Page 48

Chapter 48

Thevin

“ Early morning swim?” I asked, watching Lanna sweep her blonde wet hair into a plait.

“ Every morning at dawn,” she replied with a wolfish grin.

“ At the Hatchery ?” I asked casually, wondering if she’d heard of my interlude with one of the aurum fish.

“ It’s the strangest thing,” she said, confounded. “ One of the attendants informed me that swimming in the Hatchery will be closed for a few days to settle the fish from some brute who attacked them.”

I nodded in agreement, keeping my arms folded at my chest and looking down at my boots.

She continued, “ Something about a man riding alongside one of them then— smack ! Another one knocked him out clean and his lover had to dive in to save him.”

My cheeks burned. “ His lover?” I questioned in a narrowed squint.

She flipped her braid behind her back, hands on her hips, grinning in delight. “ His lover.”

“ That is not what happened,” I mumbled, shifting off the wall and checking my baldric for the third time since I had woken.

Lanna flicked her favorite dagger between her fingers, running her tongue across her teeth. “ Enlighten me, fish rider.”

I sighed, rolling my eyes. “ Alright . It’s all true except the lover part.”

She keeled over in laughter, grabbing her knees for support.

I chuckled alongside her. “ Sorry you had to swim in the canals.”

“ No , no,” she started, wiping at the tears in her eyes, “the full story from you will be worth it. What I wouldn’t pay to have seen that.”

“ I almost drowned, thanks,” I reminded her, slapping her back as she coughed a laugh.

“ I’m glad you didn’t. It’s interesting though, isn’t it? Why would the attendants assume that you and Saelyn are lovers?” She tilted her head back to the pillar in the room at the top of the Spire where all of our launches to the Blight Line took place.

I shrugged, tightening one of my straps.

“ You are in deep, my friend,” she huffed, leaving my side to fill a plate at the sideboard of breakfast foods.

I didn’t tell her about the kiss.

I didn’t tell her about how I had gone back to my bed afterwards, debating what I should or should not do next.

Saelyn had kissed me.

By her breath , I didn’t stop it.

Perhaps I should have.

I didn’t know what I’d do when I saw her again. And as I had fallen asleep, I’d tried to memorize the feel of her lips and body against mine. The feel of her hand in my hair and the way she had gasped at my mouth on her neck.

I decided I’d ignore it.

I’d treat her the same as if it hadn’t happened.

If she felt it was a mistake in the light of dawn, that would give her the easy way out. Besides , we had a lot to do in the next few weeks, and we didn’t have time for confusion in our relationship.

I meandered toward the array of foods, knowing I should eat.

“ You should eat.” Lanna echoed my thoughts, stuffing her mouth with a vanilla custard pastry.

I plated a sausage and a few cherries. Summer was in full swing outside of Felgren , evident in the variety of colorful fruits which lined the table. “ What’s our destination?” I asked between bites. “ Lythglyn ?”

She shook her head, wiping her mouth. “ The ruins. We’re joining the Wieldwryns this morning in the push back to the castle, since the Blightress has depleted some of her power with that attack last night.” She paused for a moment, cocking her head to the side and narrowing her eyes. “ Do you know how Saelyn knew the Blightress was coming? You said she was more powerful than anyone realized.”

I sighed, glancing toward the doorway to the top tower room where we expected the Baron and Sae to join us any minute. Clairannia and Madame Zoreyah were already there along with my parents, the Viceroy , and some other important figures I recognized. “ I truly do not know. We were dancing and talking one second, and the next, she bolted to her mother to warn her.”

“ It’s a good thing she did,” Lanna noted. “ A second later and Baron Karus would not have gotten her shield up in time.”

I hummed in agreement.

“ Do you think Sae knows more than what she said at the gathering last night?” Her words were careful as she studied me. She was one of my oldest friends, but she was also my commander in this war.

“ No ,” I lied, spooning some of the egg and seafood dish onto my plate. “ I don’t think she does.”

“ Well , that’s a shame because I do think she is hiding something.”

My gaze rose to her steely blue one and she tightened her jaw, speaking low for me to hear. “ Baron Revich is alive. His daughter can somehow sense the Blightress’s power. Both of these truths go hand-in-hand, though neither I nor the council understand exactly how. Whatever power Saelyn holds that can predict the movements of our enemy is not one we can afford to let her keep to herself.”

I glared. “ What are you saying, Commander ?”

Her face softened slightly. I never used her title so seriously.

“ What I’m saying is that you are her closest friend. She likely trusts you even more than I do and that’s saying something.” She clapped a hand at my back. “ I only mean to win this war and bring Baron Revich back from wherever he fights in her lands. I only mean to return peace and safety to this isle.” She shook my shoulder, adding, “ You know that, Thevin .”

“ Aye , I do.”

“ So talk to her. Get her to help us. By the Baron , I don’t know why she would hide something like this in the first place.”

“ She’s never seen war. She didn’t know the extent of what was happening until two days ago, Lanna . Give her time.”

“ We don’t have time,” she burst. She shoved her fingers through her hair, unbinding the yellow strands as she did so. “ All the cards are on the table. The Blightress knows our hand. We have yet to fully understand hers and she is unpredictable at best, all-consuming death and destruction at worst.”

“ I know all of this,” I gritted through my teeth.

“ Then get Saelyn to help us. Do what you need to do because we can’t wait for her to catch up on what’s going on here.” She dropped her hand from my shoulder and crossed her arms at her chest. “ She’s lovely, Thevin . But she does not understand the sacrifice of war like we do. No matter what you explain to her, she has been hidden away in that forest for the entirety of her life, blissfully unaware of what raged outside of it. Show me you understand what needs to be done. For her sake and all of ours.”

That pressing truth settled in at her words. We needed Saelyn’s power to win this war. And I was going to have to be the one to help her see that.