Page 90 of Quicksilver

“Saints.” He pounded on his chest, wheezing. “What the fuck?”

“Oh, yes. She has no sense of timekeeping,andshe has unconventional seating preferences, don't you, Human?”

“I can sit there instead?” Carrion offered.

“Absolutely not,” Kingfisher barked. “Try it and die.”

“Whoa. Okay. I was just trying to keep the peace. If you guys need a buffer—”

“We don't,” Fisher fired back at him. “And even if we did, I'd ask someone far more likable than you. No!” He held up a finger, stabbing it at Carrion. “Donottell me how likable you are back in Zilvaren. I don't want to hear it.”

Carrion gave him a sickly smile as he sat down in the next chair along.

“Here. Come and sit on this side,” Ren said to me, collecting his glass and shoving his chair back. “I don't mind moving.”

“What's the difference between this side and that side?” I asked. “Either way, I still have to look at his smug face.”

“She's right,” Fisher said. “She's made her decision. Let her sit wherever she wants to sit.”

Ren gave him an odd look. “Really?”

“Really.”

I didn't know the general all that well, but I knew him enough to tell that he was confounded by Fisher's declaration. He sat back in his chair, his eyes roving over his friend's features as I grabbed the bottle of wine in front of Fisher and poured myself a large glass. I would have put the bottle straight down again, but Carrion grabbed it from me before I had a chance. Fisher watched Carrion lean across me, his nostrils flaring.

“You've been training with the guards,” he said.

Carrion nodded. “The way the Fae fight is amazing. So fluid and preemptive. It's like watching ballet.”

“People don't get hacked to pieces at the ballet in Yvelia,” Fisher said dryly.

“Really? Wouldn't surprise me if they did. You lot are almost as bloodthirsty as the brawlers who fight in the pits for water rations back in the Third.”

“We've evolved. We wouldn't fight for something as petty as a water ration.”

Carrion huffed out a breath of laughter. “You would if you were dying of thirst. Trust me. I've seen it.”

I heard the unspoken words.I've been there.He didn't say them. He didn't have to. There had been times when he had struggled to survive back in the Silver City. I knew that because everybody struggled. It was unavoidable. A time came for every resident of our ward, where they were faced with an impossible situation and they had to decide. You either fought for water, or you stole it. Carrion had likely done both more times than he could count.

Fisher looked from Carrion to me, as if he were wondering ifIhad ever found myself at the bottom of a pit with a dagger in my hand, fighting for a cup of water.

I wondered how he would react if he knew that I had.

Ren cleared his throat diplomatically, redirecting the conversation. “You're welcome to come and train with the garrison now that they're back. Tomorrow morning, we'll be running drills.”

He'd spoken to Carrion, but I answered him first. “What time? I'd love to train.”

“I'm surprised,” Fisher said, taking a sip of the whiskey he had in front of him. “I thought you were in a rush to get home.”

“I am. You know I am.”

He didn't look at me. “But you'd rather waste time out in the snow with a sword in your hand instead of working on the task that will set you free?”

Archer and his team of fire sprites had entered the dining room. They shuffled up and down the table, setting down trays of hot, steaming food, averting their eyes from us. All of them except Archer, who stared at me, eyes huge in his head, as he placed a soup spoon beside the bowl he put in front of me. I smiled at him, and he squeaked, his eyes darting to the floor. His rough-surfaced face was incapable of blushing, but I got the feeling that he was embarrassed to have been caught looking at me.

“I'm getting nowhere with the relics,” I said to Fisher. “The way you're having me work right now is pointless. I could run these trials until the end of time. I still won't figure out the transmutation process. And I have to say, you don't seem to give a shit. It's almost as if you don't really care if I have to stay here forever.”

Archer let out a nervous giggle, hiccupped, and then scurried off toward the door.