Page 17 of The Arrow and the Alder

A lder had officially lost his mind. There was no other explanation for it. What else could’ve possibly persuaded him to offer his home as a sanctuary to Josephine? Lunacy, that was what. He was supposed to be staying away from her—far, far away from her—not bringing her straight to his home , and for an indefinite period.

But Fates have mercy, when he had gazed upon her, with all that color and strength and determination…

Alder dragged a hand over his face and looked to the tower. The shadows were just beginning to soften with day; she’d awaken soon. If he’d delayed another second, she wouldn’t have been waking at all. That thought was far more unsettling than it should be, and if Rys had any idea…

He’d laugh. Alder could practically hear Rys laughing now. He glared at the sky he could never see, as if Rys were up there now, gloating down at him.

He set his attention back on the ivory bow in his hand. He’d found it in an old cellar, alongside a matching quiver full of arrows, and he’d immediately snatched it up with the intent of giving it to Josephine.

And now he was giving her gifts.

Good Father of kith.

It was strictly for her protection—a matter of practicality. He’d seen her shoot his bow. Her arrow had been as sharp and unswerving as her convictions. How she’d managed to pull the string was another quandary entirely—one he doubted even she could answer—but it was clear that Josephine was as adept at archery as Rys had been.

Maybe even better.

Hopefully her burn wouldn’t be a hindrance. Alder had done everything he could, but he wasn’t extensively versed in the language of healing. A master would’ve been able to pull the enchantment from her skin before it set. The best he’d been able to do was to use his salve to stop it from spreading, and infuse it with as much of his own eloit as he could to quench the fire. It seemed to have worked, but he’d know for certain when she woke.

He’d known many a man who’d lost consciousness from the pain of such a burn, but she’d tried passing it off as if it were nothing more than a scratch.

Stubborn, reckless, beautiful ?—

“There you are.”

Josephine stood just inside the threshold of the tower’s front door with her arms folded loosely over her chest. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were burning right into him.

“Good morning to you too,” Alder drawled as he turned his attention back to the ivory bow, back to the symbols he was carving into it.

Somewhere safe.

“Sorry…” she said, after a moment. “I just…I thought you’d left.”

He should have. “I gave you my word.”

“You did. But where I come from, men give many words they never mean, so I am not in the habit of believing them.”

“Well, we kith are bound by ours, so I am not in the habit of giving words I do not mean.”

Josephine had no answer to this, and when he glanced up, she still hadn’t moved from the doorway. She studied him with those clear blue eyes that turned him inside out.

“How is your hand?” he asked.

She glanced down and trailed her fingertips over the burn. Alder couldn’t sense any residual power from the kithflame—at least, not from here. He only sensed his own eloit knitted into her flesh. “Much better,” she admitted, and her lips puckered. “The fire is gone, but there is this strange sensation, like a numbness?—”

“That will be permanent, I’m afraid.”

She looked at him with a silent question.

“I was able to extinguish the fire,” he continued, “but if you’d had a proper healer, the evidence would be gone entirely. Hopefully, you’ll still be able to use a weapon.” Alder jumped down from the boulder he’d been sitting upon. “Because this is for you.”

He approached her and held out the bow.

Josephine stared at it, unmoving.

“I found it in the cellar,” he continued in her silence, gesturing toward the hatch he’d discovered last night while…searching the grounds. “I thought you could use it, since you don’t have a weapon of your own. It needs fine-tuning, but I’ve done what I can. I’ve also added some enchantments to shield you from being sensed so easily by depraved, though it needs the work of a proper weapons’ master to be utilized to its full potential. Still, it should help.”

He held the weapon toward her, but she didn’t take it. He couldn’t read her expression, though the flush in her cheeks deepened.

“And…what is your bargain this time, kith?” she asked, finally lifting her gaze to his.

“There is no bargain for this. It is a gift.”

“Nothing is free,” she replied, tucking her injured hand out of sight.

So that was it. She worried he was accumulating favors. “All right, you prickly little arrow,” he said after a moment. “I will give you this bow, and in return, you will not shoot me with it.”

Her eyes flashed. “I am not sure that I agree to your terms, kith.”

He laughed and said, “Here.” He leaned the bow against the tower and set the quiver full of white arrows beside it. “It’s yours if you want it. I should add that we’ll probably intercept depraved along our way, but if you are determined to leave your safety entirely up to my skills as an archer, that is between you and the Fates.”

At this pronouncement, her eyes lit with challenge, and she snatched the weapon.

She admired the pearlescent bow, trailing her fingers over the curves and enchantments with wonder. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Alder hadn’t either, and he felt a strange and unexpected pressure behind his rib cage.

She pinched the string between her injured fingers and pulled back, her only sign of discomfort a slight tick in her jaw. Emotion filled her eyes, pouring out of her very self , and Alder stood momentarily transfixed.

He’d never known this—such pure and unadulterated joy. He wanted to catch it, bottle it up, and sit in its radiant glory for all eternity.

And then she aimed that joy at him. “Thank you.”

Alder turned abruptly away, hooked his bow and quiver across his shoulders, and picked up his pack. Lifting the flap, he dug through and tossed a hunk of bread at her. She barely caught it in time.

“We need to get moving if we’re to arrive before nightfall,” he said. “Stay close, and let me know if you spot any depraved.”