“It did no such thing.”
“Liar.” But there was no heat in the word this time. Only a softness that felt safe. “Get some sleep... my little thief.”
I jerked away from his grasp, heat rising up my neck. His chuckle followed me out of the shadows.
We leftthe Yargoth camp under a blanket of fog.
Children ran alongside our horses, waving and shouting goodbye until we reached the edge of the woods. Then the trees swallowed everything behind us and what lay ahead.
Jek led the way once more, and Sigrid took up the rear. But everyone’s gaze roamed the forest, looking for any threats that might’ve trespassed across the border.
I peered into every shadow, looking for Korvin’s greasy black hair and evil eyes.
When the trail became wide enough for two horses, I eased Ozlow up next to Maz and his golden horse.
He smiled at me, but there were telltale shadows under his blue eyes.
“Did you know?” I asked quietly. “About Korvin?”
Maz shook his head. “Aiden told me later that he wanted to spare me and my sisters the added worry, but Nikella insisted. I told him we didn’t need protecting.”
I stared at the back of Aiden’s head as he rode behind Jek. Of course, he’d wanted to protect Maz. But more and more I’d found that secrets were a sort of slow death. Of trust. Of honesty. Of relationships.
What had Delysia said to me when I visited her the night of Asher’s death?
Keeping me in the dark doesn’t keep me safe.
I frowned.Oh, Lys, how much better I understand that now.
“You look sad, lovely,” Maz said, watching me carefully. “If you’re worried about me, I’m fine. This plan was always going to be dangerous. I expected to encounter Korvin in the mine when I told Aiden I wanted to go with him.”
“You volunteered? Why?”
Maz ducked his head under a low-hanging branch. “We’d both been there, and I didn’t want him to be alone. Or with someone who didn’t understand. He refused at first, but I won him over.” He winked at me, and I saw a flash of the old Maz beneath the tired, worried one.
Korvin’s torture and Davka’s death had dulled his usual shine. Perhaps a victory would restore him. Or perhaps those shadows would cling to him forever.
I knew a thing or two about shadows of the mind.
I rubbed Ozlow’s warm neck for comfort before I spoke again. “Aiden told me of the night my mother died.”
Maz’s eyebrows rose. “Did he now? Is that what I walked in on the night Ruru arrived?”
“Yes,” I said, my throat thick.
“Good. I’ve wanted him to do that since we were onboardMynastra’s Wings.”
I shifted uncomfortably in my saddle. “I was still so angry, so hurt... I don’t think I would’ve listened then.”
Maz grunted.
“I didn’t answer you on the ship, but I want you to know I don’t blame you for not being there that night. They would’ve killed you, like they did that poor boy.”
“Perhaps.” Maz dipped his head. “But I appreciate the sentiment.”
I studied him closely. He didn’t seem to carry guilt the way Aiden and I did. I doubted it was because he didn’t mourn the deaths of my mother and the boy. Maz just seemed to understand his heart better than most.
He met my stare with a lifted eyebrow. “Speak your mind, lovely.”
