Page 153 of The BoneKeeper's Daughter

“Ellie…” His tone is anguished.

“You will have to make the choice someday, Teo. You cannot have it be both sides of the coin forever.” She is unexpectedly hard, his reply unexpectedly low.

“I promised him my blood.”

“Atten, Teo. You were a child.”

“I was only eight when I promised you my heart.”

“You will have to make the choice.”

The air is thick with emotion, the tent dark. It is no effort to keep my eyes shut and my breathing soft, giving them this private moment.

“We at least have this time now. She’s doing this purposefully. Gods know why.”

“It will be easier for everyone if you can feign a friendship of sorts.” A half-laugh escapes her. “No one will think it odd. You’re already seen as a bit different. It’s only that everyone loves you that lets you get away with it.”

He huffs with faux indignation before saying quietly, “I won’t have to feign a friendship. She’s nothing like I was told. I…I think Ilikeher. Just as a person.”

“No one will look twice at me trailing behind you two, that’s for sure.” She pauses again, and the fire crackles, a piece of wood breaking off, shifting the small stack enough that the light flares even through my closed eyelids, then dies again. Her voice is very quiet when she speaks again. “Kylabet likes her too.”

“Oh for Gods’ sakes, Ellie!” He’s clearly exasperated, though amusement wars in his words. “Is it physically impossible for you two to becareful?”

His tone reminds me so much of Lorcan’s earlier that I have to fight to keep my lips from curling up.

“Iamcareful. She didn’t say anything, and neither did I. But she let me come, and she let you come, and that’s enough.”

“He let us, too.”

There is no immediate response, and then

“Well. At least we have this. For as long as heletsus.” She swallows audibly, then, “It scares me though. To be given this, then have it taken away…I don’t know if I’ll survive that. To be given you, then to have you ripped from me…”

Silence, so long that sleep almost takes me again, so long that the fire is quiet by the time he speaks, his voice low enough to sound like the rumble of the mountains, like the bass of thunder, like the pulse of blood in your ears when you have run too far, too fast.

“I will choose you, Ellie. It’s not a choice in the end anyway. Where you go, I follow. There is nothing else for me. I promised you as a boy, but now I promise you as a man, erasing everything before this moment. Blood to blood.”

“Blood to blood.”

My false sleep tricks even me, and their words fade as the night takes me again.

TIME AND TIDE AND TRAVEL

WREN

“Really, Wren?” Kaden is laughing quietly, and it sounds like music, like waterfalls and rushing streams. “Horse?”

I’m feeling particularly mulish, and glare at him, despite his amusement pulling at me like puppet strings. “It was harder than I thought, and I’ve been calling him horse for so long that…” Rannoch is grinning too, which is just the water in the well, and I give up, tossing my hands in the air, and rolling my eyes. “I know! Iknow!But everything I came up with seemed incredibly stupid. Didn’t it, Horse?” I croon gently, and he walks to me, resting his chin over my shoulder.

“You’ve trained it to…cuddle you?” Kaden asks, and I bury my face in Horse’s mane.

“Not intentionally,” I mumble, and am caught between worlds when Lorcan’s laughter is echoed by Kaden and Rannoch. “I just didn’t know they were only supposed to have limited treats.”

The way they grin at each other clenches my heart.

We’ve been here almost two weeks, maybe longer, and the camp is getting restless. No one is sure, at least from what I gather, why we’re sitting still so long. Ellie and I wander the perimeter daily, as far as we’re able without getting reprimanded.It’s surprisingly big; the central area is small, of course, maybe kept to thirty tents and twice as many people, but the outer camp has the pack animals and servants, and is another hundred or so people, spread out in a wider circle. It seems more than a hunting party, less than a war band, and is a curious array. It is always a careful, winding walk, and despite my best efforts, I’m not sure I could retrace my steps to find half of what we’ve seen. I have freedom to fly with a hawk’s hood, a false comfort of carefully controlled movement. I am allowed to go anywhere, as long as anywhere is on a preordained path.

It hadn’t taken long to get used to the weight of suspicious eyes on my every movement; to be honest it doesn’t feel much different than when I’d walk through my own village. And if a hidden set behind a skeleton mask followed more often than others, well, things can be ignored when you are full, and warm, and your throat is wet with fresh water. Teo walked with us constantly at the beginning, having little to do if he wasn’t in a meeting with Axton, and his presence helped lessen the glares from sharp edged knives into confused, almost interested glances as we explored the camp. He and Ellie were generous with their knowledge, sharing everything from how to set up a bedroll to the types of plants surrounding us. Their happiness being near each other was contagious, but uncautious, and was, at first, difficult to cover. It poured out of them like water off a fall, despite their best efforts, and more than a few eyes narrowed in their direction by our third day together.

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