My cheeks burned. I grabbed five blueberries this time, enough that I had a moment to chew and think.
“Me and Gareth,” I replied at last. A profound response, to be sure.
“If he hurts you, I’ll kill him.”
“He won’t.” The confidence with which I said the words surprised me, but they were true. I felt in my bones that they were true. “And if he does,” I added lightly, “I’ll kill him long before you get the chance to.”
She laughed once, softly, then drew her knees up to her chest andwrapped her arms around her legs. “For all the years I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him like this.”
A sudden lump in my throat made it difficult to swallow. “Seen him like what?”
“Happy. Strong. Settled. It’s like he’s finally grown up. Several years too late,” she added dryly.
“We’ve been here for only a few hours, during several of which he was unconscious... Or otherwise occupied,” Farrin added slyly.
I blushed. “...and you’ve already managed to see all of that?”
“He’s my best friend. I can tell.”
Finally I found the courage to look at her, a question on my lips, one that had been stirring in the back of my mind for weeks. “Farrin, do you mind at all?”
She smiled. Wisps of golden-brown hair had fallen loose from her braid. Her eyes were just as soft. “In fact, I’m delighted. Just surprised.”
That made me laugh. “No one’s more surprised than I am.”
“When we were all in Vallenvoren in the fall, and he kept pestering you and mooning over you...”
“I’m used to that sort of thing. Usually people aren’t so earnest about it though.”
“Earnest. Yes.” Farrin watched Ryder and Gareth with a thoughtful look on her face. “Heisearnest, though I don’t think many people know that. He makes jokes, he flashes that smile, he beds his latest paramour and then breaks her heart when she inevitably falls in love with him, and everyone thinks they know exactly who he is. But they don’t. He’s brave, and he doesn’t love easily—notreallove—but when he does, it’s with his entire heart.”
I followed her gaze to the lawn just as Ryder swung his practice sword and caught Gareth behind his knees, making him stumble. Ryder let out a hearty laugh that broke off quickly as Gareth caught himself and spun around to strike. Ryder just barely managed to blockGareth’s sword before it smacked him on the shoulder.
Gareth crowed in triumph and pushed his sweaty hair back from his forehead, his smile as bright as the sun. Looking at him, I felt the knots of tension in my shoulders begin to melt away.
“Who is he to you?” Farrin asked quietly.
When I turned once more to look at her, she kept her eyes trained on the men, a small but fierce furrow between her eyebrows. The guarded note in her voice was obvious:If you hurt him, I’ll kill you.
The thought made me feel so tender toward her—my angry, tired sister with her golden voice and her heart of steel—that I had to move closer to her, hook my arm through hers, and take one of her hands in mine.
“He hurts like I do,” I said at last, choosing my words carefully...not for her, but for myself. “And he isn’t afraid of me.” I hesitated, thinking of that lonesome mountain in Ghorlock where I’d lain down to die. “I’ve done things that would frighten most people away. They’d run and never return. But he sees them—seesme—and he keeps coming back.”
As I spoke, Ryder knocked Gareth to the ground with the butt of his sword, and Gareth lay there, gasping with laughter. “Peace, you bearded brute!” he cried. “Let me catch my breath!”
Ryder relented, lowered his sword, and offered his hand to help Gareth to his feet. But after Gareth grabbed hold of him, he pulled hard and brought Ryder crashing to the ground.
“Talan!” Gareth shouted, scrambling atop Ryder to pin him in place. “Talan, get your beautiful, gallant ass over here! I’ve got him! Grab a weapon and come to my aid before he recovers!”
But Ryder, it seemed, was in no danger of recovering anytime soon. He was flat on the ground, shaking with laughter—big booming laughs that left him completely incapacitated.
Gareth rose to his feet, tossed away his sword, and raised his handsin triumph. “The mighty house of Bask, bested by a librarian! A banner day for academics everywhere!”
He barely got the words out before Ryder rolled over and kicked his legs out from under him. Gareth fell as gracelessly as it was possible for a person to fall, and then they were both howling with laughter in the dirt. Talan, grinning, abandoned his post at Mother’s side and hurried to retrieve the two fallen swords, which made Gareth cry out in alarm through his laughter, “The demon’s coming for us, Ryder! We must cast aside our petty differences and ally against him to save the realm!”
“Don’t you dare go over there with those two idiots,” Mother called out after Talan, to no avail. “You’ll get dirt all over this clean laundry!”
I watched the chaos with a smile on my face. Farrin did too, for a time, but then I felt her looking at me instead.
