“He’s as bad as he seems?” Ellene asked.
Jayme sighed heavily. Her brow softened and she shook her head—a slight reversal on her earlier position. “I don’t know. Perhaps I’ve been unfair to him. He’s just so uncomfortable to be around, with that shifting gaze and those fidgeting hands. I assumed—”
“Don’t go sympathizing with him,” Vi cautioned. “You’remyally.” Romulin had said Andru was more important than she could realize. Vi needed her friends on her side to help navigate whateverthatmeant.
Jayme just shrugged. She was never one for hesitating when it came to contesting Vi, at least in private. Vi appreciated the woman all the more for it.
“Either way, he’s not a love interest. Certainly not for me.”
“Then maybe we’ll both find love when we get back to the capital?” Vi suggested.
Jayme just shrugged, seizing the opportunity to shift the topic. “Speaking of Solarin… Can you really leave all this? For the capital and all its snow and ice? It seems like paradise here.”
“Everywhere is paradise, just a different kind.” Her maps told her that much. The world was wide and diverse; there were highlands and lowlands, frigid mountains and tropical jungles. Who was to say which was better than the other?
“Spoken like an Empress,” Jayme groaned.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Because it’s such a cliché answer.”
Vi shrugged. “It’s the truth.”
“I don’t even want to leave this spot right now.” Jayme looked out over the waves, toward the horizon. “Everything seems so… simple here. Being with you two, like this. It’s almost like I can believe the three of us are just girls relaxing. Nothing more complex than that. I can almost tell myself that time may not come for us, and we could be forever this way.”
Vi studied Jayme’s face. There was something distant and sad about it. It was almost the same expression Jayme got whenever she spoke of her family—her father specifically. But before Vi could really put her finger on it, Jayme stood and shook the emotion from her with the sand clinging to her legs.
“Speaking of leaving, though. We likely should. If we’re going to lie about how far we went we need to make sure we’re back in four days.”
“Our guard hath spoken,” Ellene said to Vi.
“Right!” Vi jumped up, giving Jayme a salute.
“Don’t mock me.” The soldier rolled her eyes. “Some of us have to work for our positions in life, you know, we’re not just born with them.”
“We’re not mocking you, we’re very proud of you for your hard work,” Vi said with genuine sincerity that she hoped shined through. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have had half the connection with my family I did.”
Jayme glanced askance, clearly uncertain about the praise. True to form, she pushed past it. “We should also likely hunt something. It’ll be even more believable we were on a hunt if we come back with a kill.”
“Don’t look at me, that’s Vi’s area of expertise.” Ellene tugged on her tunic and the shorts she wore underneath. The girl often went barefoot, claiming it was a Groundbreaker tactic to feel the earth better.
“Do you mind? Seeing as I doubt I’ll be killing anything in this jungle with a sword.” Jayme strapped the weapon in question back to her waist.
“No, I can hunt something on the way, I’m sure.” Vi detached her bow and quiver from her pack, handing the pack itself to Ellene. The girl already had a system for managing both. But before she could sling it on her back, Jayme took it and had it over her shoulder.
“If I can’t help with the hunt, the least I can do is carry supplies,” Jayme insisted.
“But—”
“Let her, Ellene. You may be able to help me with your magic like you did the last time,” Vi thought aloud.
They were a good twenty paces into the forest when Jayme dared to ask the question Vi could only assume had been burning her up since the mere mention of magic. “What aboutyourmagic, Vi? The Chieftain said—”
“I’ve no idea what Sehra was talking about. The last thing any of us want, myself included, is for me to use my magic,” she said quickly, sternly. Her friends shared a startled look at Vi’s tone. “Sorry… It’s been… strange lately, is all.”
“Strange how?” Ellene asked.
“I think I’m Awoken now,” Vi confessed.
