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The words aren’t out of his mouth before she interrupts him. “ Not ‘perhaps Kyla’, BloodLetter. Kyla has more than enough to do without you continuously adding to her plate.”

“Ky—”

“ No ,” she snaps. They stare at each other, twin expressions of stubbornness and exasperation lining their mirrored faces.

“Ah…There is a Rider who sold me a horse…I don’t recall his name, but Kylabet may know it? He does not seem to entirely object to my presence here. Maybe he would be willing, with your encouragement?” I am studiously blank.

Axton breaks away from the silent war with his sister, glancing at me. “Kylabet? You know the Rider?”

The pause before her words is so heavy entire songs could be written in the space; when she finally speaks, her voice is an echo of my own from moments before — carefully considering, but empty, as though the answer were not at her fingertips.

“Which horse did you buy, SoulBinder? I only know a few that would be willing to part with their mounts. The bay? Or was it the dappled one? Or the small mare?”

“A brown one. A gelding, I believe he called it. With a soft nose, and a white star on its head, and one white sock.” My voice softens unintentionally when describing my horse, but I can’t help it. “Oh. And a little patch of white on’—”

“We don’t need its birthday, Demon.” Axton sounds impatient, but his lips are pressed together again in that same thin line, forcing them not to curl up. “That sounds like Teo’s? His supply mount. He sold him to you ?” Axton has trouble masking the surprise, and oddly, worry, in his response.

“Teo! Yes! That’s the Rider. Would he be an acceptable tutor?”

“Why Teo?” Axton asks, leaning forward on the table, arms now flexed, fully focused on my answer. I can tell whatever I say will have second and third order effects I don’t see at the moment, so I’m very careful with my reply.

“He called me Keeper instead of Binder or Demon,” I say softly. “That is all.”

“That is all?” Axton echoes my words, listening for something in the answer beyond what I am giving him.

“It was just nice for a moment not to be hated for something I cannot help, BloodLetter.”

The tension leaves his body in a single, sudden motion, like a bird taking flight. “And why again do you want extra rations for a Fifth Tier?” he asks abruptly, as though he is trying to startle the truth from me.

“It would make me feel awkward and uncomfortable to eat in front of someone that had less. It would make my meal…less enjoyable.”

Nodding, his lips twist in an ugly smile.

“It makes sense now, Demon. It is selfishness. You are uncomfortable with rain, so you want a baby blanket in the form of a human being. You don’t want your enjoyment of a meal ruined, so you are willing to buy extra.

You don’t want to experience the truth of your station, so you ask for someone who will not give it to you.

Fine.” Waving his hand carelessly, he turns back to his maps.

“Granted. Leave now before I change my mind. You’re worse than I thought, SoulBinder. I don’t care to be in your presence.”

From behind me, Kylabet grabs my arm, pulling me along before I can say anything, even a thank you.

Rushing me along, she glances right and left constantly, checking on the movements in the camp, the people scattered throughout, clearly making mental notes even as we finally reach the rough canvas flaps of my temporary home.

She doesn’t speak until I move away from her, until I am halfway inside, the door already falling shut behind me.

“You play a dangerous game, SoulBinder,” she says.

My back is to her, hand frozen on the entryway, not letting the flap close completely.

“A very dangerous game. You are lucky that he is blind in certain areas. A warning that I am not as blind. Not by half. But in this specific instance…well. Ellie will be told to report to your lodging, and Teo will be commanded to give you an hour a night of…tutoring. Ellie will remain as chaperone during these sessions, so do not think to ask her to do any chores during that time. Should anyone ask, that is a guidance from my lips directly.” There is a long pause, and then she laughs, an unexpected low gurgle of sound, like water over rocks in a stream.

“You are…surprising, Keeper,” she says finally, her use of my name catching my breath in my throat.

“But we are, in general, not a people who appreciate surprises. Be a bit more careful, hmmm?”

I don’t have a response, but she isn’t waiting for one anyway, and has walked away before the tent flap closes.

Wren… Lorcan’s voice is an amused groan. Are you never cautious?

“I am always cautious!” I reply, indignant, and his answering laughter is the music of a sunrise along my skin.

You are anything but.

I shrug weakly, and he laughs again, almost helplessly, before the sound trails off.

A warning, though, in a day full of warnings, Little Keeper.

“What now?” I ask, exhaustion settling on me like a shroud.

He did not take a stone as payment.

Opening my tightly clenched fist, I realize Lorcan is right, that Axton never took one of the tiny jewels for the extra rations .

I do not think him as blind as his sister does. Just…be careful.

“I am careful, Protector.”

I can feel the raise of his eyebrow, the expression of disbelief from him. Be more careful then, Little Keeper. I have serious concerns for you if this is you trying to be cautious , his tone causing something in me to snap.

“Yes, Lorcan. Whatever you say, Lorcan. You’re the boss, Lorcan,” I mutter sarcastically, rolling my eyes, then freeze statue-still as his answering growl curls along my skin, rough like a lover’s calloused hands, raising the hairs on my arms.

You would do well to remember it, Little Keeper. Now rest for a bit.

Swallowing heavily, I sink back onto my bedroll, oddly aware of the drape of his bone necklace down my back.

Eyes shut, Wren, he commands.

“Yes, Lorcan,” I whisper, this time softly and obediently.

And if the path of his fingers on my spine feels like fire at my answer, well. We’re both wise enough to ignore it.