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"It's probably harmless," Zared said. He shot a brace of daggers at Ryze with his eyes.
"I volunteer him for trying it." Vayne nodded toward Zared.
Zared gave him a dark look before turning away.
"Is he your lover?" Ryze asked me.
I signed, "No," while keeping my eyes on Zared. I didn't want to antagonise him any more than he already was. If I thought he'd listen, I’d tell him to go back to Ebonfalls. He’d be safe there. Or in Havenmoor. It wasn't him Dalyth wanted. He could go back to living his life. But I knew him too well to think he’d walk away, even if I insisted.
Ryze nodded thoughtfully. He watched Tavian pack up the last of his belongings, then nodded to all of us.
"Let's move. We have at least two hours of walking ahead of us."
Zared turned around. "Until what?"
"Until we reach the place we need to go," Ryze said reasonably, as if that was any kind of answer at all.
Of course it wasn't enough for Zared. "Which is where and why?"
Ryze sighed. "Riverrest. From there, we'll travel on."
Since he clearly wasn't saying any more than that, I asked, "Do you know where they took Tyla and the others?"
He seemed reluctant to respond to that too, but finally he inclined his head. "I have a fair idea, yes. It's going to take some planning to get them out."
"We could send an army of griffin after them," Tavian suggested.
Apparently that was something funny, because Ryze grinned and even Vayne barked a short laugh.
"I'd rather send an army of you after them," Ryze said to Tavian. "But things would get messy. Very messy."
Tavian swung his bag onto his back. "Messy is good though." He gave me a wink, which for some reason made me blush.
Predictably, Zared scowled at him. Did he really think I was any happier about this than he was? If he did, then he needed to think again.
9
Khala
Ryze gestured for Tavian to lead the way through the trees. How he had any idea where he was going, I didn't know. All the trees and plants looked the same. Green, damp and competing for sunlight.
The sun itself was barely high enough to offer much illumination. The mist still hung low and thick. It hadn't thinned at all.
The air was warm, sticky and humid. It smelled like decaying plants and dirt that never dried out entirely. That was overlaid with the scent of the three Fae, and Zared. Leather, wood smoke, cinnamon, apples, pine, walnut and cedar. They all mashed together until I wasn't completely sure which scent belonged to who.
We walked in silence, which left me with my thoughts. I'd heard of Riverrest, but I hadn’t been out of Ebonfalls since my parents left me at the temple.
I had vague recollections of fields of corn and a small cottage beside a stream. The farm I was born on. The only place I knew until a stranger came. I remembered tense conversation between them and my parents, then we were leaving for the temple.
I had recollections of other things here and there, but most of my life before the temple was a blur. For the longest time, I clung to the memories of my parents’ faces and their voices, but those faded a long time ago. If I met them now, I doubted I’d recognise them.
"I know you're thinking this is all kinds of fucked up." It was Tavian who came to walk beside me.
I gave him a sideways look, but didn't disagree.
"It's weird for us too," he said. "We're not used to humans. Is it true you eat eggs boiled in the urine of virgin boys?" He seemed both curious and serious.
I stared at him for a few moments before I shook my head. "No."
