I blew out a breath as her small fingers spread the poultice gently across my injury.
“My father was one of his lieutenants, and when he requested permission to take a band of settlers to Islay and make our home here, Callor agreed. He was much younger then and saw Islay as the beginning of his empire.”
She hummed, an encouraging sound.
“Was it?”
“Aye,” I admitted. “When my father died, our people chose me as the next leader. We have welcomed refugees fromother clans and from the human world, building our numbers until we are a substantial threat?—”
“You are.”
Her tone was matter of fact as she began to wrap my shoulder in a clean bandage.
“Even in my world, we have heard whispers of the Battleborn of Islay, and the Stormseeker.”
I still preferred when she called meVrogul. “But I am sworn to Callor and the mainland Battleborn. He demands, and we obey.”
Slowly, her hands stilled and her chin rose until she was meeting my gaze.
“The ore?” she whispered. “That is why it remains bundled, and the smith has not begun to work it?”
I nodded solemnly. “Our world is a mirror of yers, remember? We have the same ore deposits, but not the numbers needed to mine it.”
“And humans have already pillaged their landscape, so why bother ruining your land and air with smoke and scars, when you can take from us?” she whispered.
I winced and looked away.
“Aye. We have need for little, Rowena—the sword I fought with today was my grandfather’s. But Callor…”
“Callor demanded the ore, so you attacked my village to keep him happy.”
Before my gaze, the sparring warriors seemed to blur.
“I am pledged to him.”
“Well, that is stupid.”
She poked my injury, the sharp spike of pain grounding me in the here and now.
“You should break free of him.”
I swung on her.
“What doyeken of such things, wee human?”
Her gaze shuttered, and she dropped her chin, making herself small. Rowena was hiding something, and I didn’t like it. Didn’t like seeing her like this.
With a sigh, I reached for her hand but hesitated at the last minute.
“Are ye wearing yer dagger?”
She nodded mutely, gaze still downcast, and I slowly closed my hand around hers.
“Rowena.”
She finally peeked up at me.
“I am sorry for the pain I caused ye and yer people. I cannae say we wouldnae have raided without Callor’s demands—we are infamous for it—but we wouldnae have taken more than we needed. Seeds. Grain.”
