Thessia crossed her arms loosely over her chest. “You don’t strike me as a warrior. And yet here you are…inspecting weapons like they whisper secrets.”
Auryn brushed her fingertips along a dented axe. “Some of these remember hands that are long gone.”
Thessia tilted her head, eyes narrowing. “The way you speak is strange.”
“To you, perhaps.” Auryn turned finally, meeting her gaze. “To me, it is the way I am.”
A moment of stillness passed between them. The flicker of torches caught in Thessia’s braids. She scanned Auryn’s face like she was trying to determine if she was a seer or a fool—or maybe both.
“Who are you?” she asked, voice lower now. “Where are you from?”
Auryn turned back to the rack, hands folding in front of her like she was answering a question older than time.
“If I knew, I would answer those things. All I understand is that I am myself. Auryn.”
Thessia frowned, her lips pursing. “He’s different around you,” she said after a moment. “Not just quieter. It’s something else. Like he’s holding something back.”
Auryn nodded, gaze drifting. “He carries too much. So sometimes…I carry a little for him.”
“How long have you been with the Shadeslayer?”
“His name,” Auryn explained, “is Kailorien.”
Thessia frowned. “I’ve fought beside that man in two wars. Stood with him on a bridge built from corpses. Held a shield at his back when we thought the sun would never rise again. And I’ve never heard that name.”
“Then you fought beside his shadow,” Auryn reasoned.
“If that’s his true name, then you’ve just shared something no one should without permission,” Thessia warned.
Auryn’s hands stilled mid-motion. “You will not use it against him.”
Thessia’s hands settled on her hips. “Hope, threat, or prediction?”
“Truth,” Auryn answered.
Thessia exhaled slowly through her nose. Not in anger. In something that might’ve been—if one squinted—respect.
“You speak like a priestess,” she murmured.
Auryn shook her head. “I do not pray. It is foolish to ask something from a force you’ve never met. Harder still if you don’t know what it is you need.”
“And yet they call you Sokâr,” Thessia said.
“Because they saw me do something they do not understand. So, they label me with something that makes their fear easier to bear.”
Thessia studied her.
“You don’t talk like someone who’s feared,” she said finally. “More like someoneresignedto it.”
Auryn tilted her head. “Perhaps I am. It is easier to survive their fear than their worship. At least fear does not require pretense.”
Thessia let out a slow breath. “Shit.”
Auryn blinked. “Is something wrong?”
Thessia huffed a soft laugh. “No. You just…make me feel like I’ve been swinging a sword at shadows while someone else has been charting the shape of the world.”
“I do not mean to make anyone feelless.”
