Page 36 of Memory of Ashes

“Look at me,” Ruven ordered.

Her eyes slowly met his.

“You did what you needed to do.”

“I felt the blade hitting bone. It shouldn’t be that easy to end a life.”

Bones. She’d excavated countless skeletal remains over the years, but she had only ever known death by what it left behind.

“It’s not that easy. That’s why you feel like this.”

“I killed the Mind Warper,” she said aloud, slowly.

“Well, it was about time that you repaid the favour,” Casyl said, sitting up in his bed.

He was shirtless, with a bandage wrapped around his waist. A tattoo curled over his shoulders and down his torso, disappearing beneath the waistband of his trousers.

Heat rose to her cheeks.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

“I’ve been better,” he said. “I’ll be fine by tomorrow. We heal quickly,” he added, noticing her confused look.

She picked at the blood dried around and beneath her nails. Her hands were raw from scrubbing. No matter how thoroughly she cleaned herself, she continued to find traces of his blood. It haunted her.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

She opened her mouth to say she was fine, but she couldn’t find it within herself to lie.

“Like I don’t know who I am anymore.”

He nodded slowly, his expression softening.

A soldier lifted the tent flap and entered. He was wet and covered in mud.

It had rained not long after they’d left the enemy camp, dousing the tent fires, and it hadn’t stopped since. Ruven had told her that the enemy camp would no doubt consider it an act of the gods.

“Report,” Casyl said to the soldier.

“Yes, sir. There’s no further movement in the enemy camp. They’re not making any plans to mount an offensive. The fires have been put out, but they’ve taken many casualties. Their numbers have dwindled.” The soldier dipped his head and backed out of the tent.

“What now?” Amelia asked.

“Nothing for now. We’ll monitor them,” Casyl said.

“Shouldn’t we mount an attack and finish them now?” Ruven asked.

“No.” Casyl winced as he tried to get comfortable. “I have no intention of allowing the men to become easy targets stuck in that mud. We have the advantage. Let’s keep it that way.”

Ruven stood up to leave. “I’m going to check on Tharos.”

“I’ll come with you,” Amelia said, earning a raised eyebrow from both of them.

They left the tent together and headed towards another large tent. He wasn’t in the medical shelter, as she’d expected, but in the quarters he shared with Ruven.

Tharos sat in a chair, inspecting a map. He rose as they entered, pausing when he saw Amelia.

“You’ve got a visitor,” Ruven said.