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“An excellent plan, diviner,” said Lio.
Eudias handed her the map. “I’ll act as the ambassador’s guide.”
“I’m going with Tuura,” Karege said. “Will you two be all right by yourselves?”
“Eudias and I have survived this battle before,” Lio reminded him. “But I will send Tuura a mental distress signal if we need reinforcements.”
“And I’ll do the same if we run into any trouble,” Tuura promised.
Lyros pulled his horse alongside Lio’s. “Cassia told Mak to tell me to tell you: ‘This isn’t the Maaqul. You don’t have to do anything without help.’”
“Please ask Mak to tell Cassia that I have no intention of engaging in misguided heroics.”
“Good.” Lyros clapped him on the shoulder before he, Karege, and Tuura rode away.
A fairly comfortable silence fell between Lio and Eudias. Then the young mage gestured to the river. “With the help of my magic, the water could improve the reach of your spell. If you have no objection to collaborative casting, that is.”
“Far from it.” Lio dismounted and left Moonflower to graze on the bank. “Our magic defeated the Collector last time. We should cast together to try to detect his presence.”
Eudias tethered his horse under a nearby tree, his face grim. “Are you worried he will be able to hide even from us?”
“Yes,” Lio confessed. “Although we are wise to many of his tricks now, he always seems to have another one up his sleeve. But my hope is that you and I will be able to detect him more easily because of our past…encounters.”
“I’ve been thinking about what Diviner Tuura said,” Eudias said. “If my resistance to him is greater, I should also be more alert to his presence.”
The mage pulled off his shoes and sat down on the bank, sliding his bare feet into the water. A reminder of a pool in his memories where his life would have ended, if not for Lio. An invitation to return to that moment when their survival had demanded complete trust.
Lio set his own shoes aside and joined Eudias. The water didn’t feel as cold as Lio had expected. Eudias’s water magic flowed through the river like a friendly greeting to his element, while the lightning magic that made him a war mage was quiet.
Lio said, “I’ve been meaning to congratulate you on your promotion from apprentice.”
“Thank you. The Tenebran mages of Anthros have rather taken me under their wing.”
“You’re doing well,” Lio observed.
Eudias blew out a breath. “I never thought I would be free of the Aithourian Circle…or the Collector. Now I have the hope of a life here in Tenebra. The future won’t be easy for a war mage who refuses to serve the Aithourian Circle, but I will not let anyone drag me back to Cordium.”
“If you ever need Sanctuary, you know we will welcome you in Orthros.”
“I am grateful for that. But I am…needed…here. Tenebra reminds me of the rural village I came from. It’s been a long time since I didn’t regret having to leave.” He made a face. “I do miss proper libraries, though.”
Lio groaned. “I can imagine. Will it get you into trouble with the Tenebran mages if a Hesperine smuggles you scrolls from Orthros?”
Eudias laughed. “By all means, let us try.”
Lio raised a brow. “And your study partner among the mages of Kyria?”
A blush darkened Eudias’s cheeks. “Mage Ariadne is also at Patria as part of the Kyrian delegation. We have…an understanding.”
“I’m glad to hear it. You know I am the last to judge if you two do more than practice together.”
Eudias trailed his feet in the water. “She needs someone patient.”
“It sounds like you are needed here, indeed.”
The young mage turned to Lio. “You know I suffer from a case of overeducated openmindedness. And that our duel with the Collector drew my lines of loyalty in unusual places. It is perhaps presumptuous of me to ask the person who saved my life to spill his secrets, so all I will say is this. You can trust me as surely as I trusted you.”
Eudias’s olive branch felt more like a lifeline to Lio than he would have expected. “I am in need of an ally.”
