Page 48 of The Silversmith

“Gavin?” I asked.

I heard the crunch of rock beneath his feet as he paused and returned to me. I held back a sob at the terrible, heartbreaking hope I saw in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry she was taken from you.”

His shoulders slumped. His eyes—brimming red with emotion—darkened and pierced me, and his pain became my pain.

“I’m sorry too,” he uttered, his voice low and hoarse.

It was a simple response, one I would have expected from anyone who lost the one they loved. But like most things he said, it sounded… different.

It gutted me.

That night, I cried silent, stupid, childish tears into my quilt while lying beneath gray rock I would be happy to never see again.

Chapter thirteen

About half a day’s walk west of Tovick, we camped outside a small village. It was our last stop before a week’s rest with Gavin’s friend, whoever he or she was. Then, three more days of travel, and we would reach Brinnea. Where my real father waited for me.

I failed to hide my nerves. Meeting a four-hundred-year-old sorcerer was nothing short of intimidating.

Mentally, I wanted to prepare. Even if that meant proving myself. Even if that meant spending a day alone in the forest, with only my hands and knife to defend myself while the others visited the town. I needed to know I could be alone again. Alone, without fading away, without receding back into an empty shell of the woman I was becoming. The woman I was starting to like.

I had to try.

That was, if I could convince him.

We skipped training the next morning. He hardly spoke a word to me that entire day, but I noticed he still hid the black-corded necklace with those rings tucked beneath his shirt.

He was quieter this morning than he was tense or angry. A good sign, I told myself. So I followed him into a small cluster of red maple trees to gather wood while the others made camp around the fire.

“What is it?” he demanded when he saw me approach.

A sharp invisible blow smarted in my chest at the chill of his words. “I was thinking that tomorrow, while the rest of you are in Tovick, I could stay back for a day and practice—”

“No.”

“You didn’t even hear what I was proposing—”

“I don’t have to.” He removed the cover from his axe and began to sharpen the blade. “You are not going or staying anywhere alone.”

“Would you stop interrupting me?”

Gavin shrugged. “I will when you stop making foolish suggestions.”

Anger pricked my chest. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

He blew out a low whistle and chuckled. “Language, Your Highness.”

“You’re not listening to me!” I snapped, angry tears biting at my eyelids, but I held them in. “I—”

“Enough!” His booming shout shook the trees and made me shudder. “This is not a discussion, Aryella.”

“Gavin.”

His face immediately softened when I said his name, so I marched forward and grabbed his thick forearm in my hands. His eyes locked on my fingers, touching him.

“I need to know I can survive alone, even though you’ll all be in the next town over.”