He raised a brow.
“They adore you, Kinlear,” she said. “Because you are different. Because you are a sort of mystery no one can quite unravel. And I think people are drawn to that. We’re fascinated, by things we cannot understand. It’s why you and I share a love for Six.”
We could share so much more than that,Kinlear wanted to tell her.
But he held it back. He saved it for later. And in the shadows of his mind, he begged the gods that it would cometrue.
“I am honored, Ezer. So honored by your yes,” he said instead. “It was the greatest gift you could ever have given your kingdom. And by proxy...the greatest gift I haveeverreceived.”
She smiled.
A true one, the kind that tugged at her scars. She hated them, but they were another little gift in and of themselves, for they reminded him she had been through hell and back...andstill,she could find joy.
So perhaps he could, too.
“You are the first Raphonminder known to Lordach. The first in history!” He yelled, holding his arms wide.
His voice echoed across the snowy cliffside.
Six ruffled her feathers.
“Even if Lordach doesn’t know?” Ezer asked. “I suppose I am a mystery, too.”
He shrugged.Not to me.But he smiled, and said, “We can be mysteries together, you and I.”
Together.
He held onto that word as the cough returned to him, and the illness tried to steal his joy away.
He wouldn’t let it.
He held on to it as the sun sparkled down upon her, and they looked out at the Expanse. The shadowstorm stirred over the Sawteeth mountains, a furious, living thing, but not even the Acolyte’s magic could hold Ezer back.
Soon...they would cross it. Soon, they would go through the shadowed veil, and reach the other side.
They would save Lordach, just as he’d seen.
Together.
24
Absolution Day.
The only time when Kinlear felt he shined inside the Citadel, if only because he wasplentyprepared to do as he pleased. It was just a bonus that tonight he wouldn’t have to pay any penance.
He entered the training room to find it transformed. Music flowed from the right, where a group of musicians plucked at stringed instruments, making his steps feel strangely light.
Today...perhaps today...he would be brave enough to push a little further with Ezer. Perhaps he could step a little closer to toeing that delicate line betweenfriendsandfuture.
He’d dressed in simple finery today, a pale velvet suit with gold eagle wings stitched into the front pocket, though he chose his mask with care.
He’d picked out a wolf...for Ezer.
Not because she was scarred by one, but because he saw it as a symbol.
Becausethiswolf?
She had already defeated him.
