Page 11 of Acolyte (Tempris #2)
“I hope that if it comes down to it,” Kato said, smiling in a way that made Skye bristle.
He didn’t trust that smile. Didn’t dare trust the man.
“This crazy idea of yours works. Bringing along the flash cannons might have been a good idea—if you hadn’t sent away the only person that knew how to fix them. ”
“I might not know as much about firearm crystal circuits as Taly,” Skye said, his heart twisting just at the mention of her name. That had no doubt been his brother’s intent. He was always poking at that wound. “But I’m hardly inexperienced. They’ll work.”
“Oh, well that makes me feel better.” Kato turned to Eula. “Doesn’t that make you feel better? Skye thinks that these rust buckets will work. Never mind that they haven’t been fired in centuries.”
Skye resisted the urge to bare his teeth. “Maybe if you had deigned to help me this week instead of spending your nights drinking and gambling with the ensigns, we might’ve had time to test them. But since you didn’t, you don’t get to complain.”
Eula shot a disapproving glare at the lanky noble. Kato was tall and thin—just like Skye. They both resembled their mother in that regard, though that was where the similarities ended. “Was that really the best use of your time, Marshal?”
“I believe so,” Kato replied easily. “Ensigns have the best gossip, and since everyone just seemed to forget that we had a traitor in our midst, I took it upon myself to do some investigating.”
“We didn’t forget,” Skye said. Not with the attacks they had continued to weather, the people they had lost.
“Perhaps I misspoke then,” Kato said. “You didn’t forget. You just chose to do nothing. ”
Skye glanced at his brother. “Eula,” he said, never taking his eyes off Kato. He inclined his head, listening to the shouts sounding from behind them. “I think they’re having trouble with the horses at the back of the caravan. Would you mind checking?”
Eula looked first to Skye, then to Kato. She sketched out a shallow bow. The two brothers had been butting heads all week, and she was smart enough not to come between them.
Skye listened to her footsteps as she marched to the back of the caravan. When she was out of earshot, he said, low and cold, “I thought I told you to drop this. Taly is not a defector—she’s my scout.”
That bastard was still grinning. “I didn’t say anything about Taly.”
“You didn’t need to. You’ve been skulking around, asking questions, and spreading rumors.
Did you really think it wouldn’t get back to me?
People are already on edge without you going around stirring up trouble, Kato.
And yes, this —” Confronting him in the middle of the road when they both needed to be focused on keeping these people safe.
“This is what I call stirring up trouble.”
Kato gave a low chuckle, and Skye wondered briefly if he could get away with killing him. The island had been invaded by dead men. What was one more?
“Gossip is a funny thing,” Kato said. “Most of the time, it’s just pointless blather, told and retold, distorted by exaggeration, disinformation, and misrepresentation.
However, in my experience, there’s always a small kernel of truth, if you know how to find it.
You would know that if you tried a little harder at court.
Dealing with other nobles can be tedious, but you get very good at figuring out when someone’s hiding something. ”
Skye tried to look unaffected. “Do you have a point?”
“You sent Taly away.”
“That’s right.” The lie came easily—just one of many.
“So, if that’s the case, why were you asking about her at the gates?”
“What?” Skye stopped abruptly, and two Lowborn fey walking close behind nearly collided with him. They paled when both brothers turned their way, mumbling wary apologies as they shuffled past.
“The guards that were on duty that day,” Kato went on. “I played a few hands of cards with them earlier this week. They said you were asking about a blonde human female, early 20s, below average mortal height. I wonder who that could be?”
It wasn’t the first time Kato had pressed him about Taly, testing the hastily constructed web of lies he’d spun to keep the events around her departure a secret. Each time, Skye gave him the same story. And each time, Kato had no way to prove him wrong.
But that hadn’t stopped him from digging.
No matter.
Skye began to walk forward. “I had a moment of weakness.” Another lie. She had run, and he had tried to stop her, thinking he might be able to catch her before she got through the gates.
But she had already been gone, and the rains had washed away her scent. Even if he had been able to follow, if duty hadn’t leashed him to that compound, there had been no way to track her .
“Ever since we were kids,” Skye added softly, “I’ve done everything that I can to protect her.
” That part was true. She had always been younger, smaller, mortal .
The first time she scraped a knee, he’d thought she was dying, especially when she just kept bleeding .
At only ten years old, he’d never seen anything like it.
“Those old habits are hard to break. Even if, rationally, I knew that sending her away was the right decision.”
Kato’s nostrils flared, as though he could smell the deceit. Like he had said, the most convincing lies always contained a small bit of truth. “Understandable.”
No smile. No amusement. Skye could already see him changing tack, and he braced himself.
“It’s just,” Kato began, almost hesitant.
“Circumstances being what they are…” That there were dead men lurking in the shadows, and she was just a human among them.
The concern in his brother’s eyes almost looked genuine.
“It’s just a little heartless, I suppose.
You’ve been jabbering about this girl since you were ten, and I…
I guess I thought you cared more. That’s all. ”
Skye pushed down a growl. Oh, he cared .
He more than cared. He loved that idiot human more than anything in this world and the next, and every day since she’d been gone had been agony.
Sheer, unending torture as he wondered where she was, what she was doing, if she was injured, still alive or dead or… worse.
He wasn’t sure what he would do if he ever met a shade with her face. Even if she’d been turned into a monster, he wasn’t sure if he could kill her .
A chill breeze gusted through the trees, and a collective rumble of displeasure rose from the caravan.
