His handsome face was indecipherable, so I heaved a sigh and asked, “Do you consider me a traitor, too?”
Callen’s eyebrows shot up to the muted red hair brushing his forehead. “What kind of greeting is that?” With athletic grace, he dropped down beside me, elbows resting on knees.
I ignored his teasing. “Do you?”
“Should I?”
“Depends who you ask.”
He shrugged a muscled shoulder. “I’m asking you.”
I shook my head, watching flames dance in a distant fire. “I’m no traitor. I didn’t have a choice in what I did. I couldn’t risk Merelda’s life that way—not with Koerlyn.”
“Then you aren’t a traitor,” he stated. So simply, as it were some obvious, accepted fact.
I didn’t realize how much his answer mattered until my throat swelled. I tipped my head back against the tree, staring at the shadowed branches above. “I’m glad at least one of you thinks so.”
“Don’t get me wrong. What you did was incredibly dangerous.Extremelyquestionable. Before we found the note, it didn’t look good on your part—”
“I’m well aware.”
“—but if it were Hart or North or Ana who’d been threatened in that way, I might have made the same choice.”
I looked at him, needing to see that he was being sincere. For once, there was no levity on his features, no teasing tilt to his lips. “Have you told Harthon that?”
“Harthon is…” He squinted into the distance, frowning. “He’s like a bear.”
“I’ve never met a bear.” They were too big an animal to survive in these withering lands.
He whistled. “Lucky you. Years ago, I had the honor. Twice. They’re vicious things that can tear you to shreds. Takes at least three men to put one down.”
It requiredmorethan three men to take Harthon down.
“Are you calling him vicious?”
“Harthonisvicious, but no, that isn’t my point. Bears are also incredibly protective. And strict. They’re apex predators who are used to defending what is theirs, and winning.” He blew out a long breath. “You didn’t give Harthon the option to protect you, and by going to Koerlyn, you put all he has at risk.”
“So I angered a bear?”
“Yes, you angered a bear.”
I tried to track his logic and came up short. “That doesn’t answer my question about whether you tried showing Harthon reason.”
Callen stared at me as if I were a dimwit. “Would you try to reason with a bear?”
My mouth opened and closed like a fish. “I guess not.”
“Exactly.”
We went quiet, the buzz of conversation between soldiers filling the silence.
“So do bears ever end up seeing reason on their own? Or do they just stay angry?” I asked.
He cocked his head, mulling over my question. “I don’t know. We’ve always killed them the second they lose their shit.”
Seriously?
“Anyway,” he patted my thigh and lithely came to his feet, “it’s good to see your eyes are still terrifying.”
