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Cole chuckles. “You mean to tell me, out of all the items you could bring, you brought your own silverware?”

Archie studies the hilt with a smile. “It reminds me of home.” He stabs the knife into a pancake and brings the next bite to his mouth.

My thoughts drift to Daeja. I hadn’t realized how attached I am. Until now. The weight of her hangs on my shoulders. Somewhere along the line, it became as familiar to me as the breath in my lungs. Her presence is something intimate. Something that feels like home.

As I survey the soldiers gathered around us, it becomes clear to me. She is now something I am willing to risk my life for. My duty for fulfilling my mother’s last request is spiraling into something more. Something I can’t quite explain.

Cole fidgets and shifts more noticeably with each passing breath. His fingers tap against the table. As I finish my last bite, he excuses us and whisks me away.

His voice is low as he leads me away from the tables. “You can stay in my room until yours is ready.”

Part of me is relieved. It’ll mean less watchful eyes.

As we enter Cole’s room, the both of us sag with a sigh. I lower my hood as Cole pulls the letter Carlisle gave him out from his jacket and tosses it onto his desk. Theurgentletter.

“Aren’t you going to read that?” I ask as Daeja slithers out from my hair.

“Not right now. There’s nothing more urgent than you.”

I blush at the implication.

“Okay so…” Cole runs a hand through his hair. “I can’t have you stay with me because it would be odd to have my sister sharing a room. But I can’t protect you if I’m not near you—”

A knock sounds at the door.

Fuck.

I pull my hood back over my head as Cole opens the door.

Carlisle doesn’t even try to mask his pointed stare at me. “Marge is requesting to meet Katerina.”

“Now?” Cole asks.

“Unless you’d rather wait. But I wouldn’t recommend testing that woman’s patience. Are you otherwise occupied?”

Cole blows out a weary breath. “Very well, then. I’ll make an introduction.”

“Most of the supplies in the storage tent have also been relocated,” Carlisle reports.

Cole voices his appreciation and dismisses Carlisle. To not press our luck, I reluctantly agree to keeping Daeja hidden in the trunk in Cole’s room for the brief time we will be gone. Each step further away from Daeja prickles an uneasiness in my chest as Cole leads me toward the southern part of the outpost. He opens the door to one of the largest stone buildings I’ve seen here yet. The scent of honey and mint hits me as we sweep into the building. Cabinets full of glasses, bottles, and vials line the walls.

“Good morning, Marge,” Cole greets.

An old woman fixing the beds against the opposite wall turns to us. Her wiry gray and white hair sweeps up into a bun, stray hairs strewn about her weathered skin.

She grabs a wooden staff with black gloved hands, her cold gray eyes settling on Cole. “Cole. What’s this I hear of an apprentice?”

Cole’s fingers flutter anxiously. “My sister Katerina has decided to pay me a visit. She had been apprenticing for our town healer back home, but unfortunately, he died. I was wondering if during her time with our outpost she could follow you? That way she can continue her studies until she’s able to return home and find a new mentor.”

“I don’t recall agreeing to such a thing,” irritation laces Marge’s response.

But Cole meets her heavy gaze, his voice utterly calm. “Last I remember, as a captain, I don’t need your approval.”

Marge shifts her squinted gaze to me. Her staff taps against the hard stone ground as she hobbles toward us. I try not to swallow under the intensity of her stare picking through my clothes, my hair, my face. Everything in me is ushering me to shrink back behind the cabinets. In case she somehow knows Cole’s lying.

An uneasy silence falls between the three of us, until Marge looks back at Cole. “If it’s only for the interim, and if she won’t be in the way.”

Cole clasps his fidgety hands together. “Great, thank you, Marge—”