Whisper growled, and I raised my head to see Seraphim’s black mare approaching. Eleos slid off its back, a flurry of words tumbling from his mouth.
“I’m sorry! Seraphim and I remembered you’re injured, and aren’t fit to ride, and—” He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “With everything that’s happened, I’ve been distracted.”
I almost didn’t recognize his voice. No matter the danger we’d faced, Eleos’ voice had always been even and calm. Though hintsof worry or anger had crept into his tone, never had it overtaken his unflappable attitude.
For the first time since we’d met, he finally sounded shaken. Worried.
“It’s alright,” I said, laughing. “I forgot, too. And I’m the one with the wounds.”
Eleos dropped beside me, sitting with the heaviness of someone utterly overwhelmed. “A chthonic psyche. Callesis must hate us.”
“He blessed Percy.”
“Did he?” Eleos spat. “Callesis gifted him magic, but little else.” He paused. “If the other gods give their blessings, why not the Maiden Brizo? Maybe we just don’t understand her magic, I thought. Maybe there’s still hope.”
Turning my hands over, I studied the lines of my palms. I’d spent so long living in a hovel, surviving on scraps, the mere thought I could be capable of anything more struck me as ridiculous.
“Everyone wants to believe she’ll come.” Eleos continued, staring forward into the night. “But nothing in this world happened without people. Everything we have blossomed fromus. Parents toil for children who’ll long outlive them, and architects work on grand edifices they’ll not live to see completed. Why should salvation be any different?”
Frowning, I recalled how harshly he’d denied belief in the Maiden. Those who spurned the gods often drew their spite from tragedies the gods should never have allowed to pass.
Flexing my hands, I recalled the moment I’d halted the abyss, and the churning emotions in my chest. “Do you think there are others who wield the Maiden’s blessing?”
“. . .I don’t know. I hope so.”
“I don’t know how to control it.”
“No mage does, at first.” He smiled. “We have plenty of time to learn.”
Twisting to face him, I scanned his features, the dark lashes and soft brown waves. “How long were you stalking me? Was itreallyonly two weeks?”
“I was not stalking you, Lady Aethra. Frankly, it’s a miracle I ever found you.”
“Hm. Alright.” I chuckled. “I wonder what would have happened had you knocked.”
“So do I.”
Closing my eyes, I collapsed against his side, burying myself in my cloak. Eleos fell silent. A calm breeze stirred the hills, tugging my curls away from my shoulders.
Forgotten magic, the end of the world . . . topics too grand for a simple con woman.
“Do you have a hobby?” I blurted out.
“What?”
“A hobby. Something you do when you find yourself with unexpected free time.”
Taken aback by the sudden question, Eleos stared at me like I’d hit my head before answering. “I read.”
“You read?” I arched an eyebrow. “That’s it?”
“Yes. What did you want me to say? That I carouse at the local taverns?”
“I would beverysurprised to hear that.”
He laughed. “There’s so much more in this world than any man could hope to learn in a lifetime. I never tire of it.”
“Okay.” I closed my eyes. “What did you read about last?”
