Io nodded. “It feels unreal that she can speak. That she actually talked to us. Like it was some waking dream I had that’s over now.”
What had stood out most to me was that Suri had spoken her aspect out loud. Which made me think she had always done magic by talking, just like the rest of us.
And that we must have been far enough away when she did it in the past that we hadn’t overheard.
“Do you think she’ll keep talking to us?” Io asked me.
“I don’t know.”
It wouldn’t have surprised me if Suri elected to stay silent. She had only spoken because she’d absolutely had to, so that she could stop us from making a deadly mistake.
Dolion had crossed the bridge and Rokh flew over to retrieve both safety ropes and bring them back to Xander.
Xander quickly tied them around his waist and turned back to look at me. “You’re next.”
“I know.”
When he stepped out onto the bridge, I walked away from the others. I had to watch and make sure that he was safe.
He crossed so slowly that it was driving me a bit mad. He wanted to test every plank, every rope. He was ignoring his own fear to make sure that the bridge was safe. It felt unnecessary to me, but it seemed to be what he needed for his own peace of mind.
I tried to convince myself that the windstorm had been meant specifically for me as the trial of air and that it wouldn’t return. And that it certainly wouldn’t happen while my husband was crossing slower than a turtle.
It didn’t help his progress that he kept looking back over his shoulder at me, as if to make sure that I was still there.
Stephanos joined me. “It’s not like you to be so quiet.”
“Watching him is stressful. He’s scared of heights.”
“I know,” he said with a nod. “I thought that maybe you were trying to lure him back to your side with your beauty.”
“What?” I asked with a laugh. “What do you mean?”
“That you were standing here stoically and quietly because of that old Sasanian adage about how to catch a man’s attention. ‘Women are only beautiful when they’re silent.’”
My heart pounded so loudly that for a moment I couldn’t hear, couldn’t speak. “Where did you hear that?”
“It’s something Dolion’s always saying.”
What?
I had only ever heard that once before.
No, no, no . . .
“Xander!” I screamed.
He stopped and turned toward me.
“Come back!”
Dolion rushed over with his broadsword and cut the rope closest to him, and that side of the wooden bridge sagged.
Xander’s gaze never left mine, even though his brother was betraying him. Dolion ran over to the other rope and lifted his sword.
“Lia.”
Panic surged inside me as I looked at my husband’s calm face, and he smiled softly.
