“Thank you,” she says after a minute. “For not lying to me.”
“About what?”
“That you might be coming back.”
We embrace, and as I hold on to her, I look over her shoulder at the gray wall. I can’t bear my thoughts, but closing my eyes would just add terrible pictures to all my fears. So I stare at the grain of the wood and pray to nothing I believe in that she and Ronl and their daughter will be spared.
“If I ever do come back,” I say, “I will repay you somehow.”
She shakes her head. “You will always be a part of our family, no matter where you are—and in my culture, there are no debts between those of blood.”
I wipe my eyes. “I’m unused to being claimed.”
“It was meant to be, then.”
When I stand up to go, I know I’ll remember her sad smile and her beautiful baby for as long as I live.
“Goodbye, sister,” I whisper before I leave.
Sixty-OneLavante.
As I walk out from behind the register of cash and wind my way through the wives, Ronl pushes his glasses back into place and gives me a wave—but then loses his smile as he sees the saddlebag I’m taking with me. At the door, I lift a hand to him, and after a moment, he does the same. He seems very grave, no doubt because he’s thinking about the very same thing his wife told me about.
Demons have come to the Badlands. So now is not the best time for anybody to leave.
Outside, I take a moment to enjoy the sun, and then walk back down to the stables. As I arrive, I look out to the realm tree. The chestnut gelding has been covered by a lovely white drape with a pattern on it, and I watch the other horses nibbling at the grasses, drinking from the stream, and standing together in a herd—
“He’s all ready for you, mistress.”
“I’m sorry?” I murmur absently. Then I turn around.
And don’t know what else to say.
The magnificent golden horse with the white mane and tail is saddled with the gelding’s saddle, but not the bridle, no doubt because of the size difference.
I immediately shake my head. “I cannot take this horse—”
The girl keeps her voice low. “I know what you did. Last night.”
Going absolutely still, I say levelly, “I beg your pardon.”
“The cook never left the pub kitchen. Ever. Not for an errand, not for a wander, not even for a breath of fresh air. Except for last night, when your husband came down and the two of them talked.”
“I don’t know what you speak of—”
“My sister told me you approached her and begged her to let you helpyesterday. That you saw what that animal did to her and so you were compelled—” She has to collect herself. “For so long, I’ve tried to get her to come and stay with us. The stabler and his wife are very kind and good people. They would have taken her in in a moment. She wouldn’t leave though.”
Because the cook had threatened to take her sister in her place, I think to myself.
The stable hand continues, “I never understood why he picked on her the most, but I was certain that one night, he was going to…” She looks away. “My twin is the other half of me, and the guilt I feel that she’s lived with what she’s had to and I have everything so safe and contented with the horses—it wasn’t fair. But you changed that—”
“I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I did talk to her, yes, and I asked her to allow me to—”
“I know what you both did for her.” She presses the reins into my hands. “And you must take him. He is the only thing I possess in this world other than the clothes on my back. I raised him from a foal, and though I have been offered money enough to live on my own… I haven’t wanted to let him go. Until now.”
“And you must keep him—”
“Tell me you did not put your own lives at risk to save my sister’s. Tell me, and upon your honor, do not lie.”
