Move.
That was the key.
She needed to keep her body moving. Keep her mind going, otherwise–
A tall figure eclipsed the sun. “Can I sit with you?” Stone crouched next to Aesira and pulled out a piece of dried fruit. “Here,” he said. “In case you’re still–”
“I’m not hungry,” she lied.
Stone kept the fruit hung between them and her face burned where his eyes met her skin. “Aesira,” he said softly. She whipped her face toward him. “It wasn’t your fault, what happened.” He tucked the fruit back into his bag. “We couldn’t have known the Strix was that far in the mountains.”
“You said the Strix left.” Her throat burned. “You said it was likely full and off to find a mate.”
Stone pushed his glasses up and it was such a small, insignificant movement, something she’d seen him do over and over again, but it enraged her. A movement so normal and routine as if they didn’t almost die hours ago. As if that boy didn’t die hours ago.
It wasn’t Eldrin.
She wanted to rip them off his face and toss them in the dirt.
“I did say that because I thought it was true,” Stone said. “I was wrong.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. But it wasn’t your fault. That boy was dead long before the Strix found us.” He pulled out one of the Ravki maps, unrolling it between them. “We need to keep moving.” He pointed to a spot on the map, a tiny insignificant set of hills that could also be easily an ink blot from one of Desmond’s quills. “We’re here,” he said, “but we need to at least crest this ridge by nightfall.”
Aesira took her time studying the map. The locations were in a language she couldn’t read. All but the one word she’d come to know well over the last two weeks.
Ravki.
The ridge Stone pointed to looked roughly a half mile past a perfectly flat base.
“What difference does it make if we crest the ridge tonight?” She handed back the map. “We should save the incline for when we’re fresh in the morning. Sleep somewhere flat and protected by the base of the ridge.”
He shook his head. “Tonight,” he said. She was too tired to argue.
“Fine.” She pointed to the map in his hand. “Is this something you learned in one of your books? To read maps and this–language–whatever it is?”
Stone rolled the map and placed it back in his pack. “Yes,” he said. “Though it’s easier to learn than it looks.” He stood and offered his hand, which Aesira took.
Lightning buzzed in her fingertips and for a brief moment, she forgot her promise to herself. That she was here to find Desmond and that was it. For a moment, she was back at the tavern or on theship or in the rain but when Stone squeezed her hand, everything came crashing back.
“Commander…” She pulled her hand away and brushed it off on her pants.
“Easier than it looks?” She drew the conversation back to safety. Not of Stone or her and how often they found themselves entwined.
The map. The mission. Desmond.
Stone cleared his throat. “Our language is a direct derivative of Ravkian, it seems. Or vice-versa, I’m not sure which language came first. The patterns are all there and once you recognize one, it’s easy to decipher the rest.”
Aesira didn’t believe that anything about learning a dead language was easy, but for Stone it might be. She envied his mind. She had the ability to make calculations on the fly. To anticipate her enemy’s move. To avoid a strike. But it was never a skill that came easy to her. She had to make a conscious effort in training and even now, years after her schooling was complete, it was active resolve, not instinct.
Every so often she felt herself slipping, making decisions with her heart instead of her head. Like last night.
It was precisely what her father would scorn her for when she was younger. The same reckless behavior that got her thrown into the Order in the first place. That got Eldrin killed. But Stone, he was smart. Brilliant maybe, and she could see the gears in his mind turning when he spoke. Could see how easily he made a decision. How self assured he was.
Her life would be so much easier if she could turn her conscience off. Turn her heart off. It was exactly what the Order wanted from its knights. Cold, calculated. But she failed, even to do that.
The sun faded and the sky turned a cool shade of violet as they reached the ridge. The steep incline of the trek only progressed throughout the day and despite the years of sweat and endurance, Aesira’s legs were burning when they stopped to make camp.
Other than a run in with a few too large scorpions, the day had mostly been uneventful and Aesira counted that as a blessing. Perhaps Celestria was watching after all. “You need a hand with that?” Birdie asked between mouthfuls of canned soup.
Aesira shook out her bed-roll. “No, I’ve got it.”
