by R.K. Ryals
Chapter 27
There was vague conversation. I was under a blanket on the floor, a pillow under my head, and I was warm and drowsy.
My eyes drifted shut and then, “What will ye do with her, boy?” Jule asked.
Kye sputtered. “Her?”
The old woman laughed. “Ye think me a fool, Kye? I've raised three boys, I have. I can tell the difference between a he and a she.”
Kye grew quiet. “Do you think the king would be able to tell?”
Jule gasped. “Ye can't be serious!”
I struggled to hear what they said, but my eyes were too heavy, the darkness beyond my lids too comfortable. I slept.
And then, “She's a strong girl. She fights more than well for a beginner, especially with the bow,” Kye said.
“And ye think that will be enough?” Jule asked.
“Yes,” Kye said after a moment. “I think it will. She is smart, decisive, even if she is a little timid at times. She observes everything and absorbs it. And she rarely complains.”
Jule laughed. “I find that hard to believe considering her rank.”
“She is an illegitimate child,” Kye argued. “Children like her are treated differently than high bred ladies, even if they share the same rank. It bears no difference. I was part of Captain Neill's group when the Lady Consta-Mayria accused the girl's companion of abusing magery.”
I was awake now, still drowsy, but awake. I kept my eyes closed, my breathing even.
“And her companion?” Jules asked.
I tensed.
“Dead,” Kye murmured. “She was burned by mage-fire that night. Neill's doing. The king has created a monster in Neill.”
“The king is a monster,” Jule said, her voice full of pain.
Kye shifted. I opened my eyes just enough to see through my lashes. Kye sat across from Jule in a rocking chair, the dry clothes he'd borrowed too short in places and tight against his back.
Kye took the old woman's hand.
“Your son is fine. Brennus is a hard worker and contributes to the rebel camp.”
Brennus? The same man who'd told us Nikalia had disappeared in the woods? Brennus the rebel?
Jule patted the top of Kye's clasped hand where it rested on hers.
“Good to hear, it is.”
She paused, and I shut my eyes again before her gaze could find my face. “The girl is important then?” she asked.
Kye was quiet. I could feel the weight of his gaze on me now.
“She could mean a lot to Medeisia,” he answered.
The old woman snorted. “Only to Medeisia?”
Kye stood then, and I could hear his booted feet as he paced across the floor.
“You overstep your bounds, Jule.”
“Do I?” Jule asked. “Ye respect her, do ye not?”
I glanced through my lashes again. Kye had one hand braced against the hearth, one boot lifted on the stone base, and he was staring into the glowing embers.
“I barely know her, Jule. She's intelligent, but she's young and innocent in many ways.”
Jule harrumphed. “I didn't ask if ye loved her, boy.”
Kye smirked at the fire. “True, old woman. You didn't. I do like her.”
Jule started rocking, her chair creaking as I stared at Kye, his admission ringing through my ears. Did I like him? We'd spent little time together, and what time we had spent had been intense moments colored by emotion, hatred even. At least on my part. But did I truly hate him? Or did I hate what he represented in my dreams? Aigneis. Ash. Death.
Kye stared at the flames for a long time, and I stared at his profile, at the way his lips tightened, his eyes narrowed. There was conflict in his gaze. Was it the war that bothered him or me?
Kye suddenly shifted, his gaze swinging my way, but I didn't move. I kept my eyes open, watching. When his gaze met mine, he paused, but he didn't say anything. A lot could be said with a stare.
I saw things in that look. I saw the forest, I saw Aigneis, and I saw a soldier with an overwhelming decision to make. It was the same decision I'd had to make in the forest with the trees to save Nikalia and two people I'd never met. Maybe a month ago, I could not have forgiven him, maybe there was a part of me that would always see devastation when I saw Kye, but there was a larger part of me that saw liberation.
“I need to go out,” Kye said abruptly, his gaze moving from mine. “I'll be back shortly.”
Jule kept rocking, and I closed my eyes again.
“Be safe and quick, boy,” Jule murmured as Kye's booted feet moved to the stairs. “If her power is as strong as ye say, there will be sorcerers about.”
I wanted to get up, to follow Kye down the stairs and out into the night, but I'd seen where he wanted to go in his eyes. I'd seen that look before when he'd watched Feras fly across the moon.
I rolled over, my back to the fire, and let sleep take me away again. Sometime in the night, I felt warmth against my back and an arm across my waist. But when I woke, I was alone, left with only the lingering scent of pine.
