“I should kill you where you stand.” His words were angry, unforgiving.
I put a hand on Roran’s chest. “No! Roran, no. He’s not one of Savion’s loyalists.”
“You haven’t seen what S’Kir looks like, Kimber.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I know I haven’t. I’ve been trying to get away from Savion for the past two weeks. I had my own problems.”
Finally, his eyes settled back on me, and he softened. “I’m sorry,ilati. I have seen such horrible things... We cannot heal the wounds—”
I rushed over his words. “They’re caused by lead. Galena. You cannot heal it. You must find new, non-magical ways to treat the wounds. Doctor Symi would have ideas. I know he would.”
“We cannot spare him in the laboratory. We need him in the field,” Roran said. “There are so many wounded.”
“We have medicines. Not hard to make,” Aiko said. “If I can be of service in saving your people, maybe you would consider sparing mine.”
Roran’s eyebrows rose, and he glanced at me again.
“Can we go somewhere private? Not here on the boat where everyone can hear us?” I looked around, pointedly glancing at the warship that was docking behind our little boat.
He nodded. “Yes. I’m at the temple here.”
“Where is Rilen?”
“Defending what’s left of the city.”
“Dorian?” He didn’t answer me. My stomach dropped. “Roran. Where is Dorian?”
“He went after you,” he finally admitted. “Instead of staying here and helping us defend things, he left to find you.”
The venom in his voice was undisguised.
“Let’s get off this boat,” I said.
“Mistress Breaker?” Aiko tapped his food on the deck.
“Oh! Roran. We brought guns and ammunition. There are dozens of them under the deck. Pistols and rifles. We knew that your raid succeeded, but it felt right to bring more.”
Aiko pulled the hatch up, and Roran’s smile spread across his face again. “Excellent. This will help us immensely. Come on. Let’s get to the temple. We have a lot to talk about.”
* * *
I was almost sure that Roran was going to pull my clothes off and have his way with me just inside the door.
Had Aiko not been there, I wouldn’t have stopped him.
“Roran, we have a guest.”
He growled but pulled back from me. “I’ve been terrified for you, Kimber. I wanted to kick your perfect little ass when you gave yourself up.”
“I had to, you know that. He would have killed you, and then made his way through the group.”
“She was safe with us, Master Roran. We did all we could to keep her safe.”
Roran wanted to snap at Aiko, but I stopped him. “No. People died for me there. Died to keep me safe. He’s right. There’s a chasm between the loyalists and the commoners. Everyone is exhausted from trying to stay alive around Savion.”
It took him a long moment to move again, but Roran finally nodded and motioned us to a room off the main hall in the temple.
“What’s happened here, Roran?” I asked.
