Page 109 of The Bone Season

‘There.’ I thrust it at his chest. ‘I’d ask if you were happy, but I doubt it.’

Warden took it and kept walking. ‘Do you think me incapable of joy?’

‘Since you have one facial expression and one tone of voice, I really can’t tell.’

‘Perhaps you lack perspicacity.’

‘Perhaps you lack a personality.’ (I neither knew nor cared whatperspicacitymeant.) ‘If you ever do learn to imitate joy, I’ll thank you to not show it anywhere near me. I can’t imagine you get your kicks from anything pleasant.’

‘You need not trouble yourself,’ Warden said coldly. ‘At present, I can imagine no circumstance in which I would feel any joy around you.’

‘I take that as a compliment.’

‘Good.’

He really was out of sorts, stooping to petty jabs with a human. I found I liked being a thorn in his side.

We kept going for what seemed like hours, though he did me the honour of walking at my pace. Thanks to the coat, I was snug enough, though I wished I had gloves as well, and my boots were still leaking.

When Warden stopped, I almost walked into him. Ahead of us, a small log shelter stood among the weeds. He opened its door and held up his lantern. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust.

In the shelter, a deer – a doe, specifically – was tethered to a post. As soon as she saw Warden, she flicked her tail and long ears.

‘That ... isn’t quite what I was expecting,’ I admitted.

‘May I ask what you were expecting?’

‘Just about anything but a deer.’

‘This is Fionnuala,’ Warden said. ‘Nuala, for short.’

‘That’s an Irish name,’ I said, after a pause. It meantwhite shoulder. ‘Gaeilge is outlawed in Scion. Why would you call her that?’

‘For its beauty.’

Warden released the worn collar from around her neck. Nuala butted him with her nose. I waited for her to bolt, but she just stood there, gazing at him. When I noticed the white patches on either side of her neck, I had to smile.

He spoke to her in an unfamiliar language, stroking her throat. She was mesmerised. As I listened to his voice, something in me hummed in answer.

A few months ago, I might have found it strange to see a giant and his adoring deer. Now it was just another night in Oxford.

‘She has a penchant for apples,’ Warden told me. ‘You may feed her, if you wish.’

When I nodded, he tossed me a green apple, which I barely managed to catch. ‘Did you just … produce an apple from nowhere?’

‘Perhaps.’

Nuala turned her gaze on me, nose twitching.

‘Gently,’ Warden said.

I took a game step forward and held out the apple. Nuala gave it a few delicate sniffs. Warden spoke to her, and she snatched it.

‘Forgive her.’ He patted her neck. ‘We have yet to refine her manners.’

‘I see yours are coming back.’

‘Hm.’

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