The heat of the desert reached the inn, the small room now stifling. Aesira brushed out her hair before pulling it back into a tight braid. Her armor was constricting but she was used to its weight.
“Do you need me to take that?” Nora asked, pointing to the letter Aesira had penned for Kamari.
“We can take it together.”
Nora shook her head. “Let me. After last night, I’ll admit I could use some time alone to think about my life choices.”
“Oh?” Aesiragrinned. “Do tell.”
Nora’s dimples deepened on either side of her freckled cheeks. “There’s a chance I never made it back to the tavern after going to change.”
Aesira shot her a look. “Now you definitely owe me the details.”
Nora scrunched her nose. “Might have stayed on the ship. Might have done something I shouldn’t have.”
Aesira’s laugh tumbled out of her. “Patch?” Nora buried her face behind her hands before smoothing her red hair out of her face.
“Like I said, I need fresh air and a long walk in silence to think about where my life is going.” Aesira signed her name on the parchment before sealing it with wax. She would give Kamari the details as vaguely as possible, just to be safe in case anyone intercepted the hawk. It would be enough to put her sister at ease, knowing she was safe, and knowing there was still hope Desmond could be out there.
“Then by all means,” Aesira said, passing the scroll to Nora, “your walk awaits.”
With Nora gone, Aesira clasped the last hook on her chest plate, examining herself in the small washroom mirror. The bronze glared at her in her reflection. She thought twice about peeling it off and throwing it out the window, but she was nothing if not loyal. So she brushed off a speck of dust and straightened her shoulders.
“Can I come in?”
Aesira peeked out of the washroom and as expected, Stone stood with his hands in his pockets, the map from earlier and a few books tucked under his arm.
“Come in.”
Stone set his pile of books and papers on the small counter, the same one he brewed the tea on last night. “You left breakfast early,” he said, turning to face her. “Thought you might want to know the plan.” He was right, which annoyed her.
“I needed to send a message to Vargah, remember?” She sat on the end of the bed, regretting the full armor she’d donned. “Better to send the hawks before it gets too late in the day.”
Stone nodded, which made his glasses slide down his nose a fracture, forcing him to push them back up with his index finger. Aesira would have chastised herself for noticing such a detail but decided it was her training that made her so observant.
“What’s the rest of the plan?”
“Right,” Stone said. “The plan was to leave today for the Whispering Mountains, there’s a small village there where we can dock the Aquila.”
“Wasthe plan?” Aesira’s brows pinched together.
Stone cleared his throat and picked up a box on the counter that was hidden under the books. “You asked last night about the man who Soo said we should see. I’ve arranged for a meeting but that’ll set us back.”
“It would be worth it, wouldn’t it? Shouldn’t we exercise every lead before we leave?” she asked. “What if Desmond didn’t leave the Outpost? What if someone saw him and he headed east?”
Stone nodded again. His glasses slid down. He pushed them back up. It was almost mechanical, his movements. She wondered if he realized the habit as he was doing it, or if it was so second nature he didn’t notice at all. She noticed, though. Even if she had no reason to.
“I do agree he’s worth talking to.” Stone handed her the small, plain box.
“What is–”
“He’s not an easy man to deal with,” Stone said. “But he’s agreed to see us both together.”
Aesira ran her fingers over the edges of the box. “I thought you said he doesn’t like outsiders.”
Stone shrugged. “He doesn’t, but he made an exception.”
“Why?”
