AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He wasn’t, Michal. This has nothing to do with him. It has to do with me.” Part truth, part lie.
“Well.” He blew out his breath in a huff. “That’s good, at least.”
She twisted her ring.
After a moment, Michal came and gingerly sat down beside her, as if expecting her to push him away. She didn’t, scooting over instead, making room.
Michal shifted, making the whole tiny cot creak. “I assume you’re expecting me to offer to stay with you in Caldien,” he said. “And you’re trying to find a polite way to say you don’t want that. But you don’t have to worry about it.” He slid his eyes her way. “I’m over you.”
Lore snorted, loud and un-lady-like. “Fantastic news, thank you.”
“Thought it might help.”
The silence didn’t feel so brittle, after that. Lore sighed, rubbing at her temples. “Sorry to pull you into my bullshit, yet again.”
Michal shrugged. “At least it’s always interesting bullshit.” He glanced at her again, thoughtful. “I hope you can find some rest soon, Lore. I hope that you can find something simple. You deserve simple, I think.”
Tears threatened at her eyes again, thinking of Bastian, thinking of Gabe, of how it could never really be simple. She forced her mouth into a smile.
A knock at the door, not the coded one that meant it was Val’s crew, but the rhythmic banging of someone demanding entry.
Lore stood as the door to the office opened, Val’s face pale as she stared at the door. “Bloodcoats,” she snarled, ducking back through the threshold, coming out with her pistol. “Lore, you and Michal go—”
“Lore!” Her name, shouted from beyond the door, in a familiar feminine voice. Alie’s voice. “Lore, it’s us!”
“Put that away!” Lore rushed across the room to the door and wrenched it open. On the other side stood Gabe, Malcolm, and Alie, all dressed for traveling, all looking like they hadn’t slept the night before.
“I thought you’d be here.” Gabe didn’t say it like triumph, though. He said it like he wished he had been wrong. “Please tell me you’re trying to leave the country.”
She nodded, her brow deeply furrowed. “It looks like you are, too.”
“Seemed like a good idea, now that we know for sure Apollius is just fine with murder.” Heedless of the fact that he’d almost been shot by a poison runner, Malcolm walked through the door, putting down his satchel. “Too bad there are no damn ships.”
“Hold on.” Val had blessedly holstered her pistol, but she still didn’t look pleased by the sudden intrusion, even if her eyes did narrow in recognition on Gabe’s face. “What’s this about Apollius and murder?”
Gabe sighed, closing his one eye. “The Sainted King is… at least, we think…”
So much for trying to give easy explanations. “Bastian is possessed by Apollius,” Lore said. “And that isn’t a good thing.”
Val’s mouth hung open. Mari’s, too. Still seated on the cot, Michal looked like a soft breeze would knock him over.
“You know what?” Val waved her hand, as if erasing a board so it was clear to try again. “I don’t really want to know. I assume this means the three of you need a ship to Caldien, too?”
“No, they don’t.” Lore turned to her friends, brows drawn low. “If I leave, the gods will get out of your heads. I’m the catalyst. You can’t come with me, or the power will keep growing.”
They all three stared at her with varying expressions of incredulity. Alie leaned around Lore’s shoulder, speaking to Val. “A ship would be wonderful, thank you.”
With a sharp nod, Val went back into the office, cursing under her breath. Mari gave Lore an arch look, the same she would give her when she was a teenager and on the cusp of trouble, and followed her wife inside.
But Lore wasn’t done. “You can’t—”
“No, you can’t.” Alie poked her hard in the shoulder. “You aren’t fucking off to Caldien or anywhere else by yourself, Lore. If your theory is true, and your distance makes Apollius leave Bastian’s head, that’s great. But we aren’t taking chances.” Her voice softened. “Not with ourselves, and not with you.”
It’d be pointless to argue. Lore sighed. “Fine. So I assume He knows about you?” She looked anxiously to Gabe. “He knows what all of you are?”
“We aren’t sure,” Alie answered. She sat on one of the cots, arms crossed. “But He was… not exactly reasonable, once He realized you were gone, a couple hours ago. And what happened with Amelia made us all decide that it’s probably best if we’re not here.”
“It feels like a coward’s way out,” Malcolm said softly, looking at the floor, “but I’m not sure what else we can do. I have contacts in Caldien, at the university. They have close ties with the Prime Minister. If we can get an audience with him and explain what’s happening, we may be able to get some help.”
