“You know, we’ll be leaving Ashpoint soon, passing through other towns on our way to find our body. If you wanted to, you could send those letters you wrote.”
It took him a moment to realize what I meant, then his head whipped around.
“You went through my things?” he asked. I couldn’t tell if it was hurt in his tone or disbelief.
“I didn’t mean to pry. You left your sketchbook on the table, and I was looking at the drawings. When I found the letters, I thought they were pictures, too, until I unfolded them.”
“… And you read them?”
I nodded.
His cheeks flushed, and he dropped his eyes. “Oh,” he said.
He didn’t ask for details, and I wasn’t going to confess that I knew how much he fancied me. Those were his private thoughts, and I never should have read them to begin with.
“I’m glad you have someone to write to,” I said. “I’m sorry you can’t write them more often here, but we’ll find ways to send whatever you do.”
“Thank you.” A blink scattered tears across Penny’s freckled cheeks.
The house fell silent enough that the logs crackling and snapping in the hearth were almost startling. When it became clear he didn’t have anything else to add, I eased myself up off the couch.
“I’m going to get dinner in the oven. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I grabbed a clean shirt from my bag and carefully pulled it on as I crossed to the kitchen and lit the stove. Once it was hot, I tucked the stout pies inside and returned to settle beside Penny on the couch.
“What are you making?” he asked.
“Stout pies I picked up from the tavern this morning. It’ll be a bit before they’re ready.” I flashed a soft smile. “I figured you would need a night off cooking after everything that happened today. Let me take care of you for a change.”
He tipped sideways to lean against me, and I wound my arm around his shoulders. Pain radiated from where he pressed my shirt against the fresh burns, but I wasn’t willing to push him away.
“I like taking care of you,” he said.
“Well, it’s my turn tonight.” I tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “You rest.”
We sat in silence until the smell of our dinner wafted into the living area. I eased Penny back enough to make room to rise, and I ferried the pies from the oven to the coffee table. When I returned with utensils for both of us, Penny was staring at the steam curling from the vent holes in the crust as if it were the only thing in the room.
“You all right?” I asked as I handed over a fork and knife.
He took the offered utensils. “I don’t know.”
Neither of us made any move to start eating. My stomach was a mess of nerves and nausea, and Penny looked to be on the verge of tears.
“Are you sorry you met me?” he asked.
I bumped my shoulder against his. “No. Why would you think that?”
“I made you come back here.” He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “I made you start this awful thing all over again.”
It seemed we were both eager to blame ourselves for each other’s suffering. But we’d both chosen to come to Ashpoint for our own reasons, and we’d both chosen to undergo the Oaths independent of each other. Penny’s appearance on my doorstep may have been the catalyst to put me on this path, but it had only been a matter of time. There was no way to be free of this place until it was destroyed, and a day would have come down the line when something else would have prompted me to return.
“I was always going to end up back here, Pen. It was inevitable, and I don’t want you to blame yourself for any of this.” I draped my arm around his shoulders to tuck him back in against my side. “Besides, if not for you, I’d be doing this alone. And, if you hadn’t noticed, I enjoy your company more than most.”
He sniffled. “But theyburnedyou.”
“I’m sorrier that they burnedyou.”
His gaze dropped to where the edge of the brand could be seen on his chest through the half-unbuttoned shirt. He let out a bitter chuckle. “It’s not like it hasn’t happened before; I was mangled already.”
