"Ha.” She smiled wryly. "My lady is . . . unusual. I'm her eyes and ears, out in the world."
"So, you're a spy."
"Sure, why not?" Her smile vanished. "Someone gave Brighid a warning that the south would be attacked. She sent me to find out. I stopped to try and save these people."
A Solheart, working for a lesser Fireborn woman? I didn't buy it. More likely, she spied for a Solheart noble. For Forlaith.
Every unfamiliar face was a potential enemy hoping to silence the female Paragon so that a man could take her place.
Solhearts, most of all.
"You don't trust me.” Bláth tilted her head. "I can't imagine why."
"Did I give you that impression?" I tucked my hands in my pockets, mimicking her stance. "Sorry. That's just how my resting face looks."
Clopping hooves caught my ear, and a spotted doe appeared from the endless black, carrying an Aenir prince.
"Oh, look. Ferris," I said, turning away.
Ferris swung off his doe and landed deftly on the muddy road. "I did what I could," he said. "But some people are determined to die." He scoffed, throwing his arms wide. "If I were told imminent death approached in the form of gnashing teeth, I'd be long gone."
I gave the kid an appraising look. He didn't seem much like a warrior.
We'd talked a great deal while we pursued Mare and Reese; the prince loved to talk. He filled me in about the Solheart assassin who'd tried to kill his father—and how he'd escaped.
The story had taken a long time to tell. Ferris had drifted off course to tell me about a 'wild warrior woman who could snap necks with a thought.' His emerald eyes had gleamed with admiration.
Or, maybe lust. It was hard to tell.
"Why are you giving me that look?" Ferris interrupted my thoughts.
"I was just thinking about what the king will do if you die here."
“Ha, nothing.” Ferris glanced away. "Nothing at all," he added, quietly.
Oh, I'd hit a sore spot. Everyone knew Ferris struggled to uphold basic etiquette, and that it created friction within the royal family.
Something deeper fractured them, I supposed. Pain had echoed in Ferris' words. The same I'd felt, the day I realized my mother had never loved me.
"Stay with Bláth," I said, gently pushing him toward her. "Once the last wagon leaves, we're to join the guard."
"Stay with a gorgeous Solheart? I can't imagine anything worse.” Ferris smirked and led his doe north.
He bounced back quickly, at least.
Figuring I ought to check on Mare, I turned south and took a step through the mud.
Sharp pain cracked through my spine.
A tear across the back. Snapping bones. A clean cut through the kidneys.
Someone died near the southern gate.
Biting agony in my neck followed. Teeth tore through bone and muscle, ripping the head clean from the body—another death.
I grabbed my throat. I'd felt everyone around me dying, in Galasvar. It had surged into a steady ache, impossible to discern individuals when so many perished at once.
For as long as I could remember, I'd been able to feel when someone died near me. The strange intuition had never been wrong. Even though I sometimes wished it were.