Skye stared straight ahead. Continued to put one foot in front of the other. Kato’s words had found their target, but that didn’t mean he had to pick up the bait.
Kato’s voice followed him. “You think she’s still alive, don’t you?”
Ignore him, Skye thought as something inside him began to wail, growing louder and louder, drowning out the sounds of the caravan. Just ignore him.
“I suppose it’s possible,” Kato went on.
“Unlikely but… well, let’s do the math, shall we?
The trip to the relay and back should’ve taken what?
A day on horseback? Maybe two? It’s been five days now and not one peep.
Sure, she could’ve made her way to Ryme instead of coming back to Ebondrift, but with shades roaming the woods…
What chance would a mortal have if there was trouble?
Humans are weak. They bleed easy. They die easy. ”
Skye’s throat constricted, and he counted his breaths, his footsteps, anything to keep those words from sinking in. “If you have a point, then I suggest you make it.”
“I just want you to admit it.”
“Admit what?”
“That you lied,” Kato said simply and without malice. “That you didn’t send her away. That you’ve been covering for her because you know she’s hiding something, even though you have no idea what that something is.”
“You’re reaching. Making baseless assumptions. I’ve told you everything I know. ”
“And I still don’t believe you,” Kato countered easily.
“I want to. Don’t get me wrong. But c’mon, Skye—we both know she’s dead.
She was dead the moment she set foot outside the compound gates, and if you’re telling me the truth, if you really sent her for the relay—then you sent her to her death.
That little human you only ever wanted to protect—her blood is on your hands. ”
Skye took a steadying breath, willing the anger to ebb out of him. He wouldn’t give his brother the reaction he so desperately wanted. Not here. Not in front of all these people.
“Tell me the truth, little brother,” Kato drawled, still twisting that knife deeper and deeper. “Taly was very pretty, but don’t throw away your honor just because some Shardless bitch let you get your cock wet.”
His anger snapped, and Skye saw red.
His body was already moving, already closing the distance—
A hand clamped down on his shoulder, a bone-shattering force that held him firmly in place.
“ Stand down, ” Eula snarled at Kato, flashing her teeth when Skye yanked himself out of her grip.
“Why?” Kato hissed. His hand began to drift towards the dagger at his waist. “Because he’s my commander, my future Duke? The heir to my household, so I should just fall in line like a good boy even when I know he’s lying ?”
Letting her aether flare, Eula lunged, punching Kato square in the nose.
It was swift and brutal, and Kato staggered back.
“Yes,” she barked. “For all those reasons and more. You might be a son of Ghislain, but right now, you’re under my command.
And his.” A glance at Skye. “ And you will not endanger this mission or these people with petty squabbles.”
Kato held up his hands. “I was just expressing some concerns—”
“Concerns that have already been dismissed.” Eula fixed him with a stare, thunder in her expression.
Kato, wisely, backed down.
“The scouts just came back,” Eula said, still not taking her eyes off Kato. “We’ve cleared the road ahead, and there are more potholes. Get to work.”
Kato gave a huff, wiping at the trickle of blood seeping from his nose. For a moment, it looked like he was going to say something.
But then that smile slipped back into place, just barely concealing that hidden edge lurking underneath. He gave a merry salute before disappearing into the crowd.
Skye turned to Eula, arching a brow.
She shrugged. “What? Just because you shouldn’t go around punching people doesn’t mean I can’t. I’m your Lt-Commander, and he’s my Marshal. I call that discipline.”
Skye’s lips twitched, but he didn’t smile. Or laugh. Couldn’t bring himself to. “Did anyone—”
“No one heard. At most, this will look like a disagreement between brothers, and considering that the two of you already have a reputation for animosity…” She shrugged. “Kato at least had the good sense not to go around flinging accusations with shadow mages in earshot.”
Except for Eula. He’d probably assumed she already knew.
“You don’t need to explain anything,” Eula said, sensing his thoughts. “I don’t know why Kato won’t let this be, but I’ve known you and Taly your entire lives. Every level of hell would freeze over before either of you would betray your island, your people, and especially, each other.”
Skye’s chest tightened to the point of pain. The blind trust, the faith… He had no words.
Eula looked to the front of the caravan, where the last group of scouts were emerging from the forest. Their faces were lined, their clothes wet and ragged—but they signaled the all-clear. It was safe to proceed to the canyon.
“Why don’t you go out with the next wave of scouts?” she suggested. “Stretch your legs, clear your head a bit. It’ll be good for you.”
It was tempting. He was starting to feel antsy. Claustrophobic. “Are you sure?”
A nod. “I can handle things here. You should go.”
Skye didn’t need to be told twice. He began weaving his way through the crowd, stopping briefly to grab a scrying communicator off one of the returning scouts. He hit the forest, passed through the wards—
And then he was running.
The world became a blur of color, but he channeled his aether, willing his legs to move faster, faster, faster .
We both know she’s dead.
The words still echoed.
Her blood is on your hands.
Kato was a bastard, and he’d been poking for a reaction. But he’d also been right. Because Skye… he hadn’t been there when she needed him. Hadn’t listened when she’d tried to tell him something important. He’d pushed her aside, and now… now she was gone .
Into the enemy’s hands.
If she died, it really would be his fault.
Instinct guided him forward—cataloging sound and scent and sight. The caravan was safe, defended. But they needed to keep moving forward.
So, pushing even more aether into his legs, Skye savored the sting of the wind, the smell of the earth, as he flew through the forest, making his way to Crescent Canyon.