His eyes narrowed. “So, you’re expecting blind obedience?”
This conversation was going off the rails in a hurry.
“Not at all. But I know you. Once you decide on a course of action, you follow through even if it is unwise, like the time you decided to climb into an underground catacomb in Gassargand alone, without telling anyone. You knew there would be a monster waiting for you there, a monster you and three other experienced soldiers had failed to kill the first time around, and you climbed in there anyway.”
“It had to be done.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. That I will tell you what I know and then you’ll decide to do something about it and get yourself killed.”
“I’m resilient.”
“I know. But in my version of the future, you still died. And unlike me, you didn’t come back from it.” I sighed.
He pondered me.
The best defense was an effective offense.
“I’m not completely dense, Reynald. I know why you didn’t tell me that Clover was standing there or that Kaiden was hiding under the bed. You realized that I cared for the kids, and having both of them there would convince me to lean on you. It’s one thing to talk about the kingdom ending and people dying, but it’s completely different when two children are standing in front of you, and you know you are their only hope to survive. You have no resources, except for the deadly blademaster in the room willing to lend a hand.”
His face shut down.
“I understand why you did it.”
He waited, his expression blank.
“You think that I’m your best chance at saving Matheo.”
If I was missing back home and not in a coma or just dreaming in my bed while the events here passed before me at a thousand minutes per second, my parents would be frantic. My dad would do anything and everything to find me and bring me home. He would sell his soul to the devil if it would help. I was Reynald’s devil, and I was sitting right here.
“I give you my word that I will do everything I can to keep your son alive. You asked to join me, not the other way around. So trust me and be patient. Let me prove to you that my way is the best way.”
I tried not to hold my breath. He’d notice.
“Fair enough,” he said. “Since we’ve decided to be straightforward with each other, you’re right. You do have a blademaster on your side. I will protect you. No more heroics. No more dramatic dying.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Good. Then we’re on the same page.” He nodded. “I like that turn of phrase. It’s clever.”
I had brought a new idiom to Kair Toren. Heh.
A breeze fanned me. I tasted salt on my lips.
Salt! That was it! That was the thread I could tug on. So many things hinged on it.
But how the hell would I pull that off? Not only it would be dangerous and complicated but if we managed to . . . The mercenaries. Holy crap, what would I do about the mercenaries?
This wouldn’t be just altering the flow of events. This would be like hitting it with a hammer. Here I was worrying about Reynald crashing through the timeline like a battering ram, and I was contemplating dropping a meteorite on it.
“I understand your point,” Reynald said. “But I do not like being kept in the dark. Do you at least have a direction?”
“Yes.” I had a direction, all right. I just wasn’t sure we could pay the price.
“Then I will trust you for now. Let’s see it through.”
The unspokenbutwas loud and clear. If I failed, that would be the end of our alliance. He would strike out on his own, and who knew what sorts of havoc he would wreak.
I had to get my shit together and fast. If we went after the salt, I would have to deliver at all costs.
