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Lily picked at the heavy fabric resting over her shoulder, glancing up at him with an arched brow.
“Do it, Evelian. And no more speaking.”
Lily obeyed the order, unable to conjure an argument or an obnoxious remark if she tried. At first, she was happy to oblige, but as the silence lingered, her agitation returned when he didn’t fall back or vanish under a passing cloud like she wished he would.
Luka returned, breathless. “I see a building! But no frostblossoms.”
“That’s because there are none.” Lily picked grass from his hair and threw his cloak over his shoulders. “It’s too warm.”
Luka’s smile fell when he looked at Draven who glared at him then moved ahead, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The pair followed, coming up on the building Luka spoke of—an old, nameless inn sitting at the edge of a forest.
They followed Draven inside, stopping and starting when he commanded, not knowing if it was her acting or the Serpent nudging her in that direction.
No one looked twice in their direction.
He paid for several bowls of cold stew from the gloomy and unkempt keeper who then led them to a leaky, musty-smelling room that, to Lily’s relief, was just for her and Luka.
Their missing bags and her rifle were already in the room. She changed their clothes to let the rain-soaked ones dry; all the while, Luka bounced from wall to wall until just after sunset when he collapsed on the small bed. She inspected every nook and cranny of the space, including the window, fingers squishing into the soft, water laden sill. It was much too small to crawl through, even for Luka.
Wearing only an oversized tunic, she slid down the wall, defeated. Bathed in the bedside candles’ dimming light, she thoroughly peeled through her pack, searching for a lifeline she wouldn’t find.
Lily was positive she locked the door, but when she looked up, Draven was stepping out of the shadows, sparing her a quick glance before turning his focus elsewhere. Clutching her bag to her chest, she watched him silently scan the room, certain he had pulled on her emotional aura earlier now that she remembered what unbridled fear felt like.
She let the words spill out while she had the courage to say them. “You messed with my emotions.”
He pulled a dusty book from a shelf on the wall. “You tried to kill me this morning—”
“After you threatened me.”
“And then had the gall to tell me you don’t want to use the Wraith.”
“I don’t.”
He hummed. “You’re not as good of a liar as you think you are.”
Lily pressed her lips and tapped her fingers restlessly against the leather of her pack while he flipped through the pages. She wasn’t quite finished arguing, but a heavier topic tickled her tongue. “You really think the best thing is for him to die?” Draven looked up from the book, waiting for her to get to the point. “I know the Guardian is weaker while it’s split up. If you kill him now, then his half will go right back to Brialis.”
“When the time comes, he will be the only vessel left for it.”
She released the breath she was holding. They weren’t going to kill Luka until the Guardian’s other, more powerful vessel, was dead first. And that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Tyrsia was a strong kingdom, but they didn’t have the militia and weaponry to win against Reatia in an all-out war. It would take them months, even years, to infiltrate the empire to get close to Brialis.
That was plenty of time to grant Luka’s wish; for him to mature into a worthy vessel for the entirety of the Guardian and fix the bond between their Flares.
Lily’s thoughts must’ve been scrawled all over her face with the way a scowl crossed Draven’s. “Whatever relationship you’ve built with him won’t last.”
“You’re going to dismiss it? Just like that?” She sat up. “Why? Why wait all of that time for the Guardian to reincarnate when I can mend the balance within a generation?”
His eyes flitted over her, disparagingly. “You?”
Lily stiffened under the appraisal, falling back against the wall. “Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?” She sighed when the question was met with silence. “Amalia’s finally caught me in a trap even I won’t chew my own leg off to escape. If she agrees to leave him alone and let him live out his natural days—then, in addition to being her executioner, I will guide him and teach him in the same way he… he’s been teaching me.”
The judgement in Draven’s expression wilted, but he still shook his head, skeptical. “That doesn’t change the fact that he—”
“He is not you,” she shot back. “He is not your father; he is not your brother, and he is not his mother. He can do it. I know he can.”
Draven set the book back on the shelf. “What I don’t want… What I’m trying to do—” He bit off his words. “I don’t believe what you want from him is possible. Only the original bloodlines are worthy of keeping the power of a Flare. Ours has—and if you continue to allow it, will—ruin the Guardian further. I’m trying to spare you from the pain of that disappointment.”
Lily dropped her head, keeping her lips sealed, her thoughts heavy. He would know none better, wouldn’t he? Was that the reason Valen strayed so far? Why Draven seemed reasonable despite everything she heard? The Guardian poisoned them because it didn’t belong to them?
