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Tenah
“Where are you, Tenah?” Renton’s soothing voice lured her from a daze.
The stifling heat of the desert came back to her as she blinked atop her horse, her stomach immediately tying into knots.
Fading streaks from the sunset painted the crew and Ruzgorn trudging ahead of them in bloody light. At best, this trip would cost them wicked sunburns, the stupid transportation orb having burnt out on them at the worst possible time. Vesara was convinced Izral had something to do with its sudden lack of magic, but Renton had assured her it was a common thing for orbs to wear down with use.
“You could stay behind,” Renton said. “Heal the rift when you’re ready. Hakkan and I can handle whatever spills out.”
Her head jerked to him. “Did you forget that I caused all of this? Because I certainly didn’t. I opened the rift. I need to close it.”
“You didn’t do anything. Chaos did that. That lowlife King of Adra did that,” Renton replied, his words laced with fury.
She gripped the reins tighter. “Ichoseto bargain with him.”
The muscles in Renton’s jaw worked as he scrounged for more justifications to her inexcusable actions. She snorted.Good luck.
Tenah nodded at the crew. “They should have stayed in Denoden. They have no part in this.”
“Go ahead and try to send them back.”
Imagining how poorly that conversation would go over, she shifted in her saddle.Hey, thanks for all your sacrifices to help me sort out my shit, but this is where I draw the line.
Vesara was busy picking her dark nails with a small knife. Aeyis was deep in thoughts, most likely not his own. And Gireth… Well, he was engrossed in a demonstration of the flop of a strange, green, solid food Zia had packed for him. Hakkan didn’t know what to make of the jiggly concoction or its goofy, rugged holder.
Renton’s laugh was raspy. “Zia would kill him for making fun of her food.”
A weak smile crept onto Tenah’s face. “Gireth carries on to camp with me then. He’ll fare better against Adra’s enemies than the all-consuming rage of a Vristarian cook.”
Renton’s barked laugh earned questioning looks from the others.
“Oy, you on something?” Gireth called out, the green food still jiggling in his palm.
“Tenah elected for you to handle the rift alone. She favors you the least,” Renton replied.
“Wait, am I being voted off the isle?”
Tenah jabbed at Renton’s side. Her knuckles hit armor, drawing out a curse. This only fueled his entertainment.
“You and Gireth are a match made by the gods.” Renton smirked.
She straightened up. Sure, it was just a joke. But her stupid heart couldn’t help but pine for her preferred match. Her eyes flicked over to study Renton, her heart lurching.
Tenah urged her horse faster.
The ripple of silvery light was just as prominent as when she’d first slashed it into the sky. Ruzgorn hadn’t moved their tents away from it. Instead, they’d formed a tighter ring around it.
“If you sense anything wrong, you let Aeyis know, and he’ll communicate with all of us,” Renton instructed the crew when they reached the first line of canvas tents.
Tenah dismounted. A hand slid around her waist. Pulling her back against his chest, Renton leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek. “Please be careful.”
Head tucked to hide her burning cheeks, she moved toward the rift.
Is he here, Aeyis?she asked. She’d scrawled a letter to her father right before leaving Denoden in hopes that he would aid her with the rift in exchange for the shard in Renton’s heart. Hakkan had let her borrow his hawk to deliver the message.
I don’t sense his presence. Sorry, Tenah.
Her father’s absence stung, but she shouldn’t have been surprised. While Renton believed there were still scraps of him left, he didn’t know him like she did.
