Uther slammed the cottage door wide. “Father?”
I stepped inside.
A fire still burned in the hearth, its flames fixed in jagged orange shards. At the table sat an adult male with Uther’s blue skin, surrounded by three boys, none of them moving. The air tasted stale, like breathing in a tomb. I wanted to look away from their small faces but couldn’t.
Uther trembled as he reached for the male and felt for a pulse. He let out a low moan, and Kairos set a hand on Uther’s shoulder.
I knelt beside a toddler, his hands tiny enough to vanish in my palm. He had a smear of jam on his chin. My chest caved in.
I’d seen dead children before, but this was my fault. These people deserved better than to be sacrificed in awar.
“Collect the bodies,” Kairos said quietly.
Uther broke into sobs that tore through my heart. I couldn’t breathe past the guilt crushing my ribs.
I clasped Kairos’s arm. “But I haven’t found the rune yet.”
Kairos shook his head. “They’re gone. There’s nothing you can do.”
“They’re just kids,” Uther choked out. “Who the hell would do this?”
The warriors moved outside, boots thudding against the boards.
Sickened, I returned my attention to the smallest boy. His head lolled when I touched him. Eyes open but not clouded. No burst vessels, the same soft brown they must’ve been when he was alive.
I brushed my thumb along his cheek.
Still warm. Dead bodies cooled quickly, but he felt like he’d just been running through the fields. I pressed two fingers to his throat, hope flaring so sharp it hurt.
I moved to the next boy. Lashes rested on his cheeks like he’d closed his eyes. The curls on his head were damp with sweat. Something about this was wrong.
The table had four wooden cups, each half-full, the surface of the water caught in odd peaks.
Kairos knelt beside Uther, stroking his back.
I shot to my feet. “Kairos, tell them to stop!”
The warrior at the door scoffed. “You don’t give orders here, human.”
Kairos growled. “That’s enough.”
The warrior’s jaw clenched, but he backed off.
Kairos rose slowly, his eyes finding mine. “What is it?”
Uther’s face was tear-streaked, his father’s body in his arms. I might be wrong…but I couldn’t keep this to myself.
“I need your dagger,” I said, holding out my hand.
Kairos studied me. Then he unsheathed the blade and placed it in my palm. “What are you thinking?”
I approached the basket by the hearth—apples, pears, a cluster of blackberries. Several of them sat next to the basin, glistening. I grabbed one and set it on the table.
The blade bit through, and both halves fell open. Inside…nothing strange. No frostbitten pulp. The scent of sweet fruit wafted like it had been plucked seconds ago. Relief punched through me so hard I braced myself against the table.
I showed Kairos the halves. “This isn’t a rune that kills, it…it stops them in a moment in time.”
Kairos glanced at them. “You’re sure?”
