‘Thessa?’ I ask.
The taller of the two Quiet Ones raises her hand. ‘And this is Stide,’ she introduces, pointing to her companion.
Thessa has my blade at her hip and thewrongnessof that sets my teeth on edge. The dagger is mine – my inheritance, my last connection to my mother. There is no way Thessa is keeping it, but it’s not like I’m in any state to get it off her.
I can’t even think normally, let alone consider wresting the blade from her. ‘Right. Thank you for helping us with the Sannthrall.’
Thessa nods. ‘It was the right thing to do.’
I study the two women now that I have a little more time to take them in. And there is a lot to take in. The hoods of their cloaks are full foxes’ heads that drape down their backs, allowing only a glimpse of their hair beneath – hair so bright, so absent of tone, that I’ve only seen the colour on a few people before, including myself and Kay. Have they been stripped of their magic? Is that why it’s that colour?
Their eyes, too, are unusual: a pale yellow citrine hue that seems to glow in the darkness.
I’ve seen them before, I realise with a start – in a vision, where they were dancing … or fighting. I wasn’t quite sure which. The fox people.
As my eyes scan down their bodies, noting the dark tabards they wear, the spears they carry, and my gaze once again lingers on the dagger Thessa still has. My mother’s blade.Myblade.
I grimace. I can’t let it go. And while I don’t have it in me to fight for it, I don’t need to. Besides, it’s not like they played fair in getting it from me in the first place.
‘Sorry, ladies, about that dagger …’
Perhaps it is foolish to reach for my magic so soon after what wassurely magical exhaustion, but I can’t help myself. The blade is mine. Thankfully, the magic comes instantly as I summon the vines from a nearby bush and send them outwards. I don’t even give the woman enough time to draw breath. The vines snap up around Thessa’s wrists, strong enough to squeeze the muscles to the point of pain, and yet she still reaches for the dagger at her side, grabbing the hilt and pulling the blade with her gloved hand.
Panic crosses Stide’s face as she darts to help her friend, but I send another surge of plant life tangling up her legs too, locking her in place.
It is, I admit to myself, a little too reminiscent of the Sannthrall itself, but needs must.
‘You have to understand, it’s got sentimental meaning,’ I say, finally feeling some strength returning.
To give Thessa her due, she doesn’t let go of the dagger easily, and her fingers are turning blue when Caz walks forward and pulls the hilt out of her grasp with a muttered ‘Sorry’.
Although Caz has barely taken hold of it when she drops it again.
‘Fuck! That’s hot!’
Stide sneers. ‘Why do you think Thessa is wearing gloves?’
Rather than responding to the Quiet One, Caz kneels and wraps fabric from her shirt around the hilt and brings it over to me. Only when it’s firmly in my grasp do I loosen the vines on the pair of Quiet Ones.
‘It’s not hot to your touch?’ Caz stares, her scholarly fascination taking control.
Apparently not. I remember now, Kay calling it hot, and Ruben, too. I dismissed their comments for one reason or another, but now I accept the truth. ‘No,’ I confirm. ‘It belongs to me.’
Stide’s yellow eyes flash with fury, and I ready myself for whatever magic they’re going to hurl my way, but nothing comes. Nothing but a hiss of rage.
‘You lied,’ she spits. ‘You lied to us. You said we could have the blade.’
‘And you did. I gave it to you,’ I reply equably. ‘You had it for a whole day, apparently. But I didn’t say you couldkeepit. Be more specific in your bargaining next time.’ As her jaw locks, I feel the most minusculeflicker of guilt. ‘I am sorry,’ I say honestly, ‘but this dagger is not something I’d trade. It is mine. My family’s.’
Their nostrils flare, but they don’t attempt to take it back. They’re not stupid. There are six of us – and a dire wolf – against their two. They would have to have somepretty spectacular magic to take us all on and win. And judging by our matching hair colour, I’m not convinced they have any.
Then again, they knew about the Sannthrall’s presence, not to mention how to subdue it with the dagger. Someone might make the same erroneous deduction about me and the colour of my hair, so I’ve no intention of letting my guard down just yet.
‘Now,’ I say, sheathing the blade back where it belongs, ‘I’m sure you’re going to have to repeat yourselves for my benefit, but who or what the hell are the Quiet Ones, and what the fuck happened to Caz, and why did the blade do that?’
‘That’s a lot of questions,’ Stide says snidely. ‘Why would you expect us to answer, let alone answer truthfully? You tricked us.’
‘And you tried to bargain with me while our friend was dying,’ I fire back. ‘I hardly think you can take the moral high ground right now. Do you?’
