Vel approaches us before he can respond. A sword rides at her hip, and there’s a familiar look on her face. One that means she’s already working through ideas.
“I’ve checked the food stores,” she says once she’s close. “There’s a week’s worth, maybe two if we stretch it. Water isn’t a problem.” She waves a hand toward the well. “Weapons in the armory. Plenty of iron-tipped bolts. They were well-equipped for hunting us. Everything is organized and labelled. Very professional.” Her lip curls with the disdain she reserves for the profoundly stupid.
“Now we’re equipped for hunting them,” Therin murmurs.
“Eventually.” She surveys the courtyard, taking in the broken and the lost. “We need to know how many can be useful.”
“Useful?” Therin frowns. “That’s a cold way to put it, Vel.”
Her eyebrow lifts. “Do you have a warmer one that will get us through the next week?”
“No. I’m just noting it.”
I look between them. Some things don’t change, no matter the circumstances. Vel and Therin have been circling each other since before the Sealing. They don’t dislike each other, but they’re not really friends either. They’re bound together by loyalty to me, and absolutely nothing else. I used to find it entertaining. Today, it’s just exhausting.
“I’llassess them,” I cut in before they can really get started on a fight. They’re bad enough when they’re together all the time, I can only imagine what three centuries of not clashing could become. “Therin, finish sweeping the buildings. Make sure we didn’t miss anyone. Vel, keep cataloging supplies. I want to know exactly what we have to work with.”
Vel turns to me. “You’re going to assess all of them yourself?”
“They need to see me.”
“They need to seesomeone. It doesn’t have to be you specifically.”
“Yes, it does.”
For a moment, she looks like she might argue. Velalwayslooks like she might argue, it’s her natural state. Then the corner of her mouth twitches in something that might, on anyone else, pass for approval.
“There he is.” She turns back toward the lodge. “I was wondering if the cages managed to break you.”
“Not yet.”
“Good. It would be a shame to survive all this time just to discover you’d gone soft.” She pivots on her heel and walks toward the grain store.
Therin watches her go, then laughs softly. “She hasn’t changed one bit.”
“Neither have you.”
“Was that a compliment, Cairn? Maybe youhavegone soft.”
“Take it however you want. Get moving before I decideyou’vegone soft. I want to know if there are any humans still breathing on this property.”
“And if there are?”
“Make sure they stop.”
He grins, all teeth and promise, and heads toward the outbuildings. I move across the courtyard toward the male I’d seen earlier, standing near the well. He looks up as I approach.
“Is this real?” There’s a pause between each word. I recognize the signs. He’s remembering how to speak out loud. “Are we really out?”
I stop in front of him. “It’s real.”
He stares at me, waiting for the trick … the catch. The moment when this turns into another kind of cruelty.
“What is your name?”
His lips part. Close. Part again. Then he blinks. He forms the word silently first, testing the shape of it.
“Maedric.” His voice wobbles. “I was … I was Maedric.”
