda calls, stepping aside so I can take the front. “Let’s get back to it, then.”
Silver flashes from her tooth as she gives me an encouraging smile and I brush down the sweater she knitted me, steppingforward and turning toward the fifty or so recruits scattered beneath the sagging roof.
Thick wool scratches at my wrists and throat as I move—the sweater itches like hell—but it’s warm, and with autumn closing in around us I’m grateful to even have it.
“Today,” I announce, keeping my chin lifted as I scan around the tent, “we’re going to start demonstrations.”
Reya says I need to give them something to follow, so that’s what I’m going to do. Blood Moon is only seven days away now, and if I can’t control one teaching session, how can I expect a bloody dragon to bind their life to mine?
I'm going to show these recruits I can lead, and that, unlike the Citadel, I can do it without people getting hurt. Then, once I’m done, if I have enough time, I can hopefully race back to my tent beforehand and see if Talen has replied.
Every time a new letter arrives my heart swells so much I can’t stop the joy from spreading to my face. Ezzy’s been teasing me the last two days, but I don't care. Since I first wrote to him, it’s as though a dam has cracked inside my mind, and now the only thing keeping it from bursting wide open is more of him.
“About fucking time,” One-eyed bloody Lee responds from the middle, elbowing the recruit beside him. “Though I’m not sure what anunbonded Outerlandercan demonstrate that’s worth watching.”
Laughter spills from a few other recruits sitting around him, and at the front, my gaze catches on Neeve, her long braid swaying down her back as she jerks her head around to face him.
She’s been staying with Darren the last few days, so I haven't had the chance to talk to her yet and seeing her makes the knot of guilt I've been carrying around pull that bit harder. But then beside her Ezzy shifts, and the tension loosens.
She’s here.
Actually here. Out of the Food Tent for the first time in weeks.
Returning my attention to Lee, the corner of my mouth lifts as I fold my arms and cock my head at him. “Well, why don’t you come up here and find out if the demonstration isworthwhileyourself then?”
