Page 38 of Memory of Ashes

“You could have left me there,” Tharos said. His tone had lost its earlier mockery.

“Casyl would never have allowed that,” Amelia replied.

“I meant you. You didn’t have to help.”

She looked down at her bowl. “You would have come for me.”

A silence settled over the table.

“Unfortunately,” Danae said, pushing the bread closer to Amelia, “we probably would.”

“On orders,” Tharos muttered.

Casyl raised his eyebrows. “Speak for yourself. I’ve rescued her enough times.”

Casyl was still smiling.

Five bowls crowded the table among the maps and bloodied bandages. No one had questioned whether Amelia should have one.

*

When the others had left, Casyl stood and rummaged around the tent. Once he’d found what he was after, he eased himself into a chair with his legs up, nursing a bottle of the golden liquor.

“Pain relief.” He saluted her with the bottle. “Grab a mug,” he ordered. A drink sounded like a good idea right now. She needed to forget.

A cot had been made up near his bed.

“That’s mine. You can take the bed,” he said.

She approached and handed him both mugs. He poured hers full to the brim and ignored the other, preferring to drink from the bottle instead.

She sat down in the chair opposite him. They hadn’t been alone like this since the night at the Viewpoint.

“What is this war really about?” she asked.

He frowned at the question. “This is my father’s war.”

“But why do they want me?”

He sighed. “You’re a threat to this world, and they’d rather extinguish that than see what you can do.”

“I don’t understand,” she said. She paced around the tent, drink in hand. “I’m a threat because I can block powers?”

“That’s one reason.”

“The Mind Warper said that you’d destroy everything.”

He sat quietly, taking a swig from the bottle.

“It’s true, isn’t it? What are you going to do? Why have you trained me?” she asked. “Did you know you’d need me?”

He stood slowly and walked over to face her.

Her nails bit into her palms.

“I didn’t need you. I don’t need you,” he growled.

“I’d say otherwise.” She glanced pointedly at his wound.