Page 56 of To Touch A Silent Fury

“And now I ask you again, because I think I know why,” I said. Her blue eyes flashed as she met my gaze. “I said I had seen dragonfire before, and you knew it was Skirmtold. News of that fire barely made it past the shores of Eavenfold, let alone Gossamir. You never questioned my colouring, my womanhood. You’ve corrected my cacof habits like you lived with them for years.”

“You make a lot of sound to say nothing, cacof,” she spat, but her gestures lacked enthusiasm.

I stared her down. “You were at Eavenfold. You were one of the women, weren’t you?”

My theory fell into the air. It was strange speaking of Eavenfold. I thought of it all the time, and yet, had not spoken the word in years. Did it even have a sign? What use would the Euphons have for such a sign anyway?

Yvon was silent for a time.

This, I was used to. I could sit in this for minutes now, hours even. I let her decide her next sounds, as I swallowed the second piece of jerky. My stomach rumbled, but there was not enough for me to eat more tonight. Tomorrow, I’d fish in the melting river to the east.

The woman eventually grimaced, and the soft lines on her face deepened. “I was there when the fire fell.”

I blinked, surprised to hear her admitit. “You—You were there.”

Yvon made a tedious gesture to indicate she’d just said as much.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Yvon sighed, just barely. “I don’t like to think of it. It was nearly three spans ago. I remember you. You had them all terrified.”

A sad smile drifted to my mouth. Yes, I did. “I’m sure they are relieved now to think me dead,” I mused. “Why were you there?”

“I was sent by my people,” she said, without inflection.

“Why would the Euphons want you on Eavenfold?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“I could not stay, and they wanted information.”

“Information?” I signed back. “On what?”

Yvon only narrowed her eyes at me. Wrong question, then. Or at least, one she was not disposed to answer. I was still a cacof, no matter how many years she had helped me in this place.

I asked the other question, thinking it would be easier. “Why couldn’t you stay?”

Her face only tightened further, and I saw the pain ripple across her expression.

“Yvon?”

Once again, she was silent. I thought she would leave then, as she had in the past. When I tried to speak to her, tried to know her, she left. If I pushed her too hard, as I am sure I had today, then I might not see her for weeks and weeks. My heart hurt at the thought, and yet, I couldn’t hold it in. I had to know things here; I was so starved of contact, of newness and curiosity, that I pressed Yvon to her very limits every time.

And now, I had a new bubble of excitement. Vellintris.

I thought back to that moment on Eavenfold, when I’d heard Langnathin speaking to Thread Groulin. There was not a day that passed where their words didn’t swirl in my head.

At the time, all I’d focused on was their discussion of my powers, and what they might mean. But after that horrid day on the Isle, I remembered the rest.

The prince had asked after a weapon, and the Thread had confirmed the weapon would appear in a span. The Thread had called it ancient magic and told the prince he would have to lay claim to grounds in the Soundlands.

The memory had been enough to choose my next destination, then. If there was some ancient weapon, I needed to claim it before the Dragon Prince and try to use it to extort our engagement. His father respected strength above all else. He would respect my strength in its claim.

It wasn’t until I arrived here and learnt the ways of the Euphons and the history of the lands, that I realised my mistake. This was no fabled sword to be uncovered in Gossamir. No, the ancient magic coming, thisweaponas he called it, was an egg.

Yvon didn’t stand to leave as I anticipated. Instead, she shook her head. “You asked me a question. But I will askyouone. Why did you come here? Why choose this hard, cold life?”

The truth was too far-fetched to even say. I was sure to speak it would only make it seem all the more ridiculous. I am here to claim the egg before Prince Langnathin. I intend to bond with its spawn and use that to force the prince to marry me.

She had been vague, and I would be as well. “There is something I must do.”