“Now, that’s the life.”
Reeve glanced down to his pommel, then looked out at the room once more until he discovered a sword hung up over the mantle. “What, being mounted?”
Sid chuckled. “Well, I guess you wouldn’t know, bud, but I guess neither would I. It does seem nice, though, ya know? I think it’s every sword’s dream to fulfill its purpose. Not that regular swords dream. Abyss, even I don’t.”
Reeve crossed the room to where the longsword was fixed to the wall. “I thought your purpose was stabbing? And, I guess, convincing.”
“It is now, but it won’t be forever. Eventually, if we're lucky, you’ll hang me up over a hearth in a cottage where it’s always warm, and if there’s ever any trouble, I’ll be right there, but you won’t have to carry me around all the time because we’ll both be safe. Relatively.”
“I didn’t know that’s what you wanted.”
“Well, I guess I didn’t either, but since being cleansed I think I’m starting to take on more and more of my wielder’s ambitions rather than trying to stab my own into them.”
Reeve was sure he misunderstood. “But I’m not…I’m meant to serve Valcord, not hang my sword up over a mantle. Aren’t I?”
“Are you?”
Reeve wandered deeper into the room, passing other weapons affixed to the wall, a bow, a shield, a slingshot, and then came upon a pedestal, atop it, broken pieces of metal under a glass dome.
“That’s run through with a vein of obsidian steel, isn’t it?” Celeste appeared at his elbow like a shadow, and he jumped, but at least she was alone.
“Where’s Fitz?”
“Getting us wine. You don’t have to drink it, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Her hand reached out for the covering over the broken blade but then stopped. “Do you think he knows what he has here?”
Reeve’s brow furrowed, only the worst thoughts coming to the surface of his mind before he doused them. He too had a weapon forged in Abyssal fires and made up of malevolent ore. “It’s broken,” he said, “and kept here like a trophy. He’s not using it, look.” There was a layer of dust over the glass.
He was proud of himself for being able to push down his worst thoughts, even when the man returned and urged a goblet of something deeply red and nose-hair singeing into his hand.
The day dragged on into early evening, Fitz escorting them all over the massive manor, but he kept nothing from them, answering all of Celeste’s questions and Reeve’s as well. He was practically Valcordian in his honesty, and Reeve knew he had to respect that, even if he was still vexed by the looks he gave Celeste and the way he could coax laughter out of her.
But by day’s end, she was leaving the village proper at Reeve’s side, not remaining in Fitzroy Manor for the night, and that felt as though it mattered much moreexceptthat it suddenly occurred to Reeve the way in which it mattered was still a mystery to him. They walked slowly up North Road, but they were indeed headed for the temple, and, gods, he had no idea what he was meant to do when they got there. And surely he was meant to dosomething, especially after kissing her.
“I think we should stop at Ima’riel’s.”
Reeve’s eyes went wide, nodding with all the enthusiasm of Plum being offered squishy, overripe fruit. The idea was brilliant—there were probably plenty of people in town who could help him with this problem, but the best one was definitely—“Wait, why?”
“If there’s one more sieve like Geezer thinks, and it’s an earth sieve because that’s the only other kind, it’s probably there.”
“Oh, right.” Well, that hadn’t been what Reeve was thinking at all.
“But…” She twisted her fingers around one another as she chewed her lip. “We don’t want to ruin her garden if the sieve isn’t actually there, and Kori might get upset if we tell her we’ve been hunting something and haven’t invited her along. Also, I still don’t really want to tell anyone else about the whole thing.”
Reeve found himself in the most difficult of moral quandaries. He didnotwant to lie, especially not to Celeste, and yet the truth behind what he was about to say was blatantly unacceptable.
And then Valcord smiled upon him by inspiring an idea, which was odd considering the god was aiding and abetting bad behavior, but Reeve tried to not think too hard on it.
“If you speak with Ima’riel alone, you can probably word things in a…smartway. I’d say too much, so I’ll make myself scarce.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Celeste touched his arm, and the skin tingled where her fingertips grazed him.
“It’s what Valcord wants,” he blurted out as he pulled his arm away. It was perhaps not a lie, but he had never really used Valcord as an excuse before, and his stomach squirmed.
Celeste frowned and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “Well, I guess we shouldn’t deny the gods what they request.”
Ima’riel was boiling a smoky smelling tea when they arrived at the cottage, the air heavy with its drowsy scent. She was pleased to see them, and Reeve politely greeted her before slipping away. As he had hoped, he found Kori in the second greenhouse, far from the cottage where Celeste had been left, though was a little surprised at how she was digging about in the dirt. And with a dagger, of all things.
“I’ve almost got the potdemiel—oh, no, what areyoudoing here?”
