Page 61
“Then what—”
“I have to go.” He was already moving, already rebuilding the distance between them, but it was unsteady this time, a man assembling a wall with shaking hands. “Don’t seek me out. Not now. Not after this.”
“Caelith, please. Just tell me what I—”
“It’s not Orell I fear finding out about this, don’t you see, Maia?” he said, low, almost to himself. “Orell only wants order. There are others who would want you.”
He stopped at the door, and she thought he would say something more. Maybe he’d explain, or soften it, or simply look at her, but he did neither.
“Be careful, Maia,” he whispered. “More careful than you think you need to be.”
And then he was gone, and she was alone with the dark fragments and the growing, formless certainty that she had just watched something frighten a creature she had never once seen afraid.
25
Just Between Friends
Maia and Selinne reached the healer’s wing. A thin light filtered through warded glass, and somewhere below, the rhythm of boots on stone hadn’t stopped in over an hour.
Julen looked better than Maia expected him to. Colour returned to his face, eyes sharp despite the bandages and enforced stillness. He smiled when he saw them.
“Well,” he said, “if this is a visitation rota, I expect priority.”
Selinne snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself, Julen. I see your sense of humour is returning.”
They spoke at first of simple things: his recovery, the chaos of reassigned duties, the healer who kept threatening to sedate him if he didn’t stop asking questions.
It was Julen who steered them back. “So, what’s happening in the lower tiers?” he asked. “No one gives the injured the truth anymore.”
Selinne glanced at Maia.
“Stabilisation teams,” Maia said. “Reinforcements. A lot of confidence.”
She did not mention the power and the fragments. Or what Master Orell had seen.
“And?”
“And a lot of noise,” Maia added. “Nothing conclusive.”
Selinne shifted in her chair. “No, but we did see…” she stopped, glancing at Maia, as she realised what she had started to say.
Julen noticed. Maia blushed.
“Sel,” he said gently, “would you be so kind as to fetch me some water? If I hear one more healer lecture me about hydration, I might rebel.”
Selinne hesitated, then nodded. “I’ll be back.”
Julen watched the door close behind Selinne, then looked back at Maia.
“You didn’t want her to say whatever she was about to say,” he said.
She gave a small, humourless smile. “You always notice that.”
“I’m lying in a healer’s bed with nothing else to do,” he replied. “People become very obvious.”
She sat beside him, close enough that the edge of the mattress dipped. For a moment she said nothing, eyes fixed on the window.
“Do you ever get the feeling,” she asked finally, “that the city is listening?”
