Page 135 of The BoneKeeper's Daughter

“I’ll trade secrets for favors, BloodLetter’s Sister,” she offers infuriatingly calmly.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to barter, Demon,” I almost growl, stepping up beside Kyla. Both of the men across from me bristle, but the threat in my tone does nothing to affect the pale woman.

“I suppose that depends on how badly you want answers, BloodLetter.” She’s not smug; if anything, her voice is devoid of any meaning, but the lack of emotion is a stick prodding the anger simmering in my lungs. “I’ll trade and give you information willingly, or you can try to force it from me to no avail, I promise you.” She believes her words to be true, and it’s maddening.

“You’ll do as you're told,” I say darkly, “or a penalty will be paid.”

She is disconcertingly unconcerned. “Then I’ll pay it. But there are answers none here but I can give. So make a choice.”

Kylabet sinks to her heels in front of the other woman. “What favors do you wish from us, Binder?” Anyone else would think that she is entertaining the offer, but her fingers are playing on the edge of a small dagger, and I know she’s weighing the balance of the Binder’s life in her hands. If the Binder’s life is forfeit, Kyla will be the one who takes it, and the punishment for the loss of it as well, to protect me. And that is something I can’t allow. Which changes the substance of any threat I make.

“Nothing that you haven’t already given,” the Binder says simply. “Just a promise to continue what already exists.”

“Go on then.”

“I assume asking for release is futile.”

“You assume correctly.” Kyla is amused again, though her fingers still dance on her knife; she has no care for her own skin at times, letting herself be entertained by strange things.

“You said you have fed them, housed them? That they’ve been kept comfortable?” Wren inclines her head toward the two men, both of whom are suddenly wary.

Kyla replies slowly, carefully, as though waiting to see where the Binder is leading. “Just so.”

“Keeper…” one says, almost in warning, but she ignores him.

“Is that true?” She asks them, and both give their reluctant agreement.

“We have, Flame. It hasn’t been velvet couches and honeyed mead, but we haven’t been mistreated as such.”

Wren nods, and looks back at my now confused sister. “As long as we travel together, then, a promise for their safety and protection. That they won’t be harmed or poorly treated, that they’ll have enough to eat, a place to sleep, and that you guarantee their safety in your names.”

“And for yourself?” Kyla asks, and Wren shrugs.

“Would you grant me anything, or is it wasted breath?”

Kyla makes a low, indistinct humming sound that is not quite an answer. “I suppose I can only say that the promise I make for them, I am unable to make for you. I can swear effort, but nothing more. A place to sleep, food, yes. I’m unsure about your safety, given that you’re a SoulBinder.”

“BoneKeeper,” the white-haired woman replies in clear exasperation. “And what is the use of asking for pure water from briney ponds? So. Their continued safety, and I suppose, for me, just an attempt to not have me murdered in the middle of the night.” She’s infuriatingly indifferent to the thought that someone could slit her throat in the dark hours; despite my assurances that we don’t treat women that way in our society, many will not see her as a woman as such, and I can’t account for every blade, no matter how I try to.

Kyla nods, and turns to me for approval. “It’s not more than we would have done already, brother,” she says in our language. “And if it gets us answers without spilled blood, it will be worth it.”

“Do you trust my word, Binder?” I ask, surprising her, and she cocks her head like a curious little bird. “If given, you will accept it as a promise?”

She purses her lips, makes a low, considering sound. “I’ll takeherword, I think, BloodLetter. She seems the sort to keep it, to the best of her ability.”

The words shouldn’t sting; she hasn’t insulted me, not exactly, and she complimented my sister, but it takes everything inside me to not react. Kyla is trying not to laugh, which is even more aggravating.

“In blood, then, SoulBinder,” Kyla says, and cuts her non-hilt hand, then holds it out to the Binder. “You have a blade? It’s the way of our people. Three drops for a vow given. And a vow broken can only be rectified by the blade that took the blood.”

Wren’s face doesn’t change, but her shoulders tighten, and she shoots a quick, questioning look towards one of the men, the one who calls her Keeper. He shakes his head minutely, either in caution or censure. The other is clearly confused; these three may be companions in some way, but there are other things at play that aren’t clear yet. It’s obvious two share more history between them than they dowith the third, but the third isn’t breaking rank in any way, which is perplexing. A weakness, perhaps, to be exploited.

“Binder? I’d prefer not to waste more blood than necessary.” Kyla’s tone is joking, but her eyes are narrowed, watching the interplay.

Eventually Wren sighs, then pulls up her tunic to expose smooth, pale skin marked by a single, bright red slice along her side. Tucked between her belt and hip is a strange, jagged, ivory knife with a segmented handle. She wraps her hand around it quickly and holds it out toward Kylabet, but in reverse. The tip of the knife is pointing towards Wren, almost as if she’s about to stab herself in the sternum. Kyla hums under her breath; the Binder is clearly attempting to be non-threatening in the presentation of her blade, which is an unexpected thoughtfulness in a tense situation. Quickly, Kyla reaches out and carefully lets three drops of blood fall to the strange weapon.

It is only because I’m watching so carefully, only because nothing about this entire situation feels right, that I catch the almost imperceptible widening of Wren’s eyes when the blood hits the blade, that I see the brief flare of her nostrils as though she’s inhaled sharply in surprise or alarm. But then it is gone as if it never existed, and I’m distracted by Kyla’s question.

“Alright, Binder. You have your promise. Now. How could you tell your companions entered the clearing?”

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