‘Is that …’
‘You requested them, didn’t you?’
‘I didn’t thinkyou’d actually deliver them,’ Ezer said.
She paused to yawn, unable to hold it back.
Arawn chuckled. ‘Tired, Minder?’
‘As you would be, if you’d spent time with Six,’ she said, and tucked her hair behind her ear. Gods, she still reeked like a raphon.
She’d taken a shower in the dormitory, of course. But she supposed she’d have to scrub her skin with a whetstone to get the raphon grit off.
‘Calling her by name now?’ Arawn asked and raised a pale white brow. ‘I believe that sounds like progress.’
‘Shouldn’t you be at war?’ Ezer asked. ‘With all the other Knights?’
She stood and swiped her hands across her cloak to settle the wrinkles.
‘No,’ Arawn said, his eyes downcast as they walked. ‘I am on …’ A twitch of his jaw. ‘Temporary reassignment from the skies.’
‘Liar,’ Ezer said.
He looked shocked. ‘I do not lie, Minder. It is one of the first laws of the Five.’
Penance,Ezer thought. To break it would be to earn penance.
‘If I’d a war eagle at my disposal, I don’t think I’d be willing to leave their side. So why aren’t you with yours?’
He did not answer as they came to the next level, and he led her towards another set of exit doors. ‘If you won’t talk about that, at least tell me where we’re going?’
‘We are going to train,’ Arawn said. ‘Becauseyouare weak, and a growing raphon is not.’
Her heart sank. Physical training sounded like a death sentence. ‘Kinlear put you up to this, didn’t he?’
They came out into the torchlit hallway. ‘So many questions, Minder.’
They passed several Sacred in full armor, marching out for another night of war. Many were young, between twenties or thirties, but some of the Sacred had telltale whispers of ageing too soon. They passed one who had paused, taking a knee to catch hisbreath, his sword like a cane to support him. He had dark circles beneath his eyes, deep wrinkles that looked out of place on his young body. His red hair was flecked with white and grey, though he couldn’t have been more than twenty-five.
‘Gods be with you, Brogen,’ Arawn said, and helped the Knight stand. ‘To the end of your days.’
‘And to the Ehver after,’ the Knight said. He took a breath and rejoined the current headed for war.
‘Why aren’t you going with them?’ Ezer asked as he led her along.
‘More questions,’ Arawn called over a shoulder.
‘And so few answers,’ she said. ‘It’s called conversing. In person, face to face, instead of with a stone.’
He still said nothing.
So she reached into her pocket and gripped the stone until it warmed.
Is this better?
He sucked in a breath beside her, like he was surprised at her voice sidling up against his mind.
The stone is supposed to be for emergency purposes only, Minder.
