Page 140 of The BoneKeeper's Daughter

“It sits in your shoulders more than anything. Is the little demon getting under your skin?” He’s teasing, laughter lacing his words.

If it were anyone other than Teo, I wouldn’t take the tone, but he’s been a friend for longer than he’s been my Blood Rider, so I forgive him. Mostly. Still, he straightens in his saddle when I turn to him, pressing his lips together in silent apology. Things changed between us when I was named BloodLetter, for better or worse, and you can’t rethresh pastures you’ve already harvested.

“A SoulBinder’s presence should get under anyone’s skin, Rider.” If my tone is cooler than normal, well. It’s a warning for his sake; it’s best to practice on the grazelands what is necessary in the city. The Elders don’t always approve of Teo’s easy nature, of his openness. He’s a son of the Crimson City, but has a way that is somehow foreign. He gets away with it because he’s so well loved by the people, and because he is my first Blood Rider. But he’d never be allowed to be so casual anywhere else, and can’t become a Flank Commander if he doesn’t tamp down some of his exuberance.

“Acknowledged, BloodLetter.”

There’s a long silence between us that never used to exist. A place that once was filled with friendship there is no space for now.

Still, years can’t be erased easily, so he doesn’t react when I finally break the stillness, the words bursting from me with unintentional emotion. “What should Ido?”

“Has the Flank Commander given you an opinion?”

We both know he’s talking about Kylabet. My other Flank Commander is a grizzled veteran of the trail — honest, stalwart, loyal, and completely without pushback in any way. This is his last summer with the Band; I’m due to name a new Flank Commander before year’s end. Itshouldbe Teo. Ineedit to be Teo. But he makes dangerous choices sometimes. Reckless and dangerous choices.

“She has.”

“And?”

“What do you think she said?”

He’s quiet, knowing it’s a test of sorts. Then, slowly, thinking it through, “She sees advantages where others see obstacles, BloodLetter. So I’m guessing she suggested some way to use the Demon, or tame her.”

“Just so.”

“It would make a difference if sheknewshe was a Binder. I wouldn’t support Kylabet in that case. But you say she doesn’t? That she thinks she’s something else?”

“A BoneKeeper. Her companions address her as such as well, or ‘Keeper’, and seemingly haven’t heard of a SoulBinder.”

“Did you take her blood? Or did she give it willingly?”

“Both. And the truth holds either way.”

He hums under his breath thoughtfully. “Do you have a plan, then?”

“At the moment? Follow Kyla’s suggestion. Keep the Binder tied like a hawk, but with enough leash to fly a little. Try to figure out the puzzle before we get to the Crimson Walls.”

“A hawk?” He laughs again, shaking his head. “More a blind sparrow.”

“That’s what I mean, Teo,” I say, frowning. “Easy enough to dismissher that way. But she’s not as blind as she seems.” Looking around me, I drop my voice, and he leans in from his mount in order to hear. “The bones she wears see for her.”

His response is immediate, horse shying away at Teo’s startled movement, though he tries to muffle it. “Thebonesshe wearsspeakto her?”

“It’s privileged information, Rider,” I command, and he nods seriously. “Worn like jewelry on her arms.”

“Herbracers? Arehumanbone?”

The difference is important. We wearanimalbones as helmets, as armor, and, on occasion, as decoration or for ceremonial adornment. So most people in our camp didn’t look closely at the Binder’s bracelets, not wanting to let their eyes rest too long on her. But the long cuffs running up her arms, flashing white beneath her sleeves, would draw little to no attention in our home in any case. You would have to know bone very, very well to tell the difference from a quick glance. Her tiny earrings, the bones in her hair, while not commonly worn that way in our homeland, are the same. Different, but not different enough to be alarming. If anything, they pull her into our people, give her something that feels like them in a way. And familiar things are rarely frightening.

“Human bone. She says they see for her, that there are souls trapped in the bones that give her information.”

Teo looks sick to his stomach, though he tries to school his face.This is why he’s not a Flank Commander yet,I think.He is not careful enough. And someone needs to be named by the time we return home.“Control, Teo,” I can’t help but caution softly. “Please.”

He nods, and inhales deeply. “She bound them?”

“She says they were willing, and again, tasted of truth.”

Frowning, he shoots a quick glance my way, before staring ahead again. “Is it possible she is able to lie to you, BloodLetter? I don’t doubt your tongue,” he adds quickly, cutting off any offense before it can be taken, “but maybe there is something different about her that…I don’t know.”

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